See the Trailer HERE!
Please welcome the fabulous J.R. Richardson. She's here to talk about Cursed be the Wicked, her life as a writer and her quirks.
Cursed be the Wicked blurb
Cooper Shaw lives his life under a pen name and enjoys the anonymity it provides during his journeys across the globe as a seasoned writer for a travel magazine. When his job lands him in his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts to cover the famous Festival of the Dead, he soon realizes that he can’t stay invisible forever as he faces ghosts from a past he’s been trying to forget ever since he left.
The city holds nothing but bad memories for Coop until he meets a quirky young woman with an old soul and curious insights by the name of Finnley Pierce. While she acts as his tour guide through a town he thought he knew, Finn helps him unearth the truth of his childhood and might even begin to open up his heart.
By unraveling the mystery of his father’s murder, Coop may finally accept who he is, where he came from, and perhaps even realize what he wants for his future.
NOW: The questions that inquiring minds want to know ...
What is your latest release? (Name, genre,
blurb, details ….) It’s called Cursed
be the Wicked and it’s a character driven paranormal mystery romance with a
little bit of humor sprinkled on top.
It’s about Cooper Shaw, who has spent the better part of his life
avoiding the ghosts of his past. Literally.
He meets Finnley Pierce, who, among other things, becomes the person
who’s going to help him face them, whether he likes it or not.
Which character is your favorite and why? It should be Coop, and I love him to death,
but Finn is my favorite. She’s spunky
and sassy and smart and knows exactly when and how much to push Coop to get him
to find the answers to questions he never thought he cared about knowing.
How long did it take you to write it? Arg. It took me about a year to get their
story finished. At one point I didn’t
think I’d finish at all – so I took a break, wrote a fun, fluffy, short story
and then came back to Coop & Finn refreshed. I finished the 2nd ½ of the book
in about 2 and a half months.
Give us a short, sweet Bio:
I’m a writer of stories and lover of life.
I
grew up in Maryland with four siblings, three parents and an endless
number of cousins within the vicinity. Today I live in Florida with my
two girls and a husband that shares my same sense of humor and basic
take on life as we know it.
Life is too short to put dreams on the back burner.
I’ve always loved writing, and always
enjoy a good mystery, so in 2012, I wrote a novel that was picked up
by the good people at Soul Mate Publishing last year and is available
today.
NOW ONTO THE DEEP QUESTIONS:
If you could go anywhere in the world and
spend two weeks sitting, people watching and writing, where would it be? Why? Oh!
I think this would be the beach. I’ve
always loved sitting in the sand with my toes buried, watching the water. I’d need to be under an umbrella though. I’m done with my need to tan, and I have no
aspirations for getting skin cancer at this stage in my life. :
Talk about rejection from traditional
publishers and how it affects you. I’m not gonna lie. It is so painful to get a rejection. I wonder what I did wrong, or what they
didn’t like about me, should I change my style?
Should I change the POV? The tense?
Then I remember, there are people out there (maybe not massive amounts
of people, but still) that really enjoy the way I write and what I write about
and how I write it. So I just keep on
keeping on. I did find a statistic
though, while I was querying. Roughly
10% of all queries are positive. That’s
encouraging. :
Many people don’t feel that Indie Authors
are real authors. They believe that you have to be traditionally published to
be considered a professional/valid writer. How do you feel about this? Some
of my favorite all time authors are not even published, so, I call bullshit on
this one. I think it’s sad that there
are people that think this way and that they should open themselves up to the
underappreciated writers out there that may or may not have gotten the lucky
break that others have, but definitely have the ability to blow them away with
a story
What genres do you write in? Do you have
pseudonyms for them? If so why? I
write a little bit of (almost) everything.
I never want to be pigeon holed into just one genre. There are too many stories to tell that don’t
really even fall into one specific genre, so, onward and upward
(hopefully). No pseudonyms.
I feel like if I’m going to put books out, I want them to have my name
on the front cover. I can’t foresee the
future though, so even though I can’t see a reason why I would, you never know.
Plotter or pantser? (As in fly by the seat
of your pants.) Definitely a
pantser. I have plotted stories out before, but it’s difficult for me because
I get ideas and I just want to get them down on to paper (so to speak)
asap. Plus I think it’s fun to see where
the story and characters take me.
Coffee or Scotch? I hate Scotch. How about tequila?
Tell us about your dream man and dream
date. (If you are married, pretend you aren’t.) Oh. Man.
Jensen Ackles, a bar, beers, and lots of chatting it up about nothing
and everything and staring into his eyes all night
What drives you crazy about other people?
How judgmental they can be.
What drives you crazy about yourself?
How judgmental I can be. About
myself.
List four of your
pet peeves
Chocolate, cinnamon buns or potato chips? CHOCOLATE. I am addicted.
Does exercise figure largely in your life
and creative process? Hell yes. I think it opens up my brain waves
somehow. If I’m stuck, I get on the
treadmill, and plug the ear buds in. I
listen to my playlist, or a new song or something and it’s like magic. I get some of my best ideas when I’m in spin
class or walking (or running, but that’s not very often).
Do other people’s beliefs or politics
influence your support of their work/art?
Only if they are the type of people who shove their own beliefs down my
throat. Otherwise, to each their
own. Ya know?
Would you prefer to live in the city,
country or a small town? Why? Can I
live in the country but CLOSE to a city? :D
I would LOVE not having neighbors ten feet away but I also need access
to things, like a grocery store or a mall.
I don’t need to live on a farm, I just want some space.
Cats or dogs? Cats for sure. And that’s not to say I don’t like dogs. I love dogs, but cats are just more my style
of pet
Do you think you can love more than one person
at a time? (I’m talking about soul-mates, multi-partner relationships.) Nope. I think if you love more than one
person, you don’t love either of them.
It’s lust. Love is much deeper
than that and I don’t see having that kind of connection split into 2.
Are you an athlete, nerd, or a geek? I can honestly say I am all three.
What is your most hated memory of high
school or college? Ugh. The girls in
high school. The cattiness and back stabbing.
I never connected with very many girls in high school because I just
don’t do that petty drama stupidity and I have no patience for the people who
do.
Do you dream in color or black and white?
Have you ever dreamed story lines or plots?
Definitely dream in color. And I
can say I’ve had dreams that I think could make a great story some time, but I
haven’t written any of them yet. Maybe.
Some day. I don’t know. Dreams are
complicated.
Do you believe in love at first sight or do
you think it takes time? I believe
in connection at first sight. Loving someone, I think, takes a little more
time than that.
What do you like to read? Who are your
favorite authors? I love to read
mysteries, fantasy, SciFi, paranormal, comedies with excellent plot lines . . .
and if there’s a good love story entwined into any and or all of them, that’s
an added bonus. My very favorite author
these days is Jim Butcher. In his Harry
Dresden Files series (paranormal wizard dealing with monsters and the like in
real world Chicago), he writes some of the best sarcasm of all time.
Cursed be the Wicked
Website: http://jrrichardsonfics.Facebook: www.facebook.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Goodreads:https://www.
Thanks for stopping by for the visit. I'm off now to pick up Curse Be the Wicked.
Hugs
Katie
Great interview, Jo :)
ReplyDeleteSome great insights to a writer's personality.
DeleteI can't wait to read this book.
Thanks so much for having me Katie! This was big fun and thank you Joanne! Love you ladies. : ) XOXOXO
ReplyDelete