Welcome to our New Faces column, where you can meet brand-new romance authors and find out about their books! This time we're visting with Anna Jeffrey, whose first releases is The Love of a Cowboy, a contemporary romance from Onyx.

Anna, welcome to TRR! Tell us about yourself.

I'm a native West Texan, but I lived in the Northwest for many years. My husband and I presently live in a small town in Texas, near Fort Worth. I have one daughter who will never leave Portland, Oregon, no matter what happens, so if I ever want to spend time with her, I'm going to have to move back to the Northwest.

Are you coming to romance writing from another job?

I've done a lot of things. I was in and out of the real estate business for years, but I finally let my license expire this year. I've also been in and out of small retail businesses, the latest being a retail collectibles business.

What led you to write romance?

When I made the decision to write a novel, I started on a mainstream book. Almost at the beginning, someone in a writing group I had joined told me the difficulty breaking into the mainstream market and suggested I write romance. After studying the romance market and seeing that the genre makes up the largest percentage of books sold, I decided she might be right, so I began learning about romance writing. However, my stories still have mainstream elements, which I don't think I can escape. One of the editors at my publisher calls my stories "high concept" romances.

I've been a reader for as long as I can remember. Where I lived as a child, there was no library, but there were always books of some kind around the house. I read everything. I'm still a voracious reader.

Tell us about your road to publication.

In a word, rocky. I submitted for several years and my work was rejected many times by both editors and agents. I went to conferences occasionally, which is where I made an indirect contact that took me to an editor at NAL. I also entered contests. I still don't know if a contest or a query letter got the attention of the editor because the cowboy novel won a contest and was bought at about the same time. I've been in an excellent critique group for several years. In terms of individuals, I would say those members helped me the most.

What kind of research was involved for your first book?

In THE LOVE OF A COWBOY, I did quite a lot of research on fetal alcohol syndrome. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to put everything I learned into the book. Having grown up in West Texas in a family filled with ranchers and farmers, I didn't have to do much research on cowboys.

Who are your influences as a writer?

There are many. I like the classic authors - Hemingway, Steinbeck, Sinclair Lewis, Willa Cather. New writers I like, to name a couple, are Nicholas Evans and Tami Hoag. I like others, too, but those two are auto-buys.

What does your family think of having a new romance author in their midst?

They think it's fun. And so do I.

Tell us about plans for future books.

My second book, THE LOVE OF A STRANGER, is scheduled for release April 1, 2004. It's a contemporary set in the same fictitious small town as the cowboy book., but it's a stand-alone story. It isn't about cowboys, but it is an outdoorsy book with a murder and a conflict over an environmental issue. Following that will be THE LOVE OF A LAWMAN, which I'm working on now. It, too, is set in the same small town. I'm back to cowboys again in that one.

At the same time, my sister and I have co-authored a contemporary romantic comedy we've sold to Avon. It's about cowboys and cowgirls and life in West Texas. I call it a "horse opera." Everyone who's read it thinks it's a howl. It's entitled SINCE YOU'RE LEAVING ANYWAY, TAKE OUT THE TRASH. September 1, 2004 is the release date. The editor at Avon is really enthusiastic about it. We're writing a second romantic comedy for them now.

How can readers get in touch with you?

I have a post office box: P. O. Box 2191, Granbury, Texas 76048. Or they can e-mail me: anna@annajeffrey.com.

Anna, thanks for joining us and best of luck! Readers, we have a review of The Love of a Cowboy here at TRR.

September 21, 2003