Interview & Giveaway: Jessica Scott

Today we’re happy to welcome author Jessica Scott to the blog. She

writes military romance with a twist because the stories focus on theromance and there’s no suspense subplot. Please let’s give her a warm welcome!

Hello, Jessica! Welcome to Romance Around the Corner.

Q. For all of our readers who may not be familiar with your work, could you tell us a bit about yourself and your books?

JS: Thanks so much for having me at Romance Around the Corner. I’m pretty much insane eight days of the week. I’m an active duty army officer who is in charge of a company right now, full time author, mom to 2 kids, 3 cats, 3 dogs, and 2 hamsters (the fish are on their own). My only social life exists pretty much on the interweb where I can be found on twitter most of the time, facebook sometimes and always obsessively checking my email.

Q. I would love to know how you became a published author. How does a career soldier

 become a novelist?

JS: Through sheer stubbornness. Honestly, every aspiring writer
reaches the point of hey, it’s time to put this book away and start on something new. But for some reason, my first book, BECAUSE OF YOU refused to be put away. I kept at it and five years after I first wrote it, Sue Grimshaw took a chance on me. I’ll forever be grateful for Sue and the entire team at Loveswept for taking a chance on an unknown author.

Q. One of the reasons I loved Because of You was the fact that it was a Military Romance but not a Romantic Suspense. So it had a great alpha hero, a courageous heroine, but it was all about their relationship and their own inner struggles. Was this always your plan, to write a Contemporary Romance with a military setting instead of a Romantic Suspense?

JS: That was actually always my plan. Whenever I picked up a book with a man with dog tags on the cover, it was always a romantic suspense. I wanted to write stories about soldiers who were still in the military because the army is such a huge influence on soldier’s lives and I wanted to write those stories as contemporary without the big bad hanging over their heads. Plus, I suck at writing suspense. I’ll leave that to the masters!

Q. What can you tell us about Until There Was You?

JS: UNTIL THERE WAS YOU is very much a book of my heart. I love the characters of Evan Loehr and Claire Montoya. They’re both so damaged and so unwilling to trust their true selves to another person. I find I tend to write dark contemporaries and UNTIL THERE WAS YOU is an emotional story about soldiers who have been changed by the war. Here’s the back cover blurb:

He plays by the rules, she’s not afraid to break them. Now these two
strong-willed army captains will prove that opposites attract . . .

A by-the-book captain with a West Point background, Captain Evan Loehr refuses to mix business with pleasure—except for an unguarded instance years ago when he succumbed to the deep sensuality of redheaded beauty Claire Montoya. From that moment on, though, Evan has been at odds with her, through two deployments to Iraq and back again. But when he is asked to train a team prepping for combat alongside Claire, battle-worn Evan is in for the fight of his life. 

Strong, gutsy, and loyal, Captain Claire Montoya has worked hard to earn the rank on her chest. In Evan, Claire sees a rigid officer who puts the rules before everything else—including his people. When the mission forces them together, Claire soon discovers that there is more to Evan than meets the eye. 

He’s more than the rank on his chest; he’s a man with dark secrets and
deep longings. For all their differences, Evan and Claire share two
crucial passions: their country and each other.

Q. Tell us about your writing process. What comes first, characters or story? When you were writing Because of You, did you already know Evan and Claire would be next?

JS: Ha! I wish I knew what my writing process was because then I could figure out how to make it more efficient. I try to think through the plot and the characters and the premise before I start writing but ultimately, I must have a name. It all starts with character names for me.

Q. What else are you working on? What can we expect from you in the future? Maybe Laura and Trent’s story?

JS:  Laura & Trent’s story is officially back on the front burner.
They’re due early next year and the team at Loveswept has been
amazingly supportive in helping me make that book the best book possible (because honestly, it has not been an easy book to write. Then again, none of my books are easy. I think I’m destined to be a writer’s who’s tail is kicked every single book).

Q. Finally, what’s your favorite Romance Novel?

JS: Ah, just one?? Okay I’ll go with my most favorite recent one:Nalini Singh’s Archangel’s Blade. I absolutely adore Honor and Dmitri’s story.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions. We’re so happy you could join us, please come back soon!

JS: Happy to! I’d love to give away an advance reader e copy of UNTIL THERE WAS YOU to one lucky winner today!

About Jessica:

Jessica Scott is a career army officer, mother of two daughters, three cats and three dogs, wife to a career NCO and wrangler of all things stuffed and fluffy. She is a terrible cook and even worse housekeeper, but she's a pretty good shot with her assigned weapon and someone liked some of the stuff she wrote. Somehow, her children are pretty well adjusted and her husband still loves her, despite burned water and a messy house.

Connect with Jessica:

Website | Twitter |Facebook |Goodreads

                                        -GIVEAWAY-

As you see, Jessica is giving away one ARC of Until There Was You to one lucky commenter. This is an electronic copy. All you have to do for a chance to win is leave a message with your email. That’s it!

Rules:

• Winner gets one e-ARC of Until There Was You by Jessica Scott
• Open Internationally
• Ends on Sunday, August 26/2012.
• Winner will be chosen using random.org, announced here and via email
• and will have 72 hours to respond.
• Comment must include email address.