TBR welcomes Jill James

TBR: Welcome to TBR, Jill. Will you share a little bit about yourself?
Jill: Hi, thrilled to be here at TBR. I started writing as a small child, putting on puppet shows in my garage for the neighborhood kids. Writing got sidelined when I started having children. Once they were able to survive for short periods of time without me I started writing seriously toward publication. My first book, Tempting Adam came out in 2011 from The Wild Rose Press. I’ve now started self-publishing as well.

TBR: Tell us about Divorce,Interrupted and where it's available.
Jill: Divorce, Interrupted is a contemporary romance, my first self-published book, and first in the Second Chances series. Dare To Trust is also available and Defend My Love should be out now.

TBR: Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.
Jill: Twenty years. Gone in an instant. Her abrupt decision to take her boss up on his umpteenth attempt at flirting. A nanosecond to throw it all away. For what turned out to be mediocre sex at best. Todd had ruined her for any other man. He loved her with his heart and soul, and she’d trampled it for half the allotted time in a tawdry, by-the-hour motel with smelly, overused sheets.

Her reasons, ones that she’d thought so important at the time; no longer feeling special, him working endless hours, and his growing discontent with her extra pounds, paled in comparison to what she’d thrown away.

Her nose ran, as the tears slid down her cheeks, wetting the newspaper on the table. The headline, Possibility of Flooding in Lake County Certain, glared at her and her stupidity. She’d been so determined to clear the vacation house of personal belongings before the sale, and now she was second-guessing every decision in her life.

Her hair fell from her ponytail and caressed her damp cheeks. She swiped her face in a harsh rub, pulled the ponytail holder from her hair, and scrapped the hair back in painful tugs, putting the rubber band back in.

Too bad the pain in her scalp wasn’t enough to take her mind away from the pain in her heart. She grabbed a page of the newspaper and wrapped another knickknack. Fresh tears cascaded down her face as she viewed the bride and groom figurine from her and Todd’s wedding cake.

The small couple looked so idyllic; holding hands, gazing into each other’s eyes. “What a lie you made of that, Lisa.” Her hard laugh bounced around the cavernous room, joined a second later by the echoes of shattering porcelain against the far wall.

“Great,” she cried. “In pieces. Like my life.”

TBR: What inspired you to write about the theme?
Jill: Personally, if my husband cheated there is no place on this planet he could run and hide to, but that is why it is called fiction. I was tantalized with the idea of happily ever after not being over, that maybe you can recapture it if you’re meant to be together.

TBR: Are you a plotter or pantser?
Jill: Totally a plotter. I start with Chapter 1 and write until I hit The End. I use character charts, white poster boards, and Post-Its to plan out my stories.

TBR: While creating your books, what was one of the most surprising things you learned?
Jill: I was surprised to learn all the things I don’t know. The most minute things that you have to stop and look up. For Divorce, Interrupted I had to look up what is a large amount of rainfall. In Northern California we don’t get a ton, so when it does rain a lot it is easy to get a flood.

TBR: What's next for you?
Jill: Next I’m going to bundle together the three books of the Second Chances series and a first for me, make them a paperback book. It will be something very new to me, to hold a book with my name on the cover.

TBR: What’s the most challenging aspect of writing? Most rewarding?
Jill: For me, the biggest challenge is sitting my butt in the chair and taking the time to write. But that leads to the most rewarding, which is seeing words become sentences, then paragraphs, then pages, until finally, it is a complete story. There is something magical about typing The End.

TBR: What’s the most interesting comment you have received about your books?
Jill: Divorce, Interrupted has had quite a few reviews commenting on how they didn’t want to like my characters but they fell in love with them. Infidelity is a touchy subject that I hadn’t thought too deeply about when I sat down to write the story. Good thing! I might not have written the story otherwise.

TBR: Who are some of your favorite authors and books? What are you reading now?
Jill: My favorites are the Queens of romance; Jennifer Blake, Shirlee Busbee, Virginia Henley, and Bertrice Small. They are why I fell in love with romance novels. I just finished an awesome Indie book, Deadly Obsession by Kristine Cayne. Loved it!!

TBR: Where can readers find you on the web?
Jill:  I have a website/blog at http://www.jilljameswrites.com and I’m on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/jill_james and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Jill.James.author

TBR: Readers, Jill James will give away 1 ebook gift copy to one lucky commenter and one sent to the winner’s best friend. She'll pick a winner on next week and announce the winner here. Be sure to leave your email address so s/he can contact you.

Thanks for visiting TBR, Jill. Best of luck to you.