Hello everyone and welcome. Today we here at Coffee Time Romance are pleased to have author Jodi Payne joining us. Welcome Jodi and thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to join us.
What inspired you to write Founder?
Two things. The first was that I heard a song on the radio about a guy that was drinking to forget someone, and I started thinking about what would make a man leave behind someone he had a chance at a life with. By the time I got home, though, I couldn’t remember how the song went, but I still had the lingering seed of a plot in mind. I never was able to track down who sang it or which song it was, by the way.
The second was a painting that I found online by Robert Sherer called “Pickup”. The painting said a lot to me, a lot more than who Aubrey ended up to be in the book, but the piece is really where Aubrey came from.
How did you know you wanted to be a writer?
I never really made a conscious decision to be a writer. I’ve just always written, in my journal, in school, and when I saw an opportunity to publish one of the things I’d written, I took a chance. I remember I was very nervous, it was a lesbian piece and my first time submitting anything for anyone’s approval, and it was accepted. After that I just got braver and started submitting other things, then looking at calls, and now, here I am.
What’s next from Jodi Payne?
I’ve been really lucky and had a number of things selected for publication very recently. I’ve just had a lesbian story called “Spike” published in Sappho’s Chest as part of their Toy Box line. I have an m/m short story coming out in another Toy Box next month called “The Gift”, about a birthday gift involving a silk blindfold. In the coming months I’ve got a m/m Tarot story coming out, a short story in a lesbian anthology called Under this Cowgirl’s Hat from Torquere Press, an f/f short story in Aylson Press’ Best Lesbian Love Stories: Summer Flings, and in November the fourth and final Deviations novel will be out, along with another novel also co-authored with Chris Owen called Sex, Lies & Celluloid. Busy busy! The release details are on my website.
Do you listen to music, or do you have to have silence to write?
Both. I love music and I listen to it often, though not always when I write. I get a lot of inspiration from music, though. Lately, if I’m having trouble with a scene or I want to keep a particular mood throughout a scene, I’ll play a certain song with that feel to it several times as I write it. For my story in Under this Cowgirl’s Hat, I listened to a lot of country music while I wrote to help me keep the voice.
Who is your favorite character? And Why?
My favorite character from Founder? Or my favorite character ever. And how is this a fair question? LOL
Okay, from Founder, I really do like Aubrey. He’s got depth and issues and he wallows in them for a while, but he does manage to pull himself out of the muck, all by himself and I think that takes a strength of character that I don’t know if I’d have had in his position. The character that was the most fun to write though, was Haley. He’s just a tough old coot with a soft spot that he pretends he doesn’t have, and I like him.
My favorite character ever isn’t a question I can answer. I love Gail from For Better or Worse, Bradford from the Deviations Series… I guess those two stand out as just plain fun to write.
Are you a by the seat of the pants writer, if not what is your style?
I write character driven work. To me, that means that I get a character in my head who is nagging and has something to say, and then as I think about him or her, their life starts to materialize – what they do for a living, whether they are single or partnered, their circumstances, their health, their family – and then I come up with someone they could fall in love with. After that I just write, and let them tell the story. I don’t have a “plot” as such before I start writing, but I do have a direction I’m going in and possibly a scene or two in mind, and I know there will be a happy ending, so it never feels like it’s “by the seat of my pants”.
Will there be more of Aubrey and Kelly?
Yes! The sequel will focus more on Kelly, who is still a bit of a mystery by the end of Founder. I’ve started it, but it’s still in it’s beginning stages so I can’t say for sure when it will be out. But I am shooting for next summer.
Thank you Jodi, much success with Founder and the other coming releases! I cannot wait to read more of Founder’s characters!
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