Beach Chat with Jenna Jaxon

 

        As of yesterday, when the skies were sunny and the bay waters were smooth and the temperatures rose to a balmy 78, it became official--Beach Season has arrived!  Yeah!  So it's a a perfect time to pull up a beach chair and chat with a local author who has found great success with her historical and contemporary erotic romances. I always love getting to know a new author.  I think you'll enjoy meeting this one, too!

Today we're chatting with:  Jenna Jaxon. 

Most cherished beach memory:  Out on the sand with my daughter when she was about
          6 months old, lying on a towel, with her fast asleep beside me.

Recommend a Beach Read:  Well, if not one of my books…anything by Stephen King.  He writes such riveting stories!  If you prefer romance to horror, Joanna Lindsays’s No Choice But Seduction is set at sea for the most part and fun to read with the salt wind in your face and the sound of the waves crashing.

Beach Craft: Life's a Beach

This is the view when you come in the back door of our little beach cottage.  So while life is not always a "vacation," at least every time it feels like one!

But this is what it looked like before I got crafty:

Beach Chat with Sharon Love Cook

You know me and my love for a good cozy…add a dash of humor and a few helpful household hints (á la Heloise) and it’s a recipe for a good read! My pre-search (that’s my made-up word of the day, to indicate research done in advance of contacting the author) had me laughing out loud at here cartoons portraying a grown up Nancy Drew and other mystery-related single-panel comics.  She also writes greeting cards (you may have purchased or received one and didn't realize it) and in her free time is a stand-up comedienne   Are you ready to laugh?  Of course!  So let’s head on down to the beach and get talking with this jack-of-all-comic-trades…

Today we’re chatting with: Sharon Love Cook

Recommend a Beach Read: I recently attended the Love is Murder writers conference in Chicago and met Elizabeth Duncan, whose The Cold Light of Mourning won the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition. After talking with her, I went out and grabbed the book (first paying for it) and liked that a lot. The setting is Wales, where the author visits annually.

Beach Tale: The Hilarious Adventures of Dillon in Deagu

          Those of you of a certain vintage may remember the “I Love Lucy” episodes where Cousin Ernest (played by Tennessee Ernie Ford) comes for a visit.  So Country Bumpkin in the Big City makes for big laughs.  You can watch the entire episode here:  http://www.tv.com/shows/i-love-lucy/tennessee-ernie-visits-17131/

          It’s just as funny (in hindsight anyway) when a rather-sheltered young man heads off to see the world.  My son, like Lucy, is a red-head, which sometimes seems to equate for a magnet for troublesome situations.  You can’t help but laugh.  So I'm thinking I'll put my writing skills to work and develop a sitcom of my own.  I'll call it "The Hilarious Adventures of Dillon in Deagu".  All based on actual escapades of my son.  Like I say, I can laugh…now…

  

  Series Premier Episode:
          A two-suitcase limit is difficult for the most frugal of international travelers.  But packing for an entire year (possibly more) is not for the feint of heart.  My son Dillon (name changed to protect the innocent) faced that challenge in 2012. 

          Enter our main character, a young lad who thinks it necessary to include a year’s supply of soaps, shampoos, toothpastes and other essentials for his journey. That doesn't leave much room room left for clothes (starting with 45 of his favorite t-shirts) and posters and electronic devices, etc.   He shoves everything into two of the biggest rolling duffle bags (one bright red, one sedate blue) that Lands End sells. I mean seriously, they are big enough to hide a dead body! (In fact, that gives me an idea!  Look for a body in a duffle in one of my upcoming mysteries!) 

Okay, so what can be  better than being a mystery writer?  I mean you get to kill off your enemies, (in the literary sense, that is), stay in your pajamas until 4 p.m., eat as much chocolate as you want (all in the name of keeping the muse happy) and visit the OBX (Outer Banks of NC) for inspiration (hmmm, does that qualify it for a tax write off?) But, there is one thing better, though, and that is being both a mystery writer and a mystery  publisher!  Today’s guest is living that life. I know you are as excited to get to know a real writer/publisher as I am, so let’s get on with the chat…

Today we’re chatting with:  Judith Ivie

Most cherished beach memory:  The first time my husband and I took the 20-second walk over a beachfront sand dune on Okracoke, a North Carolina island reachable only by ferry, and were confronted by miles of gorgeous Atlantic Ocean and empty beach as far as we could see.

Beach Tale: Home Sweet Home

 In the spirit of Earth Day 2013, it seems a fitting time to "recycle" one of my stories.  And in light of the fact I'm now a card-carrying member of the real estate-agent brigade, this story spoke to me on a different level.  It was originally posted on July 11, 2011 when this blog was in its infancy, so should be a "fresh" read for many of you.  Enjoy!    

         I’d read Jameson Lee Clemmons’ purchaser profile with interest and painted a mental image of a gracefully aging southern gentleman who resembled Colonel Sanders. No marital status was required when purchasing a house with cash, but if he showed up for our two o’clock appointment with no spouse in tow, I’d fix him up with my Aunt Meg up for dinner tomorrow night.  Maybe someday she’d return the favor.

          I hit the PRINT button on my computer and the laser jet wheezed to life at the same time the bell over the front door jangled. “Just a minute,” I called. Grabbing the stack of printouts of suitable properties, I headed for the reception area. “Can I help...” My words were replaced by the sound of a girlish giggle that bubbled forth. From me! But what red-blooded woman of child-bearing years wouldn’t have a similar reaction upon coming face to face with this sun-bronzed surfer type? Aged mid- to late-thirties, if I were to hazard a guess.  The perfect age for me!

          “I have an appointment with Tara Quinlan.”

          Even his voice had a sun-drenched tinge. “Jameson Lee Clemmons?” I squeaked.

          “Just J.C. please.”

         

Beach Chat with David Edgar Cournoyer

This is the actual dining room
where I met David and Gloria
at breakfast one cold November morn.

Date: November, 2010.  Time: around 8 a.m. Place: A.Y.C.E. Breakfast Buffet at the Hilton Hilton Hotel in Deadham, Massachusetts.  Event:  New England Crime Bake, a conference for readers and writers of mysteries.  Sitting at a table near me as I gobbled up my scrambled eggs I spotted a couple who seemed to be discussing, of all things, murder!  I introduced myself and a friendship was formed.  We've stayed in touch over the years and finally, at long last, David has realized his dream of being a published mystery author.  My time has allowed me to read only a few pages, but what I read grabbed me and I hope to curl up with the rest of it soon.  BTW, his wife, Gloria is a mystery writer, too, and I hope soon she’ll be joining me for a beach chat.  But for now, without further ado, let’s get to know today’s guest, the author of On the Level.

Beach chat with:  David Edgar Cournoyer

Most cherished beach memory: Sitting on Avery Point in Groton, CT next to a classic Victorian home, sketching the light house in New London Harbor, and thinking what a great setting that would be for a novel.