Krystal Shannan: Fabulous Author Friday ~ E. Jamie

I just want to say how excited I am to have E. Jamie here today on my blog!

Without further ado........

Tell us a little about yourself.

I live in the fantastic city of Toronto in Canada and have been writing steamy romances since waaay before I should have been. I don't know how I got through high school because I was always hiding my notebook in my lap writing stories instead of school notes! My classmates enjoyed them. (laughs) I'd say my fellow students were my first readers.

That's awesome!

Tell us a little about your book.

We'll Meet Again is published with Noble Romance. It's a historical erotic romance set during WW2. It tells the story of Cassie Atherton and James Harrison who meet when James in injured and Cassie is the nurse who helps him recuperate. She's engaged to someone else, but of course she and James fall in love and through a series of fateful events James befriends her fiancé Phillip. The three of them become entangled in this heartbreaking triangle. Toss in an old flame of James' who wants him back and much drama and angst ensues! Definitely keep the tissue boxes close.

Thanks so much, Krystal, for letting me play in your sandbox today!

Here's the blurb for We'll Meet Again as well as an excerpt that will hopefully entice your lovely visitors to leave a comment to be entered for a chance to win your very own copy!

We'll Meet Again, an erotic historical romance now available from Noble Romance! https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/362/We'll-Meet-Again

It's 1943; Cassie Atherton's fiancé Phillip Davis is fighting in the war, and she is doing her part as an American nurse in England. When nursing a seriously injured English captain named Edward James Harrison, Cassie suddenly finds herself truly in love for the very first time. Instantly drawn to each other, Cassie tries to resist James's shameless flirting but the two of them grow close during his convalescence. They know their futures lie elsewhere but neither expect their parting to come when the unexpected death of her father calls Cassie back home. James returns to active duty and ends up on a mission with Phillip in Japan, where both men are captured. Their joint suffering in the POW camp under Lieutenant Dai bonds them as the best of friends.

They manage to escape, and Phillip brings James with him when he returns to Boston and Cassie, not being aware that the two already know each other. Torn between friendship and love, honor and passion, against a backdrop of violence and historical upheaval, Cassie and James try to fight a love that refuses to be denied.

She was walking across the grounds towards the stables when she felt a hand circle her arm and pull her into the darkness of one of the open stalls. She almost screamed before she saw who had grabbed her.

James.

She choked on a sob, trying to push past him but James wouldn’t let her. "You refuse to let me explain, so now I have to make you listen. You’ve left me no choice."

"If I recall, your choice was quite clear," Cassie snapped, shoving at his chest.

He cupped the side of her face, and gave a little start when he seemed to notice it was damp. He looked at her more carefully in the darkness. "Have you been crying?"

"If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not have my life’s purpose be to inflate your ego."

"Cassandra, please," he sighed, lowering his head to hers. "I hate knowing I’ve made you cry."

She stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest. "You don’t need to explain anything. I know why you’re marrying Nicole. My mother explained what I was too furious to see."

"Your mother?" he asked, panicked.

"Yes, apparently we haven’t been quite as inconspicuous as we liked to believe. Oh, she won’t say anything so we’ll remain with our nobility in tact. Congratulations."

He leaned against the wooden wall. "Oh hell. So now she knows about us? What did she tell you?"

"That you’re marrying Nicole because of this. . . Us."

He ran a hand across the back of his neck and sighed.

"Well, that’s all the confirmation I need. Goodnight." Cassie tried to move past him, but he blocked her way.

"Just, wait. You don’t-"

"Understand? Oh I do understand. And I. . . " She forced her emotions back down. "I agree. Really. You and I. . . I’m marrying Phillip so it’s . . . Yes," Cassie said, trying to speak through the wave of sobs that threatened to rise.

James cut her off with a kiss. Quick and hard before she even realized it was happening and then. . . she melted, sagged against him, and returned the kiss with equal fervor, even as her tears slipped between their joined mouths. Then he pulled away. "That’s why. That’s why I have to marry her."

Cassie nodded and wiped her cheeks. "Do you think it will be easier?" She honestly wanted his opinion. She told herself it would, but she needed to hear him say it.

He ran a finger along her collar bone. "I do. We’ll be committed to other people, living our own lives. Oh, we’ll visit and spend holidays together but. . . I’ll love her and. . . "

"You will?" Cassie blinked in confusion. "You mean, you don’t now?" The thought filled her with traitorous joy.

He stared at her, and then burst out with sad laughter. "Oh sweetheart, you really don’t understand, do you?"

"What?" she asked insulted.

"When you told me you loved me. I was determined not to say it back. When I left for the war again, it eventually ate away at me in ways that the first half of my service didn’t. All of us in the service, in the first half, you’re all full of your own fighting spirit and a soldier’s egoism that you’re going to save the world. Then, after Japan, I was filled with thoughts of revenge, to get back out there and kill them all. This last bit. . . you really saw the toll of war. Not just on your fellow soldier but on innocent people. Those people in the camps, they weren’t soldiers, they weren’t fighters. They were innocent people stolen from their homes, and herded like cattle into pens where they were gassed, starved and tortured in any manner of ways. When we liberated those people, the ones that survived, all I thought was that amidst all that grey, how I yearned to see your eyes, your bright blue eyes. I wanted to have just your hand on my face, to look up at you, and tell you that I loved you, too. In my head, to say those words was like a balm on my soul, Cassandra."

Cassie closed her eyes as fresh tears streamed down her face.

James turned and sat down on an over turned crate. "I almost did it. I almost went to Boston, determined to just grab you and run away with you somewhere in hiding and just live in peace until we were old and grey."

"But then you remembered Phillip," Cassie said softly.

He nodded. "There’s more to our time in prison than what I told you. I wanted to spare you the ugliness of it as much as I could but. . . "

She cradled his face. "Tell me."

He shuddered. "When we managed to escape, that wasn’t the first time we tried. When we were first captured, the other prisoners had an underground tunnel going. We were let in on it and pitched in to help with the digging. Somehow the guards found out an escape was being plotted, and wanted to know how and who was orchestrating it. I was out working when I heard that they had grabbed a few of the soldiers in our hut, determined to make them talk. Phillip was one of them."

Cassie whimpered, lifting a hand to her mouth.

"I tried to get to him but they grabbed me and locked me in a four by four foot tin cage out in the hot sun. No room to stand up or lie down, for days. They told me they’d leave me there to die if I didn’t give them the names. Dai took particular pleasure in telling me how they were torturing the other men, Phillip included." He took a deep shaky breath before continuing. "There was one guard there who liked to. . . violate the men." He looked up to see if Cassie understood his meaning.

Cassie closed her eyes, feeling the bile rising in her throat. She almost pleaded with James to stop his story, but she knew he needed to tell her.

"I don’t know," James admitted, replying to her unspoken question. "If he did, Phillip has locked it somewhere deep inside of him where neither you nor I will ever get to. But we finally found out who had snitched; a son of a bitch from one of the other huts. Phillip and I got assigned to his work rotation. I saw Phillip take his bare hands, and wrap them around the man’s neck. He choked the life out of him. Then he grabbed one of the larger rocks, and smashed the man’s face in. We all saw it happen, and blocked the guard’s view so he wouldn’t see until it was too late. Dai found the tunnel, collapsed it, shot a few of the soldiers to teach us a lesson, and moved us to another hut," James concluded.

"Phillip never gave you up. Whatever they did to him, he never exposed the rest of you," Cassie said, her legs weak. He drew her onto his lap.

"Exactly," James said. "So at the end of the war, no matter how weakened my resolve, no matter how much I just wanted to take you into my arms and love you for the rest of my life. . . I couldn't do it, but I was terrified that someday I would break. Someday you would look at me and my heart would take control of my head, and I would break."

"So, what? Nicole is supposed to be insurance?" Cassie asked, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"She’s a nice girl," James said. "And I do care for her. If we’re both married the temptation will be gone. Surely you understand that."

"Yes. I do," Cassie admitted, emotionally exhausted. "Billie hates her though."

"Bil- Oh Wilhelmina?" he asked with a small smile. "She’s young. I love her but she thinks the world revolves around her. We’ve all spoiled her terribly."

"She says Nicole’s a terrible person," Cassie said. "The purpose of this whole nobility thing isn’t to saddle you with a shrew for a wife, James."

James sighed. "Nicole is spoiled, undoubtedly. I catered to her too much in the past, but things will be different now. As her husband I will have to take a firmer hand with her. She’ll let the goodness in her grow and become more mature."

"I hope you’re right. My mother thinks…we’re making a mistake. She thinks we should be honest and follow our hearts," Cassie said, burying her face in his neck and trembling.

His arms tightened around her. "She would understand if she knew the whole story. This stays between us, Cassandra."

"You don’t need to say that," Cassie assured him. "I’ll never say anything."

"Even to Phillip. If he tells you, fine, but he must never know I told you."

"Why did you?"

"I can’t bear to have you furious with me," he admitted, absently running his fingers up and down her arm, raising goose bumps on her skin.

"We should get back. There’ll be wondering where we are," Cassie said even as she burrowed closer in his arms.

"Wait, just. . . a second more," James said, dropping a kiss on the crown of her head.

Cassie lifted her gaze to him. "Tell me again. Just once more so I can lock the words away."

He gave her a sad smile, sliding his fingers into her hair. "Oh I do. I do love you, sweetheart."

James closed his mouth over hers, and Cassie gave herself up to the fire that blazed through her blood at the touch of his lips against hers. Hearing him say the words made her want to take his hand and run away. She understood now why he hadn’t said it before. Cassie sighed as his tongue reached to meet hers.

"I knew it! Oh, I knew you didn’t really love that stupid cow!" Billie suddenly exclaimed joyfully, making Cassie and James dart apart so quickly Cassie almost fell off his lap.

Fantastic excerpt!

When did you start writing and when did you finish your first book?

I started writing at the age of 11. (see 1^st question? TOO YOUNG!)(laughs) Gosh, I don't even remember when I finished the first one. I always started stories, but rarely finished them because they would become these loooong sagas and I never wanted to let the characters go. So to test myself I tried writing short vignettes and those were good practice for actually finishing something! Of course, they were steamy in nature because I just found that I seem to have a pretty good talent for writing erotic romance. No closed bedroom doors in my stories!

Where do you get your inspiration?

Oh everywhere. Literally. My muse has no off switch. At the evil day job, my mind often wanders and I can brainstorm easily. Dreams. I had the most disturbing dream the other night about a bunch of evil nuns that I've filed away to maybe turn into a novel someday! Music, television, books. I'm bombarded with story ideas all the time!

Do you plot and outline or do you just write? Plotter or Pantser?

I'm definitely a plotter. I don't usually write my plots down though, I keep them in my head. I can't remember what I had for dinner two days ago, but I can remember full blown plots from a story I wanted to write a year ago! My brain is a very odd place. (laughs)

Can you tell us a little about the process of getting your first book published?

The first story I published was a short erotic piece called To Love A Knight, another historical erotic romance that I'll be resubmitting soon as I've gotten the rights for that one back recently. I was such a newbie that I thought the e-mail from the publisher that said 'Submission Acceptance' meant that they had received the story! It wasn't until I finally opened it and saw that they were actually accepting it for publication! I cried, I shook and I think I called everyone and their dog!

What book have you most recently released?

My most recent release is The Arrangement with Rebel Ink Press. Another WW2 tale. I swear, I do write contemporaries too! (laughs) It's the first book in the Resistance trilogy. I broke that one into three books because it was soooo long! (see part about writing sagas!)

What was your favorite part of the book?

My favorite part of We'll Meet Again is probably when Cassie is trying to help James through is PTSD. We really see the strength of their love for each other cemented in that struggle against those demons.

Rate your story on a Heat level of 1-6?

I'd say maybe a 5 because it's definitely hot and explicit but the focus is more on the romance than the erotic, unlike The Arrangement which is most definitely a 6 though that one is romantic as hell too and if possible, even MORE heart wrenching than We'll Meet Again!

Do you have another book in the works?

I do! I'm working on an erotic romance called Wanted that's…um…another historical. (laughs) What can I say? I love stories set in the past. It's a post civil war story set during the reconstruction period between a spoiled plantation owner's daughter in Virginia and the new cowboy who comes to work on their land.

What advice would you give new authors?

Don't try to write vampires and shape shifters just because you think that's what everyone is writing. Write the story you want to write. If you want to write what's trendy right now, it better be a story you fall in love with otherwise it'll come through in your writing that you're just writing what you think is popular. Also, you'll never get published if you don't submit. Forget that voice that says you're not as good as this or that writer so why bother? You need tunnel vision. You don't need to be as good as anyone. You just need to write YOUR story.

Boxers or Briefs?

Me? (laughs) My hero in We'll Meet Again, James, wears boxers. 1940's boxers, but still. He rocks them!

(Character Questions)

What were your first impressions of each other?

James: I was temporarily blinded in an explosion so my first impression of Cassandra was that she had the most beautiful voice I'd ever heard and I just knew she'd be as beautiful as her voice. I was right.

Cassandra: I thought he was so handsome, but of course I wasn't about to tell him so considering I was promised to someone else. That didn't stop him from flirting with me. He was shameless!

What’s your favorite characteristic of each other?

James: She is such a strong woman, passionate and she has the most wonderful heart of anyone I've ever known. I thought marriage was a trap before I met her.

Cassandra: He is such an honorable man. That caused us no end of heart ache of course because he refused to betray our best friend Phillip. He also has a wonderful sense of humor for a Brit!

James: Hey!

Cassandra: I mean that as a compliment. Really. (winks)

James: Hmph.

What are your plans for the near future?

James: More children!

Cassandra: (cocks an eyebrow) Is that right?

James: (clear throat)Ahem…Finishing our house in England and making Cassandra's dream of breeding race horses a reality.

Cassandra: And continue running the Harrison Iron Works Foundry together.

James: A very proud legacy for our children…present and future.

Cassandra: (rolls eyes) We'll talk about it.

James: (beams) Excuse us, we have to run off now and have some…conversations.

Fantastic interview! Thank you so much for coming on the blog today. I know we all enjoyed getting to know you and your characters better.