Meet the Exquisite Quill Authors


Saturday, June 14, 2014

Author Interview: Jacqueline Seewald



EQ Welcomes Jacqueline Seewald!


EQ: Welcome to EQ! Tell us a little bit about yourself!

Jacqueline: My name is Jacqueline Seewald. I’m a former high school English teacher. I also taught Creative Writing, Expository Writing and Technical Writing at the university level. I’ve worked as an academic librarian at the university and also as an educational media specialist at the high school level. I’m now a fulltime writer with fifteen books of fiction: romantic mysteries, romantic suspense, and historical romance as well as YA romance.

 EQ: Tell us a little bit about your most recent releases.

Jacqueline: THE BAD WIFE is a romantic mystery thriller recently published by Perfect Crime Books available in both print and e-book.

TEA LEAVES AND TAROT CARDS is a sensual Regency romance with paranormal elements, published as an e-book by SteameReads. It comes with an endorsement from Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick.
My award-winning Georgian romance THE CHEVALIER was also published by SteameReads.

THE DEVIL AND DANNA WEBSTER is a YA romance recently published by Astraea as an e-book. It too has paranormal elements.

 EQ: What made you want to become a writer?

Jacqueline: My mother was a reader and we regularly visited the library together.
Our trips to the library were great fun and I became a regular reader as well. I started making up my own stories. As soon as I could write, I began putting words down on paper and I never stopped.

EQ: What are your top three guilty pleasures?

Jacqueline: I love eating dark chocolate with lots of nuts.

I love taking long, hot showers.

Best of all, I love taking scenic walks, holding hands, and joking with my husband.

EQ: What is the biggest risk you’ve taken in your writing?

Jacqueline: Writing mashup or cross-genre novels. For example, having paranormal elements and sensual romance in my mystery novels. “Old school” mystery reviewers and writers frown on having paranormal elements. They consider it a kind of cheating. Kim Reynolds, my psychic detective in four mystery novels, tries her best to repress this ability but it keeps showing up and helping her uncover murderers. My mystery series is also strong on romance which is another no-no in old school mystery circles. But I look at novel writing as a dynamic, growing literary form. So I’ve been somewhat daring with it. This is also true with my romance novels. My heroes in my historic romances THE CHEVALIER and TEA LEAVES AND TAROT CARDS are not paragons of virtue. They’re alpha males, strongly masculine but flawed.

You can find Jacqueline Seewald’s books at these places:

 The Bad Wife: A Kim Reynolds Mystery
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bad-wife-jacqueline-seewald/1118954487?ean=9781935797562

Two hot historical romances:
Tea Leaves and Tarot Cards
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JFHMXWW
The Chevalier
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GY95RTU/
or

The Devil and Danna Webster: YA romance from Astraea Books
or



30 comments:

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Thanks so much for interviewing me today!

Janis Susan May said...

Interesting interview! I applaud you for striking out so boldly in cross-genre. It makes for a much more interesting read.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Thanks, Janis, for stopping by and for your supportive comments.

Susan Oleksiw said...

Jacquie, you make a good point about writers taking risks. We don't grow if we only write the same book over and over. Good interview.

Jane Leopold Quinn said...

Thanks for being here, Jacqueline. Maybe in this weird day and age with all the world troubles, readers might need a mix up of genres to "take them away." But providing entertainment is what reading is all about.

Betty Gordon said...

An interesting interview. I particularly like that you have taken risks and crossed the lines of old school. I look forward to reading your recent release.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Thank you for dropping by Susan. I know that you vary the setting of your novels with great success.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Hi, Jane,

I do agree with you. The important thing is to tell a great story, romantic and exciting.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Thank you, Betty. I hope you do read my latest work. Readers are really what matters to writers.

Karen Michelle Nutt said...

It's all about the story and if the reader likes the characters. Lovely interview!

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Karen,

Thanks for dropping by. I know your romance novels are very popular. And you're right. If readers connect emotionally to the main characters, the novel is a success.

dkchristi said...

I seek entertainment from my reading. I enjoyed your interview. www.dkchristi.com Author of Ghost Orchid

Jacqueline Seewald said...

D.K.,

Thanks for dropping by. I know Ghost Orchid is an entertaining novel. Of course, I admit to being partial to the paranormal.

E. Ayers said...

Fun interview. It's great to get to know a little more about you!

I think literature is no longer as pure as it used to be and having other elements stirred in can make for a great read! It's all about the readers and what they want.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

I do agree with you on that. Writers are attempting to be more creative by mixing genre elements.

Nancy Means Wright said...

A good interview as always, Jacquie, and I like your comments on jumping--or crossing genres. I've enjoyed using a psychic in two of my novels, and it can be fun--and surely not a form of cheating.

D'Ann said...

Congrats on your release! It looks great!

Susan Coryell said...

Jacquie: Another great blog! Since I, too, mix the genres with my cozy mystery/Southern Gothics, I enjoy reading about another maverick writer who squeezes past the "old school" walls. Thanks for making me think!

Maggie Toussaint said...

HI Jacquie!
Libraries are the best, aren't they? I spent a lot of my childhood in libraries. My fingers would lingeringly trail the covers of each book, knowing an adventure awaited inside on the pages. Sometimes the hardest part about going to the library was having to make selections to take home. All the books sounded wonderful!

As a grown up (well, mostly a grown up!), I have to stay I still have the same reverence for books, and for good authors. I've read many of Jacquie's books and I highly recommend them. I love that she blends genres!

Joyce Elson Moore said...

Hi Jacqueline: Nice interview, and I'm glad to get the information on the books of yours that I haven't read. I loved Tea Leaves but now I have more to add to my TBR stack.

Anita Page said...

Good interview, Jacquie. It brings back memories of Saturday mornings at the library with my father.

Unknown said...

Great interview. Good luck with sales.

Carole Price said...

Ah . . . the secrets we learn about authors.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Hi, Nancy,

In a mystery, I think it's important that the psychic doesn't actually use those powers to figure out who the culprit is.
For example, Kim Reynolds does her best to repress her psychic ability and use normal means to discover the identity of killers.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Thanks, D'Ann. Now, all I need are readers!

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Hi, Susan,

I love Southern Gothics and hope more like yours are published.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Thank you, Maggie. I appreciate that you both read and recommend my books. Speaking of libraries, they have started ordering the print edition of THE BAD WIFE. All readers need to do is request it at their local library. How's that for getting a book for free?

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Thanks, Joyce. Tea Leaves and Tarot Cards is a bargain in the e-book edition. But I have to tell everyone that a great many libraries purchased the hardcover edition. I credit this to the endorsement of Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick. Also, Mary Balogh was wonderful. She read the novel for me before the original edit from Five Star/Gale and made valuable suggestions which I incorporated.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

My father wasn't a book reader but he did love newspapers. Today, on Father's Day, I remember him with love. I partly based Lt. Mike Gardner, the hero in my Kim Reynolds series on my own father.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Hi, Carole,

I did get asked some unusual questions. But I did my best to answer them honestly.