Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights

Since I became an Astraea Press author, I've discovered a lot of new authors whose work I love. Today, Jean Joachim is stopping by to tell us about her and her work.

Jean, welcome. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your work? I've been a non-fiction writer for fifteen years with seven non-fiction books published. I started writing fiction about 15 months ago and am hooked on it. I love writing romance, what better way to spend your day than thinking about love! I live in New York City with my husband and two sons and a rescued pug named, Homer. He is my muse. We walk in Central Park when I have a plot snarl to untangle. He's such a good listener! Seriously, I do talk to him and people here think I'm a little nuts and they may be right.

2.What do you think makes a book a page turner?

I think surprise and having characters do things that may be a little out of character keep people engrossed. I like to put danger in my romances. I believe it keeps the reader reading. Cliff hangers at the end of chapters are also good devices. James Patterson does that in his mysteries and I find myself putting everything down so I can read the next chapter.

3.How many WIP do you have going? I am beginning to edit the first draft of my sequel to "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights", called "April in the Moonlight". I also have a sensuous romance in the works that takes place in NYC, my first book to do so! I have the first two books in my "Now and Forever" series coming out in September and November. They are "Now and Forever 1, a Love Story" and "Now and Forever 2, The Book of Danny". Those are sensuous romances with strong elements of suspense.

4.What other authors if any have influenced your writing? The first to influence me was Louisa May Alcott, when I was a child. "Little Women" was a huge influence on me. I find Jane Austen to be the quintessential romance/historic romance writer and have read all her books more than once, bemoaning the fact that there are only six. I like Debbie Macomber's Buffalo Valley Series and the women of Astraea Press write great books with highly original stories.

5.Would you share your links with us?

Of course! http://jeanjoachim.blogspot.com, www.astraeapress.com and www.nowandforeverbooks.com

6.We’d love to read an excerpt. Don’t forget to give us a buy link.

She put music in the old CD player in the living room,
singing along while she dusted, swept, cleaned the kitchen and
changed the linens. The little cabin brightened up under her labor;
singing the old familiar tunes she used to sing with her mother
brought happiness to the old place once again. She had not sung
much in years and was happy she could still sing on key.

As she was taking out garbage, she spied a man on the
grounds. He was driving a small tractor down near the lake. It was a
relief to find she wasn’t totally alone; there was a maintenance man
about.

Before grocery shopping, it was time to scrub the grime of
the old cabin off her body. She got in the shower and when she
twisted the hot water spigot to adjust it, it came off in her hand.
Scalding hot water shot across the shower, trapping Caroline
against the wall.

She opened the bathroom window, saw the figure
of a man walking toward the Baron’s cabin across the way and
screamed for help. She saw him stop and turn. She called out again,
and he came toward her cabin. A minute later, he entered the
bathroom where she was naked and confined by the hot water.

“Towel!” she hollered, covering herself as best she could with
her hands and arms. After studying her body briefly, he looked
away then threw her a towel, went over to the water controls and
turned off the hot and cold water. Caroline covered herself with the
skimpy towel and stared at the man.

He was in his thirties, handsome with dark brown hair, light brown eyes, a slightly square jaw, one day’s growth of beard and over six feet tall with a slim, strong build.

“You need a new spigot. There might be one in the shed good
enough to hold for today, but tomorrow you should stop by the
hardware store and pick up a new one,” he told her.
There was something about his voice, something she
recognized. Caroline stared at his face, peering into his eyes…those
eyes seemed familiar. She gasped.

“Mickey, is that you?”

Publisher: http://www.astraeapress.com

(multiple formats)

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sunny-Moonlit-Nights-Joachim-ebook/dp/B004MMEFMG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301849536&sr=8-1

Barnes & Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Sunny-Days-Moonlit-Nights/Jean-Joachim/e/2940012255570/?itm=1&USRI=sunny+days%2c+moonlit+nights

Jean, I enjoyed talking with you. Come back any time.