Interview with author, Jenna Jaxon & Read For A Cure
I’d like to welcome fellow Decadent Publishing author, Jenna Jaxon to my blog today. Her contemporary romance 1Night Stand story, Almost Perfect is the READ FOR A CURE selection this month at Decadent Publishing, where all publisher proceeds from the sale of Almost Perfect during May will be donated to the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life Program.
Jenna, How long have you been writing with the hopes of publication?
JJ: I have been writing with an eye to publication for just over three years now. I’d written academic stuff for publication before, but for fiction, 3 years.
Can you tell us how you got started?
JJ: I didn’t get one of the books on my list for Christmas. Everlasting by Kathleen Woodiwiss, which I found out was her last novel before she died. So I bought it in January, devoured it. And started thinking. It’s set in my favorite period, the Middle Ages, and not too long before I’d watched a History Channel special on the Black Plague in the 14th Century. So I thought some more, took an historical incident (from the program) and said “I can write that story.” Six months later I finished it. All 187,000 words! I’m revising this summer. 
What genres do you write in, and what appeals to you about those genres?
JJ: I write historical romance, my first love, and erotic contemporary. I love the historicals because it’s like my own little time machine. I go back and try to think, try to experience what life was like in that period. That’s always appealed to me (I was a history major). The erotics I find fun because there are so many ways to be inventive. So many contemporary “accoutrements” to play around with. So much freedom to do whatever you want. Like sex on a motorcycle. Or a safe one night stand.
What titles do you have published?
JJ: I have out currently, Heart of Deception (short historical romance): The dashing Andrew Finley, Viscount Hurston–who is not what he seems–proposes a scandalous way to wed the naïve young Lady Celinda Graham.
Hog Wild (erotic contemporary novella): Lula Wolfendale seduces three Harley owners in an attempt to gain the sexual satisfaction she craves, and the Blue Phantom motorcycle she desires.
Almost Perfect (erotic contemporary): Pamela Kimball’s birthday present, a 1Night Stand adventure, promises to jump-start her life, put a new man in her bed, and help her forget her past. Unfortunately, movie-buff Pam’s Pirates of the Caribbean fantasy takes an alarming wrong turn when she’s abandoned on a not quite deserted island—with ex-husband Roger Ware.
Almost Perfect is Decadent Publishing’s Read For A Cure book for the month of May. All publisher proceeds from sales of the book from any vendor during the month will go to benefit Relay for Life. And a portion of the author’s proceeds will be donated as well. That means whoever purchases the book during the month of May is making a wonderful contribution to cancer research. Please Read For A Cure and help us close the book on cancer.
Can you describe your daily writing routine?
JJ: My routine is cyclical. During the school year when I’m at work, I pretty much don’t have a routine–I write when I can, sometimes late into the night. And that works–until I have to get up the next morning! Once school is out, I’ll write until maybe 1am, go to bed and read a bit, get up around 7 or 8 and start with email and social media. Then I visit blogs or post my own. And then around noon I settle down to start writing or revising.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
JJ: Plotter. Hands down. And linear to boot. I cannot write out of sequence! Some writers can hop around their ms, today write the middle chapters, then go back to the beginning or ahead to the end. Just recently I wrote a scene in which a character thought something I’ve been dying to write since last August! I knew what the line was, exactly when and where it came in the story, but I couldn’t commit it to paper until I was in the scene. I was so excited I Tweeted it!
Where do your best ideas come from?
JJ: From music, although maybe not the best ideas, but the most ideas. The best ideas come from the holes in the books I read. That may sound strange, but a great friend of mind wrote her first book the same way. You see what the book you’re reading left out and that’s your story. The third of my House of Pleasure books started that way. I had been reading Mary Balogh’s A Precious Jewel and the heroine was thinking about the difficult week when she became a prostitute, especially the first customer. But that’s all that was mentioned. So I started thinking how such an event might affect a young woman of that period, especially one of good breeding who was at her wits end. And Only A Mistress Will Do was born.
What is your favorite book that you’ve read?
JJ: That’s an easy one now: Outlander
Who is your favorite character from any of the books you’ve read?
JJ: Again easy: Jamie Fraser
Is there anything else my readers should know about you?
JJ: I have sometimes written my romance novels while wearing my lingerie. For inspiration.
Where can my readers find you?
JJ: Blog: http://jennajaxon.wordpress.com/
FB: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenna-Jaxon/146857578723570
Twitter: @Jenna_Jaxon
Where can my readers find your books?
JJ: All my books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and All Romance E-books.
Almost Perfect can also be found on the Decadent Publishing site: http://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?cPath=75_105&products_id=416&osCsid=68ti48u914jdkbaebhb4bh54j2
Thank you, Jenna! All the best!
Almost Perfect blurb:Pamela Kimball’s birthday present, a 1Night Stand adventure, promises jump-start her life, put a new man in her bed, and help her forget her past. Unfortunately, movie-buff Pam’s Pirates of the Caribbean fantasy takes an alarming wrong turn when she’s abandoned on a not quite deserted island—with ex-husband Roger Ware.
Forced by hunger to accept Roger’s offer of dinner, Pam realizes the geek she married has transformed into one of the most charming, sexiest men she’s ever met. His newfound confidence—and hot body—re-kindles old fires. A simple kiss leads Roger to challenges her to discover how much his lovemaking skills have improved, leaving Pam torn between self-preservation and burning desire.
With time running out before they’re rescued, Pam must decide if her heart can survive the consequences of becoming Roger’s “almost” perfect 1Night Stand.
Almost Perfect Excerpt:
She inched into the lapping surf, searching for movement. Reflection off the water made this task harder than expected. Wasn’t the Caribbean supposed to be teeming with fish? Now that’s something she’d had a lot of instruction in. Almost every marooned-on-an-island movie had a scene where the heroine learned to catch fish. Six Days, Father Goose, Blue Lagoon. All you needed was your hands and patience. She could do this.
Pam waded out further then stopped just before the water hit her now dry shorts. “Not gonna to have a damp crotch all night.” The words reminded her of exactly what she had hoped for tonight. “But not from wet shorts!” She headed back to shore to remove and drape them next to her shirt. The bandeau was a different story. Still damp, even after several hours, and uncomfortable. Might dry better if not next to her skin anyway. “Screw it! Live dangerously.”
Standing as good as naked on the deserted beach, Pam smiled as the warm breeze caressed her bare body. The sense of being slightly naughty added to her delight in the sensual feel of the air as it dried her breasts. Her nipples peaked as the wind cooled them. She strutted down to the water’s edge to sink her toes in the sand, the salty tang in the air adding to the perfect moment.
“If you’re skinny dipping, you forgot to remove one very important piece of clothing.”
Pam whirled around. Roger stood on the beach behind her, a green bottle of Perrier in one hand. His gaze played up and down her naked torso and his salacious grin widened. “Mind if I join you?”
Author Bio:
Jenna Jaxon is a multi-published author of historical and contemporary romance who has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, Jenna has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own writing.
Jenna lives in Virginia with her family and a small menagerie of pets. When not reading or writing, she indulges her passion for the theatre, working with local theatres as a director. She often feels she is directing her characters on their own private stage.
She has equated her writing to an addiction to chocolate because once she starts she just can’t stop.
Buy Links:
Decadent Publishing / Amazon / Barnes & Nobles / All Romance Ebooks
