Krystal Shannan Interviews - Jenna Jaxon

Jenna

Jaxon

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a professor of theatre who is also a romance novelist.  I like drama all the time. J  I live with my family on the eastern coast of Virginia, very beautiful country, and we share our home with a strange menagerie of pets.

Did you always want to be an author?

I don’t think I did consciously, or I’d have been an English major concentrating on creative writing.  I always wanted to be a teacher, mostly of history.  Then I got into theatre and when that bug bit me, I was a goner.  So now I have the best of all worlds--I teach theatre (including theatre history) and I write historical novels.  Who could ask for more?

What is your favorite part of being a writer/author?  

Creating my own worlds and making the characters do what I want them to (most of the time).  I guess that means I most like to play God. LOL

Tell us a little about your book.  

7 Days of Seduction is an erotic romance novella about a woman who parties too hardy one Friday night and wakes up to find she’s had a ménage a trois with her ex-boyfriend and a gorgeous stranger.  When the stranger shows back up--in her shower no less--he convinces her to let him help her explore her sexuality through a series of “colorful” adventures.  After seven days they will celebrate with one more adventure that promises to push her boundaries to the breaking point--if she can agree to it.

7 Days of Seduction:

Ashley Thompson had a wild time at her party last Friday night. Maybe too wild. She wakes to find a video of her in the middle of a ménage a trois with her ex-boyfriend and a gorgeous stranger. Unable to remember anything about the night, other than the hot sex she sees on the computer screen, Ashley begins a search for Mr. Hunk. She has no luck until he unexpectedly shows up–in her shower.

Hunter Hopewell intends to introduce Ash to a variety of sexual experiences he finds fun and exciting. He proposes a week long series of “colorful” encounters designed to seduce Ashley out of her kink comfort zone.

As their week of escalating pleasure intensifies, Ashley must choose to let go of her inhibitions or risk losing the best damn lover she’s ever had.

Excerpt:

The bathroom door opened and closed. Her hands froze.

"Damn it, Sam. Why is it every time I take a shower you have to pee? Couldn't you just hold it for once? Or pee in a cup, for God's sake?"

"I'm not Sam. And I don't have to pee."

Ashley's eyes popped open and the bottle of body wash hit the tub with a loud thunk. The husky voice she'd heard on yesterday's video and in this morning's dream was richer in person. Sexier. Her heart took off like a deer after a shotgun blast. She peered at the shower door, seeing only a shadowy figure through the opaque glass. Well thank, God, for that. He couldn't see her either.

"Hello? Are you there, Ash?" The amusement in his tone brought her back to earth.

"Yeah, I'm here. And just who the hell are you?"

"I'm Hunter Hopewell. Sorry we didn't really get introduced the other night."

"No shit." Damn. The all-important name meant nothing. The spray from the shower roared in her ears and Ashley took a step toward the shower door.

"So who are you? I mean, you say Hunter Hopewell, but I don't know you. And you know me."

"Yes, I do. I've never met you, but I've been interested in you for a while now."

Despite the hot water, chills raced over her body, standing her hair on end. Oh, my God. A stalker. I've attracted a stalker. And I'm shut in a bathroom with him. Suddenly, she couldn't breathe.

"You work over in English at the university." He knew where she worked. "And I've seen you around the campus." He'd been watching her.

She wrapped her arms around her chest, shielding her body as best she could. Maybe Sam would come in.

"You're a beautiful girl, Ashley. With lots of potential."

Potential for what? Needing to breathe or pass out, she gasped in air.

"I think you should leave." Where the balls came from to utter that sentence, she had no idea.

"Why?" His voice rose an octave.

"Because you're scaring the crap out of me."

Amazon

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

I started writing with an eye to publication almost exactly four years ago.  I started my first historical in January of 2009 and finished it on July 31--all 187K words of it.

Where do you get your inspiration?  

A lot of my inspiration comes from music--songs I hear on the radio that beg me to flesh out their stories.  7 Days of Seduction is one such, inspired by Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night.”

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

Plotter all the way.  I can’t start a project without writing out a detailed outline.  I can vary from the outline, but I have to have it done in order to start writing.

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

My very first story published was actually not a very dramatic tale.  I’d written it for a contest at a conference whose restriction was that the story be no more than 2500 words. Afterwards I sent it to a publisher, Books To Go Now that took short fiction, and they accepted it.  I only wish they were all that easy.  Getting my first full length novel, Only Scandal Will Do, was quite a different story. I queried and got rejected 40+ times.  Twice I was asked to revise and resubmit (that really gets your hopes up, let me tell you) and then ultimately rejected. So I queried and revised for about a year and a half, until Lyrical Press offered me a contract.

What book have you most recently released?  

7 Days of Seduction was released in October from New Dawning International Bookfair.

What was your favorite part of the book? 

I think my favorite part was the chapter with the wax and cold play.  Ashley’s reactions to all of Hunter’s adventures were fun to write.

Rate your story in terms steaminess?  

Think the steam pipe that blew in New York several years ago.  Definitely steamy.

Do you have another book in the works?  

I’ve got three historicals I’m working on right now.  Only Marriage Will Do, the book that comes after Only Scandal Will Do, is out to beta readers; my Victorian novel, As Long As You’re Mine, is in revisions and will be sent out to agents in January; and a series of three medieval novellas that form one cohesive book, Time Enough to Love.  The first novella, Betrothal, I hope to self-publish by the end of January.

What advice would you give new authors? What have you learned about the

business?  

The best advice I can give new authors is to just keep writing.  No matter what.  The first thing very good friend, Judi McCoy, told me was “You can fix crap.  You can’t fix nothing.”

What I’ve learned about the business is that you cannot stop.  You must continue writing, reading, promoting constantly in order to keep your name out in front of the public.

Boxers or Briefs?  Boxers

Pizza or hamburger?  Pizza

Beer, Wine, or mixed drink? Bailey’s Irish Cream

If you could spend a week anywhere in the world, where would it be? Would you

write or read there, or do something else?  

I’d spend a week in England, going around writing down descriptions of places to use in my historicals.

(Character Questions)

What were your first impressions of each other?

Ashley:  I thought, “Oh, my God. A stalker. I've attracted a stalker. And I'm shut in a bathroom with him.”

Hunter:  I thought, “Ashley is a girl who might just take a risk. Might like a little color in her life.”  And I so wanted to provide that color.

What’s your favorite characteristic of each other?

Ashley:  He’s very forceful.  I just love a take-charge kind of guy.

Hunter:  She’s very willing to try new things.  Well, sometimes she needs a nudge, but she’s game for almost anything.

What are your plans for the near future?

Hunter:  That’s going to depend on Jenna, but I think Ash and I are going to grow together as a couple, explore other avenues other than non-stop sex.

Ashley:  Not that we’re giving that up, though.

Hunter:  No, not at all.  But we’re getting to know one another in other intimate ways.

Where to find Jenna

Blog:  http://www.jennajaxon.wordpress.com

Twitter:  @Jenna_Jaxon

FaceBook:  Jenna Jaxon

Jenna is giving away one copy of 7 Days of Seduction and a swag pack to two different commenters during the tour, so be sure and leave your email address so we can contact you :-)