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Welcome to our New Faces column, where we are pleased to introduce some of the debut authors you'll find on your romance bookshelves. This time we're talking with Jenna Mills, whose first book is Smoke and Mirrors from Silhouette's Intimate Moments line. Let's meet her. Jenna, welcome to TRR! Tell us about yourself. I'm a southern girl, born and raised in deep south Louisiana. A librarian's daughter, I grew up with a book in my hand. I've always loved to write...my first story (which I still have!) was titled MONSTER FALLS IN LOVE and dates back to when I was 6 :) I have an older sister and younger brother and we're all very close. I pursued a degree in Journalism at Louisiana State University, where I graduated with a BA. I now reside in Dallas Texas with my husband, two dogs, two cats, and an army of books! Are you coming to romance writing from another job? I'm a market researcher by day, romance novelist by night. In my corporate job, I'm an account manager responsible for helping Fortune 500 companies improve their bottom line through better customer relations. Most of my writing takes place at night, on airplanes, or on the weekends! What led you to write romance? I've always been a sucker for love stories. For as long as I can remember, I've focused on the love story aspect of just about everything -- I always wanted Marsha and Greg to get together on The Brady Bunch, and I was just convinced that Marianne was the right girl for the professor on Gilligan's Island. Whenever I read a story without a happily ever after, I rewrote the ending in my mind. As far as seriously pursuing romantic fiction from a career standpoint, that started in the mid 90s when I read Judith McNaught's PARADISE and totally fell in love. It was as though that story unlocked all these stories inside of me, and I've been happily writing away ever since! I adore watching two people fall in love and find that magical happily ever after. Tell us about your road to publication. Someday I'll write an article titled "The Rocky Road to Publication!" My story is like so many others -- first manuscripts tucked under the bed never to see the light of day again, piles of rejection letters, sorted from "good rejections" to "bad rejections," contests where I either won, or bombed, etc. It took five years to sell my first book, which ironically, ended up being one of my earlier books. I sold LOVE AND LIES (which became SMOKE AND MIRRORS) as the result of a contest. The judging editor placed my work first and went on to buy three books from me before leaving Silhouette to raise her adorable twin daughters. I do have 3 wonderful writing friends -- Catherine Spangler who writes for Leisure, Linda Castillo and Vickie Taylor who both write for SIM -- who have helped me in countless ways over the years. What kind of research was involved for your first book? Mostly police procedure stuff. My heroine is an undercover detective, so I took it upon myself to learn about undercover operations and protocol, weapons, etc. Also, since the story is set in a hotel, I read a textbook on managing hotels. Who are your influences as a writer? In terms of romance, I adore Linda Howard, Anne Stuart, and Suzanne Brockmann. Outside of romance, I'm a big fan of Stephen King and John Sanford. What does your family think of having a romance author in their midst? LOL! My husband often says he's married to the least romantic romance writer in the world! I'm not a romance-y person, per se. I'm very goal-oriented, task-minded, etc. Instead of roses, I'd rather a rose bush anyday. Instead of chocolate, I'd rather him fill my car with gas. So they all think it's pretty wild, though they're very, very happy to see my dreams coming true! Tell us about plans for future books. The next 18 months will be incredibly busy for me! I have 5 more books lined up with Silhouette, starting with WHEN NIGHT FALLS in August, which is the story of a man who comes home froma business trip to find his 17 year old daughter missing. Scary stuff. In October I've got THE COP NEXT DOOR which is one of my favorite stories to date, a murder mystery set in deep south Louisiana (my former stomping grounds!) January brings A KISS IN THE DARK, another murder mystery, but this one featuring reunited lovers. My April 2003 release is still untitled, but it is, without doubt, my favorite work so far -- it features an international kidnapping gone terribly, terribly awry. And then coming in late 2003 I'll have a book out, ACCUSED, in conjunction with an exciting new continuity coming from Silhouette! It makes me dizzy just thinking about everything. How can readers get in touch with you?
I love to hear from readers!!!! There are three ways to get in touch with me: Jenna, thanks for joining us, and best of luck with your future books! April 16, 2002 |
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