Jen: Readers, please help me welcome Jamaica Layne to Book Talk this weekend. Jamaica, will you please share a short bio with us?
Jamaica: Sure thing. I’m Jamaica Layne, a hot new rising star on the erotica market. I write erotic romance and erotica for Virgin Cheek, Virgin Black Lace, and Ravenous Romance. In my “other” life, I’m a journalist, literary fiction author, and playwright (my plays have received productions in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, Atlanta, and the UK). I live near Chicago with my husband and one-year-old son.
Jen: Tell us about Market for Love and where it's available.
Jamaica: Market for Love is my debut novel and currently my only book available in print. (My other titles are all released as ebooks or audiobooks). Market for Love is an erotic romance set in and around Chicago’s fast-paced investment-banking world. It’s available wherever books are sold----in the Romance and/or Erotica section at your local bookstore, or online at Amazon.com, BN.com, Powells.com, Booksamillion.com, etc.
Jen: At what age did you discover writing and when were you first published? Tell us your call story.
Jamaica: I’ve been writing ever since I was a little girl. I wrote my first play at age eight and used neighborhood kids as actors. I was first professionally published (under my own name, not my pen name) in college when I started writing for the local newspaper. I worked as a freelance journalist for many years, contributing to newspapers like the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Reader, as well as national magazines like Cat Fancy. My plays have been published as well. I also did a lot of technical and scientific writing in the corporate world. I’ve supported myself as a professional writer almost my entire adult life, but it’s only been recently that my fiction writing has been my full-time livelihood.
Jen: How does your family feel about your career?
Jamaica: They’re happy for me. Even if they’re not interested in reading erotica, they are happy that I make my living doing what I love----writing sexy books!
Jen: How do you approach your writing? Do you plot or go with the flow?
Jamaica: I do a little of both. I usually have a basic plot outline formed before I start writing the book, and I also do a little bit of character-sketching. This helps me get started---and since I now get multibook contracts that require I submit plot outlines to my editor ahead of time, this is a contractual requirement for me to do anyway. But once I know (sort of) where I’m headed, I can just go with the flow. Sometimes I even surprise myself with how my stories end up fleshing themselves out.
Jen: Do you have any “must haves” with you while you’re writing?
Jamaica: The only “must have” I need is peace and quiet. I’m a stay-at-home mother of a toddler, though, so peace and quiet is in short supply at my house these days! I do a lot of my writing on evenings and weekends, when my husband is home so he can watch my son and give me the quiet time I need. I also write when my son is napping. (which these days, isn’t often!)
Jen: What kind of research did you do for this book?
Jamaica: My first job out of college was as a financial reports editor for a major Chicago investment bank. So my “research” for writing Market for Love really came from my own personal experience living and working in that world. Many of the characters and situations in the book are drawn from real people and situations I encountered on the job.
Jen: What is it about the romance/erotica genre that appeals to you?
Jamaica: I love the happy endings, for one thing. We are all searching for happy endings in our own lives, especially now that we’re in a tough recession and times are so hard. And the sex appeals to me, too. Sex is a basic human need, and women don’t have a lot of safe, private outlets for their sexual fantasies available to them. I think erotica serves a wonderful purpose in that way, which really enhances women’s private lives.
Jen: What did you do to celebrate the sale of your first book?
Jamaica: I was pregnant at the time, so my hubby and I toasted each other with some sparkling grape juice.
Jen: What five authors or people, from the past or present, have been important to you as an author? What question or comment have you always wanted to say to them?
Jamaica: If I had to name five authors who’ve been the biggest influence to me, I’d say they were Judy Blume, Anais Nin, Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood, and Erica Jong. If I could say something to them, it would be to thank them for showing me how much joy there is to be found in writing that is frank, truthful, and beautiful when it comes to both love AND sex.
Jen: What has been your highlight of your career to this point?
Jamaica: Landing my current literary agent, Lori Perkins. She’s really taking my career to a new level. Lori is a legendary agent and also probably knows more about the erotica genre than anybody else out there. (She was interviewed by the New York Times about it recently, in fact!) I was dissatisfied with my old agent, and decided I needed to part ways with him and find new representation. I queried Ms. Perkins----my dream agent---on a whim, never once thinking she’d be interested in me as a client---but poof! She was interested, and we clicked right away. It really was a dream come true.
Jen: What's next for you?
Jamaica: Right now I’m writing a lot of novels for Ravenous Romance, a new erotica epublisher (which was profiled by the New York Times recently: click here to read the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/books/08roma.html?_r=3&pagewanted=2&ref=arts). I have several books out now with them that are selling extremely well by ebook standards, especially my time-travel paranormal erotica Knight Moves and my Vital Signs series, which is a five-book “young doctors in lust” soap-opera-inspired series of books (think of it as GRAY’S ANATOMY with the sex left in). You can find those books for sale at www.ravenousromance.com, as well as on Amazon (Kindle edition), Fictionwise.com, and AllRomanceEbooks.com. There are audiobook versions of my books too (listen to them on your iPod!), available for download at ravenousromance.com as well as Audible.com (where my audiobooks are top sellers in the erotica genre).
Jen: Where can you be found on the web?
Jamaica: www.jamaicalayne.com is my website, and jamaicalayne.blogspot.com is my blog.
Jen: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Jamaica: What do you want most to see in erotic fiction that isn’t being done currently, and why?
Jen: Thank you Jamaica for stopping by this weekend. Readers, one lucky commenter will win a copy of Market for Love. All you have to do is ask a question of Jamaica or answer her question. Due to the content of the book, the winner must be over the age of 18. The contest will end around 5 pm PST on Sunday, May 24.
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Thanks so much for having me on the blog today. I look forward to hearing from readers!
Hi, Jamaica!
Thanks for the interview--I definitely enjoyed it (and the excerpt!)
I'm not sure that it isn't being done, but I haven't read as much of it--I've been curious lately to read more stories that follow an existing couple, sort of "after the HEA," so to speak :) I also enjoy reading the more standard, "first blush/heat of attraction" stories, but it's fun to see how couples keep it fresh and hot, too.
Congrats on your success, and a big yay for you for balancing your career with being a mom and wife--it's a lot!
Flchn1, I am actually working on a book right now that is an "after the HEA" book. It's part of the multibook VITAL SIGNS series for Ravenous Romance. Vol. 3 of the series returns to the couple who were featured in Vol. 1; they are now married and dealing with marital strife, and the third book in the series deals in part with how they keep their marriage going and improve their sex life along the way. That book should be out in the fall of this year. Thanks for your response!
Ooh, awesome--thanks so much! I definitely have to look for these--I really love revisiting couples (as part of a series, or as you're doing)! Very very cool!
Also, is there any direction you'd like to explore that you haven't yet in your writing? Also, what or who do you enjoy reading?
I agree with flchen1. Most erotic stories focus on new couples, but what about those who have been together for many years and maybe need a little renewal of their relationship? How fun to try some experimenting in bed to boost the feelings that have been buried under years of bills, kids, work, etc.
By the way, I love the name Jamaica! Very pretty. Also, you have listed some wonderful authors who inspired you.
Jamaica, I, too, used to write plays and "movies" growing up in Texas. Like you, I would cast the neighborhood and we'd do Broadway!
This led to novel writing and the new novel will be out June 15th. My question: You seem so young. How old were you when you had your first book published?
Nice interview.
J.Norman, I'm 35. My first full-length book was published at age 33, though I had been published as a journalist and had my work included in book-length anthologies by age 23. I always set out to be a professional writer from a very early age, and made goals accordingly. But it's never too late to start! Stick with it and you'll see success too.
sounds good
love th e cover
would love to read the book
does yoru family read your books
please enter me
kh
Loved the excerpt (cover ain't bad either!). Wonder if Miranda would look better with the hot chocolate on her face with whipped cream on her nose instead of the black, mascara streaks on her cheeks? Adding this book to my BTB lists.
Hi Jamaica and welcome; you are a 'wonder woman' with multi talents. You go girl and kudos to you.
Wow, just reading the excerpt had me breathing heavier; can't imagine seeing that much money of others(clients) flying away before my very eyes. Talk about freaking out, to say the least.
I think you've hit on a very good subject here. congrats all around.
Congrats on your career and family. Here's to a ton of further successes!
~Tanya
www.tanyahanson.com
Thanks to everyone who stopped by this weekend to support Jamaica.
And it's time to announce the contest winner. J.Norman, you're the new owner of a copy of Market for Love. Please email me at admin.bookblog@gmail.com with your mailing address. I need to hear from you by next Sunday, May 31 or a new winner will be chosen.
Thanks for this post, i liked it!
Amber