1.
When did you first realize you wanted
to become a Writer/author?
When I was four. I loved to read and
in Kindergarten all I wanted to do was write books. We had an activity station
where we could write and illustrate books and I got in trouble for spending too
much time there instead of rotating to the science, cooking or other stations.
All I wanted to do was read and write all the time. I went to law school and
became a lawyer but writing has always been my first love. I'm so happy to have
the opportunity to write and publish books.
2.
Where
do you get your ideas for your book?
Everywhere and anywhere I can. I "steal" things
from my own life, my friends' lives, things I see on the news, movies,
anywhere. My husband often suggest ideas to me and we talk about how to make
the story even better. I'm always thinking of book ideas and my current
projects when I'm out and about.
3.
What
kind of things do you enjoy when not writing?
I love to read and I also like to ski, travel and listen to music. In between
writing I like to dance to reggaetón, even though I can't dance! I also enjoy
watching movies and TV with my husband.
4.
How
many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I've written five published books but I have other ones in
different stages. My favorite is Harlow:
A Bad Boy Military Romance because the main character, Harlow, has been
through so much and is still so strong.
5.
Do
you have any suggestions to help others who have a passion for writing?
My advice would be that passion only goes so far without
effort and work to sustain it. The most important part of writing is just to
write. Try to sit down and write every single day, even if it's just a few
words. The more you write, the better you'll get. None of us are masters at it
and I feel that we are always still practicing our craft.
6.
What
do you think makes a great story?
Delivering readers what they expect and want out of the story
so that they're not disappointed, but also adding some unexpected twists and
turns so that they're pleasantly surprised are the ingredients to a great story
to me. I think as long as you develop good characters and stay true to what
those characters would do while also showing their growth, you'll have a good story.
But an important foundation is also making sure that you hit the tropes of the
genre.
7.
Which
Writer/Authors inspire you?
I'm a fan of Melissa F. Miller. She was a lawyer like me who
switched to writing. She writes legal thrillers, John Grisham style but
starring a female heroine, Sasha McCandless. Her work ethic and quality of
writing inspire me. I'm also inspired by Sabrina Paige and Selena Kitt. When I
was first learning how to write and publish romance I found their books very
helpful and I admire their work ethic and business acumen as well.
8.
What
are you working on at the moment?(optional)
I'm finishing up a book called Larson. Larson is an ex military outlaw motorcycle club bad boy
with a sad and dark past but he finds light and love again with a single mom
lawyer named Brynn. I began their story
in my Halloween novella Haunted Heart
and this book Larson continues their
story and fleshes it out into a novel. I am really in love with this Larson guy
myself and I enjoy writing about him and Brynn.
9.
What
genre are your books?
I write sizzling hot bad boy romance! My books feature all
types of bad boys including military, sports/ athletes, motorcycle club (MC)
and outlaws/criminals. I like to show characters who defy stereotypes and
expectations. Bad boys on the outside, with soft spots on the inside for the
strong female characters who win their hearts. Depending on the book, I also
write suspenseful or dark romance, romantic comedy, secret baby, second chance
and even a little bit of mystery. But it's all under the general umbrella of
romance and it always features hot, muscular, tattooed bad boys or powerful,
possessive alpha males.
10.
What
drew you to the genre you write?
I enjoy romance because of how it portrays the range of human emotions
and tells the story of not just one or two characters but also of a
relationship and a couple. I love that it's primarily a woman's genre because I
think women rock and I enjoy entertaining my fellow sisters who love to read. I
especially love romance because the readers are so voracious! I've had readers
tell me they read over 50 books a year or have always carried a book with them
since they were young and it inspires me to deliver them more books I hope they
enjoy reading.
In terms of the sub-genres in which I write, I first wrote an ex military
series (the Bradford Brothers, featuring Jensen, Harlow and Ramsey) and now
that series is kind of morphing into an MC follow-up series featuring some of
their friends. (Larson is Jensen's
good friend). That has all been inspired by my husband's best friend from high
school who was in the Special Ops and in an MC and sadly he passed away at
around the same time I started writing so he is always on my mind and heart as
I write those types of characters.
For my sports books, which include Out
of Bounds: A Bad Boy Sports Romance and some follow-up books to that
featuring some of the same characters, which I've started but haven't published
yet, I'm inspired by football which is a sport I enjoy watching although I
don't put too much of the technical stuff into the books because it's more
about the bad boy athletes! I'm also inspired to do a rock star book because I
love music and one of my characters, Ramsey, is in a band and plays the guitar
so I need to write about the love lives of some of his band mates. But I
haven't gotten that far yet; those stories are on deck!
11.
Which
Actor/Actress would you like to see portraying the lead character from your
most recent book?(any book you like)
For my characters in Haunted
Haunt/ Larson, I was going to say
I would like Claire Danes to play Brynn and Gerard Butler to play Larson. But my
characters are probably quite a bit younger than these actors. So I will say
Jeremy Allen White as Larson and Emma Greenwell as Brynn. These actors already
play the characters in the TV show Shameless
but I've always wanted the characters to get back together so if they can't on
Shameless then they can come star together in the movie made out of my book!
12.
Do
you write full-time or part-time?
Part-time. I have two young sons and I still do some legal
work although I've been trying to transition to full-time writing for a while
now. Once my sons are in school I hope to do it full time and I also hope not
do any more legal work as soon as possible. If I can help support my family
with my writing then I just want to concentrate on that.
13.
What
is the hardest thing about writing?
For me it is just finding the time and mental clarity to do it with
everything else going on in my life. I hate when I'm really into what I'm
writing and then my flow is disrupted by Real Life. It's often hard to pick
back up where I left off later with the same energy and focus. I think I need a
retreat to a writer's desert island or something!
14.
Any
tips on how to get through the dreaded Writer’s block?
Right now I have more ideas than I have time to write but
that has only come from writing so much. I feel that the more you write (and
read!) the more ideas you'll come up with. If I'm starting a new project or
can't think of what to write I just do a writing prompt or I read something
that sparks my own ideas. I think that reading a lot is as important to being a
good, productive writer as writing is.
I have a writers' day book that tells me what to write about
on a certain day if I'm stuck, and I also look for writing prompts on
Pinterest. But for me what works best is keeping a list of ideas as they come
to me that I don't have time to get to at the moment, and going back and
reading them when l want to write the next thing.
I think that having some kind of writing notebook is
important because good ideas seem to pop up at the most inconvenient time but
they can be used later. For me it's usually emailing myself the idea from my
phone. If I'm walking my son in his stroller or driving him to an appointment
or rocking him to sleep or if I have moment to myself in the bathtub (I love
bubble baths!) and an idea comes to me, I often dictate it on my phone and then
just press send so I have the email to look at later. And then I try to
organize my ideas on my computer when I have time. Organization is not my
strong point but I think it's important to try to keep ideas handy for when
they're needed. When I see articles or photos that spark ideas or could relate
to my work in progres, I pin them to my Pinterest board.
15.
Do
you read much, and if so who are your favorite Authors or genres?
I read a lot but "a lot" is relative now that I
have young kids. More often I listen to audiobooks these days while I clean,
nurse or rock one of my sons, or drive them around while they sleep (my toddler
often refuses to nap unless he's in the car so that gives me audiobook time!) I
like Melissa F. Miller, Elizabeth Berg, Elizabeth Strout and Andre Dubus among
many others. Right now I'm into listening to audiobooks written by funny female
comedians. Amy Poehler's and Tina Fey's were good and I want to read or listen
to Mindy Kaling's and Amy Schumer's books next.
16.
Is
there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?
I’m very grateful for my readers and I look forward to
hearing from them at any time about anything. They can email me at jc@julianaconners.com. I'm on Facebook and I enjoy talking to my readers on there. I've
co-founded a Facebook group with some other female writing friends of mine and
we call it a Sorority, where women can feel free to let loose and be
themselves. The Bad Girls of Romance is the public page and the Sorority of Sin is the closed group. I'd love for
any of my readers to come join us there.
17.
How
can Readers discover more about you and your work?(please provide proper links)
My catalog
is available at my Amazon author page: http://hyperurl.co/JCAPB. To stay updated on my latest new
releases, sales, free book promotions and exclusive bonus content, please sign
up for my newsletter, Juliana's Bad Boys! You will receive a free book for
signing up. You can sign up at this link: http://hyperurl.co/NLSBP
Thank you very much for taking the
time out of your busy schedule to take part in this interview 😊
Thank you for the great
thought-provoking questions. I appreciate being featured on your blog. Please
let me know if you need anything else from me! ~Juliana
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