Tell us your name and then a bit about yourself.
Hi there! My name is Jessie Lane and I write both Contemporary and Paranormal Romance. I published my first book in 2012, which was an upper YA Teen Fantasy titled The Burning Star featuring the fae. After that I made my way into the romance genre with my first paranormal, Big Bad Bite. From there I branched off into contemporary romance with my angst ridden and action packed Secret Maneuvers. I’ve gone on to write bikers with my best friend Chelsea Camaron, an alien prince exiled from his home planet with Abbie Zanders, a lion shifter with Chasity Bowlin, broody vampires, hot military men, vikings and shifters of every shape and size in between.
I’ve taken a 4-5 year break from publishing to finish raise my kids and run a small town newspaper. Now my kids are adults (SOBS -> I FEEL SO OLD), and I have stepped away from managing the newspaper so that I can reinvest myself, and my career, back into writing. I can’t tell you how much I missed the book world while I was gone, but I can tell you I promise to bust my ass to give you new stories to read. Who’s ready for some shenanigans?
In the future I would also like to branch out into both Urban Fantasy and Thrillers. In case anyone was wondering, YES, I have writer’s ADHD like I’ve been on crack cocaine for half my life. I don’t foresee outgrowing that trait.
Besides that, I live in Kentucky with the love of my life, the Grizzly, my crazy ass dad, and my two adult children (because I’m not ready to be an empty nester dammit!). We have two doggy fur babies named Sophie and Luna. My husband is both a former firefighter and former law enforcement. He now runs a 911 Emergency Dispatch Center and I believe in all things First Responder, who prove daily that superheroes don’t wear capes. Both of my parents are Army veterans, and my respect for the Armed Forces is so high, you’ll never see the peak of that mountain.
By the time this interview publishes I will have just turned 41 and I love tattoos, caffeine and smokin’ hot broody fictional men. Books are life, music is soul, tattoos are therapeutic and art of all forms is what keeps us meager human beings from reversing back to Neanderthals.
When you are writing a book, which is harder? The first book in the series or the others after it?
The others after. The first book is a breath of fresh air. A whole new world where I can do anything I want to do. Follow-up books are harder because you have to keep track of details and sometimes that drives me a little crazy. Or, as my children might tell you, crazier than I have already been diagnosed.
When writing a series how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
I am a perpetual writing “pantser”. Every time I try to “plot” a book, my character laughs at me, takes my well meaning plot, and then throws it in their trash can. So, this might be hard for some to believe, but my best writing is done when I sit down with just a loose concept in my head, and I start typing. If I know I want to write something funny, I might watch a comedy or read one of my favorite comedic authors. Same concept goes for intense emotions on the opposite end of the scale. But while I’m writing, I love to play the game “what if”, to keep things fresh for my readers. What if my character did this? What if this happened? Putting twists into my plotline is one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done. Just don’t tell my husband that. It might hurt his feelings… LMAO. I’m gonna be in so much trouble if he ever reads that part.
Writing can be an emotionally draining and stressful pursuit. Any tips for aspiring writers?
Just keep writing. I know that’s been preached by other authors until you think it can’t possibly be preached anymore, but it’s the truth. Writing is like exercising. If you work out everyday, it’s easier on your body because your body is use to that exertion. Same concept for writing. Write every day. Even if it’s only 500 words. That way, both your mind and your mental stamina, are used to sitting down and getting those words out. Practice may not make perfect, contrary to the phrase, but it does make you better.
And anyone who writes, shouldn’t be sitting down to a keyboard thinking they’re going to make a million dollars. Your intent should be to make art, in whatever way those words speak to your soul. And if you’re wanting to publish, your goal should be that those words you lay down, they make others feel to the bottoms of their soul. Writing every day, even if it’s to short writing prompts, will help you in that endeavor.
On a typical day, how much time do you spend writing?
I used to write, on the minimum, two thousand words a day. My life got overly chaotic for a while with kids, schedules, and medical problems and I fell off that practice. I am now actively working my way back to that practice, even though I work a full time day job with county government. But I have written in excess of ten thousand words in a day a time or two. I also cried those two times because I was like a cranky toddler, but I got it done dammit.
Do you have a favorite character that you have written? If so, who? And what makes them so special.
I don’t have favorites per se, but I do have certain things about some of my characters that I love. For instance, I love how bad-ass Jenna from Big Bad Bite is. She’s the definitive in girl power. She may “work” in a man’s world, but she’s doing it her way and daring anyone else to tell her otherwise. I love how Adam from Big Bad Bite is the steady constant Jenna never knew she needed. He’s an Alpha with a capital A, but he’s also going to stand beside his woman and not in front of her like she’s weak.
On the other end of the spectrum is Ginny from the three “Sweet Series”, featuring Lucas Young from Ex Ops. I truly love how Ginny sees the world in colors. How her artist’s brain paints emotions like brush strokes or splatters on canvas. She’s the sweet soul a dominant man like Lucas Young knows has to be protected at all costs.
I love the real life turbulence between Bobby and Belle in Secret Maneuvers and Riley and his wife in Stripping Her Defenses. The ups, downs, and emotional rollercoasters of their journeys together.
Most of all though, I love writing the comedy in my stories. Whether it’s Declan from Ex Ops acting like an insane idiot, or Kinks in Lone Wolf Wanted knocking out her shifter mate with a frying pan because he left her. I love making people laugh. It’s the best feeling in the world to make someone else happy, if even for a moment. I’m addicted to that feeling.
What is your definition of success?
For me, success is when a reader tells me that something I wrote made them laugh out loud or cry because it touched their heart. I don’t want to just write a story. I want to write something that moves you. Hopefully, it just won’t “move you” off the couch and on your way to find me because you want to strangle me. Most importantly, if I can help that person disappear from their everyday life, getting lost into a book, then I accomplished my goal.
Do you have anything you want to share that didn’t fit on one of these questions?
I love meeting and hearing from readers! Feel free to email me at:
jessie_lane@jessielanebooks.com
OR come meet me in person at Writers on the River 2024!
Then you can see I’m just as neurotic and awkward in person as I appear on paper. 🙂
What are your social links?
Website ⟾ https://jessielanebooks.com/
Facebook Reader Group ⟾ https://www.facebook.com/groups/JessieLanesBookJunkies
Facebook ⟾ https://www.facebook.com/JessieLaneBooks/
Bookbub ⟾ https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jessie-lane
Twitter ⟾ https://twitter.com/JessieLaneBooks
Instagram ⟾ https://www.instagram.com/authorjessielane/
Goodreads Author Page ⟾ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6150577.Jessie_Lane
What are your buy links? (Provide links to your Amazon/iBook’s/Koko/etc Author Home Page if you have quite a few. Also include audible links if applicable.)
Website ⟾ https://jessielanebooks.com/
Bookbub Author Page ⟾ https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jessie-lane
Amazon Author Page ⟾ https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jessie-Lane/author/B00CN02LZM?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
Goodreads Author Page ⟾ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6150577.Jessie_Lane
Want tickets to Writers on the River #2024?
They are available starting November 6th at Writersontheriver.com
$75 VIP Plus – 11-12 Lunch with the Authors , 12-1 VIP hour, 1-4 General Admission time. You get a filled VIP bag and admission to the after party is included. *Limited Quantity expected to sell out first day*
$50 VIP -12-1 VIP hour, 1-4 General Admission time. You get a filled VIP bag and admission to the after party is included. *Expected to sell out first day*
$25 Early Access – 12-1 VIP house, 1-4 General Admission time. You also get a filled VIP bag but NO admission to the after party. *Expected to sell out opening day*
$10 General Admission – 1-4 General Admission time. You can purchase a bag but it is not filled with VIP swag. There is no admission to the after party included.
$35 After party – 7-11 After Party with food and cash bar. Dj with a photobooth is also included in the fun.
