Welcome to our New Faces column, where you can meet some of the newest authors in romance. This time we're visiting with Jamie Sobrato, whose debut book is Some Like It Sizzling, a January release from Harlequin Temptation.

Jamie, welcome to TRR! Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in and around Louisville, Kentucky, but since getting married, my husband s army career has taken us all over. We've moved from Kentucky to California to Virginia to Kansas to Germany. My family consists of me, my husband, our two-year-old son, and another baby due soon. After 5 years in Germany, we'll finally return to the States (Southern California) in the spring of 2003, and I'm very much looking forward to experiencing all things American again--fast food, gigantic shopping malls, 24-hour Wal-mart...everything!

I finished college by transferring from one school to another while we were moving around, and I finally earned my BA in English from Old Dominion University. I also earned certification to teach secondary school English, but after I spent my teaching internship dodging projectile pencils, trying to keep my students awake, and living in constant fear of returning to school another day, I realized I needed to stop kidding myself--I was not a born educator. My real dream has always been to be an author, but all through school I'd told myself I needed to study something practical, that I d never earn a living at writing. It took working in the real world--and being absolutely miserable--to convince me that I had to give writing a try.

In my spare time, I...um, well, I guess I gave up having spare time when I decided to be a mom and a writer. I love taking my son for walks, reading (sometimes I even read books that don t have pictures in them), and checking my email. But if I were one of those really organized people who knew how to maximize her time, I'd have a much more interesting list of hobbies--I swear!

Are you coming to romance writing from another job?

I'm a stay-at-home mom, and I squeeze writing in wherever I can fit it between mom duties. Before my son came along, I hadn't worked since college. I realize that I am incredibly blessed to have been in a position to stay at home and write, and I have my husband to thank for that. I like to think that I paid some of my dues in college and high school, when I worked at more jobs than I care to recall--restaurant hostess, retail salesperson, telemarketer (I swear, I only did it for two miserable weeks, and I never called your house), tutor, nursing assistant, cubical-inhabiting office worker...the list goes on.

What led you to write romance?

I started reading romances when I was a preteen. I'd sneak them off of my mom's bookshelves and read them during summer vacations when I ran out of my own reading material. I immediately fell in love with the genre, but by the time I reached college I never had time to read anything but my assigned school reading. When I decided to try writing seriously though, romance novels were the obvious choice. I'm never totally happy with a story unless the guy and girl get together and live happily ever after. So, I dove back into the genre and found that it had only gotten better over the years.

Tell us about your road to publication.

Oh, I'm not sure you want to know the lurid details of my 5-year journey, but I'll throw them in just for fun. My first book, which I started writing a few days after my last college semester ended and completed in two months, was quite possibly the worst book ever written. But I was just so impressed with myself for filling 200-plus pages with words, all about the same two characters, that I didn't worry too much about all those plot holes and such. I may also have the distinction of not only writing the worst book ever, but also having had it rejected in record-fast time. I mailed it on a Friday and it was back in my mailbox in less than a week with a form rejection letter attached. After I got over the initial shock of not having received an advance check for my two months of work, I realized I had a lot to learn!

Over the next few years--with time off for various moves, my teaching internship, and occasional lapses into I'll-never-sell-a-book depression--I set about learning the craft of writing a novel. My second effort turned out a lot better than the first. It got the attention of a Harlequin editor, but it was eventually (after two long years) rejected for good reasons. The wait nearly did me in, and there were many times in those two years when I was totally unproductive, but the rejection letter that finally came had a few nice things to say that really gave me hope that I had a chance with Harlequin.

During that two-year wait, I wrote another book that was rejected by Kensington, then a fourth book that I never submitted anywhere because it had so many problems I didn't feel like fixing at the time (I m currently rewriting it from scratch now in the hope of selling it to Temptation). I also started lots of books that I never finished--and while that's not a practice I d advise to anyone, I know now that they were just part of my growing pains as a writer.

Then I had a baby and spent about a year totally sleep-deprived and brain dead.

When I finished my fifth book, which eventually became SOME LIKE IT SIZZLING, I knew I finally had something special. But it was rejected by two different editors at Harlequin, before it was a finalist in Romance Writers of America s 2001 Golden Heart Contest. That event, which came at the end of my fourth year of trying to get published, was a huge turning point for me. I was struggling with trying to balance motherhood and writing, and I really was about to give up writing novels. I thought maybe I needed to try something shorter, like obituaries or horoscopes, and then the Golden Heart call came, and I decided maybe I could stick it out a little longer. I queried agents, since I couldn't send the manuscript to Harlequin again on my own, and I quickly found an agent who loved the book.

Finding an agent gave me confidence I d never had before as a writer. I could actually stop worrying and focus on writing! Some months later, my future editor requested revisions on SOME LIKE IT SIZZLING, and I did them as fast as I could and got them back to her. I'd also finished another book by that time, PLEASURE FOR PLEASURE, and she wanted revisions on it as well. My call came on April 21, 2002, in the form of a very inconspicuous email from my agent. She and I had been emailing back and forth about an unrelated matter, and she didn't even change the subject header to anything exciting. I opened this email thinking it was nothing special, and I read that I d just sold my first book. It put me in such shock that I just calmly closed the message and went on to read and respond to a few other messages in my inbox before the news really even sank in.

What kind of research was involved for your first book?

I tried to stick with subject matter I knew, although I've never stayed at a place like The Fantasy Ranch! For that part of a story, I used my imagination, plus stories I've heard about a certain swinging resort in the Caribbean. Although I've never lived in Arizona, I I've been there, and I've lived in the desert and truly do love that rugged, desolate landscape.

Tell us about your debut book.

The heroine, a rather conservative wallflower, comes home from a hectic day of work to find a gorgeous stranger handcuffed to her bed, asleep. It turns out he is her birthday present, planted there by her wild best friend, who has dared her to do something crazy for once in her life. The gorgeous stranger is her escort for a week-long vacation at a hedonistic resort in the desert, the last place the heroine would ever choose to vacation. But it turns out her escort is much more than the male bimbo he seems to be. Throw in a mystery, some edible underwear, a stolen Porsche, a wet boxers competition, and one very steamy romance--and there you have SOME LIKE IT SIZZLING.

Who are your influences as a writer?

Wow, there are just too many to name. I think everything I read influences me in some way, so I'll list authors whose books have particularly stayed in my memory. In the romance genre, I think Susan Elizabeth Phillips is the absolute best. Other authors I admire are Rachel Gibson, Stephanie Bond, Penelope Williamson, Pamela Morsi, and many, many more. In other genres, I love Anne Lamott, Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, Amy Tan, John Irving, Anne Tyler, Kaye Gibbons, and again, many more than I can ever hope to name in one interview. I read any book that catches my interest, regardless of genre, and I hope that helps keep my writing fresh.

What does your family think of having a romance author in their midst?

My family has been incredibly supportive. My husband is my greatest promotional tool--he tells anyone who will listen about my writing. In fact, if it weren't for his constant encouragement, I'm quite sure I never would have sold my first book. He was always telling me that I had to follow my dreams if I wanted to be happy, and I was always rolling my eyes at him, thinking he was being sweet but totally impractical. If it hadn t been for his support, I would have went from my teaching internship right into graduate school in the hope of finding some other practical career path. Now I finally understand that the most practical career path is the one that makes you the most sane and happy.

The rest of my family seems proud that my first book is coming out. My mother and grandmother are both romance readers, so I think it s especially fun for them. My mom swears she s going to buy 20 copies of the book. And those members of the family who find it scandalous that I write really sexy books are nice enough not to say anything!

Tell us about plans for future books.

I'm thrilled to have my second book, a Harlequin Blaze entitled PLEASURE FOR PLEASURE, coming out in April 2003. PLEASURE FOR PLEASURE won a Golden Heart award this year right after I sold it, and it s a revenge seduction story with a very steamy twist. I m also hoping to have news of more future projects posted on my website soon.

How can readers get in touch with you? I'd love to hear from readers. They can visit my website, www.jamiesobrato.com, or email me at jamie@jamiesobrato.com.

Jamie, thanks for visiting with us! Readers, we have a review of Some Like It Sizzling in our Category section.

January 26, 2003