Interview with Julie Anne Long and a Contest!

And I have to tell you, I’m so excited about The Perils of Pleasure!! It’s my first book for Avon, and it’s my first book in a new series, too, about the lives, passions, adventures and misadventures of the denizens of Pennyroyal Green, Sussex, England, a town anchored by the wealthy Eversea and Redmond families —whose relations are civil on the surface, but seethe beneath with ancient secrets and grudges and —naturally — attractions. We’ll follow these folks wherever their passions take them —whether it’s London, the gallows, a ballroom, a bedroom, the high seas, or the Sussex downs. I have major plans for these people. The stories are loosely connected and characters recur, but not in every book. A number of Pennyroyal Green characters will get their own stories—not just Everseas and Redmonds—and each story can be read independently of each other. Collect ‘em all

But back to POP: in this story, we meet Colin Eversea, the charming, heartbreaker of a black sheep youngest son of that clan, who manages to at last distinguish himself by doing what no roguish Eversea in history has heretofore done: get caught. The catch? He claims he’s innocent. He’s sent to the gallows, but Madeleine Greenway, a daring, beautiful mercenary with a few secrets of her own is paid by an anonymous employer to rescue him. When it becomes clear that whoever wants Colin alive wants Madeleine dead, they form an uneasy alliance in a race for the truth and to prove Colin’s innoscence, in time to get Colin back to Pennyroyal Green to stop a wedding. Passion, adventure, intrigue, and — of course — a bit of hilarity ensues.

Like I said, I’m so jazzed about this book!! The reviews have been really wonderful so far — an RT Top Pick, and other fabulous reviews — and early reader feedback has been very exciting. I’m so pleased people seem to be enjoying it. Can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks of it. Cross your fingers for me that it does well!

For those that are new to your books…How long have you been writing and what was your first published book?

I suppose I’ve been writing or creating in one way or another all my life—I wrote my first book when I was around 7 years old – it was a Crayola illustrated, stapled-together story about a talking rabbit. Telling stories was just something I loved to do. I was a Journalism major, then a Creative Writing major, then a songwriter (I played in local bands). But my first finished book was THE RUNAWAY DUKE, and I finished that and sold it shortly afterwards (it was published in 2004), but in a way, I needed the accumulated experience of my life to create those characters and finish that book.

Do you plot out your stories first or do you let the characters lead you?

Hmmm…a book for me usually begins with an idea or a character or even just a particular scene in mind. I almost always start with the hero first—who do I want to spend an entire book with, in other words? It sort of spirals from there. And then the concepts for my stories are usually originally pretty broad, and they can take off in any direction as I’m writing them. I’ll know particular scenes belong in a book, so I’ll write those first (I in fact always write the love scenes first), and in writing those I get to know the characters better, get a feel for their voices, which in turn starts to shape the rest of the story. I swear, it’s like channeling. LOL.

I write out of order. Always. My editor compared it to how a movie is filmed—they often don’t film scenes in the order in which they appear—and I think that’s a great analogy. I don’t start vigorously plotting, per se, until later into the book, after I’ve written numerous scenes and have a really strong feeling for the story. I often wish I were a more linear writer—I’m incredibly linear and analytical in other aspects of my life, and being a linear writer sounds somehow less angst-inducing—but my process defies my attempt to impose more order on it. LOL.

Of all your published books, do you have a favorite? If so, which one and why?

My favorite is usually the one I’m writing. Actually, I could never pick a favorite! The others might find out and be jealous.

Of all your published books, do you have a least favorite? If so, which one and why?

I love them all the same, but for different reasons.

What are you currently working on?

As I type this, I’m finishing up THE DANGERS OF DESIRE, another Regency-set historical and the book that comes next in the Pennyroyal Green series. It’s the story of Miles Redmond, once a second son, now, through circumstances, an heir, and Cynthia Brightly, a slightly tarnished belle of last London’s season. I’ll tell everyone more about it in a little while. Man, I seriously think it might be the sexiest book I’ve written to date, though. For some reason, that’s the direction THIS particular book has taken. LOL.

When you’re not writing, what genre do you enjoy reading and who are some of your favorite authors?

I read across every genre, voraciously, but I try not to read romance while I’m writing romance—I kind of need the stimulus of something different to sort of prime the creative pump. Right now I’m gobbling up everything Alexander McCall Smith has ever written, particularly his Scotland Street series (he writes the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series, set in Botswana). Love his voice, his sensibility.

Describe a day in the life of Julie Anne Long

Are you sure you want to hear this? You might fall asleep midway through it: I wake up around eight with the cat crouching in a sphinx shape on my chest, staring at me, psychically willing me to wake up. I stagger out of bed, give said cat a drink from the bathroom sink (it’s more fun for him to drink this way, apparently) and rub his stomach while he rolls around on his back in the hallway for a while (I have to do this every morning. He’s very fluffy.) Then I make a cup of tea, usually green or white tea. Earl Gray when I’m feeling under the weather or naughty. I drink lots and lots of tea. And then I hit the computer: from about 9 to 3 I usually do what I call Admin stuff: Write or answer emails, contest maintenance, website design or updating, blogging, answer MySpace messages or update my page there, promo planning, going to the post office, etc. I take a break to run on my mini trampoline or go outside and work out a little on some nearby steep hills or go to the grocery store to flirt with the baggers (a girl has to be reminded that she’s a girl, when a girl is single. LOL). I can often be persuaded to go have lunch with a friend at a moment’s notice. J Seems like all of my friends have untraditional hours and jobs—artists, writers, journalists—these days, which is fun. Then I come back home and write and write and write for four or five hours, often until very late at night. See?? LOL. Especially when I’m near a deadline, I don’t have much of a life. Wait – you know, that’s not actually true: I LOVE my life as a writer. Much of it takes place in front of the computer, and I work a lot, and I usually work every day, but in truth, despite the deadlines, my work is almost indistinguishable from fun, because I love the diversity, the creative and technical aspects of it, from thinking up new contests and implementing them on my site to writing new stories, the entrepreneurial aspect of it, even the angst-inducing uncertainty of it (will people like my books?? Etc.) in a way. And I love the contact with readers via email or MySpace or blogging. It’s a good life! I’m lucky!So that’s a typical day. I DO have atypical days. LOL.

Favorites…

Favorite Season?

I like early Fall here in California. The air is sharper, the light paler…it feels portentous, somehow. Probably because school started in September, and I loved school, and my birthday is in September, and what’s not to like about birthdays?

Morning person or night owl?

Who! Who! (That was my owl imitation.) SUCH a night owl, I can’t even begin to tell you. I like the quiet, wee hours of the morning. I actually hit my stride about 10 p.m. when I’m writing, and will often burn through a lot of pages between 10 and 1.

Favorite movie?

I’ve seen Sense and Sensibility about 40 times. I must like it. J I love the Princess Bride, too—because it’s both very dark and very light, whimsical and serious and tender and outrageously romantic.

Favorite song?

Oh, man! I have about three thousand favorite songs! I used to play in bands. I’m a music FREAK. And I like all kinds of music. Yikes. Well, here are a few songs that felt like epiphanies when I first heard them: “Powder Blue,” Elbow; “Time of the Season,” the Zombies; “Scarborough Fair,” Simon and Garfunkel; “Hallelujah,” the Jeff Buckley version of the Leonard Cohen song; “Sweet Child of Mine,” Guns n Roses; “The Real Sheila,” Game Theory.

Favorite color?

Mmm…love colors of all kinds. But I love warm ones best, I think. Reds, golds, ambers, oranges. Colors that glow. I’m also partial to greens. And pink. LOL.

Fun Questions…

If you had a shrinking device, what’s the one thing in your house you’d miniaturize first?

I’d miniaturize my tendency to worry! Ha! I realize that’s mostly in my head, but my head is most often located in my house (atop my neck, etc.), so there we have it. Actually, I’m getting better at the whole worrying thing. I’m learning to roll with it.

If you were a superhero, what would your super power be?

Man, sometimes I think just being human and getting through our days makes us superheroes. Let’s hear it for us humans!

If you could build your own robot, what would it do?

It would produce precisely the meal I want whenever I wanted it, and I wouldn’t even have to tell it. Thai food? NO problem.

Instead of leaves or money, what do you wish would grow on trees?

Wait—Money doesn’t grow on trees? I better go look at my checkbook…

If you had to smell like one thing for the rest of your life, what scent would you pick?

I’d like to have a mysterious, delicious, elusive, unidentifiable smell—people will catch a whiff, get a dreamy look on their face, and instantly be in a better mood.