Talkative Tuesday: Interview & Contest with Jacquie Rogers

Happy Tuesday! Pamela here. This week’s interview is with talented author Jacquie Rogers. My deepest gratitude to Jacquie not only for the great interview, but for allowing us to hold a contest along with it! She’s supplying some fabulous prizes which are listed at the end of this post.  The instructions on how you can enter and win are also listed there. Now, on to the interview…

1. Will you tell us a little about yourself and when you first began writing?

JR: I’m a country girl at heart (born and raised in Owyhee County, Idaho), even though I love living in the Seattle ‘burbs. Something about not having to get up at 3am and break ice off baby calves’ noses . . . Still, those days on the farm gave me lots of story material, and the people where I grew up are wonderful, so I draw from their strong characters. A storyteller couldn’t ask for better.

As for writing, I’d sworn off writing forever; after all, my mother wanted me to be a writer. I wanted to be a baseball announcer, and ended up working in retail, politics, accounting, and software consulting. So not only did I have no aspirations to be a writer, neither had I ever read a romance novel. My daughter, however, was an avid romance reader and read probably a book a day all during junior high and high school. I had no idea that romance novel contained sex scenes. I was just happy that she loved to read as much as I did. Anyway, with my lungs under siege from pneumonia, I was bedridden and had read every book in the house (we have thousands) and my daughter wouldn’t buy me another one until I tried reading one of her romance novels. I didn’t care for the first one, but the second, Fire and Rain by Kathleen Eagle, hooked my on romance forever. I still love that book. A couple months later, I dreamed a story and wrote it. I’ve been writing ever since. 

2. Did you have another vocation before writing?

JR: I milked cows, was an office manager, a campaign manager, a bookkeeper, a deli clerk, a photographer, and a computer consultant, among other things. Short attention span, ya know.

3. Has your environment or upbringing colored your writing in any way?

JR: Absolutely. I had no idea that Idahoans spoke with colorful colloquialisms until I started writing. My critique group was often baffled, laughed where they weren’t supposed to, and didn’t laugh when they were supposed to. Growing up on a farm outside of Homedale gave me a tremendous amount of story material, though. In fact, my next release, Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues is set in Grasmere, which is in the desert south of our farm (75 miles, which is not considered far). The culture is rich with the history of the Old West, mining, rodeo, ranching, farming, as well as interesting characters, both past and present.

At the same time, living in Seattle, and for a while smack-dab in the middle of Seattle, has given me a whole different perspective, and more history and interesting sites to use.

4. Where do you get your information or ideas for your stories?

JR: Oh, boy. I have enough ideas to keep me busy for the next 200 years, but then I’d probably get more ideas, so add another couple hundred onto that. I walk down the street and see a father trying to put his toddler in a car seat, totally baffled by all the straps, and flummoxed as the child starts wailing for his mommy. Or I overhear a snippet of conversation in a restaurant or park. Often ideas come for two very different sources, and meld into one.

For instance, the first story in Faery Special Romances is Faery Much in Love and is about the faery Shaylah, who has a really hard time controlling her magic. Her character came from an instance where I was debugging a program and just couldn’t get it to work—ended up finding an errant semicolon. What I took from that is we can be pretty darned close to the mark, yet things still don’t go the way we expect them. Shaylah is a sexy faery, so she needed an equally sexy hero. Enter Sir Darian. He’s actually extrapolated from genealogy stories of my family, where a knight who rode with Richard the Lionhearted was granted land and the general’s daughter (he was 50, she was 18!!!). I always wondered how a fighting man could turn into a family man.

I tell everyone around me that I consider everything I hear, see, smell, and touch to be fair game for my stories.

5. What do you think makes a good story?

JR: Great conflict, and a character who cares. I want to root for the hero and heroine, and be happy to journey through 400 pages of trials, tears, and laughter with them. And I’m addicted to happy endings.

6. What was your first publication experience like?

JR: My first experience was with Highland Press’s anthology to benefit breast cancer research, No Law Against Love. All the stories were based on silly or archaic laws still on the books. I wrote two stories. The first one was Faery Good Advice, using the law in Auburn, Washington, that men who deflower virgins, regardless of age or marital status, may face up to five years in jail. This story stars Keely, who since went on to star in her own book, Faery Special Romances. The second story is called Single Girls Can’t Jump and is based on the silly law in Florida that prohibits unmarried women from parachuting on Sundays. It’s a time travel 1,000 years into the future.

Starting in an anthology was a wonderful experience for me because all of the authors learned about publicity together. I forced me to get my website into shape and explore other internet space where I could get exposure for my stories. So it was a tutorial for me on how to put a PR machine together. Plus, I found out that my daughter (not the one who forced me to read a romance), Mercedes, was a PR whiz, and we named her Hurricane Mercedes. She managed to get publicity in several local papers as well as booking some successful book signings. All these things helped to give me a soft landing in the whirlwind world of selling books, which isn’t easy.

7. How do you come up with titles?

JR: If I can’t come up with a good title, I beg and whine to my friends and critique partners. So far, I’ve been blessed with good titles that really tell what the book is about. Both my published books were titled by Deborah MacGillivray (who also did the cover art for Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues). Some of the story titles from Faery Special Romances came from a play on the word “very,” so Faery Much In Love, Faery Hot Date. Most of these titles come from brainstorming with Judith Laik, Sherrie Holmes, and Celia May Hart.

8. Who or what has influenced or inspired your writing?

JR: Both my daughters and my sister are romance fans—and my staunchest supporters. Then of course, there’s my hero husband, who encourages me every step of the way, and often does my proofreading.

9. Do you face any challenges when writing? If so, how do you overcome them?

JR: My biggest challenge is to write a scene that’s exactly what I see in my mind. No, I’ve never succeeded yet, but I’m working on it. Another challenge is convincing myself that writing is my job. I feel guilty if the dishes aren’t done or the laundry is piled up, probably because I’m home. When I worked outside the home, those things didn’t bother me so much. Then again, I use mundane chores to procrastinate. You can tell if I’m having trouble with a scene by the sparkling kitchen counters. When it gets down to cleaning toilets, well, that’s some serious avoidance, right there.

10. What are your hobbies?

JR: Fantasy baseball! Last year, my team took third in the league. I would have been champion, but my players all decided to take a vacation during the second week of play-offs. I also do crossword puzzles, Sudoku, and, of course, I love to read.

11. Who designs your covers?

JR: Faery Special Romances was designed by Monika Wolmerans. Deborah MacGillivray designed Down Home Ever Lovin’ Mule Blues. I love both book covers! I designed the short story cover for The Duchess and the Dirtwater Faery when it finaled in the P.E.A.R.L Awards, which taught me how truly difficult designing a good cover is.

11. What publisher(s) do you work for?

JR: Highland Press.

12. Are there any other genres you’d like to write in?

JR: I’m seriously considering YA fantasy, or straight fantasy. I love westerns, too. Actually, I’d like to write in several genres and time periods. Faery Special Romances takes place in ten different time periods from Medieval to Futuristic. That was a LOT of work, but I loved the research.

13. What’s your idea of the perfect romantic evening?

JR: An evening on the beach, a little wine, a little cuddling . . .

14. Will you talk a little about Faery Special Romances?

JR: Faery Special Romances stars Keely. Keely was originally in Faery Good Advice, in No Law Against Love. I don’t know if she’s strong, bossy, lovable, or what, but she ended up with her own spaces on myspace, bebo, squidoo, as well as her own blog and her own network space on ning called Faery World. My editor wanted an anthology of faery stories, so I decided to chronicle Keely’s life as a matchmaker. Faeries live a very long time, and I determined that she was born around 1150AD, which would make her a mere 50 years old—a kindergartner, for the first story of Shaylah and Sir Darian called Faery Much In Love. Anyone who has herded kindergartners could appreciate the challenge of a 5-year-old who doesn’t quite know how to use her magic yet.
In the second story, Much Ado About Faeries, Keely has her first pre-pubescent crush on Caedmon, Chief of Portal Police, but she’s completely dismissed by him, much to her annoyance. In Faeries of the Caribbean, Keely tries her hand at being a faery godmother. All the subsequent stories show her in a more mature state, and in the final story, which takes place in the future, she finds her own heart vulnerable.

15. I understand you are involved with the Children’s Tumor Foundation. How so?

JR: I’d always intended to donate the royalties from my first book to neurofibromatosis research. My daughter has NF1 by spontaneous mutation, and her oldest daughter has it, too. We’re not sure about her younger daughter. Anyway, when I told my daughter of my intentions to donate anonymously, she said absolutely not! And said that no one knows about neurofibromatosis even though it’s more common that cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy combined, and my best contribution would be to promote awareness of this painful and disfiguring genetic disorder. She told me to give her a little time and she’d hook me up with an organization, which turned out to be Children’s Tumor Foundation.
John Reisner, CTF President, has been wonderful to work with and we, with airtime donated by Internet Voices Radio, made two two-hour podcasts to educate the public. Guests include doctors and scientists as well as people who life with NF every day. They’re wonderful shows, and I’ll have them up on my website soon.

16. What has been your favorite book to write so far?

JR: My favorite book is one I’ll probably never sell because it’s a western historical romance that is more realistic of daily life, it’s humorous, and doesn’t follow the B-western mythos.

17. What projects are you working on right now?

JR: I have several open projects. One is a novella called Faery Merry Christmas. It’s another Keely story set in 1956. I’m also in the brainstorming stage of a fantasy, plus I’m halfway through another fantasy romance that’s a bit off-kilter, with princesses, dragons, magic, and swordfights.

18. Do you have any suggestions for becoming a better writer?

JR: Practice makes perfect. I took lots and lots of classes, plus I was newsletter editor for two years so I read probably twenty writing articles for every one I included. Our critique group gave classes to ourselves, with the assumption that teaching is the best way to learn, and it worked. Plus, I’ve used some of that material for subsequent workshops I’ve presented. So learn, learn, learn, then let your hair down and write, write, write. I do this in cycles. Right now, I can feel that I’m heading back into the learning stage again.

19. Are there any books, classes or websites you would recommend to the beginning writer:

JR: I’ll just give a few of each. There are so many excellent resources available, but the following books, websites, and classes have helped me get started and make steady progress. Also they’re all very upbeat and encouraging.

Books:

You Can Write a Romance by Rita Clay Estrada & Rita Gallagher, ISBN: 0-89879-862-0
GMC: Goal, Motivation, & Conflict by Debra Dixon, ISBN: 0-9654371-0-8
Scene and Structure by Jack Bickham, ISBN: 0-89879-551-6

Websites:

Stella Cameron’s Writing Tips
Karen Harbaugh on Writing

Classes:

Laurie Schnebly Campbell
Mary Buckham

Thanks so much for asking me to participate in your new blog. You’ve done a wonderful job with your site and I’m really honored to be included here. Best of luck to you!

 Jacquie’s Faery Special Contest

To enter Jacquie’s contest, just comment on any of our posts though Saturday, May 10, and we’ll put your name in the drawing for first and second prize.  Names will be drawn and announced on Monday, May 12.  If you’re a winner, we’ll need you to send us your address by using our Contact page.  Here is what you can win: 

                      First Prize                                                     Second Prize

Faery Special Romances, autographed copy            Faery Special Tote Bag
Faery Special T-Shirt                                                  Faery Good Bath Salts
Princess Keely Pen

Thanks for being so generous, Jacquie!  You’re the best!  Good luck to all and bring on the comments!

Jacquie’s Website                                                      To Purchase FSB

Jacquie’s MySpace                                                     Keely’s MySpace

Jacquie’s Blog                                                            Keely’s Blog 

Hurricane Mercedes (Jacquie’s daughter/publicist)   Mules Blues

Tags: author, Interview, romance, Writing