Interview & Giveaway with Jillian Stone

Books-n-Kisses is pleased to have Jillan Stone on the blog today.

Jillian, can you please share with us a little about yourself? Have you always wanted to be an author?

I think I have always been a storyteller, at heart. At one time, I thought my career trajectory would land me in film, but I am very happy with the turn it has taken into fiction writing. I was an art director in advertising before I decided to try writing novels, which I guess makes me a very visual writer! An Affair with Mr. Kennedy was my second complete manuscript and I was fortunate in 2010 to win the RWA Golden Heart for An Affair with Mr. Kennedy, plus I met my agent, Richard Curtis, at the RWA Nationals in Orlando.

Are you a plotter or a punster?

I’m a plotter, but I don’t have hard and fast rules about  plotting. And I don’t have a method, either. In fact, I never plot the same way twice.

What is your most interesting writing quirk?

I suspect I have a lot of quirks, but I don’t recognize them as quirks. I try to always stop writing in the middle of a scene, even though I want to finish, because it makes it easier to jump back into writing the next day. Is that is more of a tip than a quirk?!

Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?

I’m excited to share my latest release from The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series. A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis is a fast paced road trip adventure, with the hero and heroine on the run from Edinburgh to London by train, velocipede, landship and submersible!

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Here’s the blurb:

WHEN FANNY Greyville-Nugent’s father suffers a gruesome death in the clutches of his own machine, mourning his loss is not the beautiful heiress’s only heartbreak. Scotland Yard is convinced he was targeted in a plot to halt the rise of industry, and Fanny’s former fiancé, dashing and dubious detective Raphael “Rafe” Lewis, has been assigned to the case.

For the estranged ex-lovers, bringing the notorious assassins to justice proves as tumultuous as quelling pent-up desires. Fighting peril and passion at every turn of a dangerous journey from Edinburgh to London, they are pursued by an anarchist group hell-bent on destroying her father’s mysterious entry into the London Industrial Exposition.

When an astonishing discovery about the couple’s failed engagement surfaces, the sleuthing duo realize they can trust no one. Rafe confesses new details about his infidelity and Fanny risks all to avenge her father’s murder. But will Rafe and Fanny triumph over the pain of their past?

How did you come with the idea for this story?

As a film student, I studied all of Alfred Hitchcock’s work and I particularly admire the romantic suspense films: Rear Window, North by Northwest, and To Catch a Thief. Thrills, chills, adventure––perhaps there’s a mystery to uncover, or a villain to capture, but at the story’s core, there is a love story.

I had an idea that was based on a villain and his small private army of minions who are essentially anti-progressives. In 1887 England, that meant that they were anti-industry, anti-machinery, anti-invention. Today they would be anti-technology. I then came up with a string of grisly murders and a beautiful industrial heiress whose father has just been killed by one of his one machines––accident or murder? Scotland Yard suspects the darker of the two and sends a detective up to guard the young heiress. Then I added a complication for the romance––Rafe and Fanny have a past.

Can you share with us your current work(s) in progress?

At this very moment, I am writing the third book for the Phaeton Black series for Kensington and synopses for the next three Gentlemen of Scotland Yard novels for Pocket!

Who is the one author that you would love to meet someday and why?

I was having dinner with my editor at RWA12 and who should stop by to say hi? Nora Roberts! I think I went all fan girl­­ on her––really embarrassing!

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?

Write what you love. Write everyday. Learn to be your own best editor. The moment you finish one book, start another. Keep writing as you market your previous manuscript.

Can you share with us something off your bucket list.

Travel. Anywhere and everywhere. And especially volunteer vacations through the Peace Core!

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

Anna Randol’s Sins of a Virgin, Heather Snow’s Sweet Deception, Kristen Callihan’s Moonglow, Tessa Dare’s A Lady by Midnight.

What is one book everyone should read before they die?

To Kill a Mockingbird

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I enjoyed the interview, thanks Kelly!

Thanks for being here Jillian!! 

Jillian has given me an advance copy of A DANGEROUS LIAISON WITH DETECTIVE LEWIS.
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