And our Sue's Clues Mystery Author is:

Before 1976, Dorothy Garlock was like many of us. An avid reader, a history buff, and a wife and mom who worked. Almost by accident, as she tells us in the interview below, she became a romance novelist. While she's not the first published author who started this way, she's probably one of the few who have been able to consistently deliver what her readers are looking for.

I visited Dorothy's website and surfed the net reading other interviews she's done in the past. I've discovered that this author is very much like her books - consistent. Dorothy seems to be a very no-nonsense lady. She looks at life with open eyes and doesn't sugarcoat the realities of life. Not one to be afraid of a little dirt under the nails, but smart enough to appreciate the finer things when they come along. In my opinion, this is one of the reasons she has continued to be a best-selling author.

There are other reasons I feel this way. The fact that she was once an avid reader, she knows what other readers are looking for: entertainment; a few hours of escapism. Another is that she never started writing as a means of making money. Dorothy started writing as something to pass the time and, by chance, it evolved into a career. She is a best-selling novelist, but she apparently hasn't let that change who she is. She doesn't think of her readers as 'fans', but rather friends and enjoys meeting them at book signings and hearing from them through emails and letters.

A comment she made in an interview at http://www.bookbrowse.com gives an idea of what she is trying to achieve with her books and the satisfaction of doing so.

"It is gratifying to know that I have given someone a few hours of enjoyment while reading my books and were able, for a while, to forget any problems troubling them."

I have to be honest and say that I hadn't read any of her books until I had the opportunity to review HOPE'S HIGHWAY for this website's Novel Thoughts and Ponderings section. I have to admit - I did forget my problems for a while. Lord knows, her characters had bigger problems than I do! But it was more than that. I was impressed with her ability to convey what life was like for people who were looking for new beginnings after the Great Depression. Of course, I knew people had packed up and headed west during this time. I remember my history lessons in school and I've seen the movies, but she had a way of making it more realistic somehow. Maybe it was the little things that did it for me. The scene where the little girl, needing to pee, had to climb into the back of a truck and make use of a pot. Or after days of travelling without a real bath, the first chance to do so was in a large wooden vat behind a house where they had camped. Maybe it was the fact that her characters were just average people - not moviestars, not millionaires and heiresses. Just average people that, had I been living during that time, could have been me.

If you would like to find out more about Dorothy and her books or contact her, visit her website: www.dorothygarlock.com You will also find a page there with recipes for some of the dishes mentioned in her many books. I plan on trying one or two of these myself!

I would like to thank Dorothy for taking the time to answer the questions I sent her, especially since, being the terrible procrastinator I can be at times, it was rather short notice.

1. How did you get started writing romance novels? Did you always want to be an author?


I've always been a reader and never had any thoughts about writing a book. I didn't know anyone who had ever written one. My husband and I went south to spend the winter and I was bored so bought an old manual typewriter and started writing for my own amusement. This was in 1976. I wrote four books and let my family and friend read them before I entered a contest for unpublished writers. An agent was one of the judges. He called and asked if he could sell my book. He took the other three and sold them all within a couple of weeks.


2. You are known as a writer of westerns and 'Americana' romances. Is there a reason you write about these time periods? Have you ever considered writing about a different time period or setting?


I write what I know. I love the westerns. Had I live in the time of the Wagon trains I would have been sitting on the back of one, the dust swirling around my feet. I also am fond of the depression era. I belive the hardships the people suffered during that time forged the characters of the men who won World War 2.

3. I love that you have recipes of dishes mentioned in your books listed at your website! I'm always on the lookout for blackberry recipes and plan on trying the Blackberry Mush recipe from LOVE AND CHERISH. Are these recipes ones that you have used and/or ones that you have found while researching a book?

I have used most of the recipes. I research and find recipes used during the time period of my story. My readers seem to enjoy trying out recipes used long ago.

4. At your website it says, 'Dorothy Garlock's short stories, INTERLUDE IN BIG BEND and BENEATH THE MIDNIGHT SUN, were selected by Universal Press Syndicate to launch the series, DAY DREAMS. A chapter each day, ran in 57 major newspapers for one month.' How long ago was this? It sounds like alot of work? Do you think you woulddo it again?


The serials ran back in the early 1980's. It was a challenge. I had to have a certain word count and couldn't go over for each chapter. I enjoyed writing the stores and probably would do it again.


5. You've been writing books for a long time. What changes have you seen in the romance market? Do you think it is easier or more challenging when it comes to delivering what the readers want?


I have seen a lot of changes. When I started it was fiction and non-fiction. Now we have mystery Romance, Sience fiction Romance, Paranormal and others. Some are erotic. Readers have more choice now.

6. You have published quite a few books...47! Out of all of them, do you have favorite or two?


Two of my favorites are RIBBON IN THE SKY because I fell in love with Mike Dolan the hero in the book and AFTER THE PARADE. My husband was in the Pacific during World War 2 and many of the things he told me about the war are in the book.

7. When you are not writing, what do you like to do? Do you have any hobbies?


I like to read and to travel. I love meeting the people who read my books. I don't call them fans. They are friends who spend hours with me and if I've done a good job they will like my stories and forget their trouble, if they have any, for a little while.

Photo of Dorothy Garlock from Time/Warner Books