Today we have a delightful interview with Jenn
McKinlay, author of a new contemporary
romance, THE GOOD
ONES, and Fresh Fiction reviewer Miranda Owen!
I love your cozy mysteries and your Bluff Point romance series. What inspired you to write
this new
Happily Ever After series?
Thank you - you're very kind! As for the new series, I was
looking for something new and different that I hadn't seen before and then I
started following
The Ripped Bodice on Instagram. For those who don't
know, The
Ripped Bodice is a romance bookstore (the only romance bookstore in the U.S., I
believe) and
it's run by sisters Leah and Bea Koch. They are funny and smart and wonderfully
engaging so
they were my kernel of an idea that I took to North Carolina and added a rescue
kitten, of
course, and a hot cowboy architect guy, natch.
What can you tell readers about the Happily Ever After series? Is it built
around a
particular family? A group of friends?
Friends. My books are always built around groups of
friends. My entire life has been spent traveling in various squads - I have my
mom squad,
writer squad, library squad, top tier girl squad...you get the idea. I'm
fortunate that my Hub
and our two hooligans are my current squad, but, yeah, I'm a pack animal and
make friends
pretty easily so my stories reflect the same.
What are the differences in writing romance versus mystery? What’s most
difficult and
what’s your favorite part of writing each?
For me, romance is so much harder than mystery. I mean,
a dead body really moves a plot along, you know? Good romance writing requires
depth and
honesty and genuine conflict but I write primarily comedy so it's a real
plate-twirling-on-a-
pole-while-on-rollerskates balancing act to get all the notes right. Mysteries
have a certain
emotional distance that makes it less taxing for me to write, but plotting the
red herrings,
curating the suspect list, and giving the sleuth an authentic purpose to be
engaged in the
mystery, yeah, that requires some serious brain juice, so they're both difficult
but in different
ways. My favorite part of both genres is when I type THE END on whatever
manuscript I'm
writing. Truly, it is the best feeling in the world!
Can you say how many books will be in the Happily Ever After series?
As far as I know, just two. I have an idea for a third but I'm
booked to write several more mysteries so I have no idea when I'll get to it or
if the publisher
will be interested in pursuing the series.
You recently asked fans if they’d like to see Mel tie the knot in the next
Cupcake Bakery
mystery
series. As a fan – I vote “yes”, but I’d also hate to see the end of that
series.
My hope is that Mel and Joe get married and sleuth on.
I'm very eager to try out the dynamic of a married couple as amateur detectives.
My other
thought was that it might be time for a spin-off. My husband has been asking me
(for years) to
write a series with Marty and Oz, who are side characters in the series, as the
lead characters.
I love them both so...maybe?
What are you currently working on?
I have just finished the latest London Hat Shop
mystery! It was
wonderful to have the publisher bring that series back! And I am also working on
a super top
secret new idea that I'm not allowed to talk about...yet.
Thanks so much for the lovely questions! Always
delightful to visit Fresh Fiction!
Happy Reading,
Jenn
Thanks to Jenn and Miranda for this wonderful interview!
Jenn McKinlay's latest novel,
THE GOOD ONES, is available now.
Ryder Copeland is an accomplished architect and one heck of a father...not to
mention tall and
sexy. He's everything a hero should be, and Lord knows, Maisy Kelly has read
enough of her
great-aunt Eloise's romance novels to recognize one when she sees one. But like
all fairy
tales, Maisy can't help but wonder if this Prince Charming is too good to be true...
Ryder is drawn to the shy, curly-haired professor who hires him to convert the
Victorian house
she's inherited from her aunt into a romance bookstore. Attracted to a woman for
the first time
since his divorce, Ryder finds himself wishing for a future with Maisy that he
knows is
impossible. Ryder has never wavered from his plan to leave the small town of
Fairdale, North
Carolina so he can give his daughter the life she deserves. But suddenly he's
not so sure. And
the closer he gets to Maisy, the harder it's going to be to walk away...
Women's Fiction |
Romance [Berkley, On Sale: February 5, 2019, Mass
Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780451492432 / eISBN: 9780451492449]
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