I’d like to welcome today’s special guest, Jessica Scott, to Reading Reality. Jessica is the author of two incredibly marvelous, and I do mean marvelous, contemporary romances with military heroes, Because of You and Until There Was You. (I absolutely loved both books, see my reviews for Because and Until to get the details of just how much and why)
In addition to being a romance writer, Jessica is also a career soldier. She really took that advice about “write what you know” to heart. And it shows in her work.
Let’s hear what she has to say about it.
Marlene: Hello Jessica! Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
Jessica: Um, I’m a generally crazy person who has a mouth that has been getting her in trouble for 17 years (aka her entire adult life).
Marlene: What are the extra-special work/life/writing balance issues of being a serving soldier? (And wow and thank you for your service!)
Jessica: There is no balance. I challenge the assumption that balance is something we can achieve. Something always ends up short. During the duty day, I’m focused on work. At home, I try to focus on the kids. When I’m on deadline, I have to make that a priority. So there is no balance, it’s a matter of which way the scales tip today.
Marlene: How did you come up with your blog post on “Things that Happen During Sex You Won’t Read in Romance Novels“? Why haven’t more people seen the comic possibilities of a novel based on this?
Jessica: I honestly don’t remember how I came up with that post but I remember giggling my tail off when I wrote it. It got a lot of traffic, too! Some contemp authors like Victoria Dahl have me laughing my tail off so it’s out there. 🙂
Marlene: You talk about some of your “trunk novels” on your blog. They sound like they are near and dear to your heart. Do you have any plans to publish any of them?
Jessica: Not right now. They would need to be a complete and total rewrite and right now, I have to focus on the stories that my publisher is paying me to write. 🙂
Marlene: Do you plan everything or just let the story flow?
Jessica: I’d love to be one of those gifted writers that can just write and let the story come but whenever I do that, I end up stuck at about 25K words. At that point, if the story won’t let me go, I sit down and figure out the major plot points, characters etc., before going forward. It helps me tremendously.
Marlene: Do your characters ever want to take over the story?
Jessica: All the time, that’s why there’s a delete button. 🙂
Marlene: What book do you recommend everyone should read and why?
Jessica: The Hunger Games. It’s such an important commentary on our time.
Marlene: Will there be more books in the Coming Home series? What is next on your schedule?
Jessica: I certainly hope so! Right now I’m finishing up Laura & Trent’s book for Back to You and after that, Reza’s story is coming along nicely. Beyond that, I can’t say 🙂
Marlene: Coffee or Tea?
Jessica: Oh coffee all day long!
ABOUT JESSICAJessica Scott is a career army officer, mother of two daughters, three cats and three dogs, wife to a career NCO and wrangler of all things stuffed and fluffy. She is a terrible cook and even worse housekeeper, but she’s a pretty good shot with her assigned weapon and someone liked some of the stuff she wrote. Somehow, her children are pretty well adjusted and her husband still loves her, despite burned water and a messy house.
You can find Jessica on her website | blog | Goodreads | twitter
~~~~~~Giveaway~~~~~~
Jessica Scott is giving away one ebook copy of Because of You and Until There was You to one lucky commenter.
All you have to do is answer the question in the Rafflecopter.
Because these are ebook copies, this giveaway is open to all!
Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Jessica, I love that you are so honest. No one ever says the truth about moms having a balanced life. It is impossible. Thanks for stating it. Its not just me then. haha
Lol! Yeah, I used to think balance was possible. Then I realized I was lying to myself:)
I expect I’ll never read “Let’s do this with the lights off” in a romance novel.
lol! Probably not:)
my first thought was an alien that looks like a … pile of rock? … i dont know, to each her own
but i like another commentator’s answer better … “Let’s do this with the lights off”
cheating
I really dont know. But I do like the lights off answer.