Speed Date Interview ~ Jessica James
You the Readers are the Interviewers. Here is your chance to get answers to the questions you always wanted to ask your favorite Authors. Authors will be coming into the blog for a Speed Date Interview. They will only be there one day and you can only ask them two questions.
Pull up a chair, put on your best smile and make the best impression of yourself.
Personal and inappropriate questions may not be answered at the Author’s discretion.
Ask an Author two questions and be entered to win in our monthly giveaway. You could win a package of free reads from the RJ book vault. We will be asking Authors to select the best question they were asked on the day they day they posted on the blog. We will also be picking random winners from the general questions.
Once the Speed Date interview is done the Interview staff will be going in and selecting a group of questions and answer to post on the RJ Authors Interview Webpage.
http://www.romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/interviews.shtml
BIO
Jessica James started her professional career as a veterinary technician, specializing in horses. Her love of animals, however, made it too difficult to work with sick animals every day, so she went back to school and earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations/journalism—and later a master’s in communications. She worked for 18 years as newspaper reporter and editor before diving into writing fiction. She currently balances the sedentary life of a writer with working part-time as a stagehand at a performing arts theater. Her latest novel Noble Cause is the recipient of the coveted John Esten Cooke Award for Southern Fiction among other national awards. Her first novel Shades of Gray, also an epic Civil War love story, twice overtook Gone with the Wind on the Amazon bestseller list in its category James is featured in the book 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading, published in 2010.
WEBSITE: http://www.jessicajamesbooks.com
BLOG: http://www.jessicajamesbooks.com
BOOK BLURB:
He was fiercely devoted to the Confederacy;
She, fervently dedicated to the Union.
One risked life to save a Cause—
The other, honor, to save a life.
This is the tale of Colonel Alexander Hunter, a dauntless and daring Confederate cavalry officer, who, with his band of intrepid outcasts, becomes a legend in the rolling hills of northern Virginia. Inspired by love of country and guided by a sense of duty and honor, Hunter must make a desperate choice when he discovers the woman he promised his dying brother he would protect is the Union spy he vowed to his men he would destroy.
Readers will discover the fine line between friends and enemies when the paths of these two tenacious foes cross by the fates of war and their destinies become entwined forever.
“A moving account of two people who are drawn into an untenable conflict and find love, despite their opposing beliefs.” — Romantic Times
“Explores the War Between the States in a way that will touch you like no other work of fiction.” —The Book Connection
Excerpt
Hunter heard a voice and felt fingers probing his shoulder. Although his arm throbbed with pain, the touch felt tender and soothing upon his bare flesh. He tried to force the cobwebs from his brain, to clear his blurred vision and mind. Opening his eyes and blinking at the pain, he stared at the face leaning over him.
He thought he recognized the countenance—but no, that could not be. The image could not be of the one he had quarreled with just four days earlier. He saw no sign of the hatred and anger that blazed so fervently then, nor any sign of the customary sullen frown. All that showed there now was deep concern and a look of tenderness.
He closed his eyes and tried to think. Tired. So tired.
After being hit, he had fallen. Perhaps he had hit his head and was hallucinating now. Or perhaps he was just so exhausted he was having a strange dream. Strange, indeed. Because the woman he had left in the next room would be more inclined to strangle him than bend over him in aid.
Hunter blinked at the intensity of light flooding through the window while gazing upon the worried face. He became more certain he was dreaming, but decided to talk to the apparition. “What do you think, Doc?” He hoped he had actually spoken the words aloud, because it was only with supreme effort that he retained consciousness.
The figure did not respond right away. She seemed intent on cleaning the wound. Or maybe, Hunter thought, she really is just a figment of my exhausted imagination.
“It appears a bullet has pierced your celestial armor, Major,” she answered at last. “Unfortunately, it does not appear to be fatal.”
She did not lift her eyes at first, but when she did bring them up to meet his, they brimmed with amusement. Hunter thought he had never seen anything so beautiful, so exquisite, as those two dazzling green eyes filled with laughter. He contrasted the image to the raving, maddened woman he left, but could find no comparison. Where did this person come from or where had the other gone? He hoped they had switched places for good.
Read the rest of the chapter at:
http://www.jessicajamesbooks.com/2009/10/excerpt-from-noble-cause.html
I will be having a drawing for an e-book of Noble Cause at the end of my Virtual Book Tour, which will be Dec. 16. I will also be giving away copies of my e-book of “From the Heart: Love Letters and Stories from the Civil War” to anyone who follows my blog or Likes my Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/romantichistoricalfiction
(They must provide their email address for me to send it to them).
December 5th, 2011 at 7:17 am
HI Jessica, your book sounds wonderful…
I will put it on my tbr list for sure.
Question for you.
1. The Christmas season is upon us. what are some of your favourite traditions?
2. Do you make New Year Resolutions?
Merry Christmas
December 5th, 2011 at 7:31 am
I enjoyed the post and the excerpt. I’m adding Noble Cause to my must have list.
Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com
December 5th, 2011 at 8:32 am
Thanks, Tracey!
Hi Kathleen – Great Questions!
As to Christmas traditions, Christmas Eve is actually more memorable and special to me than Christmas Day. It was my grandparent’s wedding anniversary so they always came to visit and then we went to church in the evening. It is still the main gathering day for my family, and a time to reflect on those wonderful memories.
My sister and mother – and now nieces and others – also get together at some point in December to bake Christmas cookies. This year we might do it at the church because there are so many helping hands!
New Year’s Resolutions – that’s a hard one. I kind of make goals for the New Year, but not necessarily resolutions. I think the New Year is a great time to re-evaluate, and decide what needs to be accomplished. It isn’t all business-related things I think about – but places I want to visit or things I want to do. It’s like anything else — if I don’t write them down, they won’t get done.
Hope you have a great holiday. Thanks for the questions!
December 5th, 2011 at 11:23 pm
Hi Jessica! I really enjoy stories that are set in war periods. The sense of danger and sorrow can make romance both thrilling and healing.
Since your story has this setting, I was wondering if you have any favorite stories set during a war?
December 6th, 2011 at 4:19 am
Hi Na S! That’s a great question – in fact it’s why I wrote Nobe Cause. In doing research on one particular character (Col. John Mosby), I ran across so many poignant human interest stories that I wanted other people to under stand the tragedy and the passion and sorrow of the era.
There are two that stand out in my mind. One was made somewhat famous by Ken Burns’ The Civil War. It’s the poignant letter by Major Sullivan Ballou to his wife. (Please Google it. It’s beautiful). He was killed in battle before she even received it.
Another is the much-celebrated wedding of a Confederate general to one of the most widely known Southern belle’s in Richmond during the war. It was the largest social event in years because people wanted something to celebrate and this was the perfect couple. Unfortunately, they were in the same church attending the groom’s funeral the very next week.
When you attach real names and faces to these stories, they somehow become more touching.
Thanks so much for the question!
December 6th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
I love Civil War stories and this one sounds good.
You love animals so I imagine you have pets. What do you have? Do the people in your stories have pets?
December 6th, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Hi Carol -
Right now I have a German Shepherd from a rescue (soon to turn 11 years old), and three cats that have adopted me over the years. One of the cats was completely wild and only has three legs. Right now he is sleeping contentedly on the couch
Horses are my first love, so I included two of them in Noble Cause as minor characters. The main character’s horse, Justus, actually plays a fairly prominent role.
Thanks for the great question!
January 5th, 2012 at 12:15 am
#trans thank you very much for sharing