I hope everyone is having a lovely Memorial Day weekend!
Now, on to more of your questions. . . (in case you missed Part 1, I’m answering questions readers posed to me in an earlier blog):
Q. While the sexual tension between the H&H in “Practice Makes Perfect” and “Something About You” is certainly equal in it’s intensity, the later and most recent book is more sexually explicit. Did you find the more graphic love scenes more difficult to write?
A. Yes and no. Because there was a suspense subplot to Something About You, it felt right for the love scenes to be more intense and descriptive. But I did drink wine while writing those scenes. : )
Q. In Practice Makes Perfect, was the socioeconomic differences between the upbringing of the hero and heroine planned out or was it something that just developed?
A. That was planned. On the outside, I wanted Payton and J.D. to seem like polar opposites. But once they start to get to know each other, they realize they have a lot more in common than they’d originally thought.
Q. In Something About You, I often wondered how the trial turned out…if Jack got his vindication?
A. Actually, the Martino case continues in my next book, A Lot Like Love. That book centers around an undercover investigation into a wealthy nightclub and restaurant owner who is laundering money for Martino. Both Cameron and Jack have supporting roles in the story.
Q. I just want to know ii it’s based on real events…
and if you’ll have a movie adaptation of your novels, what director would you prefer?
A. The idea for Practice Makes Perfect is very loosely based on my experience working at my former firm. There was a male associate in my group who was the same year as me, and because my group had never before made two associates partner in the same year, I often wondered what would happen when he and I came up for consideration. From there, my overactive imagination ran wild.
As for what director I would prefer in the movie adaptation of my novels. . . my answer is the one who is most likely to get the film made. : )
Q. How would you rate your books? PG, PG 13? R? X?
A. I would say that Just the Sexiest Man Alive and Practice Makes Perfect are PG-13, and Something About You is R-rated.
There are a few remaining questions, which I’ll get to next week. On a different note, I just finished Dark Lover (book 1 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series), which I enjoyed. Now I’m curious about Zsadist’s story–oh, and Darius. Luckily I already own the next two books in the series. : )
I just started my book club book, The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard. A mystery set in a small town in Kansas, but that’s all I really know so far.
How about the rest of you? What are you reading?
Smooth Talking Stranger ~ By Lisa Kleypas ~
She is awesome~
Zsadist’s book is the best of the series. Even though parts are sad, you should really enjoy that one. There’s a long wait for Darius’ story, however. It’s still not quite solved even after eight books.
I just finished a very good book, A Secret Affair by Mary Balogh and am now reading Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn.
Finally, I’m glad to hear we’ll see more of Cameron and Jack. I always enjoy interconnected books and series.
Had a very rainy 3 day weekend here in the south so I did nothing but read. All were great.
Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn
Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypass
If He’s Wild by Hannah Howell
Nothing But Trouble by Rachel Gibson
Fade to Midnight by Shannon McKenna
Write faster Julie 🙂
Would you ever make your books into audiobooks? It would be perfect if it was narrated by a male and female narrator, like in the books.
Julie,
You’re becoming quite popular on the Judith McNaught BB. A few of us recommended you after PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT and now I see even more have tried your books after the release of SOMETHING ABOUT YOU. Word of mouth does indeed work.
I don’t know if you’ve ever read JM, but I highly recommend starting with either one of her contemporaries, PARADISE or PERFECT. She wrote these back when there were fewer page constraints in the publishing houses. If you like historicals, try any of her historicals. They’re all terrific.
Also if you want to try something different, there are two historical mystery series with strong romantic elements that are particularly good. One is the SILENT mysteries by Deanna Raybourne and the other is the St. Cyr mysteries by C.S. Harris. I think you’ll especially like the Silent books, because the heroine has that bantering style that you excel at. In fact, the first book, SILENT IN THE GRAVE, won a RITA Award.
Great to hear what you guys are reading–I’m always looking for suggestions.
Patti: I’ve read STS and enjoyed it–but Sugar Daddy is my favorite in the series. Love that Gage. : )
Gail: Too funny. I just read my first Julia Quinn book (The Duke and I). I’ve been hearing good things about 10 Things, so maybe I’ll have to pick up that one as well.
Petra: I’d love to have my books in audiobooks. I know it’s something Berkley is considering, although there’s nothing set yet.
Kim: That’s great to hear about the Judith McNaught bulletin board! Thanks for spreading the word. : ) I have read Perfect, and I have Paradise in my TBR pile. I’m always intimidated by the length, but maybe I need to bump it up… AND I have the first Silent book in the TBR pile, too. I’ve heard good things about the dialogue. Now I’m extra intrigued.
Hi Julie,
Now that you said you read Perfect by JM, I’m curious to know if you liked it. It’s one of my top 5 love story, ever, along with Paradise.
I hope you loved it too!
As for recent reads, I finished Risk No Secret by Cindy Gerard, who is a fav author of mines, and also Karen Rose’s Kill For Me. Very different style from yours, but good love stories too.