… I'm happy to announce that my fourth Genesis novel, A Risk of Rain (December 2000), which is set on the PGA golf tour, features a white golf-pro hero and his female caddy, who is also his ex wife -- an African-America heroine. Again, we have the issue of getting into the head of a different race and culture, but this time a woman. I had to handle the challenge thoughtfully and sensitively. I gave Perri, the heroine, a background and environment I could relate to, and I'm confident of and happy with the resulting novel. Also, I'm eager to see the reaction of my readers. 

Crescent Blues: Can you tell Crescent Blues readers a little bit about the novels you're working on now? 

Dar Tomlinson: I once read that Ernest Hemingway believed that every time you share your story with someone before it's written, it loses something. While I'm a great admirer of Papa -- who, incidentally, would be one hundred years old this year -- I find that each time I share my story it seems to gain momentum.  

I work on one novel at a time. As, I mentioned earlier, my work in progress, set in Scottsdale and on the Navajo Reservation, embraces the theme that love is stronger than race, culture and heritage. My heroine is Samoan/Anglo, a love child who's never met her father. She wants to run away to Samoa in search of heritage she's never known. My Navajo hero, after being wounded in a Navajo/Anglo relationship, is determined to marry within his tribe and strengthen the bloodline of his people. I'm having wonderful time breaking down the predisposed barriers and getting these two together for life. 

Crescent Blues: Is there any chance your Hispanic/Anglo novels will see print in the near future? 

Dar Tomlinson: Yes! Broken, the novel that won the Hemingway Award, will be published by Genesis in January 2000. I have written the sequel and a third and final book in the series is in plotting stage. 

Crescent Blues: Do you see the issues faced by interracial couples strictly in terms of race? What other challenges do they face? Cultural? Historical? 

Dar Tomlinson: A couple, no matter what their racial and cultural makeup, faces similar life issues. Too little money, or too much. Demanding careers, or lack of ambition, opposite goals and desires, different spiritual beliefs, differing social status, jealousy -- to mention a few.  

I originally sold Forbidden Quest to LionHearted Publishing, but withdrew the book because LionHearted lacked the finances to take it to press. Mary Ann Heathman, the publisher, told me she would not have bought the book had the only issue been racial. But Cally had an ex-husband dogging her, a social climbing fiancé making her life miserable, and a mother doing the same. Paul Michael was in America searching for a mother who abandoned him at birth, dragging those scars into his relationship with Cally -- issues any couple might face -- issues that gave the book the multifaceted qualities it needed to be publishable.  

The same holds true in my other novels. The characters are men and women of different race and culture dealing with problems in the [shared] culture they've formed by entering a relationship together. 

Crescent Blues: The heroines of both Forbidden Quest and Designer Passion share a number of similarities: indifferent fathers, delayed independence and wonderful, older women friends. Were these conscious creative decisions -- do you feel that certain types of backgrounds predispose women to tackling certain types of challenges? 

Dar Tomlinson: There's another cliche in the literary industry that says all writing is autobiographical. I believe this is true to a certain extent, but not always consciously so. My stories come from what I like to call my mental hard drive. Every experience I've had or seen has gone in there, and when I sit down to write, it pours out, even surprising me sometimes.  

It's referred to as "voice," of course -- each author's individual and personal take on the world she/he lives in. I've never had an older woman friend of the caliber of Jessica in Forbidden Quest or Sally in Designer Passion. Perhaps my creation of these characters, and the capacity I used them in, is an unconscious wish for friends like these. That's another thing I love about writing. All things are possible, and once you've written it, you've live it. Of course that's a whole other interview -- on heroes alone. [Smiles.] 

I do feel that certain types of backgrounds enable women to tackle challenges in their own special way. I see women every day admirably handling situations -- many of them in situations of prejudice and racism -- that I feel sure I would not be able to handle as well. Women express the same belief about me, about my life and particular situations. I do, however, believe in the undauntable power of woman, that given enough time, space, love and support, she can conquer any obstacle. These are the things great romance novels are made of; braiding it all together constitutes the joy of writing them. 

Crescent Blues: Why did you choose to tell the story of Forbidden Quest exclusively from Cally Sinclair's point of view? What made you decide to take a different tack with Holly Harper and Chess Baker in Designer Passion? 

Dar Tomlinson: Forbidden Quest was my first romance, and I originally wrote it in first person point of view, which was a great learning experience in the craft of novel writing, a great way to perfect point of view skills. I later changed to third person, but kept the singular format. I shied away from writing in Paul Michael's head, because I wasn't sure I could be true to a Jamaican male aspect. Instead, I painted the picture of him that I wanted the reader to come away with through Cally, through her changing attitude and growing love. It was a challenge, but as I said, great creative exercise. 

In Designer Passion, I felt I knew Holly and Chess as well as I'd ever known any living, breathing person, and I crossed back and forth between their points with ease. Chess is based on parts of my husband and sons, so writing in his head was a confident and enjoyable experience.

Crescent Blues: What inspired you to start writing and to choose romance novels as your vehicle to oppose racism? 

Dar Tomlinson: I began my stories at age 12. That's when I moved from a very small Oklahoma town to Oklahoma City, where I encountered cross-culture in school for the first time. There I quickly encountered designated boundaries that went uncrossed. Just as quickly I developed an aversion to this and vented in my stories.  

I began my first novel at age 14. My cousin had moved from Oklahoma to Texas, near the Mexican border and married a rancher. The stories she told of the poverty and the plight of the Mexican people who swam the river to sneak work on the ranch, the derision in her voice, hurt my heart. Rather than plead their case, I worked on my novel, and being 14, romance seemed the way to go. I still recall that book. The heroine was Penny, the hero was Chico….  

Six years ago, when I began to write with publication in mind, I realized my best chance of being read would come through romance. All novels are love stories, in one form or another, for instance the mainstream novels of Alice Hoffman and Joann Mapson, even Ann Tyler. Romance just happens to have a niche name that appeals to a vast readership. And what better way to heal the world than through love between man and woman, where the color of skin and the restraint of culture become secondary as they seek to meet one another halfway. 

Crescent Blues: Could you share the names of the writers and books you turn to for inspiration? Are they the same books that inspired you when you began writing? 

Dar Tomlinson: I have no lack of inspiration, only lack of hours to cater to it. I won't live long enough to convert to paper all the stories swirling in my head and nesting in my heart. I have always devoured novels of all kinds, still do. That's where I learned the skill of actually putting a story into manuscript form, learned points of view, narration, scene, sequel -- all unconsciously, of course. You can see I'm a big believer in the subconscious.  

Once I began to write to be published I discovered books on the writing craft and still have my favorites. Dwight Swain of course, Jack Bickham -- Chris Vogler is a writing god -- but the most helpful book I read was "Make Your Words Count," by Gary Provost, another writing guru who left us much too soon. In the beginning, I was so eager for the reader to get it, I had a strong tendency to tell everything three times. I write long books, with intricate sub-plots. The Provost book, which I reread periodically, and which is out of print, by the way, helps tremendously. I mentioned Hoffman, Mapson and Tyler above. I'm also greatly inspired by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. But Kathleen Eagle is my hero -- heroine? [Smiles.] Her cross-culture, Native-American/Anglo novels penetrate my soul. 

Crescent Blues: Forbidden Quest plays on many of the themes addressed in Romeo and Juliet. Designer Passion teases the reader with images of white knights, evocations of Camelot and a modern take on the Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot triangle. How did you settle on those themes? Do you plan to explore other archetypes in future books? Which ones? 

Dar Tomlinson: My novel, Broken and the sequel, Slightly Imperfect, as well as Forbidden Quest, are definitely Romeo and Juliet themes. This came from my need to point out that we live in a prejudiced world and how much color should not matter but does.  

While Designer Passion has a cross-cultural element running through it, Chess is Holly's white knight, no questions asked -- although she poses a few down to last page. This theme could be autobiographical. I've been married to a take-charge, I-can-fix-that kind of man for most of my life -- the same man, by the way. As I said, the character of Chess is a living, breathing entity in my life, one I loved elaborating on.  

My work in progress, Sepia Tones, is totally different. Lukas Wind Dancer and Cameron Vickers are both strong-willed people with opposite goals, and each has to compromise in order for them to be together. I'm not sure which archetype Lukas fits, but most likely a Dar Tomlinson creation. [Smiles.] I don't actually choose the themes for my books according to the identifiable, formulaic slots they'll fit. They choose me and won't let go. I just hang on for the ride. 

Crescent Blues: Anything you'd like to add? 

Dar Tomlinson: Yes. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about myself and my writing. I know me better now. But what has stayed constant in this self-analysis is the certainty of my love for writing. I'm only whole when I'm doing just that. Some times my private life suffers, but when I finally turn off the computer each day and reenter that world, I feel I bring a better me for having explored the minds, mores, whys and wherefores of my characters. I hope I'm able to share some of this fulfillment with a readership and somehow teach them, make them think, explore and accept things that are, as well as things that can be.  

Jean Marie Ward