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Sunday, November 6, 2011

Interview with Author Jeffe Kennedy

Today I would like to welcome to the blog Jeffe Kennedy. Jeffe is currently on tour promoting the release of her new book Sapphire. Jeffe was kind enough to let me ask her a few questions and I would love to share them with you all.

First off, can you tell us a bit about you?
I have black hair, quite long, green eyes. I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I’m lucky enough to enjoy amazing views from the moment I open my eyes in the morning. Except for right now when it’s too damn dark. I hate Daylight Savings Time and am counting the minutes until it ends!

Did you always want to be a writer?
No, not at all. I’ve wanted to be a wild animal vet, a doctor, a scientist, a religious scholar, a translator and, notably, once declared a desire to be a Playboy Bunny (I was seven).

What kind of writer are you? Panster or Plotter?
Pantser – though I prefer the term “Mister.” I don’t seem to be capable of pre-plotting.

Where do your ideas come from?
Dreams and fantasies. The ideas always find their way in – not so much the time to write them down!

A la Twitter style, can you describe your book (or series) in 140 characters or less.
Driven executive M. Taylor Hamilton has a 10-year plan, which changes when the seductive Adam Kirliss handcuffs her to the rail of a yacht.

Out of any of your books, which one would you like to be a character in? And why?
You know, in many ways, I am all the characters in all my books. Writing is like romping through fantasy land, trying on different bodies and personalities. That said, I feel closest to my heroine in my upcoming novel, Obsidian. She’s a neuroscientist who accidentally winds up in Faerie. Why? Rogue!

What are some of your favorite kinds of stories to read?
I love everything romantic, paranormal, sexy and smart. Any combination of those. Really, I love to read everything.

Do you have a favorite book and if so what is it?
It’s so hard for me to choose favorites – I love so many. I wish I’d written Possession or Cat’s Eye. I love Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel trilogy and think Kushiel’s Avatar is brilliant. But the books with the truly worn covers reach back to my childhood. If we measured by re-reads, Anne McCaffrey might win.

Have you ever fallen for another author's hero? If so, who and why?
Roarke, from JD Robb’s In Death series. Because, oh… sorry, I just swooned.

Describe the characteristics that make up your perfect hero.
Smart, decisive, loving, protective, passionate.

What are the scenes that are the hardest for you to write?
Hmm. Probably the ho-hum transition scenes. “And then they drove from here to there. Blah blah blah.”

Human, Vampires, Demons, or Shifters, which are your favorite and why?
I confess to a weakness for vampires. I blame Anne Rice. Is it too late to say The Witching Hour might be my favorite book? Oh wait, no vampires in that. Hmm…

If you could have dinner with any three book characters, who would you choose and why?
Roarke, so I could jump him; Lessa, because she’s been my hero since childhood and Sybel, just because.

If you could have dinner with any three authors, who would you choose and why?
Margaret Atwood, Ann Patchett and Jacqueline Carey – so they can explain to me how to do it.

What do you like to do in your free time?
I don’t have a lot of free time, so when I do I fill it with lolling. Usually in the sun, with wine.

Favorite movie?
For a long time it was Out of Africa. I also have watched both the BBC and Keira Knightly versions of Pride & Prejudice over and over. But for when I’m sick or blue? I put in either Notting Hill or Clueless.

Favorite song?
I’ll pick three that have lasted a long time for me: Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Boys of Summer and Running Down a Dream

Favorite color?
Green

Last question, are you working on anything right now?
Yes. I’m nearly done with a novel about the Middle Princess. You know about the three princesses, each more beautiful than the last? This is about the middle one. Not the heir. Not the beauty. Just invisible.




Sapphire
By Jeffe Kennedy
Publisher: Carina Press
Date Published: October 24, 2011
A successful executive, M. Taylor Hamilton is on track with her ten-year plan. Too bad her personal life consists of hitting the gym and grocery shopping. Enter the seductive Adam Kirliss. They may have a working relationship, but everything changes at an office party when he handcuffs her to the rail of a yacht. Taylor writes the adventure off as too much champagne, but when Adam challenges her to a date, she agrees to meet up with him. And follow his rules. They share a night of exquisite intimacy, brimming with both pain and pleasure. But afterwards, fearful of losing her heart, Taylor pulls back emotionally. Adam is determined to prove that she longs for the loss of control he can give her – and the passionate release it provides. How can he make her see that he wants her, and not just her body?

Places to purchase: 
| Amazon | Carina Press | ARe Romance | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |

**Excerpt**


Kirliss captured her other wrist and held them close in front of her, his warm fingers massaging her skin, while he studied her face. The boat surged over a wave, disturbing her balance. Kirliss’s unusual eyes caught the light, boring into her.

“This is silly,” she tried.

“Do you want me to make you stay?”

“What?” Taylor choked. She couldn’t let him treat her this way. “No! You’ll do no such—”

She lost her breath entirely when he pressed up against her. Thinking he was trying to embrace her, she pulled away and found herself backed against the brass railing.

By the time she gathered her flustered thoughts, her wrists were handcuffed to the rail behind her. Mortified, a bit afraid and—worse—suddenly and wildly aroused…

**Author Info**

Jeffe took the crooked road to writing, stopping off at neurobiology, religious studies and environmental consulting before her creative writing began appearing in places like Redbook, Puerto del Sol, Wyoming Wildlife, Under the Sun and Aeon. She has been a Ucross Foundation Fellow (2001), was a Wyoming Arts Council roster artist, when she lived in Wyoming, and received the state’s 2005 Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Award for a woman writer of exceptional talent in any creative writing genre and the 2007 Fellowship for Poetry. Jeffe has contributed to several anthologies, Drive: Women’s True Stories of the Open Road. (2002), Hard Ground (2003), Bombshells (2007) and Going Green (2009). Her first book, Wyoming Trucks, True Love and the Weather Channel was published by University of New Mexico Press in 2004. An erotic novella, Petals and Thorns, came out under her pen name of Jennifer Paris in 2010, heralding yet another branch of her path, into erotica and romantic fantasy fiction. Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, with two Maine coon cats, a border collie, plentiful free-range lizards and frequently serves as a guinea pig for an acupuncturist-in-training.

Places to find Jeffe:


4 comments :

  1. Totally with you re Pern and Lessa (had a thing for F'lar myself but don't tell Lessa!). Transition scenes are a pain. I usually try to just say "they crossed the river" and then find myself going back & writing a whole chapter! LOVED Sapphire BTW.

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  2. Ah, yes, F'lar of the clenched jaw and totally un-PC tendency to grab Lessa by the shoulders and shake her. Less would no doubt kick both our asses. And thank you! Thrilled that you liked Sapphire!

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  3. Great! thanks for the share!

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