Please welcome Jeya Jenson to Coffee Time Romance today to chat with us and answer some questions I have jotted down. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer some of our questions.

Okay Jeya, after looking at the website, I have to ask:  Tell us about your “Echoes of Angels” tattoo.  Why that tattoo? And did you have the tattoo before you wrote the book? Or did the tattoo inspire you?

The tattoo was actually done after the first unpublished draft of my manuscript was finished. At the time I was having no luck in getting the book published.  Since I doubted it would ever be in print, I decided to have a tattoo done based on the work. I gave the manuscript to the artist, and what you see is his concept/ inspiration based on my writing.  When Extasy Books decided to do a set of “theme” covers, his work was the springboard for the completed art that will soon be gracing the re-issues of Echoes of Angels and Descent of Demons. The third book, Genesis Awry, is planned for 2006. (crosses fingers)

Jeya your website says you read a lot of dark gothic. Is this something you have always read? Or is it something that has just come to you in the last few years?

When I was a teenager, I devoured gothic and horror novels by the tons. I actually abandoned such reading years ago and switched to non-fiction, mainly biography and history. I still pick up the odd fiction novel now and again, but I find since I started seriously writing fiction that I would prefer to stay away from same/ similar works.

Jeya, can you tell us what you think is the perfect hero?  And why?

Ugh! The perfect hero is exactly what I wanted to get away from when I began to create my series. I read so many books where the “hero” was always tall, dark, handsome and didn’t even have the flaw of a hangnail. This bored me to tears! So, I decided to create the perfect anti-hero hero, so to speak. I wanted a man with flaws, doubts, problems, and even a few demons in his head. Life in any fictional world or dimension should have pitfalls and setbacks. I wanted my characters to experience the same things I do on a regular basis. My readers know that there isn’t always a happy ending and that sometimes the good guy loses and the bad guy wins.

I read where you have some very interesting works in progress, do you find it hard to come up with different ideas for a book?

Some I pull from my own life. Sometimes I will be watching television or a movie and a whole new concept will come from a single situation or line of dialogue. I would love to say I am brilliant and that it is easy for me to think these things up. It’s not. I struggle for days, sometimes months over a single concept.

What do you do for inspiration?

I simply sit back and think, listen to music and sleep. Sometimes I just get a coke and drive up and down the back roads, imagining I am the character and why am I there and what am I looking for.  I usually do my best writing in bed at night before I go to sleep. Too bad I can’t beam those thoughts into the computer. I need to work on those mental powers a bit more.

Do you think that paranormal is harder to write than say a contemporary?  Why or why not?

I think paranormals are ten times harder to write, because even though the reader expects magick or other supernatural elements to be evident in the book, it has to be done in a semi-realistic way or the suspension of disbelief is lost. I’ve read fantasy novels that leave me shaking my head simply because the author took something fantastic and make it “too fantastic”. In other words, the bit was way to over the top for even a fantasy novel. That’s a fine line for a writer to walk. Some do it well, some do it terribly. I would hope I do it well.

What do you do for relaxation?

I enjoy playing with my animals. I have several cats, a dog and a ferret. That alone takes up a lot of my times, mostly cleaning. I have found that a ferret is a “cat with hands” and is constantly into everything. I’m always cleaning up one mess or another the fur people have made. It’s like a tornado goes through my house on a daily basis.

Jeya is there a type of book you would like to write but haven't yet?

I would like to write a book like Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes. That book was so incredible that I read it, got to the last page and then turned back to the beginning to read it again. I was absolutely amazed by the talent of that author.

Since you have been writing, what is the funniest thing that has happened to you?

This may be a boring answer, but nothing funny has happened to me.

Have you always wanted to write?

I’ve wanted to write since I was 7 years old. I tried to write stories as a child but my parents were not very encouraging about the whole process and I gave it up. I stopped for
many years and didn’t begin writing again until my twenties. During my two marriages, I did almost no writing at all. It was only after my second divorce that I decided to try writing my first novel. That manuscript eventually became Echoes of Angels (written as Caitlyn McKenna) and was published by Zumaya Publications/ Extasy Books. It is about to be re-released through Extasy Books with a new cover and fresh edit.

Jeya would you give us the address to your website?

Sure! www.goth-erotica.com  I design my own site, so no giggling, please.

What do you love most about your writing career? And what do you hate most about it?

I love creating new characters, new worlds and bringing them to life for the reader. I am always jazzed to receive a letter from someone saying they enjoyed a book and are looking into others I’ve written.

The hate part is that I struggle with the creation process. It does not come easily to me. I have to sit down and plot and plan and write and re-write until something jells on the page. When it’s wrong, it’s very wrong and I know it. When it’s right, I can feel a new rush of excitement through my veins. I would love to say I have the magic pen and that my stories magically unfold. They don’t. I literally beat my head against the desk to get the words out.

Jeya, was it hard to get published the first time?

Extremely. I have so many rejection letters that I could paper my house, outhouse and dog house in pink slips.

Jeya after you write the first book, did you find it easier to write the second? Or about the
same?

Each book is harder than the last, because once you jump one bar, the next coming is higher and harder. Echoes of Angels got great reviews and won a few minor prizes. Descent of Demons did not do so well. Part of that was my fault, stuffing into too much detailing. Since the book is being re-edited for re-release through Extasy Books, I hope I’ve done a better job of fixing the flaws. I’ve hacked major portions out of it, written in new clarifying scenes and generally drawn blood from the page to get it right this time around.

Do you have any good advice for any hopeful writers out there?

No one is going to make it easy for you. You have to do 99 percent of the work yourself. There is no magic book that tells you how to write a fabulous novel, nor one that tells you how to learn to self-edit. The best a new writer can hope for is to find some kind soul who tells you the absolute truth about your writing and offers a few tips on how to make the bad better. I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve encountered a few helpful mentors who’ve helped me improve my writing. But in the end, it’s you, the blank computer screen and what you’ve got in your head that’s going to get the job done.

Jeya, can you tell us what a fantasy weekend would be like to you?

A fantasy weekend would be shopping with unlimited funds in an electronics store. I am absolutely ga-ga over the latest in computers, DVD players, etc… I can waste hours shopping on E-bay for new toys I can’t possibly afford. Give me a new computer or attachment and I am happy for hours setting it up.

Thank you Jeya!   If you would like to learn more, check out Jeya's wonderful site and see what she has planned for the future!