Connie: Hello and welcome, Jessica. It’s a pleasure to have the chance to talk with you about your love for writing. In addition to doing that, I hope to take the time to get to know you better on a personal level, too. First, would you tell me and the readers a bit about yourself, perhaps what we’ll see coming from you in the near future?

Jessica: Hi Connie, thanks for having me here at Once Upon a Romance. I live in the leafy Home Counties of England with my boyfriend and our Jack Russell terrier, Popple, and at the moment I’m also six-and-a-half months’ pregnant. I’ve been published twice, both times with Moonlit Romance, in Fall in Love: An Anthology and with my debut full-length novel, Haunted Hearts. My next release, also with Moonlit, will be in May (’07): One Shore Thing is a romantic novella set in a Cornish beachside town and will appear in a 2-in-1 book called A Taste of Summer. I’m currently in the planning stages with my second full-length book, Wisteria Cottage. I’m also a freelance proofreader and my hobbies include reading, shopping, gossiping with friends, watching movies, visualizing a perfectly-decorated house, and planning/taking mini-breaks with my boyfriend – although the latter will probably have to fall by the wayside pretty soon!

Connie: Congratulations on your baby!

Hmm, Wisteria Cottage. The title alone sounds romantic!

I’m probably going to go all over the board on the questions, with no particular theme or direction, but let me start with One Shore Thing, a May 2007 release. It appears to take a different approach to the rocky road to love. Friendship first. Was this planned on your part prior to writing Carrie and Noah’s story, or did the story kind of direct itself in this aspect?

Jessica: It was a bit of both, actually. My first published work, the novella The Little Shop of Dreams from Fall in Love: An Anthology, took the approach of two strangers meeting and tentatively starting to date. Haunted Hearts, however, is a "lovers reunited" story and features a hero and heroine who were each others’ first loves. When I was in the planning stage for One Shore Thing I knew I wanted to try a different tack and having my characters start out as friends was my first idea. The fact that Noah and Carrie became employer and employee respectively near to the beginning of the story also contributed to the "friends first" dynamic; I knew a boss and his new assistant wouldn’t start to date as soon as they started working together. It was fun to write about characters who were falling in love from a different standpoint than what I had known previously, and this always kept the story feeling really fresh throughout the time I worked on it.

Connie: Jessica, One Shore Thing is set in a fictional town which another author (Nell Dixon) created for at least two of her books. Have you found it to be difficult or challenging to write a story based on her setting?

Jessica: One Shore Thing is set in the fictional Cornish town of New Bay, which was created by my fellow Moonlit Romance author and critique partner Nell Dixon. (Her novella Making Waves forms the other half of A Taste of Summer.) The decision to set my novella in New Bay came about while I was writing the first chapter; I’d already decided that the story would be set in Cornwall and since Nell had placed New Bay somewhere in that particular county – and was using the location again in Making Waves – we thought it would be fun if I set my story there too. (Careful readers may spot Nell’s characters popping in to Noah’s deli to do a little shopping!) I already knew the town well from reading Nell’s work and so it was actually quite easy for me to use as a location. I only had to check a few things along the way, such as whether there was a fish-and-chip shop on the seafront promenade and if so, what its opening hours would be!

Connie: It sounds as if you had fun with Nell’s location!

As far as characters go, each author has different criteria for their traits and personalities. Even though you continually create different, multi-faceted characters, what do you want the reader to see and remember about your characters? What is the basic criteria you build on?

Jessica: I think every writer wants their characters to be remembered not just for the journeys they take, but for their unique qualities. If you’re like me and read a lot of romances, you sometimes rather unfortunately find one hero and heroine blending into another set from another book, or even books. What I strive for is something unique in my characters that will stay with the reader after they’ve finished reading. This could be a personality trait, something about the character’s past, or best of all – the journey he or she has taken to find love. I try hard to ensure that my characters are not just stereotypes or "stock" heroes and heroines; if a writer falls into this trap they not only risk the reader forgetting all about the characters and their journey as soon as the book is closed, but the story would never be at its best and as a writer I would find it very hard to live with that!

Connie: Readers definitely appreciate unique and recognize when an author has gone that extra step to make the story/characters one of a kind.

Do you find yourself having multiple projects going? Such as plotting one, writing one, doing the final edits on another? Or are you a one project writer?

Jessica: I’m a one-project writer but there’s nothing I admire more than a writer who can juggle more than one story at a time! (I’ve heard that one of the best things about that is the ability to switch over to another story when one is being difficult.) The furthest I go with overlapping projects is to pause in the act of writing one book to scribble down a lightbulb idea I may have had that I can use for the next project. I don’t tend to start working on it until the current project is over, though, because I’d just get too confused!

Connie: Other than the obvious, Jessica, how has being a proofreader helped in your writing? Are you more aware of your mistakes as you go or do they tend to float in the background harder to see the more you look?

Jessica: To be honest, I find they cancel themselves out from the start. My first draft is almost always a clean draft, mistakes-wise, because I’m instinctively typing correctly as I go. With that said, though, it never fails to disappoint me when I don’t realize I’ve used the word "reign" instead of "rein" until my final check-over of a manuscript… From a different point of view, I can assure you that it really does make a difference when you send a mistake-free, properly punctuated, and carefully proofread manuscript to an editor. In every submission I’ve made I’ve received a comment back on how nice it is to read a manuscript with few, if any, typographical mistakes. The "How To…" books always say this is a plus-point for submission, and I couldn’t agree more.

Connie: As a tip for the aspiring author, when proofreading, what are the most common mistakes made. What should the aspiring author be aware of?

Jessica: Consistency is very important. For example, if you’re using double-quotes for dialogue then make sure you use them all the way through, or if you use a spaced en-dash (like – this) or a closed-up em-dash (like—this), don’t switch between the two. It goes without saying that spelling is important, and never, NEVER rely solely on your word-processor’s spell-checker! (My "reign/rein" confusion never gets picked up on that.) One common mistake I see is the misuse of a possessive apostrophe in singular and group uses. For example, if you’re speaking about one doctor and his stethoscope, you would say "the doctor’s stethoscope", but if you’re referring to more than one doctor and THEIR stethoscopes, you would say "the doctors’ stethoscopes". Also, note where I’ve placed my punctuation outside the speech-marks in these examples; outside is British style, whereas inside is American style.

Connie: Thanks for the invaluable tips, Jessica!

I know from the trivia regarding the writing of each book, you’ve drawn on music to help the creative juices. Do you pick the music first or do you start writing and let the story/characters pick the music?

Jessica: I find that whatever music I happen to be listening to at the time, including what’s in the charts, works its way into my inspiration for a project. The lyrics do have to be appropriate to my characters or their story, though! I find a lot of inspiration in classical music, which I listen to almost exclusively from movie scores. I find that these tracks, as opposed to "regular" classical music, pack a bigger emotional punch. The fact that they don’t have lyrics is good too, because music with lyrics can sometimes distract me as I write – it’s hard to hear one set of words while you’re trying to compose another.

Connie: Um, yes. I’ve been in situations where I got too into the music and ended up typing the lyrics instead of what I should have been typing!

What other ways do you set up your writing atmosphere, Jessica?

Jessica: Good lighting is definitely important, as is a comfortable seat. Other than that, my main "need" for writing time is – I must be honest – being in the right mood. A lot of writers say they have to write every day, regardless of whether they are actually in the right mood or not, but I just can’t make myself do this. I need to be in the right frame of mind otherwise I don’t accomplish anything. Even if I push myself to write fifty words, it’s inevitable that they come straight back out of the document. When I get stuck like this I take myself away from the computer and immerse myself in something else, and this almost always gets the wheels turning. Funnily enough, any distraction activity involving water works for me – if I start to wash the dishes or run a bath I usually have to stop and go back to the laptop within about ten minutes because my spark has returned!

Connie: I know exactly what you mean about water. Exactly!

With a little time left, I’d like to get to know you better on a more personal basis.

You love to do something I don’t. Shop. Do you enjoy shopping for anything and everything or for certain things?

Jessica: I wouldn’t actually call myself a shopaholic – I can’t be with a baby on the way! – and I’m perfectly happy to window-shop if the circumstances deem it necessary. Picking up books is always a favourite for me, and clothes… well… that can be fun, providing it’s not one of those days when everything you try on looks terrible! I like buying things for the house – cushions, kitchenware, new bedlinen, and so on. I’m actually one of those people who enjoys doing the food shopping, simply because I like to browse the aisles and see what’s new. I usually do this by myself, because if I ever go with my boyfriend I can actually pinpoint the stage at which he’ll start asking what’s left on the list because he’s bored .

Connie: Different people get different things out of gardening. Some find it therapeutic, for others it’s a hobby, for some it’s a love for the outdoors. What do you get out of gardening, Jessica, and what would we find in your garden when it’s in full bloom?

Jessica: I like being outside in the fresh air, and I like to make my garden a place where I can relax, even if I’m just looking at it from inside the house. I’m certainly not a gardening expert and I still have to ask my mum questions on how to look after things, but I enjoy planting seeds or a plant and watching them grow; it’s very satisfying to see it all come into bloom. Last spring I planted three fruit trees in the garden – a peach, a cherry, and an apple. They were too young to blossom last summer (although the peach tree did produce one tiny fruit) but this year looks promising because some lovely pink blossom is already starting to come out. I recently planted up various seeds in the hope that they’ll flower in summer, and a honeysuckle has just been bedded in next to our decking; now we just need to put up a trellis behind it. I love plants that look slightly wild and natural, with all sorts of different colours. I love scented flowers, which would explain the honeysuckle – I even have a chocolate cosmos that, yes, smells of chocolate!

Connie: Sounds wonderful! I can actually picture it…You’re invited to a costume ball. You’re picking the costumes. Who would you go who would your boyfriend go as? Would he object?

Jessica: Hmm, that’s a tough one. I’d love to wear a beautiful dress of some kind, simply because, like most women, I don’t think I wear dresses enough on an everyday basis. A big ball-gown would be fun to wear, so I suppose I could go as some kind of fairytale character. Perhaps Rapunzel, so I could wear a lovely long wig as well! My boyfriend would prefer to go as something fairly inconspicuous that would only require the wearing of a particular style of t-shirt (he doesn’t like getting dressed up), but I’d like to see him wear a uniform. Maybe he could go as a SWAT policeman or something like that…

Connie: Don’t they wear t-shirts under their vests?? Hmm… : - )

Sometimes we’re drawn to someone, or click with someone because of our similarities or differences. What qualities do you admire most in a person or seem to click with?

Jessica: If somebody can make me laugh then we’ll be set for quite a while! A laidback attitude is good, because I’m one of those people who can get a bit frantic in certain situations and somebody who can keep a calm air around things is important. My boyfriend is just like this, and it’s one of the things I love most about him. In many ways we are opposites, and that’s always been one of our biggest strengths – we each make up what the other lacks or needs.

Connie: A lovely way to state it. Very romantic, Jessica. As for an outing, what would be most romantic to you to do with your boyfriend? A free, but expensive, catered picnic in an isolated but scenic place? Or, an expensive, but free, candlelight dinner complete with champagne at an exclusive restaurant?

Jessica: Mmm, they both sound lovely in their own individual ways! I think I would lean towards the picnic, though, because neither of us is particularly fond of very formal situations. We love to relax together and although we also enjoy a night out or spontaneous trip, sometimes just snuggling up together to watch a film is one of the best things you can do. The other night we spent most of the evening on the sofa: he was working on his laptop and then watched one of his favourite DVDs while I simply read a book next to him. We were both doing different things but we were doing them together and it was lovely .

Connie: I think that’s the perfect place to stop and thank you for an enjoyable time. Before we say goodbye though, is there anything I forgot to ask that you want the readers to know?

Jessica: Firstly I’d like to thank you for such a wonderful interview, Connie – it’s been really fun! If I could mention one thing, it’s that I’ve recently had confirmation that Haunted Hearts, my debut novel with Moonlit Romance, is a finalist for the Joan Hessayon New Writers’ Award, which is organized and presented annually by the Romantic Novelists’ Association (the British equivalent of RWA). I’m so thrilled that my book is in the running for the prize and I’m looking forward to seeing who wins at the end of May. As for whether there’s anything more the readers would like to know, they can visit my website at http://www.jessica-raymond.com (from which they can also contact me directly) or read all my latest news at my blog: http://jessicaraymond.blogspot.com. Thanks once again for a lovely interview!

Connie: You’re so very welcome, Jessica!

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Author's Interviews