Author Interview: Angela Lam

About the author:
Angela Lam, formerly Angela Lam Turpin, is an award-winning author whose new seasoned romance series, Women of the Crush, features midlife women and their senior softball playing men in the fictional Northern California town of Vine Valley. Her other contemporary romances include FRIENDS FIRST, THE DIVORCE PLANNER, and LEGS. OUT OF BALANCE won the Editor's Choice award for literary excellence and was a finalist in the Indie Excellence Awards for Chick-Lit. The short story, "Lips," was nominated for the Pushcart Prize and is included in the short story collection, THE HUMAN ACT AND OTHER STORIES. RED EGGS AND GOOD LUCK, a memoir about growing up Chinese American, won both the Mary Tanenbaum Literary Award for creative nonfiction and She Writes Press Memoir Discovery contest. Lam is an alumna of Hedgebrook and a former writer-in-residence at Vermont Studio Center. Lam currently teaches memoir writing at Gotham Writers' Workshop.

What inspires you to write romantic fiction?
I believe in living happily-ever-after.

Tell us about how you write.
Every day at 5 AM I pour my heart out in words.

Do you listen to or talk to to your characters?
Sometimes my characters talk. I'm always listening.

What advice would you give other romance writers?
Learn where you fit in the romance genre. Hone your craft. Know tropes and how and when to break them. Join a community of writers. Network, network, network. Read, read, read. And write, write, write.

How did you decide how to publish your books?
I submitted my books to publishers until I found a home with The Wild Rose Press.

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Publishing is subjective. Although only a handful of people read, those readers devour books like chips. No one can stop at just one.

Which romance sub-genere(s) fit your stories best?
sweetheart seasoned contemporary small town romance

My books are available in the following formats:
eBook