Bella Andre Interview

Bella Andre is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Sullivans, The Morrisons and The Maverick Billionaires series.

Having sold more than 6 million books, Bella Andre's novels have been #1 bestsellers around the world and have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists 31 times. She has been the #1 Ranked Author at Amazon (on a top 10 list that included Nora Roberts, JK Rowling, James Patterson and Stephen King), and Publishers Weekly named Oak Press (the publishing company she created to publish her own books) the Fastest-Growing Independent Publisher in the US. After signing a groundbreaking 7-figure print-only deal with Harlequin MIRA, Bella's The Sullivans series is being released in paperback in the US, Canada, and Australia.ia.

Known for “sensual, empowered stories enveloped in heady romance” (Publishers Weekly), her books have been Cosmopolitan Magazine “Red Hot Reads” twice and have been translated into ten languages. Winner of the Award of Excellence, The Washington Post called her “One of the top writers in America”; and she has been featured in Entertainment Weekly, NPR, USA Today, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and  TIME Magazine. A graduate of Stanford University, she has given keynote speeches at publishing conferences from Copenhagen to Berlin to San Francisco, including a standing-room-only keynote at Book Expo America in New York City.
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Bella also writes the New York Times bestselling Four Weddings and a Fiasco series as Lucy Kevin. Her “sweet” contemporary romances also include the new USA Today bestselling Walker Island series written as Lucy Kevin.

If not behind her computer, you can find her reading her favorite authors, hiking, swimming or laughing. Married with two children, Bella splits her time between the Northern California wine country and a 100-year-old log cabin in the Adirondacks.

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At Romance Rehab, we’re all about debunking romance myths and shutting down critics of the genre. As an author of steamy, emotional romance, in your opinion, what are some of the biggest misconceptions about the romance genre as a whole?
Thanks so much for having me at Romance Rehab! I’m so glad Gabe Sullivan from CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE made your top list of romance heroes!

I’ve been a romance reader my entire adult life (actually, my romance novel addition may have started when I was around 10…), and since then I’ve spent so much time either reading or writing romance, that other people’s opinions about what I like to read or do for a living have never much mattered to me. In fact, the way I met my future roommate and bestie at Stanford University, is because both of us had tons of romance novels on our dorm room bookshelves, where other students only had textbooks. 

We clearly had our priorities straight! Especially considering that both of us now write romance for a living. Her name is Jami Alden and she writes fantastic contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Our other partner in crime from way back is a Stanford Law graduate – Monica McCarty, who writes brilliant Scottish historicals and romantic suspense. For me, knowing so many incredibly intelligent women who write and love romance has always broken down and busted past any preconceived notions people might have that we’re not a genre that deserves respect.

What’s the best line from a book, movie or TV show that you wish you wrote?
Oh my gosh, there are so many. Too many! I could pretty much quote Pretty Woman verbatim. Or Galaxy Quest. Or The Mindy Project. And everything Nora Roberts writes is genius.  

Do you have a favorite among your many books that you’d like to see made into a movie? If so, who would play the leads?
I would love to see The Sullivans on the big screen! My street team often has casting parties to pick the actors and actresses they think would do the best job portraying The Sullivans. At present, they’ve decided that Chase Sullivan from THE LOOK OF LOVE should be played by Matt Bomer and Marcus Sullivan in FROM THIS MOMENT ON by Joe Manganiello. What do you think? Hopefully we will be able to get The Sullivans made into a movie or TV show soon!

And, I do have some exciting news that my Lucy Kevin Four Weddings and a Fiasco series has lots of TV/Film interest right now too! I’ll have more news hopefully about that soon!

If you could co-author a book with anyone you haven’t worked with before, who would it be and why? (feel free to time-travel on this one—it can be any author, living or dead)
I absolutely adore Elizabeth Gilbert’s writing. I don’t need to write a book with her, but I would love to just sit and chat writing and life with her over a pot of tea!


Becoming a NYT and USA Today bestseller is no easy accomplishment. What advice do you have for all the authors and aspiring romance writers out there who hope to someday achieve your level of success?
First, remember you aren’t alone! It’s really important to have a good team behind you. I have an amazing team of editors, proofers and digital file producers. I work with great bloggers and marketing professionals and I also have the love and support of my family. Everyone thinks “indie publishing” means being independent, but it’s not the case at all. While you get to be in charge of your own career and your own vision, you also work with lots of great people to put your book out there!

And second, remember that in the end, it’s all about the book. How much you love writing what you’re writing matters. Plus, you’ve got to do the work every day by getting the words down.

The zombie apocalypse has hit (as we all knew it would one day). Which TV or movie characters do you want as part of your crew? (no superheroes…that’s cheating)
Sherlock and Watson – the BBC Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman version. They’re brilliant, so surely they could figure out a way to prevail!

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