PERSEVERANCE KEY TO SIMI NOVELIST'S THRIVING CAREER.Byline: VICTORIA GIRAUD A teacher told Margaret Brownley in eighth grade that she'd never be a writer. Looking back, the author of twelve books and a nominee in 1994-95 for the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Love and Laughter has to smile: ``Every book I write I'm trying to prove that eighth-grade teacher was wrong.'' About 10 years ago, the Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. woman took a career of writing articles, short stories and newsletters a step further when she began writing novelizations of her favorite TV soap - ``As the World Turns.'' It wasn't long before she started submitting chapters for potential books to Harlequin Harlequin (här`ləkwĭn, –kĭn): see commedia dell'arte. Harlequin Principal stock character of the Italian commedia dell'arte. . After her third reject, a Harlequin senior editor called, and Margaret determinedly told her that she was going to sell them a book eventually. Her fourth submission, ``Silent Walks the Moon,'' was accepted, and her career took off from there. The first years were not very lucrative. She was so embarrassed about her lack of money that one year she claimed she had made more money than she actually had on her tax return. The past two years, however, have been rewarding - she's recently done a Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Wal-Mart and Target book tour - but she continues to put a lot of her own money into promoting herself. Margaret's story ``Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut'' will appear in an upcoming anthology ``For The Love of Chocolate'' due out in May, and a novel, ``Ribbons in the Wind'' is scheduled for publication in November. Western historical themes are Margaret's favorites, and she gets many ideas for books from newspaper articles that she saves and files away. In her love stories, Margaret's heroines and heroes are strong individuals who rescue each other from sticky situations. The recent ``Petticoats and Pistols,'' set in 1896 Indiana, focuses on an independent woman inventor. ``Wind Song's'' heroine creates schoolboys out of a tribe of fierce Cheyenne Indians. ``The Kissing Bandit bandit: see brigandage. ,'' which concerns a mock marriage between a respectable heroine and a notorious bandit, has been optioned for a motion picture. Margaret has her own particular style. ``I'm known for my humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was . If I keep humor in, I can write about the darkest things.'' She always aims for a surprise ending that is foreshadowed in the book but fools most readers. No matter how dark the book - and her readers have found the theme of abandonment runs through all of them in one form or another - she will write a happy, ``love conquers all'' ending. For the past six years, Margaret also has taught courses on romance writing at Learning Tree University. She tells her students to persevere per·se·vere intr.v. per·se·vered, per·se·ver·ing, per·se·veres To persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement. and points out that she wrote four books Four Books Chinese Sishu Ancient Confucian texts used as the basis of study for civil service examinations (see Chinese examination system) in China (1313–1905). that never sold. ``I tell my students they have to read. It's amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. that they want to write fiction, and they don't read. Harlequin gets 10,000 manuscripts a year, and a lot are not ready to be seen.'' Keeping a busy schedule of writing, Margaret produces two historical novels a year as well as two novellas This literature-related list is incomplete; you can help by [ expanding it]. This is a selected list of novellas that have gained fame and/or critical and public acclaim. . She'll rise as early as 4:30 a.m. to begin creating in her home office and is generally burned out by 3 p.m., when she takes care of other office business. Margaret, born in London to a French mother and English father who died during World War II, remembers an important wartime incident when she was 5 that led her to the world of imagination. One day she was outside in her back yard when a German plane flew over. She angrily threw a pebble at it. Not long after, she related the story while traveling on a London subway subway: see rapid transit. subway Underground railway system used to transport passengers within urban and suburban areas. The first subway line, 3. , her imagination embellishing the facts. The single plane became several; the pebble became lots of large rocks. At the end of the story, Margaret recalled, ``everyone burst into applause. It was an empowering moment I've carried with me. Every time I write, I look for that moment.'' Now married 35 years with three children and two grandchildren GRANDCHILDREN, domestic relations. The children of one's children. Sometimes these may claim bequests given in a will to children, though in general they can make no such claim. 6 Co. 16. , Margaret says she has never worked so hard, but still enthusiastically exclaims, ``I feel lucky I can make money from something I love to do.'' MEMO: Victoria Giraud welcomes comments and suggestions for columns. Call her at (818) 344-9393. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (color) Margaret Brownley Proved 8th-grade teacher w rong |
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