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| At Amazon |
Today I’m interviewing Jan Romes, author of
delightful humorous romances. Her stories will make you smile!
Who inspires you and why?
As soon as I read this question I grinned. The answer is easy: people with a
great sense of humor inspire me the most. And I’d have to say that the ability
to make people laugh or to be able to laugh at yourself is one of the most
endearing qualities in a person and I tend to navigate to those kinds of folks.
My writing is always laced with humor.
When and how often do you write?
I write every
day. Sometimes it may only be a paragraph or two. It may be on a scrap piece of
paper on my way somewhere, but thoughts fire through my mind all the time and I
have to write them down right away.
When I’m home I
try to write in the morning. First, I get a pot of coffee brewing and then I
dive into writing.
You write humorous romance. Is that a
reflection of your life?
Humor is
definitely a reflection of my life. I grew up with eight siblings and I have to
say, we’re a weird and funny bunch. Also, my husband makes me laugh a lot. He
speaks in metaphors (i.e. We were watching a high school basketball game and he
says from out of the blue, ‘that kid runs like he’s pushing a lawn mower’.
Someone else might not find that funny, but I laughed so hard I had tears in my
eyes. Guess you had to be there.)
In Three
Days with Molly, Finn lives on a bus. How did you research that? Have you
ever been in a celebrity’s bus?
I searched the
Internet for custom made buses and also found a few blogs written by ‘road
widows’ (wives or significant others of musicians). My husband and I stopped at
an RV dealership and I snagged a brochure that showed a plush layout. I’ve not
had the pleasure of stepping into a celebrity bus. It would be awesome to be
able to though.
In The
Gift of Gray, Alexis takes a job as a masseuse. Wow! How did you research
that one? (Inquiring minds would really
like to know. J
I’ve had
massages (not recently, darn!) so I was aware of the some of the techniques,
plus I work as a fitness trainer so I am familiar with the muscle groups.
Do you have favorite book (of your own) or
character?
Hmm. I love
them all because of the special relationship I had with the characters. I felt
what they felt. When they’re happy, I’m right there with them. When their
hearts get broken I cry. Each book and each character’s situation is different,
so it’s hard to choose. I’m going to pick One Small Fib since it was my first
book published.
Which of your characters would you most
like to spend an evening with? Why?
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| Wild Rose Press |
Again, I’m
going to pick Allie Blue and Kiptyn Thomas from One Small Fib. Allie because
she’s sassy but sensitive. And Kiptyn because he’s ruthless with his business
skills but underneath that staunch billionaire exterior lurks a guy whose
looking for happiness and love, it just takes him awhile to realize it.
How do you determine your character’s
flaws?
I try to pair flaws with upbringing and occupation. In Three Days With
Molly, Finn is a self-proclaimed bastard. His early life was meager so he
learned early on to be self-reliant and guarded. He became a successful
country-rock singer and those traits carried over into his professional life.
Molly is a hard worker with trust issues too. She works for a divorce
attorney and has seen her share of dysfunctional relationships. It didn’t
harden her but it made her overly cautious.
Do you have photos of faces for your
main characters? Or do they live in your imagination?
I often find photos to accompany my main characters. And I refer to them
often. For Three Days With Molly,
Finn Riley bears a striking resemblance to country star, Jerrod Niemann and
Molly could easily be Anne Hathaway’s stunt double.
Thank you so much, Ellis, and best wishes for much success with your own
writing career. Your books rock!
Here’s an excerpt from
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| At Amazon |
Jessi pulled
her arm loose. The second she was inside, she realized the error of coming
there. If Ian was the crazed person she’d been trying to shake, she just made
things easy for him. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. In her romance novels she was careful
not to write ditzy heroines. Obviously, in real life she was one. Her gaze
zinged around the small living room. Wicker furniture with navy and white
striped cushions filled most of the space.
A large conch shell decorated the middle of the glass-top coffee table,
while a small TV and an array of silk plants took up the rest of the room.
Nothing screamed stalker. Then again,
it wasn’t his place.
Ian was
dilly-dallying, and Jessi was getting irritable. “Is that French vanilla I smell?”
It was a ridiculous question since there wasn’t a trace of French vanilla
anywhere.
“No. Just plain
old coffee.” Finally, he led the way to the kitchen.
Jessi’s mouth
instantly filled with saliva. If she didn’t get a sip of coffee soon, she would
need a bib.
Ian pulled two
coffee cups from a mug-tree on the counter. He filled one and grinned.
Slow torture.
She wouldn’t have to fall asleep for him to kill her. All he had to do was
withhold coffee. Before he filled the second cup, his cell phone rang. Ian
wrinkled his nose and walked into a room off the kitchen. Jessi assumed it was
the bedroom because their places appeared to have the same layout. Ian’s
conversation was somewhat muffled, but she could still hear most of the words.
“Yeah, I know.
I have it under control.” Ian dropped a handful of cuss words including the
f-bomb.
What did he
have under control? Jessi tossed the question around while diving at the cup of
coffee still setting on the counter. She took a test sip. Mmm. Some of the tightness in her shoulders let loose. She slurped
another sip. Coffee was heaven. The ultimate. Way better than everything,
including sex. Jessi snickered. According to the love scenes she wrote sex was
a girl’s best friend. Another sip of coffee said that was rubbish.
Some garbled
rambling met her ears, but suddenly Ian’s words burst loud and succinct in her
brain. “I’m going to take her by the throat and choke the life out of her.”
The sip of hot
coffee in Jessi’s mouth sprayed across the plastic table cloth decorated with
starfish.
You
can find Jan at:
Website: www.janromes.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JanRomes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jan.romes.5
