Let's welcome author J.S. Scott. She's the NY Times and USA Today Bestseller author of the
Billionaire's Obsession series,
The Vampire Coalition,
The Changeling Encounters,
The Pleasure of His Punishment,
Big Girls and Bad Boys, and
The Sentinel Demons.
Thanks for stopping by. Let's get to the questions.
1) What
were your favorite books growing up?
A: I loved anything fantasy as a
child, and my favorite series as a kid was The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.
Lewis. I also loved The Hobbit, and Lord
of the Rings. I started reading romance as a young teen. My mom read Harlequins, and I swiped them
when she was done. I started on romance
very young, and I’ve been a romance addict ever since.
2) Now
that you have, let’s say—some life experience, what would you tell your younger
self?
A: Life is way too short to be negative, or
to dwell on anger, resentment or past hurts.
3) Describe
your typical day.
A: My
life has changed dramatically since I’ve left medicine to pursue writing on a
full-time basis. I’m still trying to
catch up with myself, so I spend almost all of my time working. I get up, (coffee is a must before I can even
function) and then I try to answer emails and questions. Right after that…I’m writing. I usually have a daily goal or word count
that I have to make myself accomplish. If
I don’t do that, I’d never get done on time as I tend to get distracted with
other parts of my job as an author. I
try to take a break every hour or so just to stretch, and I break for
dinner. If I haven’t reached my goal,
it’s back to the computer for me. I scheduled myself really tight this
year.
4) Who
is your favorite character in your books?
A:
I’d have to say that I love all of my characters, but Simon and Sam
Hudson were two of my favorites. Sam was
rather heart-wrenching because he wasn’t physically damaged, and he hid his
emotional pain. But he was so broken
until he found Maddie again.
5) What
do you do when writer’s block shows up, settles in, and makes itself
comfortable?
A: I
heard an author once say that there really is no such thing as writer’s block,
and I have to agree. Some days are
better than others, but I think it’s really necessary to just make myself
write. My work that particular day may
take more editing and changes, but even if I think my writing is awful that
day, I just keep writing. I find that
the best ideas come when I’m “stuck” and just feel like I’m writing
nonsense. I think some days the ideas
and words flow better than others, but it’s important to just keep writing
until the ideas start flowing again, even if I think it’s junk. I’m an author
every day, but some days need more editing than others. : )
6) Do
you find yourself pulling details from “real life” or does your imagination
rule the roost?
A:
Personally, I know my general ideas spring from life experience. When I wrote Simon and Kara’s story, the idea
came when I was thinking about how difficult it was back when I was in college,
and what a tightrope I walked back then.
If one little thing had happened when I was on such a tight budget, I
would have been in a real predicament.
The story went to imagination at the point, it was a “what if something
had happened” scenario. I think I would
have a hard time not pulling on some personal experience for my books, but once
I have an idea, my imagination runs wild.
7) What
was the first manuscript you wrote (even if it never saw the light of day)?
A: A
lot of my work never saw the light of day.
I started writing romance in my early twenties, and I’m sad to say I
can’t even remember the titles. I
finally tossed them all because I never completely finished them. I had convinced myself I could never be a
writer, that I wasn’t good enough. But I
never lost the desire or the dream.
8) Have
you ever pursued traditional publishing? Or did you go straight for indie
publishing?
A:
Many years ago, I had a manuscript that I’d nearly completed. I sent out
a lot of queries, and every one of them was a rejection except for one. I think it was a Harlequin line that wanted
to read the whole manuscript. At the
same time, I was accepted into the Respiratory Therapists program, and I knew
I’d have to work full-time while I went to school full-time. I put aside that dream of writing and went
the safe route, knowing I’d always have a job and an income if I went to
college. I don’t regret that. It was the sensible thing to do. But I always wondered what would have
happened if I would have been able to finish and submit that manuscript—until I
started writing as an indie. Now, I
think it was fate, and everything worked out exactly as it was supposed to be. I’m very happy as an indie author.
9) What
Works In Progress are brewing? Any
target dates for publication?
A: I’m thrilled to be working on a new series for Montlake Romance, an
Amazon imprint, called The Sinclairs.
It’s a spin-off series loosely connected to my self-published
Billionaire’s Obsession series. I have a
Sinclair novella coming out with Montlake on October 14th entitled
“The Billionaire’s Christmas,” and the first full-length Sinclair book, “No
Ordinary Billionaire” will be released March 31st, 2015. In between
my Montlake books, I’ll still be releasing my self-published series, The
Billionaire’s Obsession and The Sentinel Demon series. Both of those series will have a new release
at the beginning of 2015.
10) How
can fans reach you?
Twitter – Tweet @AuthorJSScott
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