Spotlight on: Sandra T. Wales, Ph.D., aka Haley Elizabeth Garwood
Author: Mary Varble
Original Publication Date in Love Notes: November 2005

MV: Thank you for taking time to answer questions for us today. The quality of your Warrior Queen series is quite impressive. Did you choose the route of self-publication on the first go-round?

HEG: No. I had twenty-eight rejections, a terrible agent, and was ready to quit when two things happened. My late husband, who had a dozen textbooks published, said, “Why don’t you do it yourself?” About the same time, I received a sample newsletter from Small Publishers of North America that had a flyer for a self-publishing conference. I went and liked what I learned.

MV: Have you always known you wanted to be a writer?

HEG: Apparently. My mother put my first story in my baby book. It’s about a chicken complete with a drawing. I was 3 1/2 and lived on a farm. She “translated” my chicken scratches on the back of the paper. I wrote my first historical novel at age eleven. I sold it to a classmate for two pencils and a notebook.

MV: The scope of your career is quite diverse . How did you go from one to the other and how long did you spend at each?

HEG: I’ve always loved to fly (airplanes, not a broom), so became a stewardess. I kept a journal that included short stories. Later, I taught special education for grades seven through nine. After that, I was a high school principal. I’m retired from that, but will teach three English classes at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY, which is near my farm. Every one of those careers gave me fodder for writing.

MV: What’s your writing schedule like?

HEG: Hectic. I’m no good in the morning, so that’s when I clean house, make business calls, check email. After lunch I write until 5:30, break for dinner and watch “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.” I work from 6 p.m. to 9 or 10 p.m. At nine I like to watch CSI if I can stop writing. I try to keep the weekends free for book signings, speaking, or playing.

MV: I know you’re a meticulous researcher, but when it comes to the creative side of the process, are you a detailed plotter or more of a fly-into-the-mist writer?

HEG: Detailed to the max. I find a pretty blank book for notes. I keep a time line for the protagonist on the left page and one for the antagonist on the right. Remember, my warrior queens are real, so I check them out thoroughly. For ASHES OF BRITTANIA and ZENOBIA, I used Roman accounts of the battles. The Romans kept wonderful records. I also use anthropological and archaeological sources and, surprisingly, children’s books for great pictures from which I write my descriptions. Costume plates from theatre are helpful. The Internet is not as good for research as the old fashioned library. I use interlibrary loan. The Internet is good for contacting experts.

MV: What experts have you contacted?

HEG: I contacted a professor of zoology at Oxford University in England to see if wolves in 1st century Great Britain had rabies. They did. It kept me from having to rewrite an entire chapter.

I’m also working on a King Tut novel told from the point of view of the women who tried to keep him from being murdered. I contacted Dr. Robert Bier, a forensic anthropologist, who wrote about King Tut’s murder. That novel is almost finished. I hope I can find a home for it.

MV: Just exactly how did you go about getting a cover and an interview with Romantic Times BookClub Magazine?

HEG: When I first published THE FORGOTTEN QUEEN, I tried to call a reviewer to get his address so I could send a copy. It was 9 o’clock at night. I dialed the wrong number and a nice woman answered the phone. I apologized for the wrong number and babbled about the novel. She asked that I send it to her. The first thing I thought was, “Poor lady is lonely. Of course I’ll send her a book. It takes little to be kind.”

Well, I didn’t know anything about romance writing at that time, so did not recognize Kathyn Falk’s name or Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine. She’s since forgiven me for my ignorance and has supported me whenever she can. It’s been wonderful for me. I think she’s a fantastic benefactor for romance, and we’re lucky to have her backing.

MV: How long have you been working on your Warrior Queen series, and who or what's next?

HEG: I started to stumble around with THE FORGOTTEN QUEEN in 1995. Many rejects later, I self-published that book in 1998. My next and fifth novel in the Warrior Queen Series is about the Joan of Arc of India. Rani of Jhansi took on the British in 1847. She led her army against the Brits who invaded her country. I first came across this national heroine when I lived in India.

While I was at a conference to sign books, I was asleep, peacefully, in a comfy motel room. At midnight my eyes popped open and the Rani of Jhansi jerked me out of bed. “It’s time to start that book,” she said. She tossed me in front of the computer and three pages of material appeared on the screen. I had thought about how to start it, but couldn’t decide. She did it for me. It’ll take me a year to finish the research and write the novel.

MV: Which is more difficult: writing a romance novel or a historical novel and why? Also, is your romance novel contemporary or historical?

HEG: Romance by far. If it weren’t for guidance from my critique partners, Cassondra Murray and Cheryl Martin, I wouldn’t even be close. I’m sticking to historical romance because that’s what I love.

The differences between the two genres are subtle. I try to write my romance with a deep point of view, but sometimes slide out of that. I’ve placed in some contests and come close in others with that novel. I take the judges comments and rewrite. And rewrite. And rewrite. But, darn. I love it.

MV: Thank you again for taking time from your writing schedule for this interview.

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