Exquisite Quills welcomes Jane Leopold Quinn!
EQ: What was your defining moment as a writer?
Jane: The moment I picked up the pen and put it to
paper. I came to writing late in life,
but now I'm here. At first, words poured
out like they'd been held hostage in my brain and landed directly onto the
pages of my notebook. I couldn't write
them fast enough -- on the bus going to and from work, I started going downtown
earlier in the morning to a coffee house to write, then I continued evenings,
weekends, and lunchtimes. As soon as I
began writing, I knew it was what I was meant to do in my life. I'd worked as a secretary most of my adult
life, always assisting other people in their businesses. Now I had my own work, and it was the best,
most fulfilling feeling in the world. I
highly recommend it.
EQ: Describe how you came up with the plot of your novel.
Jane: Sometimes it's just a sudden thought, a segment on a
TV show, a commercial… A written, but
unpublished, novel was born when I heard Andrea Bocelli sing a duet in a
Spanish Flamenco style. My heroine sprang
forth as a young Anglo woman visiting her friend's hacienda in Mexico. She falls in love with the Flamenco, then
with an American cowboy selling horses to her friend's father. That story has been with me ever since I
started writing. Some day I'll edit it
enough to have it published. So, for me,
just a song, the melancholy, Arabic tones of the guitar, roiled my creative
juices. I really need to get back to
that manuscript!
EQ: What is the biggest risk you've taken in your writing?
Jane: Just writing is a huge risk. It's been said that writing is like walking
down the street naked. We show so much
of ourselves in our stories even if we think we don't. Every character, male and female, is a
reflection of our own psyches. I don't
mean we only write ourselves, but on some level, some part of the writer is in
each character -- possibly even the evil ones.
But my very first risk was to write in the erotic romance genre. Highly sensual love scenes came so easily to
my writing that I shocked myself. Once,
though, I accepted that style, I embraced it, and it's so much a part of my
stories now.
I have a release coming in 2014 at Ellora's
Cave. Lost and Found is a small town contemporary romance. I even created a town and drew a map of it in
my pitiful artistic way. I'm a better
writer than an artist. Here's the blurb:
On leave after
eight years of deployments to the Middle East, Marc Rahn returns to his
Phoebe Barnes is
a young, beautiful, jazz singer whose goal in life is to make it in the big
time. She was abandoned as an infant, spent several years in foster homes,
and was finally adopted by a loving couple. Those years in foster care
kept her hungry for attention and fame that the singing and dancing lessons
from her new parents couldn't completely cure.
Marc's on a
mission to find out the truth about his folks' deaths before his leave is
over. Phoebe has no intention of giving up her desire for fame in New York
or Los Angeles. Will they be able to fight their attraction for each other?
Other titles by Jane Leopold Quinn:
Home to Stay
Ancient Ties
Undercover Lover
A Promise at Dawn
Mercenary Desires
Hot Under the Collar
I'll Be Your Last
Valentine's Day
His Hers & His
The Keeper
Soldier, Come Home
Winning Violetta
Lost and Found - coming 2014
Jane Leopold Quinn
My Romance: Love With
a Scorching Sensuality
11 comments:
I need to listen to Andrea Bocelli! I can't wait to see what he inspired you to write. Lost and Found looks great Jane. When is the release date?
Jane, each of your stories are so unique. Definitely no cookie-cutters in your writing. Can't wait to read Lost and Found. Great good luck with this project.
*hugs*
~JD
Thanks, Rose. No release date yet for Lost and Found. The Bocelli album is "Sogno" and the song is "O Mare e Tu." It's a seafaring type song and is sung as a duet with a female. But the sound of it is so Flamenco. I get weird ideas.
Thanks, JD. I admire people who write series, and I have a few books that are related, but mostly it's just whatever comes to my mind like my "famous" cough syrup commercial inspiration. ;-)
Hi Jane! I'm so excited for your new book! I wish you big sales!
Having also started writing rather 'late' in life, I can understand some of what you experienced. Did it give you the feeling like you'd been given a second chance to 'start over'? Do you sometimes wake up and wonder what strange occurrence happened in the universe that allowed you to become a published author? You know what I mean - sometimes I feel like it's just a dream. Your blurb sounds great and definitely makes me want to read more. Good luck to you and Happy Holidays!
Yes, a new beginning for me. I've had other new beginnings. I met my 2nd husband later in life, so I know about happily ever after which makes me so much more positive I can write it.
I feel real good about Lost and Found. If the edits would just come through, I could get going on it.
Thanks so much. I think making up the town and drawing the map was as much fun as writing the story.
Jane,
It's interesting (and heart-warming) to me each time I read someone else's journey into publishing being similar to mine.
I'm another writer who came into writing later in my life. Although I'd written all sorts of stories for my own entertainment since I was a teenager, I didn't take my writing 'bug' seriously until just a few years ago.
Missy, I've also wondered about 'what occurrence in the universe' happened to guide me into becoming published.
It's interesting (and heart-warming) to me each time I read someone else's journey into publishing being similar to mine.
Now that's just weird that two lines in my comment posted at the beginning and end. bwhahahaha!
It bears repeating. I get all mushy about this writing thing too.
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