Good morning. It’s Meet and Greet Monday!

With us today is Romance Author, Jorja Lovett.

Welcome, Jorja!

Hiya!

 

Tell us, what’s the first thought that comes to your head when you read the following words…
Romance … Sex
Winter … Fire
Vacation … Beach
Thor … Muscles
The Walking Dead…Daryl!

Tell us a bit about yourself. Where do you live, do you have a significant other, any young Jorjas running around?
I live in Northern Ireland, just outside Belfast. I’ve been with my husband for twenty years, married seventeen years. (I was a child bride, obviously) We have two teenage boys, so basically my house permanently smells of feet and sweaty clothes. It’s no wonder I write romance.

What is the most devilish thing you’ve ever done?
I’m the eldest of three girls so it is my job in life to constantly prank my younger sisters.

What is your favorite junk food?
Chocolate. I would look like Victoria Beckham if it wasn’t for the damn stuff.

Preference – Sam or Dean Winchester? If you haven’t seen Supernatural (and why not! It’s MY Fave show LOL), then would you prefer Iron Man or Wolverine?
I’ve only started watching it but I think I prefer the more serious one. Sam? I don’t like cocky men lol
***Oh dear, Jorja, I’m a Dean girl all the way!! Sam is too serious for me LOL *g* ***

What do you like to do for fun and relax?
If it’s cold outside, which it usually is here, I like nothing better than to read…and eat chocolate. On a nice day me and hubs will go for a walk to chill out.

What five items do you take everywhere with you – besides cell phone, keys and purse/wallet?
A notebook, a pen, an umbrella, chocolate, and a laptop if I can fit it into my luggage. I think that list sums up my life lol

If we were to come over to your house for dinner, what dish would you make us?
I’m not the world’s greatest cook but I can make a good pasta dish. Or Irish stew if you’d prefer?
*** I LOVE Irish Stew…name the time and place *g* ***

Have you read any books that have made you cry?
It’s not often a book can move me to actual tears unless they’re autobiographies. Although I was trying to think what the last book was that made me tear up and it was actually one of yours – Sweetest Salvation!
*** Thank you so much!!! Sorry about the tears, but those are also words that are like music to my ears! Thanks!! ***

Have you ever thrown a book you’ve been reading against the wall because you couldn’t finish it?
If a book doesn’t grab me in the first chapter or so, I tend not to finish it. I won’t throw it against the wall, but casually drop it down the side of the bed with the intention of picking it up again someday.

Who do you think is hotter – George Clooney or Denzel Washington?
Definitely George Clooney! The voice, the eyes, the sense of humour, he’s got it all as far as I’m concerned.

What is the most played song on your iPod/MP3 Player?
I love to listen to the Dirty Dancing 2 soundtrack when I’m writing and I’m obsessed with ‘Represent, Cuba’ – Orishas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=motWb1O9SDQ

What song are you most sick of hearing right now?
That Fox Song. What the hell is that about? Although watching my husband’s face when he heard it for the first time was priceless.
*** That Fox Song should be banned forever!!! ***

Who are some of your favorite authors?
The one thing about being in such a fab crit group is the abundance of great books. I’m lucky to know many great authors like Doris O’Connor, Raven McAllan, Cherie Nicholls, Kiru Taye, Michaela Rhua and many more. My tbr pile is enormous!

Who is your celebrity crush?
My Joe Manganiello fixation is well documented but feel free to post a semi naked pic of him to accompany this article.

*** Ask, and you shall receive, Jorja!!! *** >>>>

Who/What are you currently reading?
I’m under pressure to finish the book I’m currently writing and I’m hoping to tackle that tbr list soon.

Tell us about your “big break” in the publishing world. Was there any one person believe in your work first (besides yourself of course)? What did you do to celebrate your first contract?
I think my crit partners really gave me the confidence to keep plugging away until I got that first contract. My husband took me out to dinner to celebrate and bought me a Kindle.

Did you always want to be an author?
Always. Even in primary school I loved writing stories and it was the only profession I could ever see myself doing.

No matter the story, where do you always draw inspiration from when you begin each story?
See celebrity crush answer. Seriously, the characters always come to me when on a long drive or somewhere quiet, and their story slowly evolves from there.

What do you find most challenging about writing?
Motivation/ procrastination. Even though I have work to do, I will always find something to distract me.

 

Setting the Scene – Jorja Lovett

Every time we write, we have to create a world our readers can immediately envisage. Whether it’s a fantasy land completely of our choosing, or a recreation of somewhere we’ve once seen, getting the setting right is integral to our story. Describing the things our characters can see, hear, smell going on around them, goes toward bringing the scene to life.

Research goes a long way, of course. I’ve set myself some challenges in the past. My first book, Pyramid of Passion, was set in Ancient Egypt. And my future release, Titanic’s Ondine, was set aboard the doomed liner. In these cases I had to rely on internet sources and books to accurately depict the surroundings.

When I was writing, The Wolf on the Hill, I decided I wanted to base it somewhere familiar to me. Olcan Hills may be a fictional village full of wolf shifters, but it is most definitely part of the Northern Irish landscape where I live. This was my favourite type of research – trips into the countryside where I could imagine my wolves roaming the desolate landscape. For an added touch of reality I made sure it was usually raining too lol

What’s the most unusual setting you’ve ever read/written about?

I hope you enjoy reading The Wild Irish Wolves as much as I did writing them.

 

About Jorja:
Jorja is a British author, with both Irish and Scottish roots, which makes for a very dry sense of humour. A necessity when living in a country where the climate is more suitable for ducks rather than humans.

Her childhood dreams revolved around becoming an author and exploring the mysteries of Ancient Egypt. In her debut novel, ‘Pyramid of Passion’, she hits the jackpot when she gets to live out all of her fantasies.

By day, Jorja is a mild mannered pillar of virtue. By night, a purveyor of smut and writer of filth. Well, that’s how her other half describes her, with his tongue firmly in cheek, and who is she to argue. Egged on by her crit group, UCW, she wrote this racy tale and enjoyed every hot minute of it.

Sometimes it’s good to be naughty 😉

 

You can find Jorja on Twitter and Facebook or here:
http://jorja-lovett.blogspot.com/

 

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