Meet J. E. Taylor

Welcome, J.E., It’s great to have you here today. I have found that readers like knowing a bit about their favorite authors, at least as a reader I do, so let’s jump right in. Are you a Valentine's Day lover or cynic?

JET: I would classify myself more on the cynic side. It’s a great holiday for young love but once you’ve been married twenty some years, it just doesn’t make sense to go all gaga over the holiday. I’d much rather have my husband fawn all over me on my birthday, or Christmas.

I agree. Valentine’s Day is often for young love. After almost 25 years, I find that I prefer snuggling at home than going out for a public display of how we feel. So, now that you’ve cleared up the Valentine mystery, how would you define yourself in five words or less?

JET: Me or my writing? I’d define most of my writing as dark, heart-pumping, page-turning and twisted.

Defining me – I’m a short dynamo with a twisted sense of humor.

Funny. So little dynamo, what was the craziest thing you have ever done?

JET: Gosh, so many things come to mind. I was a wild child in high school, but I won’t go there.

Art -Standing on the Gas

I did drive from Provincetown, Mass (the absolute tip of Cape Cod) to New Britain, Connecticut in just under two hours which is half the time it normally takes. Yeah – I was driving right around 100 mph the entire way. This gives tribute to the reason I was “on-call” for the news team at the television station I worked for at the time. I still drive fast, but not like I used to.

The craziest thing I did in the name of research was to learn to shoot a gun. I did that for my mainstream thriller series starring FBI special agent Steve Williams.

Wow, I have never done anything that wild. I speed but not quite that much. Besides the desire to go to great lengths for research, what was you impetus to start writing?

JET: I started writing in sixth grade and after I got married, I put it aside and hadn’t penned a story in twenty years when my daughter asked if I could do anything what would it be. Well, that was simple – write a book and get it published. That was in February of 2007 and since then, I’ve done exactly that. Five times over.

Congrats. Since your first release in July of 2010, what has changed in your world?

JET: I’m still working full time at a pretty demanding day job, and I come home, get the kids their dinners and cart them to their activities. I read e-zine submissions and format novels for my publisher, I blog and peruse facebook, twitter and Goodreads and in my spare time I write and edit my own work. If anything, it’s gotten a bit crazier.

I understand fully. You don’t have much time to write apparently, yet thriller fiction seems like a difficult genre. Why erotic thrillers rather than an easier line?

JET: Thriller and horror ride the same vein and I’ve always been drawn to those types of books and my writing is definitely influenced by my reading. I thoroughly enjoy writing the dark side and Stephen King is my ultimate idol. I love to be scared or on edge when I’m reading or watching a movie. That adrenaline rush is a hoot and I love crafting that into a story that folks can’t put down.

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SURVIVAL GAMES was the first book I actually finished. I has started umpteen books in high school and college but never finished them and when I was given the go ahead by my family – I decided to write the book that haunted my dreams for at least a decade and it flowed like a geyser. That was by far my darkest book. From there I took my surviving characters and fast-forwarded five years and threw further paranormal complications into their lives in MIND GAMES. But that wasn’t the end of the story. END GAME, which comes out this weekend, is the last of the series where I intersect the three survivors again, along with one nasty bitch and one of them will not walk out of the situation alive.

What makes your latest hero and heroine hot?

JET: Chris Ryan (a.k.a. Ty Aris) is a bad boy with a very dark past and whether we admit it or not, it’s the bad boy that’s always a turn on and this man knows as much about computers as he does around the bedroom.

In my mainstream series, my hero is Special Agent Steve Williams. He is the polar opposite of Ty, a sexy white knight masked in the form of a brilliant young FBI agent.

Sounds like a little something for everyone. If you could have written any piece of fiction or nonfiction in history what would it have been?

JET: The Stand because it’s an exceptional piece of literature – a brilliant look at post apocalyptic society along with a healthy dose of the supernatural intertwined.

What’s coming down the road?

JET: My next novel, HUNTING SEASON, intertwines the characters from the Games Series with my FBI series. The best way to described it is a cross-breeding of Criminal Minds and Supernatural. I had a great deal of fun writing this one and I’ve gotten some great pre-release reviews of this one. It will hit the shelves on Friday, May 13, 2011.

When Kyle Winslow escapes from custody and targets everyone Special Agent Steve Williams cares about, a turn of fate brings Steve face to face with Ty Aris – a criminal mastermind topping the FBI’s most wanted list.

Torn between justice and vengeance, Steve must make a decision.

Join alliances with Ty, or arrest him and lose his best chance to catch the bastard who destroyed his family.

Do you have a blurb or an excerpt to tease?

JET: I’d like to leave your readers with an excerpt from END GAME

EXCERPT:

Just like their last days in the complex, Chris could hear the ticking in the back of his head, the sands of time running out. Tense didn’t begin to describe his mood over the next two days. Every ring of the doorbell, every strange car, every ring of the studio buzzer grated on his nerves to the point he wouldn’t let her out of his sight except when he conducted his karate classes and even then, every second he couldn’t see her put him on edge.

Two days had come and gone since Tom’s call and he stood in the office waiting for Jessica to switch into her sweats. The closed sign now hung on the front door and he inhaled, his eyes passing over the sleeping boys and back to the bathroom door.

Tomorrow night we’ll be in New York.

“Chris, you need to relax,” Jessica said as she stepped out of the bathroom.

He sent her a strained smile and leaned over to pick up the boys. Before he could gather them in his arms, the door buzzer rang. Adrenaline rushed through his veins and he exchanged a glance with Jessica.

“Stay here,” he whispered the command, scanning the thoughts of the intruder in their lobby. It wasn’t a student and he turned, putting a disarming smile on his face and stepped in full view of the stranger. “I’m sorry, but we’re closed.”

The first in a long line of assassins stood with a gun pointing at him, expecting his demeanor to change, expecting him to crumble under the threat of bodily injury. It was laughable, especially given the hell he endured at the hands of his step-brother and he chuckled. “You don’t want to even think about that dude.”

“Black belt versus a gun, I’ll take my chances.” The intruder smiled, his finger tightening on the trigger.

Great. Where can readers find out more about you or get in touch?

JET: Besides the links for facebook, Twitter and Goodreads above, folks can find out more about me and my books at my website:

www.JETaylor75.com and my blog: http://JETaylor75.blogspot.com

Thank you for having me on your blog Becca!

Thank you for coming. It was nice to get to know a bit more about you. For those readers who would like to know more, J. E. was kind enough to include a brief bio. Be sure to leave her a note so she knows who stopped by.

J.E. Taylor is a writer, an editor, a manuscript formatter, a mother, a wife and a business analyst, not necessarily in that order.

She first sat down to seriously write in February of 2007 after her daughter asked:

“Mom, if you could do anything, what would you do?”

From that moment on, she hasn’t looked back and now her writing resume includes five+ novels either published or targeted for release along with several short stories on the virtual shelves including a few within upcoming eXcessica anthologies.

Ms. Taylor also moonlights as an Assistant Editor of Allegory, an online venue for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, and lends a hand in formatting manuscripts for eXcessica as well as offering her services judging writing contests for various RWA chapters.

She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children and during the summer months enjoys her weekends on the shore in southern Maine.

Welcome Leanne Dyck

Hi Leanne, so glad you could join us today. Let’s start by getting to know you a bit. If you could put one thing that defines who you are in a time capsule, what would it be?


Wow, one thing to define who I am? That’s a hard question. Let me see, I just happen to have a pair of needles and if you click the end (demonstrating) they become pens. I think they’ll do.

After checking out your sites, I guess that will do indeed . ;-D You live in a gorgeous area. How did you come to be so blessed?

I had a close, loving relationship with my mother. Her death drove me into a depression. In search for a place for me to heal, my husband and I found Mayne Island. Now, if my dreams are fulfilled, I will never leave.

I am sorry about your loss, Leanne, but it sounds like some good came from the heartache. You are blessed both in living in a beautiful area and with a loving spouse. Here’s a tougher question. Why do you write?

Like eating and breathing, writing is something I have to do. Even when I have writer’s block I have to write about my inability to write.

LOL that makes perfect sense to me. I often feel the same way. I see that you work in different genres. Why is that and does the writing experience change for you within each?

I’m a cross genre reader and so, it’s only natural that I wouldn’t limit my writing to one genre. Yes, the writing experience does change drastically for me. My mood really does match the genre.

Among the different works you have published, do you have a favorite?

I’m so fickle. My favourite work is usually what I’m working on. Currently, I’m working on a young adult adventure (TURNING) and the sequel to THE SWEATER CURSE.

Can’t wait. The Sweater Curse is great. What has been the most difficult and/or the most rewarding part of publication? Has it been worth it?


One of the most rewarding parts is clicking the buy link and seeing my book appear.

One of the most challenging is marketing, but I’m meeting so many wonderful people that it’s becoming a joy. Wow, I never thought I would type that sentence.

I know the feeling. Now, back to getting to know you as the person behind the writing. Valentine’s Day is coming up next week. Any special plans?

A friend of mine is planning a fundraiser for a local animal rescue charity. I will perform with her on Friday, February 11th.

Animal rescue is one a fantastic causes. I hope you have a fun and successful evening. If you could go anywhere where/ would you go?

One thing on my mom’s bucket list was a trip to New Zealand. She never got to go. I liked to go in her stead.

That would be lovely. I have friends in both New Zealand and Australia so I would love to tag along. Before we call it a day, would you be so kind as to share an excerpt from your work with readers?

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I’d be happy to. This the Prologue for the Sweater Curse…

This isn’t Heaven. It isn’t Hell. And I’m not alive.

Picture this: a bus stop, tons of people packed into the same small space all waiting to continue their journey. Many buses stop here. Some passengers get off, others get on. Young children with sickly white complexions huddle together in the shelter. Teenagers with rope burns around their necks get off the bus. Old men with bullet holes climb on.


Throughout this confusion, the only constant is me. I remain alone.


Why?


I don’t know, but I must find the reason. I must examine my life to discover the momentary lapse. The wrong I’ve committed. The task I’ve neglected. It’s my only means of escape.


That gets to me every time I read it, Leanne and I am sure others will be intrigued as well. How can fans find you?

Fans? Fans? I have fans. Really? Wow.

Okay, I just gave my head a shake and I’m back from dreamland. Everyone is welcome to my cozy little part of cyberspace. Please visit my website (www.oknitting.com) and I’d be thrilled if you left a comment on my blog (www.sweatercursed.blogspot.com)

It does take a little getting used to. Even after several years I still jump up and down when I hear from readers. Any thing I forgot to ask about that you would like to share?

A few months ago I was a struggling unpublished writer wondering if any house would ever take a chance on me. I’d like to thank everyone involved in making THE SWEATER CURSE happen—especially my readers and Decadent Publishing.

Thank you, as well, Rebecca, for interviewing me—this was fun.

I agree. I am gald you dropped by, Leanne, and I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.