Q&A With Maisey Yates 

I’m so excited as my next guest who I’m interviewing for booknotions.com is New York Times Bestselling author of over 100 romance novels, Maisey Yates. Her novels range from hard-working cowboys, dissolute princes or multigenerational family sagas. Many of her books are parts of a series and others, standalones. Some of Maisey’s work is Maverick, Colt, Dallas, Bound & Branded, Love Comes In Small Packages co-authored with Lori Foster & First Witches Club! 

Q: Welcome to Book Notions Maisey! I know you’ve written over 100 books, but could you give a brief description of some of your more recent books beginning with First Witches Club? 

A: First Witches Club was one of those magical ideas. It came to me in a dream – really! I woke up with “First Wives Club meets Practical Magic” echoing in my head, sat up at 4:30 AM and wrote an outline which I sent off to my agent by 6 AM. Nora, Soraya and Daisy’s story is really special to me, because it’s about taking those terrible curve balls life and throw at you and finding the beauty in your own strength, your own magic, and in friendship. And of course there’s romance, because I wrote it. 

Q: Romance and its subgenres are some of my favorite genres! What about the romance genre specifically, that drew you into writing it?

A: The minute I started reading it, I knew I wanted to try and write it. When I was a kid I was always writing adventure stories, like I was reading, and then I switched to fantasy, because I was obsessed with Lord of the Rings. I read my first Harlequin Presents when I was 21 and I knew I wanted to write that specifically. So for me, it’s always come from my passion for reading, and when I discovered romance as a reader, I never looked back. So it’s been the same for me as a writer. 

Q: How do you begin a typical day? Do you immediately sit down and write as soon as you wake up in the morning, or do you drink a cup of coffee and eat breakfast or go for a walk? 

A: My typical morning is rise, caffeinate, wake grumpy teenagers up for school (by next school year I’ll only be waking one up for school, my middle child is graduating this year) drive an hour round trip to school, and then head into my office to get some work in before pick up. That drive gives me time to figure out what I’m going to do with my day – but I also dictate so if I’m in the flow of a book I might dictate some words into my phone as I drive, so then I can sit down at my desk with a couple thousand words all ready to be edited. 

Q: How many hours a day do you spend plotting, writing and editing? How long does it take for you to write a book? Some authors I spoke with say it takes a year (it depends sometimes longer if its specifically historical fiction or nonfiction) and others say a few months. 

A: I’m a very fast writer. I always have been. And as I started to try new things in publishing, new opportunities would arise and I’ve always wanted to say yes, as long as I had something on the table. So for me, it’s very dependent on my schedule for the year, but an average length of time is about a month. I don’t work on multiple things at once. So if I’m writing a book, I’m writing the book. If I’m doing revisions, that’s all I’m doing until they’re done. I write as long as I need to in a day to get my daily word count, that’s how I track my progress. 

Q: What reminders, lessons and messages are you hoping readers take away once they turn the final page of your books? 

A: To me, the point of romance is hope. I hate that society doesn’t take it seriously because it ends happily, to me that’s the point. No matter what has happened to someone, no matter what they’ve done, no matter what’s been done to them, they can grow and change and forgive and let go and be free, and love and be loved in return. That’s the message in my books. It’s a message I think we need more of. There is always hope. 

Q: In your opinion, what are the ingredients that make a perfect love story in your opinion?

A: Characters that I’m invested in. I know how a romance novel is going to end, so I have to be invested in how they fall in love. I already know they will. For me, characters are the key to that. If I care about the things they care about, if I want to follow them on their journey and really root for them, then that’s a good romance to me. 

Q: Love Comes In Small Packages is a novel you co-authored with Lori Foster who I recently did a Q&A with! What was it like co-authoring a book with her? Did you write one chapter and then Lori wrote another one? What advice do you have for anyone wanting to coauthor a novel with someone, whether it’s a friend, a spouse or a family member? 

A: Love Comes in Small Packages is an anthology of two different stories – so Lori and I were both given a theme – in this case, adoption, and wrote stories based around that theme. Lori is such a lovely human being, and always a pleasure to work with in any capacity. I’ve known her for years – and in fact, the first anthology I did with her, years ago, led to me getting a contract with HQN which really launched my cowboy career. For a collection like this, I’d say collaborating is easy. For true author partnerships – like Hazel Beck, who is an author duo comprised of two friends of mine – I know trust and a very good idea of how each other works is essential. 

Q: Does Hollywood have the rights to your work? Who would be your dream cast to portray the characters you created from your imagination? 

A: A production company currently has the option for my book Confessions From the Quilting Circle. Though I’d love to see First Witches Club on screen since it was 90s rom com inspired. I’d choose Selena Gomez to play Nora, Amanda Seyfried for Soray and Brie Larson for Daisy. 

Q: Congratulations on all 100 + of your novels being on the New York Times Bestsellers List! Does it feel surreal that your novels are New York Times Bestsellers?

A: I think getting to do this as a job at all is surreal! I’ve been a reader most of my life, and to me authors were celebrities. I didn’t think it was a real job that I could ever do, and so to have been blessed with this life, and to still be doing it sixteen years after that first contract is really a dream come true. 

Q: Would you be able to fill us in on any upcoming releases and new stories you are currently working on? Or is it too soon? 

A: I’m working on my next novel for Montlake, We Meet Again, which is about an ornithologist who meets up with a pilot that she’s encountered before – many times – in her life. 

Q: Would you please provide your social media links so that the readers of the blog and I can follow you and your work?

A: https://www.facebook.com/MaiseyYates.Author/

https://www.threads.com/@maiseyyates

https://www.instagram.com/maiseyyates/