Question and Answer with Jill Marie Landis

Aloha!

Tina here.

Seekerville is delighted and honored to have bestselling author, Jill Marie Landis here today with a question and answer session.

I am trying to behave like the designated grown up here in Seekerville but it's very hard when you are so excited. Did I mention Jill will be giving away a copy of each of her new releases to two lucky Seekerville blog posters? (By the way, Homecoming isn't even released until today!!)

Names will be drawn tonight at 8 pm MST.

Without further ado, I'd like to introduce Jill Marie Landis...

Jill Marie Landis’ twenty novels have earned distinguished awards and slots on such national best seller lists as the USA Today Top 50 and the New York Times Bestsellers Plus. She is a seven time Romance Writers of America Finalist for Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award in both Single Title Historical and Contemporary Romance, as well as a Golden Heart and Rita Winner.

Jill Marie resides in Hawaii with her husband. When she’s not writing or sitting on the beach reading, she enjoys visiting family and friends, raising orchids, working in her garden, plunking on the ukulele, dancing the hula, and quilting—but not all at once. She loves to hear from readers at www.jillmarielandis.com

TR: Welcome to Seekerville Jill. Can you tell us a little about your first sale and how you got into the writing business?

JML: Thank you! I sold my first book through the RWA's Golden Heart contest. I was a finalist and one of the judges was an editor. She bought the manuscript. Back then we only had to enter three chapters and a synopsis. That's all I had. I had to write like mad to finish and I really didn't have a clue what was going to happen page after page. Books were also 150,000 words back then and I went over. I had to cut 50 pages. Talk about daunting. The title was Sunflower, but that was not my first book. The first book I completed and submitted earned 16 rejections. I started the second book, had found RWA by then, and entered it in the contest. I also attended a Fiction Writers Workshop at the local jr. college--an extension course. Looking back, I'm sure glad that first book didn't sell. I didn't find my voice until the second.

TR: What is your writing process? How do you prepare and get settled into a new story you are about to write? And along the same vein, what is your writing schedule like?

JML:As for starting a new story I do a lot of brainstorming. I write character sketches for the main characters. I determine their overall goals. What they want. Why they can't have what they want. (That's the conflict.) I gather the reference materials I'll need. Books, articles, find websites that will help. I think of it as making a nest to sit in. Stuff is piled around the office. I try to outline a sketchy plot and usually come up with a 9 page synopsis or so.

Once I have a deadline, my writing schedule is pretty rigid--kind of. I aim to work every morning from about 8:30 a.m. to around 12: 30 or 1: 00 p.m. I usually light a candle on the desk, settle myself down and start. I break for lunch. I usually take an hour and watch something I've DVR'd from the night before while I eat.

Then I might do things like promotion or read over what I've written that day, or look for facts or piddle around for another hour or so. I try to be finished by 2:30 or 3 but I often work until 4. I aim for 10 pages a day. Some days are better than others. Some days I don't work at all. I think it's a good week if I work four out of five days. I can talk myself out of working on Friday really easily.

I'm not on any loops or chat rooms or sites or whatever else there is out there. I don't know how to get on them and I don't have the time to read them or respond. I barely have time to write on my own blog.

TR: Can you share about your transition into the CBA market? How did it happen? Are you going to be writing both for CBA and ABA?

JML:I have enjoyed reading CBA books. When the market demands went to choosing either paranormal, spicier romances, erotica or CBA books, I decided I wanted to try CBA. It was an opportunity to express a positive message and tell an uplifting story filled with hope. I truly enjoyed writing the two CBA books I've written so far. As far as writing for both markets, I definitely would like to have the option.

TR: Please tell us about Destination Marriage and Homecoming.

JML: Destination Marriage, a June release from Harlequin, is one story in an anthology of destination wedding stories. "Trouble in Paradise" is set on Kauai and I absolutely loved writing about the island. So many crazy things happen here and I tried to capture slices of island life. The story is about Carrie Evans, a bride who gets to Kauai and after reading an article about signs and symbols, she begins to think that the island is trying to warn her not to go through with the wedding. Crazy things keep happening. The guests are delayed by storms on the mainland. The caterer goes missing. Carrie is given a cryptic message by a Hawaiian man who appears and then seems to disappear. When she decides to call the whole thing off, her groom has to convince her that the wedding must go on.

Homecoming, from Steeple Hill, is both a new beginning (in that its for the CBA) and a return to writing historical romance. I really enjoyed writing this book. Some books are gifts--they come easier than others. I feel Homecoming was truly was inspired from page one. It's gritty and tense and a page turner, which is what I aim for with every book. It's set on a ranch outside the fictional town of Glory, Texas, around 1873. During the Comanche Wars, thousands of Texans were captured by the Comanche and either killed, traded, or assimilated into the clans.

Homecoming is the story of a young white woman who was captured as a child. She believes she's Comanche. After she is "rescued" by U.S. Army troops, she's taken in by a family who has suffered much at the hands of the Comanche themselves. The novel is a story of a young woman who is haunted by flashes of memory of her past and the life she left behind. She doesn't know who she is or where she belongs. The young man whose mother insisted on taking her in has a troubled past of his own. He has lost his faith. Together, they travel a sometimes perilous journey to love and understanding.

TR:What's coming up for you? Will you be in San Francisco for RWA Nationals? What projects can we look forward to?

JML: I'll definitely be in San Francisco. I love seeing friends and touching base with editors and my agent.

I have a second CBA book coming out from Steeple Hill next June. The title is the Accidental Lawman. I really enjoyed writing it. It is a little lighter in tone than Homecoming, but also very dark in places. It touches on deep emotion. It also takes place in Glory, Texas.

I have a proposal in the works as well as a book I'm writing on spec that is totally different from what I've ever done. So much so I may take a pseudonym when it sells.

TR: Wow, looking forward to reading your current releases as well as the Accidental Lawman and your book in the works!

Jill, thanks so much for being with us today. Now we'll open it up to questions from our Kona loving, Seekerville friends.