Real life was a bit pants yesterday and I apologise to Jianne for not making this post then...hopefully she will forgive me...
Jianne's new book Deviant Devil was released on the 23 August and she's on a whistle stop tour and is graciously chewing the fat with me on the sofa today, answering my questions and sharing with us a little teaser to get your taste buds, and other places, tingling.....
Thanks for answering some questions for me, Jianne.
1. So who is Jianne Carlo?
My alter ego. She’s the person who can fulfil every one of my fantasies and then some. She can go anywhere, do anything, and best of all, can create the most delicious alpha heroes and sexy stories.
2. Tell us a bit about your new release Deviant Devil - Book #3 Hades Squad, which was released on the 23 August.
OMG – Devil’s the most ornery hero I’ve ever written. I just loved him to death. And Jess, the love of his life, can turn him upside down with a blink. Their story was just plain fun to write.
3. Is it easy to write a series? Or does it take you a while to slip back into the characters?
I wrote Deviant Devil and Demon Seed right after finishing Lucifer’s Choice, so I was still in the mode for these books and didn’t have to re-read anything.
For the next series, White Wolf Women, it’s going to be more work. I wrote White Wolf in 2009, so it’s been two years, and I’m going to have to get back into that world.
I love writing series because it gives me the freedom to explore the secondary characters that come along in each book.
4. I am looking forward to reading the entire Hades Squad series, but do you have a favorite scene from Deviant Devil?
Oh yeah. That scene after Devil’s won Jess in the auction. No – wait – the one where he discovers she went to a BDSM club with another man - no, no, the one when Jess discovers he’s set the stage for a proposal. OK, I give up, I have no favorite scene.
5. When did you know that writing was your passion?
My husband and I were invited to a wedding in Wales in 2007. We’d declined the invitation and, at the last minute, he decided we’d attend. I grabbed a book at the airport. Turns out it was Christina Dodd’s first historical - Only a Knight. The wedding was held in a castle built in 1735. I loved the book, the setting, and, on the plane ride back, told my husband – I’m going to write a romance novel. Now, I can’t stop. So weird and so totally unplanned.
6. What was your first book and how long did it take to get it published?
My first book, That Tantalizing Lick, went up in smoke right after I’d received requests for partials from seven agents. I mean that literally – my PC burst into flames and I didn’t have a backup. For about two months I couldn’t even look at a book. Then I heard that my best childhood friend had lung, liver, and fibroid cancer. She lived in England and the prognosis was dismal. I took six weeks off and went to London to take care of her. It was intense and awful and wonderful. I started writing Manacled in Monaco on the second day there. Writing Manacled kept me sane. When I came back, I submitted it to Loose-Id and received an offer for publication within four days.
7. What some don’t realize is that writing is a discipline and you have to proportion a part of your day to it – how long does it usually take you to complete a manuscript?
Some come easily and some not. My Viking Warrior series flew off the pen, so did Devil and Demon Seed, I finished those in less than four weeks. Carnal in Cannes took almost three months and I attribute that to the earthquake in Haiti. The heroine of Carnal, Martine, is from Haiti, and I felt such guilt writing a romance novel when there’d been and continues to be such tragedy. Only a thorough scolding from my editor, Georgia Woods, got me back on track for Carnal. Something worked though, because Carnal’s had nothing but five star reviews.
8. Do you outline your plots first? Or are you like me and just go hell for leather?
I wish, wish, I was a plotter or a planner. I’m like you, I go hell for leather. For me, it’s all about getting to know the characters. I write two chapters, one from his point of view, and one from her’s. Then I have an idea of where the story’s going. Of course, there’s always a surprise that I never anticipate.
9. Out of your body of work – do you have a favourite character?
Master parachutist Lincoln Abraham Chapman. I love that he’s a SEAL and a paratrooper and that he sings opera – Handel’s Messiah. And of course, there’s the title of his book, A Paratrooper in a Pear Tree.
10. If you were to offer advice to someone starting out, what would you say?
Write what’s in your heart and head. Don’t go with trends. Enter contests. Listen to constructive criticism and ignore everything else. Believe in your dream.
11. Who are your favourite authors? Not just in the M/M genre.
Christina Dodd, of course, though I prefer her historicals. James Patterson, Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut, Lori Foster, Lynn Lorenz, Belinda McBride, Sindra Van Yssel, Lisa Marie Rice, Gail Faulkner, Lacy Savage – the list goes on and on. There are so many talented authors out there.
12. If you hadn’t chosen writing, or rather, writing hadn’t chosen you, what do you think
You would be doing for a living?
My day job’s in computers. I manage financial software implementations. Been doing it for over twenty years and still love it. I know that the two don’t go together at all writing romance novels and accounting – go figure.
12. What do you do in your free time? And don’t say writing!
What free time? I have a day job, three sons, and a husband…but if I have a spare moment, I love nothing more than going for a trail ride.
13. What makes you laugh?
So much. I love to watch America’s funniest videos, anything with animals doing outrageous stunts, and kids being kids. I also have a secret – not so secret anymore, I guess – obsession with Pink Panther cartoons.
14. What irritates you most about other people?
Intolerance.
And finally….
15. Would you like to share with us your favourite joke?
Okay – let me preface this by saying that I live in a household of four men, all uber-macho.
If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it will always be yours. If it doesn’t come back, it was never yours to begin with. But, if it just sits in your living room, messes up your stuff, eats your food, uses all your cell minutes, takes your money, and doesn’t appear to realize that you had set it free….You either married it or gave birth to it.
I bloody love this and it's so true *glances over to the TV where her something is sitting glued to it* lol
Thank you for coming to chat, Jianne and I wish you many sales.
Thank you so much for hosting me, Lisa, I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with you.
It's been a pleasure talking with Jianne and you can find her at:-
This excerpt takes place after Jess finds out that her condo’s been burglarized. She and Devil are on their way to her place to take stock of the damage.
Neither Jess nor Devil spoke for the first couple of miles.
“The cops are finished with your condo. It’s a mess. We’re going there so you can grab what you need. Pack for at least seven days. They went through everything, Jess.”
“They?” She checked his profile, noted the grim set of his mouth, the muscle twitching under his eye.
“We figure that there had to be at least two of them to clean three condos so fast.”
The way he avoided looking at her had goose bumps prickling all over. “What are you not telling me?”
“We sent in a sweep team after the police gave us the go-ahead. They found two cameras and several bugs.”
What he said didn’t register for a few seconds. Then the words seeped into her brain, but as a jumbled anagram designed to make no sense at all.
“Bugs, cameras? Like in a bad B movie?” She shook her head. “This doesn’t happen in real life.”
“It’s happening.” They’d stopped at a light, and he looked at her. “And it’s no joke. No B movie. This is your life, and someone’s targeting you. Got that?”
“I…I guess. It’s so surreal. Is this all related to Aung’s disappearance?” She could only manage shallow breaths because of the invisible band squeezing her ribs and chest.
“It looks that way.” The light turned green, and Devil switched his attention, stepping on the accelerator and changing gears. “Has anything else out of the ordinary happened within the last three months?”
“Three months?” She flinched when her voice came out as a squeal. “Someone’s been watching me for three months?”
“Calm down, Jess. That was my bad. Three months is an arbitrary time frame we decided on for investigative purposes. Fact is we have no way of knowing when the bugs and cameras were planted.”
She hugged her arms. “It’s all so creepy. That someone’s been watching me in my own home. It makes me feel sick to my stomach.”
His hand captured hers and squeezed. “Don’t let it get to you. Besides Aung’s disappearance, has anything different happened within the last ninety days?”
“You’ve no idea how boring my life is.”
“Boring? In the last month alone, you’ve been to the opera three times. Attended two concerts. Held four press releases. Been interviewed on three local TV stations. Boring isn’t the word I’d use to describe your socializing.” His voice coarsened with each word, his nostrils flared and thinned, and the clipped delivery spoke of a rising temper.
What right did he have to be annoyed with her? She welcomed the anger spiking her temperature, grateful to avoid the thought of being watched.
“What you refer to as socializing is part of my job. I’m in PR. Each and every public appearance is designed to focus attention on one of my clients.” So pissed was she that Jess didn’t notice they’d arrived at her building until Devil snapped the pickup’s door open and hopped out. Anger kept her pinned in the seat, and she didn’t flinch at the sudden bang, but gritted her teeth and watched him lope to the passenger side and peel back the door.
“Oh yeah. You and Tom Gordon doing kissy face at Le Circe is part of the job?” His vanilla-scented breath warmed her chilled lips. Nose to nose, they stared at each other. The scowl he wore had the perfect brows most women envied, drawn together into a straight line.
“Yes.” She spat the answer. “And your activities at Bacchanal are job-related?”
He went from smoke spewing to lazy charm right before her eyes, the perfect dimpled smile doing a cat-ate-the-canary appearance. “You’re jealous.”
ISBN : 978-1-61118-511-9
Genre : Contemporary Suspense
Pages : 217
Series : Hades Squad Book #3: Previous Book: Lucifer’s Choice
Once again, thanks for having me Lisa. Hope everyone enjoyed!
Cheers,
