Erica's ​Bio

Best-selling, award-winning author Erica Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. She’s a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota, and she married her total opposite and soul mate! When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks. You can connect with her at her website, www.ericavetsch.com where you can read about her books and sign up for her newsletter, and you can find her online at https://www.facebook.com/EricaVetschAuthor/ where she spends way too much time!

Basic information

Name: Erica Vetsch
Email: ericavetsch@gmail.com
Representation: Cynthia Ruchti, Books and Such Literary
Places to find Erica online:
“As a history teacher and museum junkie, I am enthralled by the past, by the fortitude, bravery, and ingenuity shown by those who came before us. As a born romantic, I fall in love with fictional characters, living their triumphs and tragedies through the wonder of story. I want to be able to share my love of history and romance and hopefully bring some light and life to the world around me.”

- Erica Vetsch

Interview Questions & Answers

  1. Q: What is the first book that made you cry?
  2. A: Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. That book destroyed me totally, and I learned a valuable lesson. Life goes on, even after devastating loss. 
Q: Have you ever gotten reader’s block?
A: I did, when I first started learning all the ‘rules’ of writing. It frustrated me that I had lost my ability to fall into a story and forget I was reading, because I was spending so much time dissecting the writing and comparing it to the ‘rules. I’m thankful that phase passed. I love, love, love reading.
Q: Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
A: ​I try to stay true to my brand, which is authentically, accurately researched historical romance. I try to be original when it comes to plot/story line, and through my use of period language, but for the most part, I want readers to know what to expect when they pick up one of my stories. Clean romances full of hope and history ever after.
Q: Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
A: Within series, the stories are connected, and even in a couple of novella collections, the novellas have been connected, but I also want a reader to be able to pick up one of my stories and enjoy it on its own. I haven’t yet written a sequel with the same character as the protagonist, though characters from previous books do show up from time to time in other works.
Q: What is your writing Kryptonite?
A: Social media. The pull of checking email or Facebook or Instagram. The distractions are myriad, and the discipline to say no and keep my nose to the grindstone is tough.
  1. Q: How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
  2. A: Probably the biggest change happened because before publication, I was a very linear writer. Write the first draft, edit, critique partners feedback, edit. Send it out. Start the next book. But when that first contract came, for a three book series, things changed. I was writing book three while editing book two while promoting book one. I had to learn to lay down one project and pick up another midstream, and then go back to the first, only to pick up another a few hours later. 
  1. Q: What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
  2. A: I’ve visited many of the sites I write about,  particularly those in the US. I’ve yet to make a pilgrimage to England now that I’m writing Regency romance, but it’s definitely on the to-do list. 
Q: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
A: ​Start writing sooner, when you first felt the pull to put words to paper. If you had done that, when you were in your twenties, you could have learned so much and applied so much at a younger age.
  1. Q: What are common traps for aspiring writers?
  2. A: Assuming that your heartbreaking-work-of-staggering-genius is ready for the world to read before you’ve edited, learned industry standards and expectations, or let anyone with a critical eye read it and give feedback. Also, assuming this journey is easy, that it will make you a zillion bucks, or that you will be a different person after you have a book published.​
  1. Q: Does writing energize or exhaust you?
  2. A: Yes. Living the story in my head, creating and getting to know the characters, exploring the setting, writing those scenes from my imagination and seeing them unfold on the page is energizing. And yet, it’s also mentally and emotionally draining. Then there are all the other writer-ly tasks that come with being a novelist, the editing, the marketing, the social media. All those have their upsides, but they take energy, too.
  1. Q: Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
  2. A: Not really. Though there are some applications where writing under a pseudonym make sense. If I completely changed genres, say from historical romance to sci-fi or thrillers, I would use a pen name so as not to confuse or disappoint the reader base I have spent so much time growing.
Q: What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
A: I’m blessed to have many writing friends. Through writing organizations, my literary agency, various author events, and the open doors of social media make connecting with and making author friends easier than ever. In the past, I’ve had author friends as critique partners, mentors, shoulders to cry on, warriors to pray with, and voices of reason. If I started to list them here, I would surely miss someone and feel terrible!

Media Guide for the Serendipity and Secrets

Media Guide for the Serendipity + Secrets.pdf
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©All works and content ©2019 by Erica Vetsch​ - © Copyright 

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