That's right, she did. Please feel free to buy a copy if you like. It's a great book.
Tell them the address, Matt.
Oh, yeah. That's http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=a+new+dream+by+elaine+cantrell&x=32&y=27 Folks, Violet booked a wonderful author to be our guest today. When Elaine heard who agreed to come, she turned as pale as a ghost. I heard her mumbling something about how everyone would want us to stay on permanently because we recruited such distinguished guests.
(Violet laughs.) Our guest today is Jean Joachim. Jean, welcome to the blog. I admire your writing so much.
Thank you, Violet.
Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your writing, Jean?
I’ve been writing non-fiction for a long time, 20 years at least. My first book was non-fiction, published in 2003 called, “Beyond the Bake Sale, the Ultimate School Fund-Raising Book” and it was a labor of love. I’ve always loved to write and to make up stories. When I was a child, I would act them out with my friends. I didn’t attempt fiction until two years ago and fell in love with both fiction and romance.
I’m married and I have two sons. We live in a too-small apartment in New York City with our rescued pug dog named Homer. I spend time walking in Central Park with Homer, who is my muse. I discuss plot and characters with him and he is very wise in his council, also he’s a good listener, a rare quality in a man.
I love writing and don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t write. I suppose I’d tell stories or scratch them out in the sand! LOL.
2. LOL. Don't tell Matt, but you're dead on about men and their listening habits. Most people always ask where authors get their ideas, so tell us: where do you get your ideas?
My first stories landed, unbidden, in my head. It felt like a small door in my brain between the conscious and unconscious opened only as wide as a crack and characters slipped through. They proceeded to tell me their stories and I scribbled them down as fast as I could. Fourteen hundred pages later, their stories became the Now and Forever series. Only the first two books in the series are published yet.
After that, a situation might land in my brain or a character and I said to myself, “what if???” and my what if became “Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights” my first published romance. I never know where a story idea is going to come from next but I seem to have no control over the process.
3. How long did you write before you got published?
I have only one article that hasn’t been published. After that one, I learned how to edit my work and take a critical eye to it. Then every thing I wrote got published. With my books, the same has been true. When the first one failed, I kept writing and a year later I edited again, my publisher editing, too and its out as Now and Forever 1, a Love Story.
4. To date which of your books was hardest to write and why? I wrote to prequels to the first books in my series and they were the hardest to write. I had to remember all the details from the published books and make the timelines meet and the details dovetail. It was a giant pain in the neck even though the books were short and I doubt I’ll ever do that again!
5. Oh, I wouldn't either. What do you think makes a book a page turner?
You can’t escape a good plot with plenty of believable twists combined with real characters who are not perfect but are immensely likable. Add a dash of danger and a slightly unpredictable outcome (romances all have HEAs) and that does it for me.
6. Sounds like my kind of story. Tell us what you’re working on now.
I’m finishing up my Christmas novella, “Champagne for Christmas” and having a hard time finding time to work on it. Then I have to edit the third in the Now and Forever series and start the last one in the Moonlight series.
7.We'd love to read an excerpt. Don't forget to leave a buy link.
Here is an excerpt from “Now and Forever 2, the Book of Danny” my newest release.
When he got to Willow Falls, Danny checked into the only motel in town. The next
afternoon, he left the motel and hiked the three miles to the reception for new professors. Thewalk couldn’t compare to the long, hot, dry treks with a seventy-pound-pack on his back he
endured in the desert.
reciting love poetry by heart and discussing books with young women. Unfortunately, when his
lovely bed partners discovered he planned to fight in the Middle East, they dropped him.
Overseas, he got to know only prostitutes, a group of desperate women doing whatever they
needed to for survival. He turned to alcohol and women to deal with the pressure, to dull hissenses and escape the horror of reality.
He arrived at the dean’s house twenty minutes late for the party. The colonial house loomed
larger than some in the neighborhood, painted beige with white trim and black shutters. When herang the bell, an angel answered the door–Dean Eliza Baines, dressed in a chiffon print dress of
aqua and soft green, matching her eyes. Her short blonde hair glistened in the afternoon sun,
framing a delicate face, a small nose and sensuous lips. The gentle fragrance of gardenia flowed
from her slender neck down to the tips of her pink fingernails. Danny couldn’t find his voice. He
never expected such beauty to be standing right in front of him in the middle of nowhere.
Buy Links
Barnes & Noble -http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1107349184?ean=2940013595156&itm=1&usri=now%252band%252bforever%252b22c%252bthe%252bbook%252bof%252bdanny
To find out more about all my books, check out my website: www.jeanjoachimbooks.com
Jean, thank you so much for coming to Elaine's blog. I knew she can't wait to read your book.
Thank you so much for having me, Elaine. It's a pleasure to be here and in the company of such a talented writer! Danny likes it too. I need to keep him happy or he'll take his stories to another writer!
ReplyDeleteGreat interview! Can't wait to read it :)
ReplyDeleteIs always a pleasure to delve a little deeper into your mind, Jean!
ReplyDelete