Please welcome author Jenna Jaxon to This Writer’s Life….
Welcome to This Writer’s Life, happy to have you join us today. Introduce yourself and tell us about yourself, your writing and your books.
TWL-Why and when did you decide to become an author?
I’ve always loved to write. I wrote my first short story, Miss Priss Finds a Kitten, when I was in the third grade. In 8th grade English one assignment was a time travel story and I went crazy with it and ended up with a 100 on the assignment. But I never considered a career in writing until I directed a production of MacBeth, got so stressed out by it I became gluten-intolerant, and six months later when the gluten had left my system, I got a surge of creativity that I couldn’t ignore. I’d just read Kathleen Woodiwiss’s Everlasting and when I finished it I said aloud, “I could write something like this.” And sat down and started writing what would become my first historical romance. And the rest, as they say, is history.
TWL-What’s a typical writing session like for you?
Well, once I have my outline written, I generally go to my desk if I’m at home. My desk is in the master bedroom where I can shut out the world and concentrate. I need to have quiet so I can focus. Then I go to whichever is the next chapter I need to write—I start at Chapter 1 and write straight through. I am NOT a pantser. I do not see how they do it. I’d be so obsessed with trying to imagine how a scene in chapter 12 was going to get connected to the end of Chapter 2 that I’d just have to go back and start at the end of chapter 2! I don’t listen to music, can’t have the TV on. Then I simply begin. I write straight through, almost always 3,000 words per chapter. And I try very hard to write a chapter a day. That keeps me consistent. Sometimes I get up and write early, sometimes I stay up until 2 or 3 am writing. Once I’m done with the chapter, then I close up shop and either go about my day or go to sleep. If I’m lucky and the juices are flowing, a chapter will take me about four hours.
TWL-What have you learned most from being a writer?
Patience, I think. I have to be ready to write. I get have to get a what I term a “critical mass” moment when I simply have to sit down and start writing. If I try to sit down and force myself to write, I end up having to completely re-write it. So now I patiently wait for that moment to hit.
TWL-What’s been the biggest struggle and how did you overcome it?
In the beginning my biggest struggle was with rejection. The first book I queried, Only Scandal Will Do, got 47 rejections and I was just an angry mess. Then Mary Murray, then editor for Lyrical Press, was on a question and answer kind of group call with the writing group I was part of, Romance Critters. I said I was done with querying because no one wanted this book (impatient me), and she asked to see it. Then she gave me some advice on how to revise it, and then she said she wanted to acquire it. Since then I’ve grown a thicker skin. At least, I no longer count the rejections. lol
TWL-What’s been your biggest victory?
That one’s easy: signing with my agent, Kathy Green Literary Agency. It was easily one of the happiest days of my life. As well as the day, two months later, when my husband and I were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary with lunch at a very swanky French restaurant, and I got the call from Kathy that Kensington Publishing had offered for my Widow’s club series.
TWL-If you could give advice to your pre-author self, what would it be?
Start writing sooner! I have so many more book ideas, and time seems to be running away with me!
TWL-What writing tip would you offer to a new author?
That one’s easy too. It’s the same advice my mentor, Judi McCoy gave me: “You can fix crap; you can’t fix nothing.” Which means start writing and finish the damn book! It doesn’t matter if it’s crap the first time around, you can revise the hell out of it. But you can’t revise a blank page. Many new authors are so intimidated by that blank page, they can’t move past it. Give yourself permission to dirty that page! It will end up being absolutely beautiful.
AS LONG AS YOU’RE MINE by Jenna Jaxon
GENRE: Historical Romance
BLURB:
A scandalous mistake…or a wicked way to happiness?
Hoping to compromise herself, Lady Amantha Easton sneaks into the bedroom of her would-be suitor only to find a total stranger there—a totally handsome, charming stranger to be sure—but not at all the man she plans to marry. She leaves his room with her reputation intact—barely—only to fall victim to the gentleman’s charms in a public place. Now Amantha must face the fate she’s tried to avoid—marriage to a man who will never love her.
All Rafael Beauregard wanted was a warm bed and a good night’s sleep…but what he got was an unexpected romp with a beautiful vixen and a fiery kiss that left him wanting more. An excellent trade, except now he’s got to marry Lady Amantha, one of the most willful women he’s ever met. So Rafe’s challenge is to persuade her that marriage to him might be the best thing for them both…once he convinces himself.
Excerpt
“Oh, Raif!” She could scarcely breathe now. “That…feels…so good.”
“I thought it might. You’re awful sweet.” His low, sleepy voice sounded odd under the covers. On the verge of asking if he was well, she lost the thought when he lifted his head from her breast and crushed his lips to hers.
All else forgotten, she wouldn’t have cared if the house burned down around them. His lips were hot, insistent. Then he plied the seam with his tongue, softly urged it to part for him. She had no desire to resist and soon he had buried his tongue deep in her mouth. A tentative stroke of her own brought a growl of encouragement, and she abandoned herself to explore his willing mouth. She did things she’d never dreamed she’d do, with Raif or anyone else. And she only wanted more. “Oh, Raif. I never thought it could be like this.”
He chuckled. “How soon you forget, Jenny.”
“Jenny?” Amantha froze, her blood turning to ice in her veins. “Who’s Jenny?” Sudden anger lit a fire in her, and she pushed him away. “How many women were you expecting in your bed tonight, Raif?”
“What?” The sleepiness had flown from his voice. “You’re not Jenny?”
“You expected me to be?” This was a nightmare. They weren’t even married and Raif was being unfaithful to her.
“I didn’t expect anyone in my bed.” He threw off the covers and fumbled at the bedside table.
“What do you mean you didn’t expect me? We had planned this, Raif.” What the devil was the man playing at?
“We?” A match flared as he lit the lamp, the sudden light after the darkness almost blinding her. She put her hand up to shield her eyes.
“What do you mean, we?” He sat up in the bed, rubbing his eyes. “Who are you, sweetheart?”
The voice, now unmuffled, certainly did not have the superior tone of Raiford Tolbert. Slowly Amantha lowered her hand to find a man with dark hair she’d never seen before peering at her.
Dear God, what had she done?
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Jenna Jaxon is a best-selling author of historical romance, writing in a variety of time periods because she believes that passion is timeless. She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, Jenna has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all these elements into her own stories.
She lives in Virginia with her family and a small menagerie of pets–including Olive, an almost silent cat, Earl Grey, a very curious bunny, and a Shar-pei mix dog named Frenchie.
Blog: http://www.jennajaxon.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenna.jaxon
Instagram: @passionistimeless
Bluesky: jennajaxon1.bsky.social
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@passionistimeless
TicTok: @jennajaxon1
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jenna-jaxon
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jenna-Jaxon/author/B005CHPBD2
Twitter/X: @1jennajaxon
Book Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GS54DPYB/ref=sr_1_2
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Jenna Jaxon will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.