Looking for a red hot novella to warm up your winter?
Welcome, Jessica! What 5 things should readers know about you?
- I get the biggest reward from being a mom and a wife. I know it sounds like the politically correct thing to say when you are a mother and wife, but it is the truth. No matter how bad a day I have at my day job or how cranky my time of the month may make me, a hug from my children or a kiss from my husband shows me that no matter what – life ain’t that bad!
- I LOVE the Ohio State Buckeyes!
- I’ve gone skydiving many times and have loved every second of it!
- I surfed in Hawaii – off the coast of Kona on the Big Island.
- The author that got me hooked on the romance genre was Eileen Goudge. If you’ve never read her, you’re missing out. Check out her Garden of Lies.
I don’t know if I’m more impressed by #3 or #4! Wow 🙂
Tell us all about your main characters – who are they? What makes them tick? Most importantly, what one thing would they need to have with them if stranded on a desert isle?
Let’s see. Mark Olson is a business man in his early forties that always thought that by this stage of his life he’d have everything in order. But sometimes you marry the wrong person and he did, at a young age. Two daughters later and he doesn’t know what he’s done with his life. His wife hasn’t lovingly touched him in ages. He stayed in the marriage for years for the sake of his daughters, but he and his wife became so miserable that staying married seemed to be doing more harm than good. So they divorced and Mark went wild. For two years, he enjoyed his single life and a new woman regularly. He attempted to tell himself this was the life, but deep down he was lonely. In walks Suzannah McCormick!
Suzannah is a charming southern girl that warms the people around her with just a smile. She has a girl-next-door look but there’s a vixen inside of her that has just never been tapped. That is until Mark Olson takes her up on an offer and she realizes sex can be so much more than just two people trying to get off and she falls head over heels. Problem is she doesn’t know for sure if Mark is serious about her or if she’s just another notch on his bed post.
I asked both Mark and Suzannah what they’d need if they were stranded on a desert isle and here’s what they said:
Mark: Hmmm. I can bring just one thing? (I nod my head) That’s tough. Of course, if I was going to be stranded I’d want Suzannah with me, but I’m not counting her because that’s not fair. I obviously don’t want to be stranded alone. So, let’s see…I’d also bring a Swiss Army knife. It has multiple applications that would come in handy on a deserted isle. But if I have to count Suzie as my one thing, then screw the knife. We’ll just have to kill our food with our bare hands and carve our utensils with a rock.
Suzannah: Ugh. I hope I never get stranded on a deserted isle. Seriously. I’m a girly-girl. I don’t want to have to eat bugs or pee in the woods. (She shivers.) I don’t like camping. I guess I’d bring matches. It would help to start a fire to cook our food and keep us warm or provide a method to make a smoke signal for a boat passing by that could rescue us. God, I hope we’d get rescued quickly.
I am soooo with Suzannah on this one!
Where did the inspiration for this book come from?
In my non-author life, I am an attorney for a corporation. I’m regularly thrust into situations that spark story ideas based on people I meet or circumstances I encounter. The idea for the Taking Advantage series developed as I sat outside the boardroom preparing to speak to our board of directors for the first time. I was nervous about having to stand in front of several very experienced business men and discuss legal matters with them. That anxiety scene can be found in the first book of the Taking Advantage series – Board Stiff.
As I sat there tapping my pen against the print out of my Power Point, a thought popped into my head – what if the board had young, drool-worthy members? How would they interact with each other? What would be their careers? How would they find love? I flipped over the front page of one of my slides and started taking notes. So developed John Dorsey (Board Stiff); Gregory Snow (Board Approved) and Mark Olson (Board Indiscretion).
I will say scratching out the story ideas before a big board meeting helped to alleviate my nerves and before I knew it, I was called in for my presentation – which went spectacularly! J
Sounds like a much better technique than the old classic “picture your audience in their underwear…”
How long have you been writing and what (or who) inspired you to start?
I’ve been writing since I was able to put pen to paper. I guess I always used it as a way of expression and release my creative side. I was always told I had a vivid imagination. I created several stories as a child where I even did the illustrations to my “books.” (I promise you – illustrating is not my talent! :))
During my sophomore year of high school, a senior level English teacher asked me to participate in a creative writing course. I was intimidated as I was one of only two non-seniors in the class. Mrs. B constantly encouraged my writing that year and for many years after. She’d always tell me to submit my writing, that I could be published. Life and probably fear of rejection got in my way for a long time. Several times a year, I’d get an email from Mrs. B asking if I submitted anything or if I had anything she could critique for me. Two years ago, I decided to just take the plunge. I submitted a novella in August of 2012 and it was published in November 2012 and I’ve never looked back!
Yes! Another English teacher FTW 🙂
What do you like best about being a writer? What is the most challenging part?
My most favorite part about being an author is the ability to create fascinating characters and tell their stories. It’s so much fun. Will the hero be a strong-headed firefighter or an alpha male surfer with a big heart? Will he have grown up privileged with non-present parents or was he from the wrong side of the tracks and his father a compulsive gambler? Will the heroine be strong willed with a history of bad luck with men? Or will she be quiet and reserved and not experienced at all? The process behind creating the characters to a story is fun. I get to go inside them and find out what makes them tick, what motivates them, why they feel the way they do. I get to bring them to life.
Because I am not currently writing full-time – I work as an attorney – the most challenging aspect of being an author is carving out the time to write. Aside from my legal career, I’m also a wife and mother to three young children. My days are jammed packed and I literally have to schedule time to sit down and write. It can be frustrating at times because I have all these stories going on in my head that want to get written. I have pages of notes on these stories so that I don’t forget them, but I just need to find the time to write.
Did anyone get extra time for Christmas? I ask for it every year, and keep hoping…
What are you working on right now? What can readers look for from you in the next year?
Hahahaha! I’m sorry! I don’t mean to laugh at this first question, but I find it hysterical because a better question would be what am I not working on. And that laugh, if you could hear it, would be a bit on the maniacal side. I have multiple WIPs in some phase or another. Twice I thought I would write a short story for an anthology submission and I just couldn’t stop writing, so they both went well beyond the anthology word count. Now, I have a story involving an office romance (Legal Desire) and one involving a firefighter, who falls for his feisty childhood best friend despite his efforts to not let her affect him (title is still in the works). I’m also working on an erotic romance involving a twenty-five year old man that falls for his parents’ neighbor, who is seven years his senior and recently divorced. Love Thy Neighbor is a steamy story about passion and figuring out who you are and what you want out of life. I fell in love with the two main characters right away. I’m also working on an anthology with three of my best author girlies – DC Stone, Lea Bronsen and Cait Jarrod. We are each writing one of four best friends’ stories. We are still flushing out the girls’ friendships, but I think it will be fantastic. I have a few other WIPs simmering in the background, but to answer your second question, in 2015, I’m hoping to wrap these projects up and get them submitted…fingers crossed! 🙂
Sounds great!
What authors and/or books have inspired you?
This is a really good question. I’ve always been an avid reader. I love to read. And I’ve been inspired by many books and authors. I think the first book I read that made me think “I really want to do this too” was a book by Eileen Goudge, which I mentioned above – Garden of Lies. I went through a series of emotions reading that book. It tugged at my heart strings. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me fall in love. It broke my heart. I was so amazed I could get all of that from reading a book and it drove me to want to create the same kind of stories.
More recently, I read The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons. I had very similar feelings throughout that book as I did when I read Garden of Lies. The characters were so real you could see them, taste them, touch them. Someday I’d love for someone to say that my characters and my stories had such a profound effect on them.
I’ve heard good things about Paullina Simons’ book. I’ll have to check out Eileen Goudge’s!
What are you currently reading? What are your thoughts about it so far?
I started Deeper by Robin York a couple days ago. I blow through books pretty quickly, so by the time you post this, I may be on my next book, but so far I love it. It’s a New Adult book told in first person by both the hero and the heroine. The beginning of the story involves a young woman in college that did what I’m pretty sure many have done these days with cell phones and social media – she texted her boyfriend sexy photos of herself and allowed him to take photos of her in compromising positions. Well, that didn’t work out too well for her after they broke up. The story involves the trauma of her experience and her fight to get her life back and on track, including finding someone to love her as she is. It’s a touching story and I’ve enjoyed it immensely.
Read it, loved it!
Keep reading to find out more about Jessica and her latest book, BOARD INDISCRETION…and check out her blog post (and an excerpt) here, if you haven’t already.
Author Bio:
I am a born and raised small town Ohio girl, who moved to the Sunshine State after graduating from college. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English. What college major could possibly be better than one that requires you to read novels and write about them! After spending a year traveling, I attended law school and use that knowledge wisely.
In the journey of life, became a wife and a mother of three children. So, life is always an adventure.
I love to read and write… obviously! I’m a huge sports fan, especially college football and the Ohio State Buckeyes! Go Steelers! Go Rays! Go Lightning! I LOVE to travel… LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to travel. And I love sharing my love to travel with my children. Did I say I love to travel? I love to drink coffee in the morning and tea at night! I love a good glass of wine, especially if it comes from a bottle made by the FOOLS wine club… yep, I’m a founding member of that crazy group! ☺ I love hanging out with my family and my friends! Music makes me happy. I’m a mix between country girl and city chic. But I love nothing more than putting on my jean shorts, tank top, cowboy boots and hat and watching Tim McGraw or Eric Church belt it out! I’m a sucker for a cowboy hat!
Author Links:
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Twitter: @JessicaJayne13
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Title: Board Indiscretion
Author: Jessica Jayne
Release Date: November 28, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Blurb:
Mark Olson isn’t just known for owning his three large care dealerships. He’s also known as a player, at least since his divorce. For a while, he believes he is satisfied as a member of Advantage Insurance Company’s board of directors and bedding a different woman every weekend. That is until someone decided to call his bluff.
Suzannah McCormick is the sweet girl working hard as the executive assistant to Advantage’s CEO. But underneath her saccharine southern charm is a vixen-in-waiting. She’s never been with a man that tapped into that side of her, but she set her sights on Mark Olson with high hopes.
Mark doesn’t realize his single status and his heart are in jeopardy.
Thanks, Becky, for spending some time with me today! 🙂
My pleasure–thank you for coming 🙂