Sunday, 19 October 2008
This week on Amberkatze's Book Blog I am finally posting an interview I have had saved for a while! I kept meaning to post this one and then others got in the way! So I hope the author will except my apology and come over and visit again!
My interview this week is with Jackie Kessler! I love her Hell on Earth series and can't wait to read more! Visit her website to see what she has been up to since I interviewed her!
Here you can find my review of Hotter Than Hell
Keep reading to the bottom to enter this weeks contest. It is a little different than the normal giveaway but I hope there will still be alot of entries!
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Amber - Thank you Jackie for taking the time to answer some questions for Amberkatze's Book Blog! Now I was lucky enough to get a copy of Hotter Than Hell
early but maybe you can tell my readers a little bit about it in your own words?Jackie - Sure! The incubus Daunuan (pronounced "Don Juan" -- sorta) must seduce a woman meant for Heaven, and not get killed by the demons intent on stopping him, so that he can become the Prince of Lust. But he doesn't plan on falling in love with the woman he's supposed to damn to Hell.
Amber - Hotter Than Hell
is the third book in the Hell on Earth series, which until now featured the lovely Jezebel in the lead role. Why did you change things in this book?
Jackie - Because I wanted to --nay, needed to -- tell Daun's story. He was **supposed** to be a minor character. But the damned incubus (ha ha ha) kept stealing scenes, and soon I realized that if I didn't give him his own book, he was going to be a major pain in the ass. Sigh. There's nothing worse than a demon who's also a diva. (Um, can a male character be a diva?)Amber - The topics of demons and hell are not exactly everyday reading. Do
you do a lot of research for your books?
Jackie - Yes, oodles. I have a section on my website, a sort of HELL FAQ, which gets into some of the research I've done for the series. (It's also a fun read.)
Amber - Things get very hot in all your books. Do you have trouble writing the sex scenes? or is it easy?
Jackie - I'm tempted to put in a sassy comment about my husband helping me out. But seriously, the way the sex scenes work best is when I think not of the action, but of the **reaction**, and of the emotion involved during the act. Sex is the one time when we're both at our most intimate and at our most defenseless. Reading a first-person sex scene lets the reader know who the narrator is in a way that nothing else could ever come close to.
Is it hard to write a sex scene? Sometimes. I need to really be in the moment to convey the emotions I'm aiming for. So sometimes, I need the right music, or a glass of wine. Or chocolate. You know, to help set the mood.
Jackie - Or sometimes, my husband can help. (There. Hah! Snuck it in there!) ((And
the Office freak in me answers, "That's what **she** said!"))
Amber - Where did the Hell on Earth series come from? Was it something youspent a while perfecting or did it just come to you?
Jackie - The story of HELL'S BELLES came to me very quickly -- I wrote it in about two months. (It actually turned into something very different than I had originally thought it would be.) But once that book was done, I started thinking through the larger story there. And that took time. (And again, my husband was an important part of the process -- he is my brainstorming partner, and he helps me keep the main story arc in sight.)
Amber - What can we expect in the future? More Hell on Earth books with Jezebel & Daun? Are there any other projects you are working on?
Jackie - Absolutely -- in September 2008, Hell's Belles
will be reissued as mass market in September. And in January 2009, an erotic novella called "Hell Is Where the Heart Is" will be part of the Avon Red erotic anthology A RED HOT VALENTINE'S DAY -- that tells the story of how Daun and Jezzie met, and how their relationship has changed over the millennia. Yowza! And in the summer of 2009, an all-new project: Black and White
, co-authored by Caitlin Kittredge, will be published by Bantam Specrta. Superheroes, girl style. Think JUSTICE LEAGUE meets 1984 -- with a splash of BLADERUNNER. Good times!Amber - How did you get into writing? Was it something you always wanted to
do?
Jackie - Actually, first I wanted to be a comic book artist. But I started taking creative writing classes in college, and then I got the writing bug. While I started tinkering with what I called the Great American Novel back in (whispers) 1988, I didn't get serious about my writing until 2003.
Amber - Why the paranormal genre? Do you read the genre yourself?
Jackie - Love it. To me, there's nothing more powerful than the story of Good versus
Evil, and that's what fantasy is all about. Putting it in a modern context makes it even more relevant. Through the monsters, we can raise questions about humanity. And monster sex is just hawt.
Amber - Now Daun looks pretty yummy on the cover of Hotter Than Hell
but I am not sure it is really what I expected him to look like. Who would you pickfor the role of Daun and Jezebel if the series got made into a movie or TV series?
Jackie - Ooh. Lately, I've been thinking that Christina Ricci -- BLACK SNAKE MOAN --would be a phenomenal Jezebel. And Christian Bale for Daun. (Have you seen THE DARK KNIGHT? No? GO SEE IT.)
Amber - What kind of environment do you need to get your writing done? Any little must have items? Coffee? Chocolate?
Jackie - I strongly prefer to be in my office, at my desk. That's really all I need -- well, my computer is very helpful, too -- but sometimes I also like playing music. And the chocolate? Can never go wrong with that. :)
Amber - If you had to put a music playlist together for your books what kind of songs/artists would you have on it?
Jackie - Heh. I'm actually (supposed to be) working on this for my website. Songs would include the following groups: Breaking Benjamin, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, O.A.R., U2, Nickelback, Saving Abel, Seether, Finger Eleven...the list goes on. (And it includes Mozart.)
Amber - If you got stuck on a desert island what 3 items would you like to have with you?
Jackie - Chocolate, wine, and Matt Damon. Er, my husband! I mean my husband! (Or maybe Christian Bale...)
Amber - Thank you again for your time and I hope you will come back again!
Jackie - Thank **you**, Amber!
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Contest TimeOctober is Breast Cancer awareness month and I have an online friend who is currently helping her daughter fight breast cancer and my own family has also been hit by this disease in the past. So thanks to my friend Shaunie I decided to follow her lead and offer a different but great prize for this weeks contest and a way to support Breast Cancer.
One lucky entry this week will win a gift certificate to the Breast Cancer Site Store for $25 or if you prefer I will make a donation for the amount to the foundation.
Another lucky winner will win a Jackie Kessler book of their choice.
How to enter -
Post on this thread telling me what new releases you are looking forward to in November and December. No new release mention - no entry!
Also earn an extra entry by posting about this contest somewhere on the web (make sure you post a link so I know).
The contest will stay open until Sunday 26th of October 4pm CET and if the winners do not claim their prize within 7 days I will draw another winner. I do not hunt down winners even if you leave an email address. I expect people to come back ;)
You can also help the Breast Cancer site by going here! Each click helps!
Labels: Author Interviews, Contests, Jackie Kessler
posted by Unknown at Sunday, October 19, 2008 | 
31 Comments:
At 19 October 2008 at 11:31, 
Jackie Uhrmacher
I have all three of the Hell on Earth books (um, can you tell I love Jackie's books??), but my best friend is missing one, so...
Eesh, there are so many books coming out in the next two months! Red by Jordan Sommers, Zen and the Art of Vampires by Katie MacAlister, Living with the Dead by Kelley Armstrong, At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost--I want them all! And if I save up enough for Big Guy's Christmas, I shall have them all!
I haven't compiled my December list yet, but here are my November Most Wanted:
Suzanne McLeod: The Sweet Scent of Blood (Australia: 1st Nov)
A. J. Menden: Phenomenal Girl 5 (US: 1st Nov)
Jennifer Rardin: Bitten to Death (AU: 1st Nov)
Lilith Saintcrow: Hunter's Prayer (AU: 1st Nov)
Devon Monk: Magic to the Bone (US: 4th Nov)
Jordan Summers: Red (US: 4th Nov)
Kelley Armstrong: Living with the Dead (UK: 6th Nov)
Have a lovely day! :-)
At 22 October 2008 at 06:32, Cherie
That's a hard question because I'm not sufficiently caught up on everything to be needing a new book as soon as it hits the shelf. HOWEVER, I will be getting Kelley Armstrong's Living with the Dead (book 9 of the Otherworld series which is due out in November) before any of the others so I guess that answer should suffice. ;)
At 24 October 2008 at 12:43, StyleVamp
There's quite a few ..Marta Acosta book of the casa dracula series (already read "Bride of Casa Dracula)
L.A. Banks final book for the vampire huntress series...C.E. Murphy's follow up book for the Joanne Walker series, Patricia Briggs..Bone Crossed: As you can see their a lot of series lol but you know how it is when you like a book!! So many books ..so little time lol
by Kelley Armstrong
I can't wait for the new LKH Swallowing Darkness. It comes out on Election Day! I'm also anxious awaiting the new Frost novel, At Grave's End, but that doesn't come out until the end of December. :(
Of course I'll be posting about your contest over at Literary Escapism...when don't I? ;P But it won't be up until Monday when I post the weekend news I've gathered.