BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--INTERVIEW WITH ROMANCE AUTHOR RED L. JAMESON

Romance author Red. L. Jameson stops by for an interview today. Red writes time-travel romance and other romance sub-genres. Learn more about her and her books at her website and blog.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

I’ve always been making up stories. My first memories were of inventing fantastical worlds and reading. However, writing a novel came much, much later.

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

Ten long years. Did I mention how long those years were?

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

Well, first let me back up, and answer again about how long it took for me to become published. I was published in a few magazines when I was thirteen and through my teenage years for my poetry. After that, my undergraduate thesis was published in an academic journal. Then there were other small academic articles published here or there—I have another coming out this year regarding the historiography of Native Americans during the Seven Years’ War. However, through it all, my dream was to write fiction. It took a little over a decade for that to happen, and it was only because of the indie publishing movement that I could.

Where do you write?

Anywhere I can. I’m a mom, so I write wherever, whenever I can. Have laptop, will travel, or just lock myself in my bathroom for some quiet to write.

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

My preference is silence. However, life interferes. So I listen to classical or instrumental music when I write.

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

My characters are all drawn from people I know. Or I take something from someone I know and another aspect from someone else. Or I sometimes even take from myself. In Cowboy of Mine, my heroine plagiarized, which makes her feel like a thief and a liar. That was from personal experience. Although I never plagiarized from another writer, in graduate school I did self plagiarize, which is pretty dang bad. My only excuse was my exhaustion. Honestly, I don’t remember thinking through my actions. I was just so tired. I completely forgot about self-plagiarizing, until I was caught. Luckily, my professor was very kind and let me have another chance at that assignment. But I felt terrible about what I’d done. And all of that is channeled into my heroine, Meredith.  

Describe your process for naming your character?

You know, this might sound odd, but my characters tell me their names.

Real settings or fictional towns?

Real settings in different times, which means a lot of research for me. Yay! I love research.

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

In the book I’m currently writing, tentatively titled Duchess of Mine, I have a duchess who wants to curse, run, get drunk, and get into fights. She cracks me up. I love her.

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

Gosh, I’m such a nut, so my quirky quirks might make a pretty long list. Let’s see . . . I have had many years of training for operetta singing, but I never sing in public; I’m barefoot almost all the time, even in snow; I want to eat like the Paleo Diet, but I don’t like the taste of meat; and I don’t like weddings—never have.

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s simply the best book. Ever.

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

I think, in general, I wish I would slow down more. Take my time. Quit stressing about the little things. So my do-over would be for me to have many do-overs and enjoy the fun while I’m doing it.

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

People who dictate the “rules” of grammar, but haven’t read a style manual themselves. I get a tick in my eye just thinking about them.

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

I’d say my son, but that’s rather selfish of me, forcing my son on a deserted island. Gosh . . . I’d need a helicopter and pilot to get me off the deserted island and back with my son. ;)

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

When I was sixteen I was a janitor in a college girls’ dorm. Girls can be very messy. I only lasted a few months.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

As I mentioned earlier, I really like To Kill a Mockingbird.

Ocean or mountains?

Both! Hee-hee! I’m the kind of girl who wants it all. I did mention I’m a nut, right?

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

I’m a country bumpkin by heart. However, I have lived in Miami and love visiting cities.

What’s on the horizon for you?

I have another Glimpse Time Travel book coming out this spring.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

I’m so honored to be here! Thank you for having me! And I love hearing from my readers, so please find me through my website or blog!

Wishing everyone a beautiful day!

-Red

Cowboy of Mine

Book Three of the Glimpse Time Travel Series

The matchmaking, time-traveling muses have a huge problem. An angry Norse god has just captured one of their mortals, refusing to tell them where he took Jacob Cameron, let alone when.

As a seventeenth-century Highlander, being shuttled through time by a man calling himself Odin, might have been enough to crack Jake Cameron’s sanity. He’s kept his mind only through grit, gumption, and the single goal to somehow return to 1653 and his brothers. Landing in the freezing wilds of Montana in 1887, becoming the sheriff for a small mining community, Jake now needs to make a plan to travel back in time. However, when a wee fae-like woman walks into his life all his best-laid intentions becomes hazy.

As a thief and liar, Meredith Peabody knows she has no chance with the new sheriff in town. Although, he melts her frozen heart with his protection and smoldering looks. Even if she did have a chance with him, how could she ever relate she’s not from this time? She might never get the chance because as soon as she realizes her winter’s wish—for Jake to stay close—the criminal he’s hunting turns the tables on him. But there’s no way in h-e-double hockey sticks Meredith will let that happen.

The muses have their work cut out for this glimpse—chasing after a god, trying to find clues where and when their humans could be, and fitting in time for dress shopping has been murder. Gods, hopefully not literally!

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