MFRW : |
How much of your personality and life experiences are in your writing ? |
MFRW : |
Do you feel humor is important in fiction and why ? |
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JJ :
MFRW :
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I suppose quite a bit of my personality is in my writing . Just the words I choose to use reflect that . I don ’ t know any way I could keep who I am out of my books . My life experiences , while not detailed or copied , except in one book , influence my writing . My experience in life , my age , and the fact that I ’ m married and have children , are all factors in developing my understanding of people , my compassion , my passion , and morality . Of course , having ten years as a single woman between marriages gave me quite a bit of experience with the opposite sex . Enough said .
Tell us about your latest book . What motivated the story ? Where did the idea come from ? Where do your story ideas usually come from ?
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JJ :
MFRW :
JJ :
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To me , humor is essential both in my writing and in my life ! Without humor , tragedy would take over . I use lots of humor in my writing , because people and animals are funny . And guys together , like athletes , are hilarious . I raised two sons , so I had a little ear-to-the-wall on this . Trust me . Guys are funny
Bubble baths or steamy showers ? Ocean or mountains ? Puppies or kittens ? Chocolate or caramel ?
Bubble baths , when I have the time . Both ocean and mountains . I had ocean when I was young and single . Now I ’ m a mountain woman . Caramel is bad for your teeth . Chocolate is an essential food !
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JJ : |
I have no idea where my ideas come from , but my latest book came from the strangest place ever . There was a car parked on my block in NYC with a California license plate . It was a small car , two-seated BMW . I wondered what it would be like to drive across the country in such a small car . Then I figured , it ’ s a luxury car and probably pretty comfortable . I saw the car two more times on my block , many weeks later .
That rolled around in my head until it formed into a story . What if a ball player bought a fancy car in L . A . and decided to drive it across the country to NYC ? Would he meet a woman along the way ? Thus , Jake Lawrence , Third Base was born .
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MFRW :
JJ :
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Which comes first , the story , the characters , or the setting ?
What comes first is usually the phrase , “ What if ?” That starts the wheels of a plot turning . And with those , characters develop . Then they start interacting in my head and I ’ m off to the computer to get it down before I lose it or it spins out of control . Frankly , that ’ s often the best part .
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