The Passionate Pen Presents... An Interview with Jenna Petersen

Our Interview with Jess Michaels/Jenna Petersen (December 2004):

Q. What do you write? What publisher(s) do you write for or have you written for?

Jess/Jenna: I write historical romantic erotica as Jess Michaels for Red Sage Publishing and historical romance as Jenna Petersen for Avon. I also had a short story in Arabella Magazine in April/May of this year and another in A Hint of Seduction Magazine just in November. (both as Jess Michaels).

Q. Tell us a bit about your current/upcoming releases.

J/J: As Jess Michaels I have a December 2004 release in Secrets, Volume 11 called "Ancient Pleasures". It's a novella set in Victorian era Cairo, Egypt. My heroine, Isabella Winslow's husband died mysteriously after he visited the tomb of an Ancient Egyptian concubine, leaving only a stolen artifact as a clue. She goes to the tomb herself to investigate, but finds an American tomb raider, Jake Turner is already there. Only when they're trapped do they realize the tomb has an erotic curse over it. :)

In Spring 2005, I will release a second novella from Red Sage called "Aphrodite's Passion". This story is set in Victorian Cyprus and revolves around the sensual cult of Aphrodite, a woman who is there trying to find herself and the man sent to bring her home. It will be in Secrets, Volume 12.

In October 2005, Avon will release my debut full-length historical romance, Scandalous under the name Jenna Petersen. In this Regency-era romance, my heroine Katherine Fleming, has just found out that her fiancé's late wife isn't as dead as everyone assumed. To protect her reputation, her fortune and to fulfill an obligation she knows nothing about, she agrees to marry her former fiancé's brother, Dominic Mallory, instead. But Dominic has much deeper reasons for entering this marriage, and he may have to choose between the truth about his past and the future he is beginning to build with his wife.

Avon has purchased a second historical romance from me, as well, but I don't have the details of that release yet.

Q. What year did you get “The Call?”

J/J: I got The Call from Red Sage on November 11, 2003 from Alexandria Kendall.

I got The Call about Avon on September 21, 2004 from my agent, Miriam Kriss.

Q. How many years had you written before you got “The Call?”

J/J: I wrote my first romance in 1996 when I was a Sophomore in college and printed it out page-by-page for my dorm mates to read. I admit, I was hooked on the feeling I got when girls would come to my door at 2am to get "just one more page". But I didn't seriously begin writing until 1999 when I started writing full-time.

The short answer out of all of that is 4 years before my call from Red Sage and about a year more for my call from Avon.

Q. Describe your first sale experience.

J/J: I had been struggling and wrote "Ancient Pleasures" as a lark, really. I wanted to write something fun and short and sexy. I sent it to Red Sage and got a very quick request for a full, but then there was this massive silence for months. On Halloween night 2003, I emailed our owner, Alex, to request a status update. She responded with, "Judith (our editor) is working on revisions and will send shortly. Love your story".

I was flabbergasted and had no clue what to think. I didn't know if I'd sold or if I was just looking at a revision letter or even who Judith was at the time. For 11 long days, I jumped every time the phone rang and talked the ear off of anyone who would listen and ponder the question. By the night of November 11, I had given up and decided I misunderstood. When the phone rang in the evening, I had no clue. But it was Alex and she went on in glowing detail about how much she loved the book and asked if she could buy it.

Obviously I said yes. :)

As for Avon, my agent sent out Scandalous in June 2004. At the beginning of September, we were talking on the phone about something else and I asked about it. She told me it had been sent up to a senior editor at Avon, but not to get excited because nothing might come of it. A few weeks later, she called and she sounded excited. My stomach dropped. Then she asked who I'd told her my 'dream house' was when we had lunch at National just a month and a half before. I croaked out, "Avon" and she said they'd offered me a two-book deal. After I hung up, I screamed and screamed and screamed. Then I cried and my husband, who happened to have the day off, hugged me and cried with me while he told me how proud he was. It was a wonderful day.

Q. Is there anything you wish you had known/done before you made that first sale?

J/J: There are so many questions I didn't think to ask before I sold. I wish I'd known more about promotion, though there have been some wonderful resources out there for me that I've found since then. Also, I wish I'd known more about how scary and exciting and emotional the whole experience is. I wrote about that at Passionate Pen in an article and I think it's a common reaction. Everything is heightened and I wish I had expected that more.

Q. What is the best piece of craft advice you can give an aspiring author?

J/J: I've never believed craft can involve "should". What works for one person won't necessarily work for another. So I guess I'd say try different things. If you hear an interesting way another author works, go ahead and try it. You may get something great out of it. If not, abandon it.

I used to be a pantzer (I didn't plot), but I decided I'd try it. Now I not only do detailed character sheets, but really extensive plotting. I also used to be a headhopper, but I tried one book in a more strict POV style and now I can't write any other way. Stretch yourself. Try new ways of writing until you find the one that works best for you.

Finally, always keep studying your craft. I don't think any author is perfect and once we stop learning it's downhill from there.

Q. What is the best piece of industry advice you can give an aspiring author?

J/J: Make some effort to know the industry. A publishing career is not built on books alone. You need to know about publishing houses, query letters, synopses, editor preferences, a little about contracts, market info. All that stuff is easily at your fingers at a lot of sites (like this one) and through organizations like Romance Writers of America.

Join RWA. Network. Learn the proper way to approach an editor via a query, etc. Learn about the dos and don'ts of agents. Decide if you want one.

Whatever happens, if you look at writing as something you would like to do as a career, then take it seriously. Don't expect you're going to publish your first book (most people don't) and don't expect that everyone else is going to give you the answers. Be willing to work for what you want.

Oh, and one last thing, if you are at a conference and you're in a workshop about anything other than synopsis or query... don't ask questions about synopsis or query. Don't ask questions in workshops about whether a submission should be bound by a rubber band or clip. Try to get information from workshops that actually pertains to what the author is talking about. Workshops are a wonderful chance to learn from authors, so try to look at the big picture of what you're hearing.

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