By Claire Applewhite

I met Bobbi Smith at the Heartland Writers Guild in Sikeston, Mo., more than five years ago, and I was enthralled by her quick wit and easy laugh. When I spoke with her recently, I was delighted to find that same laugh, that captivating charm.

Smith is proud of her rich St. Louis heritage. Born in north St. Louis, she attended St. Louis Public School Gifted Classes, Harris Teachers College and University of Missouri-St. Louis. She was a department manager for Famous Barr, and later, a bookstore clerk, but her creative urge was stifled. In 1982, she sold her first book.

Since then, Smith, now 58, has not stopped. She has more than 40 books and several short stories to her credit. There are more than 5 million of her novels in print. She has been awarded the Romantic Times Storyteller of the Year Award. Her next book, which comes out in June, is “Wanted! The Half-Breed.” She lives in St. Charles with her husband and two sons. She talked about her “secrets to success.”

Applewhite: You’ve been called the Queen of the Western Romance. What do you feel gives your novels appeal?

Smith: I like to write stories that are entertaining, fast-paced, fun reads, John Wayne/Maureen O’Hara-type Westerns - pure escapism. We definitely need that right now.

Applewhite: How long does it take you to write a novel, generally speaking?

Smith: My first book, “Rapture’s Rage” was set in St. Louis and took 2 ½ years to finish. Now, I can write a book in six months. I have a general outline. I know the beginning and the end and who my main characters are. After about 50-75 pages, the characters take over.

Applewhite: How does research fit into your writing?

Smith: Research is the fun part. I’m a history freak. I love any excuse to go to the library and dig through the stacks or to travel to the area I’m writing about!

Applewhite: I read an interview with a writer once in which she said that the two hardest things for her were naming her characters and determining the narrative structure, so she did those things last. What do you find most difficult?

Smith: Plotting. There are only so many plot lines, and after all these books I find myself saying, oops, I did that already, oops I did that already. It’s hard to stay fresh. I’ve come to rely on my characters more and more to add the new dimensions to the stories - that and digging into history to find new and exciting events that few people have heard about to incorporate into the storyline. Re character names - it is tricky. On a trip to Williamsburg, Va., author Constance O’Banyon and I spent hours in the cemetery there, copying names off the tombstones.

Applewhite: What piece of advice would you like to give to the new writer? To the discouraged writer?

Smith: To the new writer I would say - don’t have an ego! If an editor asks for changes, the proper response - if you want to be published - is “yes.”

To the discouraged writer I would say - never, ever quit!

My business degree from UMSL and my years working hardlines at Famous-Barr really helped me with my career. Being a published, popular author means writing books that people want to read. Publishing is all about bookselling. You can write the best book in the world about Bolivian volleyball players, but if no one wants to read it, you’re not going to sell.

Applewhite: How did you become “Queen of the Western Romance?”

Smith: I was honored when Romantic Times magazine dubbed me with that title. I’ve been writing Westerns since the mid-’80s and loving it. I grew up on “Gunsmoke,” “Rawhide,” “Bonanza,” and, of course, John Wayne. I always loved writing about the Mississippi and steamboats, but the Western market sells better - and like I mentioned above - this is all about bookselling.

Applewhite: Some people feel that genre novels are formulaic. Do you agree? How can a writer successfully balance a fresh story vs. reader expectations in a genre novel?

Smith: Our readers know what they want. They want to escape to another time and another place where the good guys always win and the bad guys always lose and the heroine always gets her man. Genre fiction is wonderful. As long as the author gives his readers characters they can fall in love with and care about, the readers’ expectations will be met. Sylvie Sommerfield, a best-selling author who passed away some time ago, told me once, “You’ve got to grab the reader by the heart on page one and drag them through the book! Don’t give them any reason to put the book down.”

Applewhite: Is there one particular book of yours that is your personal favorite? Why?

Smith: My very first book, “Rapture’s Rage,” will always hold a special place in my heart. My title for it was “The Mist And The Dream,” but NY wanted the other title, so it was changed. It was the book of my heart, the way an author’s first book always is. You write it for yourself, never knowing whether you’ll sell it or not.

It’s set in St. Louis in the late 1850s. I had a great time doing the research, all those steamboats and river history. My heroine had come to St. Louis from Louisiana, and I had the chance to take a vacation and tour the plantations there. What fun. One of the best perks of being published is that research trips are a tax write-off.

Bobbi Smith’s website is http://www.bobbismithbooks.com/

Claire Applewhite is St. Louis writer and member of the St. Louis Writers Guild, the Greater St. Louis Chapter of Sisters in Crime and the Mystery Writers of America.  Her short story, ”Moonlight Becomes You So,” will be published in October 2008.