Georgia Beers was born and raised in Rochester, New York. After high school, she attended college in Pennsylvania at Mansfield University, where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications. Always believing she wanted to be involved in television or radio somehow, she tried her hand at both after graduation, and decided rather quickly—and much to her own horror—that she didn’t like either one.
For as long as she can remember, Georgia has always written stories. After discovering the internet and the surprisingly large world of writing that exists on it, she met a fellow writer in the year 2000 to whom she felt close enough to share her first attempt at a manuscript for a novel. One thing lead to another, Georgia was introduced to a publisher, and the next thing she knew, she was an actual honest-to-goodness novelist. To this day, she still has trouble believing it.

It’s now 2006 and Georgia is currently at work on her fifth novel, Mine, as well as various short stories and a script for a short film. She still resides in Rochester with her partner of twelve years, Bonnie, and their two dogs.

Can you remember a time when you officially started calling yourself a writer?

It was after my first novel was published. Actually, no, wait…it was not until after my second novel was published. I think it’s very difficult to accept that you are what you’ve always wanted to be, you know? It took me a while.

What inspires you to write?
God, almost anything. I can never predict it. A beautiful woman, a weird situation, an emotional discussion, a good movie or book or song, a piece of art. I think an artist can be inspired by anyone or anything at any given moment. It happens when I least expect it.

Who do you consider to be your writing mentors?

That’s a very tough question! Let me think…the first people that always come to mind are the first people who helped me understand that I might be good at this. My mother, my Aunt Joyce, my high school Creative Writing teacher, Mrs. Scorza, and author Tonya Muir. My mother always told me I could be whatever I wanted to be. My Aunt Joyce was one of the first people in my family that I came out to and she’s always been incredibly supportive of my writing. Mrs. Scorza was a notoriously tough teacher who rarely gave out A’s, but she gave me a 99 on my final report card my senior year. Tonya was a fellow writer I met online who convinced me that my first manuscript was good enough to get published. Together yet apart, those four women gave me enough confidence in my writing to help me push forward and trust that I could be good at it. I owe them a lot.

Tell us a bit about your latest book, Too Close To Touch.

Too Close to Touch marks a sort of return to writing for me personally. It’s been three years since my last book because I just wasn’t inspired. I tried writing something different, something other than romance, and not only did I fail miserably, but I destroyed my desire to write for almost a year. It was depressing. When the inspiration for Too Close to Touch hit (based upon two women I saw), I was ecstatic! I hadn’t had the writing bug in what felt like ages and suddenly, the story was just flying off my fingertips. I think I wrote it in less than five months, but that doesn’t mean the characters weren’t deep. Too Close to Touch is the first book or story I’ve ever written where I was honestly sad when I was finished with the final edit. I actually missed the characters! I was mildly depressed for several weeks afterward.

Do you plot significantly before you start writing a new book? Which aspects of writing do you tend to focus on primarily?

I think as a writer, as you go along and produce more novels, you begin to understand your own processes and what works best for you. I don’t like to outline; it makes me antsy to just get writing already. But when I tried to write the departure from romance that I mentioned earlier, I know now that I didn’t have the whole story mapped out and that’s why it failed. I still don’t outline, but I now use 3x5 index cards. I try to write down every significant event that will occur in the book, each one individually on a card. Then I spread them all out, rearrange them, and so on until they resemble the bare bones of the story. I don’t go into great detail on them…they’re mainly significant events or good lines that I don’t want to forget. Once I have those bare bones and I feel good about them, I begin writing. With Too Close to Touch, I had the whole story mapped out on cards and I followed them until about halfway through the novel. The rest of it wrote itself and I didn’t need to look at the cards again.

As for what I focus on, that’s hard to say. I always have one or two scenes that stick in my head and they usually end up being a pivotal scene. To me, though, the most important things are the characters. I want my readers to be able to see them, relate to them, understand them at least a little bit, and ultimately, root for the main couple. I feel that if you don’t write believable characters, your story is already dead in the water.

What about editing; do you rewrite as you go or do you prefer to finish a first draft first before returning for the second?

I can’t rewrite as I go or I’d never finish; I’d be stuck in editing hell! When I sit down to write, I’ll look back on the previous page or two just to orient myself. Other than that, I write from start to finish. Once I reach the words The End, I go back from the beginning and give it another look before I send it off for its first edit.

What are you currently working on?

Right now, I’m mapping out Novel #5. I had my 3x5s spread out on the dining room table just this morning. Hopefully within the next week or two, I’ll be able to sit down and start writing it.

What do you feel makes your books unique or stand out from others in your specific genre?
As I said earlier, I think my characters are very real. I think my readers have an incredibly easy time relating to them, understanding them. I think you could go to the grocery store and run into any one of my characters. They feel like real people.

What’s a ‘typical’ day like for you?

Hmm…let’s see. I get up around 6 with my partner, Bonnie, and my dogs and we all go for a walk. We come home, make coffee and breakfast and then Bonnie reads the paper while I check my e-mail. After that, she heads up to shower for work and I work on whatever I’m focused on that day, be it a novel, short story, editing, or whatever. I hop in the shower a couple hours later and join her at the office by noon. I’m a morning person and do my best writing first thing, before other stuff clogs my head and I can only do a couple hours at a time. I don’t know that I’d do well writing in the evening and I don’t know how people write for endless hours. I’d short-circuit.

Are there any specific writing trends that have recently caught your attention?

I tried something a little different with my fourth novel, Fresh Tracks, which will be out this fall. I wrote each chapter from the point of view of one of the seven main characters. Not in first person, just in her point of view. I read a novel last year that used the same method and I thought it might be interesting to play with it a little bit. I think it worked well.

You recently attended the Golden Crown Literary Society convention in Atlanta. What’s the most important thing you took away from the experience?

The fact that there are readers who will spend their hard-earned money to travel across the country (and some across oceans) just to get a chance to meet and talk with their favorite authors absolutely blows me away. I love talking to women who love to read about women like them and gatherings like the GCLS convention make me so happy that I write in the genre I do.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

Yes! Thankfully, not often, but I think it happens to all of us at one time or another. For me, I’ve just found that I have to have faith that inspiration will return. It always has.

What do you consider your best and worst attributes?

My best attribute is that I’m a very compassionate person. I cry at the drop of a hat and I’ll get all misty-eyed just talking about something emotional. I think that helps me to write emotionally genuine characters. My worst attribute is that I’m a big, fat procrastinator! I always have been. Why do it today when I can wait until tomorrow?

When you’re not writing, what do you do to relax?

I’m a homebody. I love to be home with Bonnie and our two dogs. I love to walk. I love movies and television. I love to channel surf on TV. I love to lose myself in a good book. Bonnie and I joined a gym last year and we play racquetball together and swim.

Has the Internet had any significant impact on your writing career?

Huge. HUGE impact. The internet is how I met Tonya Muir. The internet is how I found my first publisher. The internet is how I got my first chance at being a real writer. And every day, via e-mail, the internet lets me know that there are women out there who read my work and enjoy it, who relate to my characters and are touched by the stories I write. It’s an amazing thing, the internet.

What are you reading, listening and watching right now?

You’ve caught me at a quiet time. My dog is chewing on a toy and that’s about the only sound. That and the soft rain falling outside. It’s actually quite a peaceful evening right now.

What’s on your 2006 Christmas wish list?

Oh, that’s a good question! I have no idea! It’s only August. I won’t deal with that pressure for another few months, until my mother starts hounding me for a list. I find that as I get older, it gets harder for me to come up with things I’d like.

Tell us something about Georgia Beers no-one else knows...

I have an absolutely filthy imagination. Oh, wait…maybe everybody already knows that…

What advice would you like to give to aspiring writers?

Never, ever give up. Sometimes, it seems too easy to just tell yourself you’re awful, you’re a terrible writer, who do you think you are, trying to do this? Don’t let the voices deter you. Write. If it feels good, then keep writing. If it’s a part of you, keep writing. Never, ever give up.

A happy writer is...

…one who can see the ending and a clear way of getting there.