I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely and talented Jade Lee at AAD in NOLA. Today, I’m sitting down for a chat with Jade and can’t wait to hang out with her again in Savannah!

1. Tell us a little about yourself.  – I’m just a writer who can’t say no.  I’m in a terrible fix!  (Okay, so Oklahoma! was my mother’s favorite movie. I grew up listening to it and can sing all the songs—badly.)  Anyway, I have two pennames – Jade Lee is my regency-era historical name. She writes textured, sexy, big books. That’s where I go when I’m feeling the need for deep emotions, lots of layers, ballrooms and handsome Earls!  Plus lots of hot sex!  Kathy Lyons is my fun contemporary side.  She’s sexy (very), has a ton of fun, and writes short books set in a very special B&B where hero and heroine share erotic dreams.  As I said…sexy and fun!

 2. Did you dream of writing when you were a little girl or did you dream of other thing like being a ballerina (or world domination, like me)? I dreamed of being Luke Skywalker’s girlfriend. Or a Narnia Daughter of Eve. Or a really hot elven girl in Lord of the Rings.  I put myself in everything I read or saw on tv, and boy was I kick ass and sexy!  I never dreamed of being a writer, but honestly, I’ve been a storyteller since I was born.  (Mom called them lies…)

 3.  Were you always interested in writing romance or did you start out interested in something else? I wanted to write fantasy.  Yes, I’m a sf/f geek.  But I always put in a love story.  And then, I just made the switch to romance.  Plus, I’d always read regency romances, so it was a natural fit.

4. What is the first book that you can remember making an impact on you? Why did it make such an impact?  C S Lewis’ Narnia books.  Everyone talks about The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, but my favorite was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  Must have read that a zillion times. I understood the structure of a travel adventure book, and really resonated with Lucy’s growth arc.

5. What is your writing process?  Coffee.  More coffee.  Gossip—er, networking with my friends. More coffee, then I write. All day.  Or all afternoon if I’ve had a really…um…networking kind of morning.

6. How do you approach revising? With alcohol.  No actually, revising is about supporting the structure of the story.  It’s about details and making sure that reference at the end of the book is in the beginning too.

7. What authors inspire you?  Joss Whedon, Jim Butcher, Steven Moffett.  In that order.

[note from MK: I now love you forever. Joss is my idol.]

8. What are your top 5 comfort reads?  Changes daily. It just has to be engrossing. Right now I’m deep in Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series.

9. How much of what you do in your day-to-day life goes into your writing? Everything goes into my writing. My cats, my husband, what I heard on the radio. EVERYTHING.

11. Describe your latest book in 140 characters or less.  Shared Erotic Dreams in a very special (haunted) B&B.  Dream Nights with the CEO by Kathy Lyons  Comes out May 2013.  Oops…you asked for my latest book.  That would be Jade Lee’s Wedded in Sin. OMG, I love this book.  I basically wrote Sherlock Holmes (thank you Steven Moffett who wrote the BBC version) getting knocked on his ass by love.  He can handle everything else, but damn, falling in love just confuses him.  If you’re looking for a good mystery, don’t get this book.  I couldn’t have cared less.  I wanted to see Samuel (aka Sherlock) getting completely flummoxed as he fell in love.  Here’s a link:  http://jadeleeauthor.com/books/bridal-favors-series/wedded-in-sin   Excerpts and links there!

12. What do you love most about writing?  Discovering something in my story that I hadn’t expected. If the writing is going right—if the structure and the characters are there—there’s lots of room for discovery if one’s open to it. My goodness, I didn’t know he had a best friend who got him into bug collecting.  I didn’t know she was very ill as a child. She’s over it now, but it l lingers in her fear for her own children.  That type of stuff.  I just love it when it happens.

13. What do you hate most about writing? Getting started every day.  Once I’m in the flow, everything’s fine.  But starting every morning with a blank page…UGH.  Sucks every time.

14. What are you reading right now? I’m halfway through judging RITA books right now, so I’ve got 3 brand new paranormal romances to check out!  And sorry, I can’t say which ones!

15. Is there anything else you would like to share with us?  Check out my latest books at my website.  For Jade Lee:  www.JadeLeeAuthor.com   for Kathy Lyons:   www.KathyLyons.com   Or join me on facebook where I frequently post funnies or man candy. http://www.facebook.com/JadeLeeBooks

THIS OR THAT

1. Peanut butter or jelly?  PB with lots of nuts!

2. Chips or cookies?  Chips.  Love the crunch

3. Best talent: music or art?  Music, but not because it was really a talent. My mother forced me to play piano for eons as a child

4. Print or eBook?  eBook

5. Pen or pencil?  Felt tip markers… or pen

6. Best friends: as many as possible or only need one?  As many as possible!

7. Notebook or computer?  First draft on an iPad. Revisions on a computer

8. Print or cursive?  Legible.  Either one so long as I can read it.

9. Zombies or vampires? I play Plants vs. Zombies obsessively.  So…gotta say killing zombies is a joy.

10. Angel or Spike? Brooding vs. potential villain.  Can’t choose.  I‘ll go with Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly/Serenity.

[note from MK: Yup, it’s official – I love you FOR LIFE]

Mama Kitty

I am a filthy-mouthed 29-year-old full time mommy/wife/student, bookaholic, Twitter addict, & self-described tomboy-princess. I am never without at least one book (I usually have two... sometimes more), and I will be happy to tell you ALL about whichever book(s) I happen to be reading at the moment. :)

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