Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Author Interview - J.S. Scott

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
Newsletter:  For updates on new releases, sales and giveaways please sign up for my Newsletter by going to: http://eepurl.com/KhsSD

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