The XO Interview: Tricia Quinnies writing as Audrey Lynden
Talking with a debut author about romance with both on and off the page
One of my favorite things about Romancelandia is how most people have at least two different names. Today’s interview is with veteran conference organizer Tricia Quinnies who is also debut author Audrey Lynden. We chatted about her new anti-heist art romance, The Artful Bargain, the essential ingredients for a great romance conference and her IRL romantic proposal. Fun fact: we also share the same “first book” that got us into romance.
How did you first discover the romance genre? Which book was The One for you?
In high school study hall my freshman year, there were several of those metal spinners (remember those?) filled with mass market paper backs. It’s here that I discovered Kathleen Woodiwiss’s The Flame and the Flower. What a page turner! I loved the book and boy did it make study hall zoom by! However, the routine in school became classes and classics and then more of the same through college. The ONE fell into my lap many years later, right after I was married, and my first son was born. My mom gave me a copy of Perfect by Judith McNaught. I had forgotten how wonderful it was to read a great love story! This book made me: fall in love with reading again, realize how great it is to be in love, the beauty of unconditional love and how the best foundation for all of the good stuff if life comes from family love.
Another huge aspect of the book that blew me away at the time was that it was written to support literacy groups. Up until this point, literacy and reading were at the core of my life…bookworm extraordinaire here!
How could it be that there were those who couldn’t read? As shocked as I was, I know now that I wouldn’t have thought twice about the topic if it weren’t for Ms. McNaught’s incredible skill with character and emotional development in her main character Julie Mathison. Julie’s struggles became my struggles and I had to root her on through the entire story! What a great book and it has stuck with me ever since. One of the reasons why there was table at the Wisconsin Romance Writers conference for the Literacy Services of Milwaukee.
As well, I’m a huge Susan Elizabeth Phillips fan. Before I attended any romance writing conference, my sister and I drove to Chicago where the RWA Chicago North’s Conference was taking place...just to meet SEP!
We met via the Wisconsin Romance Writers, at their wonderful conference which you coordinated with your RWA chapter. I believe that romance conferences are so important to the community and maybe even the secret weapon of Romancelandia. It’s not just the sharing of knowledge about both craft and business, but the way we affirm each other and our love for the genre. In your experience as an organizer, what makes for a successful gathering of romance writers? Are there some essential ingredients?
Speaking of conferences, I have to say that organizing the Wisconsin Romance Writers conference in Milwaukee was a brilliant experience. Having attended several romance conferences, I am a big fan of the camaraderie, knowledge and support that’s gained when surrounded by writers and professionals within the publishing industry. At the Milwaukee conference I really wanted to celebrate romance writers because they’re hard working and so passionate about their craft. Unfortunately, in the literary world, there’s a hierarchy and the romance genre gets dissed way too often. It’s so frustrating for me since romance writing was how I learned to find my voice: in life and on the page.
Writing, like any other creative endeavor, can be intimidating. We’re showing parts of ourselves that would be much easier to keep hidden from the world. Yet romance writers willingly share some deep pieces of themselves to connect and help readers. Romance writers are the bravest and boldest writers out there and at the conference I wanted to congratulate them for their bravery!
As for planning a successful romance writing conference, here are my essentials:
Good food
Kind words
Round tables – so much easier to talk to one another! Right!?
Honesty about a really tough business
Cocktails (or mocktails) to assist with #4 😊
Your first novel, The Artful Bargain, centers around the art world and features a curator of steampunk exhibition who finds love with an artist as they team up to unmask a thieving museum director. You describe it as an “anti-heist.” Can you tell us a little more about the story? Did anything from your art history background inspire it?
Inspiration sprung from a variety of sources:
I loved my art history classes. At one point I dreamed of working at the Institute of Art in Chicago or at an auction house like Sotheby’s. Although I didn’t work at either place, I had the honor of working at the Milwaukee Art Museum. What a great experience to spend my days surrounded by Picasso and O’Keeffe paintings.
Remember I mentioned how romance writers share little pieces that might be easier if ignored or buried? Well I had a little piece from my museum days that started as an annoying pebble and turned into a rolling rock that threatened to flatten me. So much later, I decided to use my words. Most people can relate to bad work experiences or toxic bosses. From one of these experiences, I designed my antagonist, Larry Chambers.
Then my love of heist movies floated into the Franken-mix in creating The Artful Bargain. The most pivotal movie was The Thomas Crown Affair-both versions. The twists and turns and aha moments make this movie and other heist movies such as The Italian Job or Oceans Eight, so much fun to watch and re-watch.
In The Artful Bargain, I think of the story as an “anti-heist” because of my main character. Claire Beaumont isn’t about nicking the gold, paintings, money, or jewels like in other heist stories. She wants to set the record straight about her father’s reputation and ultimately ends up discovering a treasure that’s much more valuable – a sense of strength and independence.
True romance story time: Your husband proposed to you at his first art exhibit. Can we get the full story? ;-)
So Craig and I have been married for a few years – quite a few actually – and he really did propose to me at one of his first exhibits. It was a cozy gallery near the campus of UW-Milwaukee. A lot of family had come to support him. When he proposed we were surrounded by friends, family and yes, great art! I knew right then that marrying Craig would be fun and joyful. After raising three sons, three dogs, two birds and a turtle we’re still having fun hanging out at art galleries. In 2021 we went to the Armory Show in New York and celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary.
How do romance novels give you joy?
Romance novels are so fulfilling and gratifying! They’re stories where two soul mates persevere and find one another when the chips are stacked against them! When they get to their happy-ending I feel like I—the reader—was an essential part in their success because I had rooted them on from the beginning. Ha! I truly believe that love and family are the keys to happiness. This may sound cheesy, but hey…I am from Wisconsin! 😊