Connie Cox: After retiring from a successful career as a teacher, why did you decide to start down another career path and why writing?
K Sue Morgan: After a year of cleaning house and doing all those things you put off when your busy with family and working I began reading a "new" genre called romance. Being an English teacher I read so many papers and books that the teenagers were reading that I barely had time to read the top ten books on the New York Times List much less venture into new areas. I had not read a romance until my faithful used book seller introduced me to them. (So used book dealers serve a purpose after all). This was in 1990 so you can see how much I had to catch up on reading romance. Wasn't Romance Writers of America begun in the early 1980's? My adult son found me reading these books so often that he asked why I didn't try writing one rather than reading them. I laughed. My writing until that time had been centered around religious, educational, and editorial writing.

How soon after retirement did you begin writing seriously? What made the timing right then?
I began about two years after retirement. My husband and I were driving to Florida and I had taken a bag full of romance books to read by some of my favorite authors: Jennifer Blake, Linda Lael Miller, Elizabeth Lowell, Julie Garwood - only to name a few. I was bored with the Interstate scenery so I had him stop at a store and got those well known basic writing tools - pen and yellow pad. By the time we returned to Louisiana I was looking for another pad.

Had you dabbled in writing before?
I had written articles for our church bulletin, The Baptist Standard, the Texas Baptist news paper, editorial articles for our Texas local newspaper, and educational articles but I do not think these prepared me for writing romance. I grew up thinking anyone could tell a story -- it wasn't until I was much older that I found out it was a gift.

The love of reading is usually a precursor to writing. Have you always been a reader? What did you read prior to beginning your writing career?
Primarily I read teenage books so I could recommend them to parents, my son bought the New York Times best sellers and when he finished with them he passed them to his poor school teacher mother (G). However as a child I walked to our public library and checked out books. When I'd finished all the books in my age appropriate books the librarian began letting me read the "adult" section. One of the first authors that I told the librarian not to give me any more of was Hemingway. She asked me why and I told her he didn't like women. I remember that she didn't say anything but smiled. I loved Daphne DuMaurier -- which I count as my first romance writer. I couldn't wait for her books to come into the library.

You are multipublished in western historical romance. What influenced you to choose that that genre and era?
I was born and raised in Texas. I had a Texas-born father and seven uncles who were examples of what a Texas bred and raised men were. All of my heroes are based on these examples so my heroes come to mind full blown. Honest, dependable, and trustworthy. Each married a woman who was an independent thinker with a mind of her own. I, also, taught Texas history before we moved to Louisiana which gave me a solid background. Another thing, in Texas children in kindergarden are given pictures of the Texas flag, the Alamo, the San Jacinto monument and other significant events in Texas. This is continued all the way through the 8th grade where they must take Texas history as well as American history.

Do you feel that starting your writing career after retiring from a different field as helped or hindered you?
I feel it definitely helped. I taught English and history, what better back ground could a western writer have. That and the hand-me-down-Apple II-computer that my son put on my desk when we got back from our trip and convinced me how much easier it would be to write on. I progressed far beyond the Apple II and it certainly has made things much easier. I should've learned to use a computer when I was teaching.

Looking back, what would you do differently?
I'd like to think I would've started writing sooner. Certainly I wish I had discovered romance sooner.

What do you bring to your writing now that you could not have brought to it if you had started your writing career earlier?
At my age I like to think I bring life experiences that help me to understand people and why they act-react the way they do. This helps to build my characters and their motivation for why they behave as they do.

Why do you write?
After ten years of writing, I write because it fulfills a need in me that nothing else can. It's given me an opportunity to travel and meet a wonderful group of people - other writers. It's good to know that when I see a movie and rewrite it mentally that I'm not the only person in the world who does that.

If you had not become a writer, what would you guess you would be doing now?
I can't imagine not writing now that I've begun but I volunteered in my grandchildren's schools to read/tell stories for several years. I suppose I would have continued to do that more often.

What have you gained from this second career?
Many friends who share the same interest and as my children tell me "It keeps the gray cells working."

What are some of your future goals?
Being on the best-seller list is too exalted a goal. I'm content to continue selling the stories I love to tell.

Any advice for those who say they'd like to write a book someday?
Start today. Buy a yellow pad and start making notes. Or start a secret file on your computer that only you have the password to and write your notes there but start now.

EDITOR'S UPDATE (OCT. 2004) Sue has recently started a critique group to mentor up-and-coming writers and is currently working on her latest novel.  Her three previous books have sold out and are difficult to find but well worth the search.

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