I just didn’t get it. Some of them were fun and enjoyable, but none really resonated with me. I hate cliches, but sometimes they’re just so RIGHT. I didn’t relate to the heroes or their situations. And when the whole baby thing came into play … Sorry, but I didn’t inherit the maternal gene. I’m an excellent aunt, but I’d be a lousy mom (which is why I’m not one). 

Hmm. When I realized that, then I realized that I liked mysteries (Davidson) and untraditional heroes and heroines. The next step was sort of easy. Experts always say “Write what you know” and I know the Midwest and high tech and …

Here we are today. Four books out or coming, eight or nine more written and ready to go, and countless plot ideas in my head, simmering and waiting to get out. I’m having a great time juggling it all — work, home, writing — and I’m going to keep doing it until I run out of ideas or until it isn’t fun any more. I don’t see that happening any time soon, though, so you’ll be getting more of my brand of character for a while.

Thanks so much for having me here this week, I’ve really enjoyed it. If folks want to see some excerpts, please go to my web site (http://www.jayellwilson.com). I’ve got excerpts there as well as links to my past newsletters, in which I talk about my journey to publication (and what I’m finding out about the publishing world now).

And thanks to those who’ve joined my newsgroup because of my blogging. You’ll be seeing my newsletter in a week or so with updates on that big-ass tree that crushed my garden and our efforts to remove it (there’s a novel in there, I know.) How about a body is found under the tree in the heroine’s back yard? And the hero is her ex-husband, who secretly has regretted their divorce and wants her back.

Hmm. That has potential. I’d better jot that idea down before it flees.

Thanks, Claudine — it’s been a pleasure!

J 

Well, I hope they’ll find their way to your bookshelf someday.

What do I do for inspiration? I know this sounds like a cliche, but I really am a glass-half-full person. I can see the bright side to just about anything. I usually have brief moments of, ‘Ah, sh*t, I can’t believe that happened.’ Then I stomp around the house a bit, come back and sit down, and say, ‘I wonder if I can spin this somehow? What if ….’ And I also have a sort of Happy Bunny attitude. When life hands you lemons, squirt juice in the eyes of your enemies (I love that saying).

I have this little motto sitting on my computer at work: “Fiction is the best revenge.” And it really is. I have to admit, I have put a few characters in books that are people I don’t particularly like. I try to just pick out certain points to use (a certain mannerism, or a habit, or a way of speech). I often make them the bad guy or perhaps a suspect. Sometimes they’re a victim, but I try to disguise them enough that they’re *almost* recognizable.

But most of what I create is just that — a creation, spun solely out of my imagination. There is just so much plot fodder lying around if you just know how to look at it.

As to news: 4 books out this year, one currently in print, others to follow. The best way to follow news about me is to check my web site (http://www.jayellwilson.com) or sign up for my monthly newsletter (details on how-to at my web site). I do my own web site design and updates, so I try to keep it current. I’ll be updating it this weekend with some of the reviews I’ve been getting. I’m so glad (and I appreciate) that people are enjoying my mature characters. I’ve had to buck a few editors to keep those ages, and I’ve got a stack of rejection letters to show for it.

My next book in September is a total change of pace. It’s a reincarnation story set in 1876, and is what is known as a ‘high concept novel’ (which means it’s a bit complicated). I created a world in which God has directly intervened in the lives of people, giving us a portal into the past. God also gave us the knowledge of reincarnation, and when we die, we’re given a choice: be reincarnated and expiate past sins, or be reborn with no knowledge of your past … and the person you loved. My History Patrol books are tricky to write, very complicated, with accurate historical details as well as the ‘history’ I’ve created (about our future and God’s Portal). I hope readers will love the stories … as I said, I have plans for several more. The book in September, “Forgiveness”, is one of my strongest books, I think, and the ending is guaranteed to bring a tear or two (happy and sad tears).

But even with the History Patrol books, I’ve got an older hero (James is 42) and heroine (Penelope is 36). And Jim, the shapeshifting dog (who is really James, but reincarnated) is 10 (in this life).

Did I mention it’s complex? {grin}

Re: series and selling: Oh, yes. I keep working on the series, no matter what.  The next one is set in 1934 America, around the time John Dillinger came to town — St. Paul, that is. Then the next one will be in 1918 America, then … well, I’d better not get ahead of myself. But I have 7 books planned in the History Patrol series and four of them drafted. I hope my publisher will like what I write …

For my other books, it’s a matter of ’submit. Do they like it?’ If yes, YEA! Another book sold. If no, ‘ hmm. Who should I send it to?’ There’s a never-ending hope that my current publisher will love what I write, but one never knows. I have four more third-person RS books, in the same vein as “Grace”, that are ready to go. They all feature older heroes and heroines — that’s what I write and I doubt I can ever write anything else. I also have five more first-person books, with a ‘Brownie’ flavor (pun intended) that are ready to go and looking for a home.

I have two publishers, one for my first-person mysteries (the Brownie book) and one for my third person romantic supsense (Your Saving Grace, If Not For You). And, right now, I have the same publisher for the paranormal series. I’m happy where I am with all my books and would like to stay there … here’s hoping!

I had sort of an odd introduction to romance. I’ve only been reading it for about 4 years. Seriously. Never picked up a romance novel until around 2003 or so. It’s a long story how I discovered it, but suffice it to say, it was all by accident. I thought the Book on Tape I checked out from the library was a time travel book. It wasn’t until I got to the part on the tape where the hero and the heroine have their wedding night that I discovered that “Outlander” by Diana Gabaldon really isn’t your typical time travel/SciFi book I thought it was. I immediately went to my local librarian and said, “Show me more like this one.” I read through a bunch of books for about 6 months, then I discovered RWA, which led me to my local RWA chapter, which led me to … here.

Those romance books were so much fun, I felt I had to give it a shot. I started seriously writing in 2004, entered contests in 2005, and sold my first 2 books in 2006, sold 3 more in 2007. I know — the math doesn’t add up, does it? I sold a book to Triskelion, but it never released and they are no more. So I sold 5 books but only 4 will be released this year. Unless I sell another one ASAP, which might happen. One never knows.

My first love is really science fiction. I’ve been working on an alternate-America series for a while, and I’d love to go back to it. But I also love mysteries, and I find myself drawn more and more to those. While I’m comfortable writing ‘hot’, I’m finding more and more that I prefer the first-person books, and I’m just not comfortable writing ‘hot’ and first-person. Maybe because I’m already have hot flashes, and more heat just isn’t needed in my life right now {grin}.
 

My surroundings definitely come into play in my books. All of my books are set in the Midwest, where I live. Grace is set south of the Twin Cities, on a farm (and I have a friend with a small farm south of the Cities), plus the book goes to Iowa where I grew up. I experienced the critical event in ‘Grace’: I witnessed a brutal beating in a bar when I was 18 years old. It’s something you never forget. When I started to write, I decided I wanted to incorporate that into a story, and that’s how ‘Grace’ was born.

In the Brownie book (as my friends call it), the setting is in a suburb of the Cities which is suspiciously like the one in which I work on a daily basis. The office building, too, is very like it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen food in the lunchroom and thought, “Man, it would be so easy to poison someone …” Sorry. That’s how my mind works. So when I came up with the idea for the Brownie book, it seemed natural to incorporate an environment I know.

I have a book coming out in September that’s a time travel/reincarnation love story. That’s set in Northfield, Minnesota, which is just south of the Cities. I went there several times for research. I’ve always like that town — it’s got a great small town feel but with several colleges in the area, it’s also somewhat cosmopolitan. I always wanted to write a book about the Jesse James raid on the bank in Northfield in 1876 because that was a turning point for the James gang. They were defeated — by farmers and townspeople!

In my History Patrol books, two people are sent back in time to ‘observe’ history, in this case the Northfield Raid. Well, I said ‘people’, but one is a shapeshifter who can only be in animal form until he obtains forgiveness for his past sins. And the other is the person he sinned against (but she doesn’t know it). Check out my web site for information about that book and others in the series (I hope it’ll be a series, anyway. I’ll be submitting the next in the series to my editor soon. Fingers crossed!)

//http://www.jayellwilson.com/historypatrol.htm

Other books are set in Pittsburgh (where I used to live), but most are in Minnesota and Iowa because it’s what I know best. I have one coming out in December (If Not For You) and it’s set in a suburb near me and Layla’s townhouse (she’s the heroine) is based on the floorplan of my friend’s house.

Of course, I do go to imaginary places sometimes. I’m working on a rewrite now to submit to a publisher, and it’s set on a different planet centuries in the future. Sometimes I just have to let my imagination have free rein!

The good news: it missed the house by about 3 feet. If it had been hit just a tad bit more to the right, the tree would have crashed through the bedroom (and the occupants therein). As it is, it’s lying across my garden. It’s too dark to get a true assessment of the damage, so I’m off to work for now and will come back, mid-morning, computer in tow, to work at home and help the Spousal Unit deal with insurance people, tree people, and the neighbors (I think the tree was on their property, but I’m not sure which tree came down).

Yes, this will show up in a book someday. And I’ll answer your questions more thoroughly once I’ve had a chance to catch my breath. For now, it’s 4:15 a.m. and I’m off to work.

J (bleary-eyed but alive)

Ah, my illegal days are behind me (those of you who were around in the late 60s will know of what I speak {wink}).

I actually use my commute time to sort of wind down. I only work about 15 miles away from home and since I get in early, I can leave early and beat the rush hour. I’m usually home by 3:30 and spend an hour or so with the livestock: feeding the cats (Houdini and M.I.A., also known as Mia), the pond fish, and the birds, turkeys, possums, groundhogs and other critters who abound at our house. We’re located on a river that feeds into a wildlife refuge, and at any given time we have some interesting visitors to the back yard.

I never know what time my husband will get home. He works erratic hours, plus he’s taking classes in photography (see my picture on my web site: that’s his handiwork), so on any given day he may come in at 5:00 or at 10:00 at night. So I’m pretty much on my own during the week. I watch some news then by 5:30 or so I’m sitting down to write. One trick I do is this: when I finish my stint of writing (whenever that is), I always jot down notes for what’s to come next. That way, when I sit down and pick it up again, I can usually get into the story within seconds and take up where I left off.

I write pretty quickly, too, usually finishing a manuscript in 8-12 weeks. So the story is always in my head, and always ready to spill out on the page.

What’s your idea of the perfect day?

A day with nothing planned. I love the feeling of a day stretching ahead of me with endless possiblities. Usually that means I can do things I don’t have time to do during the week. Like the heroines in my books, I’m not much of a shopper (I like the hardware store and a good department store, and that’s about it), but I do browse on those rare days off that I get. And I like to just take my time doing things — get caught up on my magazines, maybe turn on my ebook reader and browse through a book, and, of course, write.
When you’re not writing, what are some of your hobbies?

I have a degree in horticulture, so I am always puttering in the garden. We put in a high fence this year (can you say, ‘deer deterent’?) so for once my garden is actually flourishing. We have a small spot carved out of the woods, and I’ve been very successful with various flowers. A few years ago I got rid of all the lawn and put in paths and flower beds and shrubbery (because I hate mowing), so now I am finally benefiting from all that work.

I’m also a Gadget Gidget. Yes, I’m a geek, I admit it. I have, let’s see: a laptop, a desktop, a Palm Pilot, a Tungsten, a NEC 790 handheld, a NEC 800 pocket PC and an HP Jornada handheld (thank you, E-bay). I’m toying with the idea of buying another laptop because one can never have too many gadgets. Believe it or not, they’re all sychronized, too. Oh, and I’ve got 2 laptops from work and a desktop system there. I’m a technical writer with a big software company, so I’m usually hauling around a laptop for them, too. I haven’t gotten an iPhone … yet.

More than you really wanted to know!

Good to be here! Later.