Monday, December 9, 2013

5 Questions with My 5 Favorite Authors FEAT. Julie Anne Long (Historical Romance)

Okay, so I had this inspired idea of asking my favorite authors questions about themselves and their writing, and so far they're all saying YES. *Dances* (Though one will have to wait for the post-Christmas push to be over).

Anywho, I'm kicking off this roaring good fun with one of the wittiest and pure-darn-sexiest writers I know. And by that I mean, her male characters are sexy. Not Julie Anne herself...though she may be. I wouldn't know... except that to write like that she's got to have some kind of insight, right? But... well, this is heading into dangerous territory...

*Cough*

Well, it's no surprise to me that Julie Anne is a USA Today bestselling author. If you enjoy funny, emotional, historical romance with depth and genuine wit, you can't go wrong with her Penny Royal Green series. Seriously, I have yet to hate on one. And they are all on my "re-read" shelf which, let me tell you, is very sparse.

In fact, even if you aren't normally an historical fan, I'd encourage you to pick up Like No Other Lover if for no other reason that the scene Julie has mentioned below. (Or, my favorite, How the Marquess was Won. Seriously. Inspired).

I'm going to stop fangirling now and let Julie talk. Except I'm formatting it so it looks like we had an actual conversation, because to me, that would be awesomesauce.

Let me live the dream...

ALS: Which of your books was the most fun to write, and why?
 
JAL: Interesting question! They all have their moments, truthfully, and writing in general is “fun” for me, even when it's torture, if that makes sense. :) I remember in particular having a WONDERFUL time writing a certain scene in LIKE NO OTHER LOVER—a shooting scene, to be precise. But I probably had the most fun writing my first one, THE RUNAWAY DUKE. I knew absolutely nothing about publishing, was unfettered by expectations of ay kind, and blithely went about writing whatever the heck I wanted, unconstrained by perceived genre rules or jargon or constructs.  It was a delightful surprise when it was a big success (after a bit of whittling down to fit into genre constraints.)

ALS: Which of your characters do you like best, and why?
 
JAL: You know this is an impossible question for authors to answer, right??
 
[ALS Sidenote: No one said this was all going to be fun and games, Julie].
 
JAL: LOL. It's like choosing a favorite child! I like all of them, but I do tend to favor the ones I'm currently writing, because creating them is delicious.. Truthfully, however, I still have a crush on Adam Sylvaine from A Notorious Countess Confesses, however. He was such a different hero—a hot vicar, with tremendous moral and spiritual strength, but who was funny, human, honest, very no BS, and kept a volcanic passion in check—until, of course, the right woman came long. The book was emotionally challenging to write and I think Adam is husband material. ;)
 
 
ALS: Did you choose your genre (and if so, why?), or did your genre choose you?
 
JAL: A bit of both, actually. I've always been a pretty voracious and egalitarian reader, and I read and loved quite a bit of historical romance. I set out to write a book with no genre in mind—I truthfully didn't know books were so specifically marketed by genre—and what I ended up writing was a big, big historical love story. Its original 500 pages were whittled down in the editing/revision process to a more orthodox historical romance length. And the momentum of the success of my first book sort of carried me forward in the genre. The rest is history!

ALS: Which part of being a published author do you find most difficult?

JAL: I'm not crazy about the word “difficult”, because I kind of feel like labeling something “difficult” is a self-fulfilling prophesy. :). Every bit of my career challenges my creativity and emotional maturity in many ways. Since I love learning and I'm always on a quest for self improvement, it's all valuable, and even the disappointments become sort of interesting when viewed in that light. That said, I think the uncertainty inherent in a writing career challenged me the most. You never, ever know what might happen, and it could be spectacularly wonderful or it could be disappointing. Getting comfortable with ambiguity is a process. :)
 
ALS: And thusly, you've reached the BONUS ROUND [In the vein of "Boxers or Briefs"]: E-book or paperback?
 
JAL: It depends! If I can only get it in paperback, then I'm delighted to read it in that format. I read a lot on my Kindle because of the instant gratification factor. ;) (Kindles are dangerous little inventions.)
 
ALS: *Nods sagely* I concur, Julie. I concur....
 
 Julie Anne Long is the USA Today bestselling author of the popular Pennyroyal Green series, To Love a Thief, and The Runaway Duke. She's funny, inspiring, downright talented and one of my five favorite authors of all time. If you have any kind of interest in historical romance, you do not want to miss these books! The next installment of the PRG series, Between the Devil and Ian Eversea is out April 2014. Go ahead and buy the others now. You won't regret it!

 

2 comments:

  1. So glad you enjoyed it, Mary! And it's so sweet of Aimee to invite me to blog today—thanks, Aimee! :)

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  2. Thank you! You made my year. Christmas is now officially anticlimactic....

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