We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Colleen Cambridge a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Colleen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I lit on this topic because I wanted to take a minute to explore what, exactly, a “meaningful project” is.

In my world, as a novelist, many people might think a “meaningful project” would be The Great American Novel—ie, some great literary feat that somehow changes the world or becomes indelible in our society. Something that is breathtakingly beautiful and at the same time, utterly compelling and brilliant and timeless.

That’s not my perspective. As a writer who’s penned over forty full-length published novels, I believe that every book is a meaningful project. Every work of art is a meaningful project—even if only to the creator.

But beyond that, a meaningful project can be something that falls short of the lofty standards of The Great American Novel and still be meaningful and important to many people.

In my mind, what makes a book—any book (and any creative output)—meaningful is if it’s created with goodness in the heart and mind, and if it induces any positive response from the reader: a much needed escape, a bit of learning, an exposure to a different world/mindset/culture/etc. If it makes one think…if it transports and relaxes…if it induces emotions….it’s meaningful…to the reader and to the creator.

Any book that explores partnership and love, sacrifice and honesty, justice and strength is meaningful to me—especially in today’s world.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started writing stories when I was in middle school because I ran out of books to read…so I started writing something that I wanted to read. I continued writing through high school, taking a brief sabbatical during undergraduate school (I graduated with a BA in English, not expecting to write for a living but also acknowledging that it was my biggest dream to be a novelist).

I got a job, got married, got promoted into management, got my MBA, had three children…and even during all of that time I continued to write because it was something that pulled at me. I wrote every night after my children went to bed, eking out at least 500 words per night. I wrote in many different genres, trying to find a combination of something I wanted to write and something that publishers thought was marketable. I knew I had the talent to write a good book; I simply (ha!) needed to find the right fit with a story that worked for me and that was also attractive (read: hot) to the publishing industry.

I landed an agent after writing my sixth novel, and she sold my eighth novel about two years later. Shortly before that, my job was eliminated due to my company being sold, and I had started a small insurance company. I swiftly stepped away from that to focus on writing full-time, which I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to do since that first sale in 2005.

Since then I’ve written 26 novels for major publishers like New American Library (now part of Penguin Random House), HarperCollins, Harlequin, and Chronicle Books. I currently write two historical-set mystery series for Kensington Books, and have indie-published another 20-some novels on my own.

I like to say I write something for every reader, every mood… everything from paranormal and vampires to historical romance to action adventure to historical and contemporary mystery…and a lot of little niche parts in between. I’m fortunate that I’m very versatile in my writing—in genre, voice, subject, etc.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As I mentioned previously, I’ve written in a number of different genres. What that also means is that I’ve had to change pen names multiple times. I’ve had book series cancelled before the story was complete. I’ve had publishers drop me/my books because sales weren’t “good enough” even though the books received rave reviews and had die-hard fans.

But through it all, I’ve picked myself back up, come up with something new—and been willing to try something new—and kept going, always trying new things, always being open to new and different opportunities.

I think that resilience and my versatility is what helped me land so happily at my current publisher, Kensington Books. They are a nurturing sort of company, and because they wanted to work with me, they have offered me several different book ideas that have all turned out very well.

Had I not previously demonstrated my ability to change, adapt, and be versatile, I’m not certain that would have happened.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think society as a whole needs to be educated that art is work. And that work should be paid for. And so downloading pirated copies of anything—books, music, film, etc—is something that damages art and the artists.

Society should also be educated that since art is work, writers and creatives can’t simply create at the drop of a hat or, as many of my colleagues are told, “write faster!”. All artists have their own process, and some of us create faster and more nimbly than others.

In short, it’s important for society to learn that art takes time and it’s not like churning out widgets. (And please, despite how “fast” it might seem that a writer writers, don’t ever use the term “churn” to describe their output. It’s work, but it’s creative and sensitive and emotional and HARD. It’s not a factory.)

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.colleencambridge.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colleengleason/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColleenCambridgeAuthor
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/colleengleason

Image Credits
First image-Kelly Blazo