First and foremost, please tell us a little
bit about yourself. I write both sexy and erotic contemporary
romance, and was lucky to begin writing full time about a year ago. I'm a mom
of two young boys, two rescue dogs, and my house is always a bit chaotic and
never truly clean!
Are you a
plotter or a pantser? Pantser all the way!
What is your
writing routine? I'll get my kids on the bus,
bring my coffee in, and work on social media and email for about half an hour.
Then I write, and take breaks with twitter and facebook or for more coffee! I
write until I get my kids from school, spend some time with them, and write
till dinner (my husband usually does the cooking lol!). Then I'll write into
the evening depending on the work in progress, a good tv show I can't miss, or
a deadline!
Where do
you find your inspiration? Everywhere. Travel, every day
conversations, daydreaming, books, movies, it's all out there ready to be
tapped. Inspiration is never a problem - finding the time to write all the
stories in my head is!
Do you get
your plots first, or your characters? Characters are always first.
I'm heavy on character driven novels because that's my meat. Plot just drives
it forward.
What is it
about billionaires that attract both readers and writers alike? I just love my billionaires! They are
interesting, driven, alpha males, and isolated. Most are lonely and vulnerable
when you strip the outside. There's so many layers and conflict right there in
a billionaire, just from his past and how he got there. I never get tired of
this type of hero, if written well.
You add a twist in your MARRIAGE series
with the love spell. How did you come up with that concept and what kind
of reception have you gotten from it? I love magic. When I was single and searching, it was hard out there. My
friends and I talked about a love spell, and heard about this one where you
write down all the qualities of your man and put it under the mattress. The
Marriage Bargain was born from that idea, and our own search for Mr. Right and
the frustration of not finding him! Most readers love it - I even put out the
official Book of Spells for fun!
How did you research Italy (for The Marriage
Trap)? Does setting help add to the romance and the tension? I've always adored
Italy, my grandmother came from Naples, and I took four years of Italian in
school. I used the internet heavily, and had traveled on an extensive tour
when I graduated from college. The background is romantic, and Italians favor
the strong ties of old fashioned family which I adore. Yes, I believe this type
of setting only adds to the romance.
The Marriage Mistake is extremely unique for
a contemporary romance. I love the concept. Was it as fun to write
as it is to read? The Marriage Mistake was one of my most difficult stories to write! It
was painful, had to be completely rewritten, but now it's one of my favorites.
I think Carina was young when I introduced her, so I needed to really tap into
her growth, which was key to the book. Now I'm so proud of it like a mama who
let her baby grow up!
Your MARRIAGE series focuses on four
sisters. How did you write their relationship so they didn't come off as
one dimensional or stereotypical? I don't have any sisters so I had no preconceived ideas! I wrote what I
wanted them to be like, and I made sure each of them were complete individuals.
I think that was important so each of their stories were completely different.
I also know every sibling is unique - my brother is a doctor and I faint at
needles, and he can't write a paper haha!
How do you keep the sexy scenes between your characters
so steamy and different? I love writing about sex. Yep, I said it. It's out there. Sex is awesome
- what a way to keep the tension, discover more about your characters, and just
have that tingle factor. Sex is as unique for two individuals, so again, I use
character for them to tell me how the sex scenes should be. Marriage Merger was
one of my darkest, most erotic in the series because of my hero having an
abused past and control issues.
Tell us a little bit about Madame Eve, from
your STEELE BROTHERS series. I love my 1NS stories! Decadent has a great set up where Madame Eve is
the mysterious matchmaker and sets the characters up for a one night stand, and
it ends up in love. I created three powerful brothers in Vegas who all meet
their match. It's heavy on BDSM which I adore reading and writing, and explores
some of the more erotic tendencies in my writing. I would love to write the
last one as I promised so as soon as I have the time I'll finish the series!
You write all sorts of books, from romance to
erotic to family. What genre are you most comfortable writing and why? All of them,
depending on the day. I've written a short story about an abused rescue dog
from the dog's POV and it was just as important and comfortable as romance. I'm
a person who's interested in everything in life so I never want to limit
myself. But I will say romance is my core - my soul work, and I will always
write contemporary romance.
What type of relationship is your favorite to
explore and develop? The alpha issue laden male
matched with a powerful kick ass woman who takes him on a wild ride and teaches
him about love.
What type of
person is your ideal heroine when you're both reading and writing?
What type of person is your ideal hero when you're both reading
and writing? Are they the same? Why or why not? Again,
I love strong men and women, already set with their careers and a bit older. I
love that tug of individuality and control against the power of love, and the
vulnerability one feels when you commit to another person. I dislike weak,
whiny, poor me characters - I won't read them or write them.
Why did you decide to self-publish? I self published
the story about a rescue dog and gave the royalties to my local pet shelter. It
was an experiment and I liked it. I adore my traditional publishers and don't intend
to stop, but I needed to explore more in the self publishing circuit and
partnered with Cool Gus to help. Bob Mayer and Jen Talty take care of all the
marketing, cover, formatting, PR, etc, and I can concentrate on the writing.
How did you earn your success in the
self-publishing industry? Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists? Success is earned
the hard way - lots of work and good books/stories. I built a solid platform a
long time before my books became successful. I made friends, followed blogs,
knew the industry, honed my craft, and wrote all the time. There's no easy way
- do the work, learn your craft, be available in social media and genuine, and
it will all come together.
Would you recommend advertisements or did you
market your books through a different venue? I had no money at first, so I did a lot
of library signings/speakings for PR. I did lots of blog stuff with the
reviewers I followed and who liked my work. I did a lot of blogging because I
built an audience and I enjoyed it. I tried different routes because you have
to find what you like and are comfortable with. I did some inexpensive swag,
made sure I went to conferences for networking, and hooked up with other
authors to cross promote. There's no magic formula.
How involved are you in terms of editing/book
cover/release date/marketing process? Very involved. Traditional and self published books need the input of
the writer I think to succeed. I work well with my editor, and very closely
with Cool Gus during every aspect of the book from beginning to end.
Are you working on anything now? Yes! I am
finishing up Searching for Perfect, the second in the Searching series coming
out May 2014. Then I'll be releasing the first in the Posse series on the self
pubbing side which will come out Feb or March 2014, titled One More Time.
Any upcoming releases? Searching for Someday releases November 24th
and I'm so excited about it! It's a spin off from the marriage series about a
group of best friends who launch a matchmaking agency. It's up for preorder
here: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1476744920/simonsayscom
Website:
http://www.jenniferprobst.com
twitter @jenniferprobst
all social media on my
webpage
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