Your Questions Answered

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I noticed that several of you had questions for me about Something About You and Practice Makes Perfect in my previous blog about reading guides/discussion questions.  So I thought I’d go ahead and answer a few of those:

Q. I was wondering what inspired you to include more sex in Something About You?

A. Lots of wine.  Just kidding.  (Well, sort of.)  Something About You was steamier than my first two books because it felt like the right thing to do.  By adding a suspense subplot, there was a little more “grit” to the book, and the higher sensuality seemed a better fit for that.  Plus, there was such a build up of sexual tension between Cameron and Jack, I thought readers might kill me if I didn’t show the culmination of that.  : )

Q.  Do your characters take over – meaning have a mind of their own and if so, do they take you to a very surprising journey?

A.  Yes and no.  Sometimes I set out to write a certain scene and I write and rewrite and rewrite it again and it just doesn’t work, and usually that’s because I’m trying to get the characters to do something that would be, no pun intended, out of character.  And what also happens is that, as I get into the book, the characters will become so vivid in my mind that I can “hear” their voices and the back-and-forth dialogue really begins to flow.  I don’t know that I’ve ever been completely surprised by any character’s actions, though.

Q.  I am curious as to how your ‘past life’ as a lawyer pushed your books ahead and have you had to do more research as you write new books?

A.  Being a lawyer has certainly been a plus in writing lawyer heroines, I can say that.  : )  Although I did have to do more research for Something About You, since I was a civil litigator and Cameron is a criminal prosecutor.  So I emailed a friend who is an Assistant U.S. Attorney for help.  I suspect he thought that I was going to have all these sexy, thought-provoking questions about his job and then instead I asked him things like, “How many people do you share a secretary with?”  “When you meet with FBI agents, do you meet at your office or theirs?”  I knew the big-picture aspects of the job, I just needed help with the details.

With respect to Book 4, the upcoming A Lot Like Love, I had to do a lot of research.  Neither the heroine nor the hero is a lawyer–imagine that!  The heroine owns a wine store, so I shadowed the owner of my local wine shop for a day, I took a wine appreciation course (not exactly a hardship), and I read a couple books on wine.  Plus I took a trip to Napa Valley last year, and I was able to draw on that experience.

Q.  While writing the one book, did you start to get ideas for the next book and if so, are you able you write more than one book at a time?

A.  Not with my first three books.  Those were written entirely as stand-alone books, without any cross over in the characters.  But with A Lot Like Love, not only do I bring back characters from Something About You, but a supporting character in ALLL will be the hero in Book 5.  So when writing A Lot Like Love, yes–I definitely began to get ideas for the next book, because I already know who the hero will be.   That being said, I don’t actually write more than one book at a time.  I get very entrenched in the book I’m writing and need to focus only on that.

There were more questions, and I’ll get to those next time.  I think I like this Q&A idea!  So if you have questions you’d like answered in a future blog, feel free to post them below.

On an entirely different note, I started the first book in J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and I’m enjoying it so far. For those of you who have read the BDB books–and I know there are many of you–what did you think?  (No spoilers please!)

Happy reading!

Giveaway winners

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Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest!  You guys came up with some really great discussion questions for Practice Makes Perfect and Something About You.  Don’t be surprised if you see many of these show up in a future reading guide.  : )

Now, without further ado, the winner of the $25 gift card to Borders, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon is. . .

Kim! (comments #20 & 30)

And the two winners of a signed copy of any of my books are:

Biki (comment #16)

and

Jacqueline C (comment #34)

Winners, please email me at info[at]juliejamesbooks[dot]com. Kim: let me know if you would like a gift card from Borders, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.  Biki and Jacqueline C: let me know which of my books you want.

Thanks again, everyone!  And happy reading.

Giveaway!! $25 giftcard and books!

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**Please note: the giveaway is now closed.  The winner will be announced shortly.

The other day, I realized that it’s been a while since I’ve done a giveaway. And now you guys can help me out with something I’m working on, so it’s win-win for all of us.  Fatin over at RR@H Novel Thoughts and Book Talk is collecting discussion guides, which she plans to feature on her website, for several romance novels.  Sounds like a great idea!  She asked me to come up with 10-12 discussion questions each for Practice Makes Perfect and Something About You, and I thought I’d turn it into a contest. Not to mention, I’d love to get reader input on the topics you find “discussion worthy” regarding the two books.

So here’s how this will work:  to enter in the giveaway, leave a potential discussion question about either Practice Makes Perfect or Something About You in the comments below.  (Think the kinds of questions one might find in a reading guide, not questions directed at me.)  One randomly-drawn commenter will receive a $25 gift card to Borders, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon (at the winner’s choosing.)  And two second-place winners (again randomly drawn) will receive a copy of any of my books.

Feel free to post as many discussion questions as you like:  each question will count as a separate entry.  The only rule is that you can’t repeat a previously-posted question.  The giveaway will remain open until 10pm CST on Friday, May 22nd.

Good luck, everyone!  And happy reading.

Edited to add:  Keep in mind. . . these should be questions of the sort a moderator/discussion leader would ask readers, not questions directed toward me. : )

New JTSMA Cover (anyone read Russian?)

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How cute is this?  I’ve got a Russian cover for Just the Sexiest Man Alive and thought I’d share.

True, Taylor and Jason look about seventeen years old in this picture, instead of being in their thirties.  LOL.  But I’m really impressed that they got the hair and eye color of the models exactly right.

Now, if anyone reads Russian, I would LOVE to know what the book description says. And also that caption on the front cover with the exclamation point.  Any guesses?

Oh, and be sure to tune in next week.  I haven’t done a giveaway for awhile, so I think I’m due. . .

* * *

Updated to add: the fabulous Fiona Jayde, who I happened to meet through Beth Kery at RT, and who just so happens to be from Russia, was kind enough to translate the book jacket for me.  Here’s what she said:

The translation (often there’s more than one way of interpreting a word or phrase so I’ll try to include both):

The title in Russian reads “Your Daring/Arrogant Glance”

The Purple bubble says “Love first and foremost” (Maybe this is supposed to be “Business first and foremost” looking at the back blurb?)

The back copy says “Taylor Donovan is a strong woman. In a courtroom she can lay (kill?) an opponent on his back, and in her personal life she won’t allow a man to shatter her heart.

This is why Hollywood hunk Jason Anders, with whom she is supposed to consult for his role of a lawyer in a new blockbuster, doesn’t stand a chance to make Taylor notice him. (Or make Taylor aware of him)

Business is first and foremost!

At first Jason, tired/tortured by female attention, is happy with this business attitude/approach. But gradually, his happiness changes to irritation, and irritation to male hunter’s instinct. To seduce and make this confident/strong person fall in love with him is a matter of honor.”

“And irritation to male hunter’s instinct”.  Yep, that pretty much describes the effect of my heroines.  : )

Many thanks to Fiona for the translation!

New Thai covers! (And other fun stuff)

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I’ve got a few fun pictures to share this week. . .

First, the Thai translations of Just the Sexiest Man Alive and Practice Makes Perfect are now available.  Check out the covers for the Thai versions of the books:

First, Practice Makes Perfect:

And here’s Just the Sexiest Man Alive (apologies that it’s so small):

I’m working on getting a larger jpeg for the JTSMA cover.  How fun is that picture of Jason and Taylor?  I love that Jason is reading a book–or maybe that’s supposed to be a script?  It’s so interesting to see how books are marketed in different countries.  Anyone interested in purchasing the Thai translations of the books, which are available now, can do that here and here.

Speaking of Practice Makes Perfect. . . a friend gave me this note she found in a fortune cookie:

She framed it for me, too–how sweet is that? I’ve now got it on my desk.

Lastly, I thought I’d share a special advance sneak preview of Book 5.  Yes, Book 5.  I know, you haven’t even seen Book 4 yet (A Lot Like Love), but I started working on my outline for Book 5 last Friday and I thought I’d share what I’ve got so far.  Now, Friday was a busy day for me, lunch downtown with girlfriends, a going away party for other friends, and I didn’t sleep well the night before.  So I may have dozed off while writing the outline for Book 5… and when I woke up, this was what I had on the legal pad sitting next to me:

So there you have it–Book 5 will have an “opening.”  You heard it here first, folks.  : )

Okay, time to really get cracking on that outline. . .