|
Welcome to our New Faces column, where you can meet brand-new romance authors and find out about their books. This time we're visiting with Jolie Mathis, whose first book is The Sea King from Berkley. Jolie, welcome to TRR! Tell us about yourself. I’m an Army brat, so I was raised in a variety of places. Mostly Texas, though! I enjoyed the moves, and seeing the world. Even though transfers meant leaving friends behind, it also meant making new ones. My younger brother is an Army bomb tech so I live vicariously through him as far as travel goes. Since I write historicals, I haven’t yet used him as a source for a story, ! but maybe in the future ... In 1991, I received an English degree from Texas A & M University. After college, I married the guy who had been my high school prom date. We are currently living our "happily ever after" with two awesome kids. Are you coming to romance writing from another job? After college, I worked as a legal assistant in a civil litigation firm in Dallas. After spending several years in that high stress environment, I interviewed for a paralegal job in an accident reconstruction engineering firm. It’s an awesome job, and I’ve been with the company ever since. After the birth of my second child, I continued to work for them, but it’s part-time from home. What led you to write romance? I used to be a romance book snob. I ne! ver read a romance until after the birth of my first child, when my mom gave me SHANNA, by Kathleen Woodiwiss. After that, I was hooked, and right away I knew I wanted to write a book of my own. History has always been fascinating to me. I can’t tell you how many women, when they find out what I write, say, "Oh, my grandmother would love your book." Yikes! Don’t get me wrong, I want grandmother, daughter AND granddaughter alike to love my stories. Historical settings are mysterious, unpredictable, and always exciting! Tell us about your road to publication. It took me six years to become published. For the first few years, I wrote when I could on my lunch breaks, and late at night. My first book, a Georgian romance entitled DRAGON’S KISS, will remain forever in a box under my bed. I had an eternally tormented hero, but I co! uld never quite figure out what he was tormented about! I entered chapters in a few contests, and learned so much from the kind and patient authors who judged the story. THE SEA KING is the second book I wrote. From the beginning, the story did very well in contests. Still, I was a "young" writer, and though I loved the premise, I rewrote the bulk of the story several times until I felt I’d struck upon the right combination. Finally, when I felt ready to submit the book to agents and editors, I had a lot of positive response. Two people who probably don’t even know how much encouragement they gave me are Pocket Books editor Lauren McKenna (who did not buy the book!) and author Anita Gordon a/k/a Kathleen Kirkwood, who encouraged me to write a story I loved. What kind of research was involved for your first book? I chose to set my story in a fictional Saxon kingdom, so I created my own world to some extent. Stil! l, I did a lot of research on early English history, Norse history and daily life and politics in those cultures. Tell us about your debut book. Princess Isabel of Norsex owes Kol Thorlekkson her life, but since the day he came to her rescue she has been taught to hate the barbarian. When the dark Norseman returns two years later to force her brother from his throne, she finds herself torn between her sworn allegiance and her traitorous heart. That’s the story in a very simplified nutshell, but there are a lot of surprises in store for the reader – ones I hope they’ll enjoy! Who are your influences as a writer? My tastes are all over the place. Judith Ivory and Laura Kinsale. Stephen King. Zora Neale Hurston. J.R.R. Tolkien. What does your family think of having a published romance author in their midst? My parents are a promotional machine! They tell everyone about my book. I think others in my family are a bit horrified. Tell us about plans for future books. If readers respond positively to THE SEA KING, they might get to see some more KING books. But at present, I am at work on a sexy Victorian, and I’m really excited about it. How can readers get in touch with you? I would love to hear from readers. They can e-mail me at jolie@joliemathis.com or visit my website: www.joliemathis.com Jolie, thanks for joining us, and best of luck! Readers, we have a review of THE SEA KING on our Historical page.
|
