Please join me in welcoming regency author (and one-time Seattleitte) Jenna Petersen! In her Lady Spies series, Jenna writes about tough chicks who use brains, instinct, and wiles to uncover conspiracies against the crown. It’s James Bond meets Regency London, and it’s a hoot! Jenna and I met at the 2007 Emerald City Writers Conference book signing (see photo). We are getting lunch in July at the RWA National Conference, so if you have questions I didn’t cover in this interview, let me know!

Jenna’s latest novel LESSONS FROM A COURTESAN comes out in 3 days: Monday, June 24th.

About Jenna:

Jenna Petersen knew she wanted to be a writer at a very young age and had a very specific image of what that meant. In her mind, she would live in Los Angeles (why not New York… who knows?), attend book signings, drive a very expensive car and date endlessly (and apparently, unsuccessfully). There was little actual writing involved in the fantasy.

Instead, she got a degree in Psychology from the University of Washington, married her high school sweetheart and moved to Central Illinois. There was much actual writing involved in the reality and she learned a lot in the years she waited to hear she sold a book.

Jenna enjoys travel, history, live baseball, Bears and Eagles football, and of course, all things related to reading and writing. She runs a website for aspiring authors called The Passionate Pen, which has become a popular resource in the romance writing community. She also writes erotic romance under the pseudonym Jess Michaels.

And now for the Interview:

Ciara: You write historical romance as Jenna Petersen and erotic romance as Jess Michaels. Is the writing process similar for these two genres? How would you differentiate erotic romance from traditional romance?

Jenna: I follow the same basic set up as far as creating character sheets, writing a synopsis based on key turning points in the book and then doing scene sketches, so my process is pretty similar. The difference for me as a writer is that my erotic romances tend to have a sexually charged conflict (a sex bargain or blackmail or Penelope’s seduction and resistance, that sort of thing). Versus while my historical romances may be super steamy, their core conflict isn’t necessarily a sexual one (though sexual conflicts may be part of the book). I actually have a little primer about what I think the differences are between sensual romance, erotic romance and erotica on my http://www.jessmichaels.com site, too, to help the reader.

Ciara: What was the first romance novel you read and how old were you?

Jenna: I came to romance very late in life. (Ciara: lol, like 31 is ancient!) I think I browsed a few that I don’t remember for the “good parts” as a teen, but the first one I really READ was Julia Quinn’s MINX and I would have been… 21? It was right when I started writing romance seriously. Reading her prose really made me realize how GOOD romance could be and what a fine tuned craft it was.

Ciara: If you were stranded on a desert island, what 6 books would you bring?

Jenna: Oh crap. Only SIX??? Shoot. Okay, I’ll try: Kathryn Smith’s BE MINE TONIGHT, Julia Quinn’s THE DUKE AND I, L.M. Montgomery’s ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, Neil Gaimen and Terry Pratchett’s GOOD OMENS, something by Jacquie D’Alessandro (I can’t pick one) and probably a survival guide of some kind (I’m on a desert island, I’ll need that guide).

Ciara: If you were stranded on said island what 6 heroes would you bring?

Jenna: My husband (he’s my personal hero). Then we get to have fun…. Okay, I’d take Justin Talbot, the hero of my upcoming book LESSONS FROM A COURTESAN because he’s really smokin’ hot and I would guess he could take care of things in a pinch. I’d take Lucas Tyler from DESIRE NEVER DIES because he’s the funniest hero I ever wrote and he would tell good stories and keep me entertained (and he’s hot). I would take Simon Basset from Julia Quinn’s THE DUKE AND I because he made me cry (and he’s hot). I would take Temple from Kathryn Smith’s last Brotherhood of the Blood book (which yes, I’ve read haha!!) because he’s a vampire leader and he would definitely know how to survive (and he’s hot). We’d just have to find him serious shade during the day. And I’d take… oh…. Max McCord from Maggie Osborne’s SILVER LINING because he’s a cowboy and he’d not be adverse to working amongst all this nobility (and he’s hot).

Ciara: Do you have a lucky eraser or other rituals to tempt the muse? Does your muse have a name?

Jenna: I don’t really believe in “the muse”. It feels too much like depending on some mysterious outside force to write. For me, I write because I put my butt in the chair and I push through the hard parts. But I do like to have Diet Vanilla Coke. I also like having my desk totally clean before I start a new book (though it gets quite horrible throughout the process).

Ciara: Do you do extensive plotting, character interviews, collages, or other pre-writing exercises? Or are you a pantser?

Jenna: I’m most definitely a plotter. I do character sheets (which you can find at Passionate Pen under the Articles For Writers link). Then I plot a synopsis based on turning points in the story. Then I do scene sketches, which are really prewriting the scenes, sometimes with dialogue and description if I’m really into a scene. Plotting helps drive me forward.

Ciara: Why do you think the Regency period is so popular with readers? How did you decide to write Regencies? Have you ever considered writing in another genre, say, paranormals or thrillers?

Jenna: I really loved reading Regencies, which is why I started writing in that time period. I think readers respond to it because it’s the closest you can come to a fairytale without a godmother. Think about it! Dukes, Earls, balls, a war! It’s like the perfect storm of romance. Plus, I’ve always liked the dichotomy of rules that if you broke them you’d be ostracized, and yet many of the gowns were so formfitting that the women couldn’t wear undergarments. It’s a very odd time socially!

I really love historical, so I intend to stay here, but I can’t say I haven’t ever had a couple of paranormal ideas. I don’t know that I’ll ever pursue that, though.

Ciara: Tell us about your experience with writing contests. You have had great success finalling in recent months: SEDUCTION IS FOREVER in the Detroit RWA Booksellers Best Contest and in the First Coast RWA Beacon Award, DESIRE NEVER DIES in the Orange County Chapter RWA Bookbuyers Best Contest, EVERYTHING FORBIDDEN in both the Detroit RWA Booksellers Best Contest and the Orange County Chapter RWA Bookbuyers Best Contest. How many contests do you submit to? Do you submit all your books? Did you submit to contests before you became a published author? Do you recommend that unpublished authors submit to contests?

Jenna: I’ve become such a contest whore, but I NEVER entered contests before I was published. I always felt like it was too many cooks spoiling the pot and you never know whether you got a judge who was a multi-published author or someone who just started writing last Tuesday and is certain they know all the “rules”.

But the published contests feel different to me. First off, they aren’t about correcting your writing, which is good. I tend to submit my books to contests that feature readers or booksellers as judges. The reasoning behind this is that those are the two groups that buy books (either for the stores or for home) and I’m exposing myself to them and that can’t ever be bad, even if I don’t final or win in a contest. I do tend to enter all my books from a particular year, so it can get expensive, but there’s also a nice ego pat when you win (I’m totally overwhelmed right now with all these finals, it means a lot to me). Plus, there’s something to be said for being “Award-Winning Author, Jenna Petersen”.

But really, when it comes to be unpublished and entering, that’s really got to be up to the writer. Some people SWEAR by the contest system through the RWA chapters. They love the feedback, they love the opportunity to get in front of editors and agents if they win, etc. It all depends on what experience you are looking for and how much money you have to burn.

Ciara: Your new book LESSONS FROM A COURTESAN comes out June 24th. What was your favorite part about writing this book?

Jenna: I really liked returning to my “roots” as a writer. My debut, SCANDALOUS, was dark and sexy and emotional (lots of people told me it made them cry, which was awesome!!). Then I wrote the Lady Spies and although I think all of them have a highly emotional, dark element, the concept (Charlie’s Angels in Regency England) was definitely lighter. But LESSONS FROM A COURTESAN takes me right back to very dark, very (VERY) sensual and highly emotional. My two characters are damaged by each other and it’s a struggle for them to come back together in a healthy way and find love again. That challenge was highly enjoyable. Plus, Justin (my hero) is HOT. Have you noticed a trend here?

Ciara: My friend Sarai bought LFAC solely on the cover. How much control do you have over the covers of your books? What has been your favorite cover so far? Do you buy books based on the cover?

Jenna: Okay, isn’t LESSONS FROM A COURTESAN the most beautiful cover in the history of mankind?? I adore it and I worship the Avon Art Department because they’ve never given me a bad cover. I have excellent cover karma, I guess (I must have been nice to an Art Director in a past life).

I don’t have a lot of “control” over covers, but I do get some input. I can only speak to the Avon experience, but here’s how it works for us. About a year before the book comes out, the Avon editorial staff and the Art Department have a cover conference for each book. So April 2009 books had a cover conference at the end of April 2008. My editor contacts me and asks me for title suggestions, info on character appearance and suggestions for particular scenes or poses I’d like to see depicted on the cover.

Now I send that info and I like to send pictures, too, of covers or images that I love. LESSONS happened a bit differently, though. I was actually writing SOMETHING RECKLESS and I had a great picture of the actor Julian McMahon from a GQ shoot. It was very sexy, with him slouched down on a couch holding a woman’s leg. I forwarded it to my editor and said, “Here’s a glimpse of my inspiration”.
She must have forwarded it to our art department because a few months later when I saw the cover for LESSONS, I could definitely see some similarities. But I’d definitely found that sending pictures really helps. I’ve always gotten something close to what I’ve described and my covers have always been better than I pictured.

It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I think it has to be LESSONS FROM A COURTESAN, really. I mean, it’s eye catching, it fits the book perfectly and it’s really sexy. I also love FROM LONDON WITH LOVE’s cover a great deal. I hear the cover for HER NOTORIOUS VISCOUNT (April 2009) is also going to be awesome!

Ciara: What are you working on next?

Jenna: I have a lot coming up, actually. In January 2009 I’ll be a part of A RED HOT VALENTINE’S DAY, an anthology with three other erotic writers. My story is called “By Valentine’s Day” and is about friends turning to lovers when they are trapped together by a storm. Then in April 2009 my next historical romance, HER NOTORIOUS VISCOUNT comes out. My hero is a former champion pugilist (boxer) who is forced back into Society when his twin brother dies and he inherits the title. My heroine agrees to “tutor” him in the ways of good manners if he helps her. Then next summer my next full-length erotic romance will be released. I just finished it. It’s called TABOO (at least for now). My heroine is a seamstress… oh and on the side she designs sex toys for the gentleman of the ton. The hero is the man she threw over (or so he thinks) four years before.

And then I’ll be starting a brand new historical series that I can’t say much about because I’m not past much more than the synopsis. But it will feature five different heroes who are all… well, they’re related in a very special way. I’m SOOOO excited to start writing this story! The first book has really captured my imagination. I hope I’ll be able to translate that on page.

Ciara: What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Jenna: Most of my best advice can be found at Passionate Pen http://www.passionatepen.com . Mostly I’d say study your craft, don’t sweat the small stuff and WRITE.

Ciara: You went to the University of Washington here in lil’ old Sea-town. Why do you think the Pacific Northwest breeds/attracts so many authors? (Is there a scientific link between rain and creativity?)

Jenna: It seems like we authors tend to flock in several places. Seattle does have a huge showing for authors, but I know Southern Cali also has a huge group, so does Columbus, even Chicago. And the entire state of Texas seems to be romance novelist central. Weird.

I do like your idea of the rain breeding creativity. There are only a couple fun things to do inside when it’s raining all the time. Writing is one of them. Researching erotica is another.

Thank you so much Jenna!