Today, at FAR, I am speaking with Jane Leopold Quinn.

Hi Jane! It is great to have you with us. Thank you for taking time to answer some questions.

I love the tag line on your website My Romance: Love with Scorching Sensuality. I noticed that Ancient Ties, will be re-published again soon, and you also have Mercenary Desires Lust Anthology with Whiskey Creek Press Torrid out. Home To Stay has received some good reviews.

I just found out that Ancient Ties will re-publish on January 29, 2008 from Loose Id. It’s kind of scary to have my very first book come out again with some additions and edits. The reviews were so great the first time that I wonder if lightning will strike twice. Home to Stay has had 3 great reviews so far that make me very proud and happy.

Why not tell us a bit about Nickie Grace and Hank Crossman in Home To Stay.

Hank had a rough childhood with an addicted and abusive father, then the tragic death of his best friend in high school. He has a strong need to protect people which came from his stint in the Marines, and he became a police officer because of it. He’s come back to his home town to live, not his first choice, has entered into the community but still keeps mostly to himself. He does not want serious attachments of any kind including with women and the stray dog that adopted him. He doesn’t even want to give the dog a real name so calls him “Dog.”

Nickie is recently divorced from a catting-around man and is grateful to have an old house in this small Iowa town to rehab as kind of therapy for her. She and her house are being stalked and vandalized. She doesn’t want to get involved with Deputy Hank, but he has other ideas. She’s drawn into his life, his sensuality in love making and then the return of his estranged father. Her nurturing heart wants to bring the two together. It’s an uphill battle because Hank resists every effort.

When the truth comes out, that the stalking is tied to Hank’s past, can he handle that? Can he just let it all go and accept Nickie as the woman meant for him?

Would you also like to discuss your story in Torrid’s Anthology? We would love to hear about it.

Mercenary Desires, one of the short stories in the Lust Anthology, was so much fun to write. The idea came from a cold medication commercial on TV. Odd but true. The man in the commercial looked scruffy since he was sick from a cold, but once he’d taken the medication, he turned handsome. Rowdy is an undercover mercenary working in the Middle East. He’s a former Green Beret, and now his own company does rescues. He rescues Sara from kidnappers in Egypt, but at first she’s just as terrified by Rowdy’s bearded façade.

Sara is a Chicago jewelry designer and way out of her element in the dangerous Egyptian desert. Rowdy saves her life, and she can’t help but fall for the hunk and wonder what he looks like under his beard and long hair.

Rowdy wonders if he’s been away from normal life too long. He wonders if Sara will recognize him if he shows up clean shaven in her jewelry shop, or if she’s more interested in glamorous city guys than a rough mercenary.

Jane, do you have any other upcoming projects you are working on?

I have several projects going on. A couple of short stories that have been submitted, but not accepted yet. They haven’t been rejected yet either. A novel has finalled in a contest which should be decided around the middle of December. It’s the first time I’ve finalled, but I don’t enter too many contests. I also have three Westerns that are tied together that I would love to work on again.

Do you ever start a story and as soon as you get to the middle of the book, you just don’t like the direction the story is going, so you decide to change it?

Wow, this is a question I’ve never been asked. Yes, even if I plot it out pretty specifically, something can still change. Until you submit it, you can always revise a story.

Have you ever suffered writers block?

I don’t call it writers’ block. I can always think of a story idea. Even characters come pretty easily to me. I even know pretty soon in the process how I want the book to start and end. When I get stymied, it’s because I don’t quite know where I want the story to go next. Sometimes that means a scene isn’t working at all and needs to be revised or cut. I start making notes about the characters and/or the action. By writing out my questions, most of the time I can see an answer that way.

Has there been a particular character that you hated to say good-bye to, once your book was completed?

I pretty much hate to say goodbye to any of my heroes. I’m in lust with all of them, but then I write them that way.

Do you have any advice for a beginning author seeking a publisher?

Yes, advice that I haven’t always followed myself. Read what a particular publisher puts out. Especially in erotic writing, some publishers expect certain things. Make sure that you can write to that publisher’s expectations. Another matter to consider these days is New York publisher or e-publisher. I’m happy that there are so many e-publishers because that gives us so many more places to be published. And there’s a lot of crossover, some writers are both NY and e-published. New writers should talk to other writers, ask questions about options. Writers love to talk about anything to do with writing and publishing.

When writing, do you go with the flow or plan each scene out?

I do both. With a novel size work, I make a plot grid. Sometimes, though, I start writing a chapter or two to get in the groove, then I go back and plot the story out and do character studies. With a short story, I usually just start writing, but even there I’ve already made some informal notes and character descriptions.

Jane, can you give us three words that best describe you?

Organized, perfectionist, focused.

Do you have a secret indulgence that no ones knows about?

Nothing really decadent, but I consider my life right now as an indulgence. With my husband’s support, I was able to quit my day job to stay home and focus on writing. We cut our take home pay in half, but I’m so grateful that his emotional support has given me this chance to do exactly what I want to do in life. I work every day, a full day, either writing or on writing-related things. I’m serious and focused on writing and am very proud of the books and stories that have been published. One reviewer on Ancient Ties said that I had a “graceful style of writing.” A reviewer on Home to Stay said “the plot was flawless.” This is positive reinforcement at it’s highest.

Is there anything else you would like to share with your readers?

I’d love to have readers e-mail me if they like or dislike something I’ve written. Preferably like. Unfortunately, in my book Home to Stay, I forgot to put my website or e-mail address in my bio. Makes it kind of hard to find me unless a reader Googles me. I write the kinds of stories that I like to read, but I certainly hope that I’m making readers happy too.

For Fun: Hot showers or soothing bubble baths?

Hot showers.

Your favorite comfort food that you could eat always?

Macaroni and cheese.

I do love your website janeleopoldquinn.com. Do you belong to any loops?

Thank you. I created it myself on GoDaddy.com. It’s not the most teched up, but it’s something I can handle and update by myself.

I belong to several loops. From the Heart, a Romance Writers of America on-line chapter. Passionate Ink, also an RWA on-line chapter. United Romance Writers Association, Paranormal Writers, Erotic Romance Workshop.

Who is your favorite music composer?

I’m not so much interested in composers as I am in performers. I get a lot of creative energy from Josh Groban, Il Divo, The Opera Band, Mario Frangoulis, Sarah Brightman. I love to write to the tenors and the love songs they sing. It helps me keep in mind that it’s all about love.

Do you have any favorite TV shows or movies?

I’m an obsessive HGTV fan. I see the shows as a type of romance story. There’s the basic room/house/yard, challenges to make things better, and a happy ending. Almost any time “Philadelphia Story” is on TV, I’ll watch it. The TV show “30 Rock” is one of my favorites at the moment. For books I like romance, for TV I like sarcastic, irreverent stuff. I’ll go to any movie made from a Jane Austen book. I cannot bear any horror or war movie.

This isn’t TV or movie related, but I design and build doll houses and miniature rooms, and I make silk flower arrangements.

Thank you so much for spending time with us, Jane. It has been a delight and I wish you the best with your writing.

Interviewed by: Linda L.