Jules Court
In this series, guest bloggers tell us about finding their way through the writing landscape. My guest today is Jules Court, author of Rescuing Love. A short blurb from her website: “The last thing recently fired attorney Becca Lynch wants is a man, but Coast Guard rescue swimmer Alex Petrov might be just what she needs.”
Writer or not, you’ll be able to find much of yourself in her answers.
Jules has graciously agreed to give away a
FREE eBOOK of RESCUING LOVE
to one of my readers.
Leave a comment (at the top, where it says X comments), and on July 9, she’ll pick a name out of a hat (real or metaphorical I’ll leave to Jules).
Let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear belongs to Jules.
1. What made you want to be a writer?
I’ve been an avid reader my entire life. I remember starting school already knowing my alphabet; I’d forced my older sister to teach me what she was learning. I was also a born storyteller and a bit of a tyrant. I’d demand that my friends act out with our Barbie Dolls these elaborate scenarios I created, and Heaven help anyone who went off script. No ad-libbing in my productions.
Throughout my childhood, I scribbled stories, and even had a brief flirtation with poetry in high school (the angst was great in this one). So, when it came time to pick colleges, I informed my parents that I would be attending a certain pricy liberal arts college and majoring in Creative Writing. They weren’t having it. Instead, I attended a large state university on a partial scholarship and majored in something more “practical”. (Full disclosure- I mostly majored in Beer and Boys.)
After college, I joined the working world and my writing dream just kind of drifted away. I laughed at my childhood delusions about being a writer. I lived in the real world now. That probably would have been it for writing and me, if I hadn’t made a spectacularly terrible life decision.
I went to law school.
It was a soul-sucking, self-esteem crushing pit of despair. I turned to reading to escape. But not reading my casebooks like I should have, no, I discovered Romance novels. My prior concept of the genre was: all bodice ripping, all the time. But, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Plus, romances contained two things I desperately needed: hope and a guaranteed happy ending. They kick-started my dormant imagination. Soon, when I was supposed to be briefing cases for class, I was pounding away at my own romance novel, instead.
I did graduate from law school (and, surprisingly, not at the bottom of the class), and I even passed the Bar. But I knew, I wasn’t a lawyer. I was a writer.
2. What is the toughest part about writing?
Facing the blank page. I like editing, I like tinkering, but I hate that blasted blank page. It leaves too much room for doubt to slither in. That little voice in the back of my head whispering that I suck, that I’m not really a writer, that everything I write is trash. Whenever I’m unsure of where my story is going, I feel like I’ll never have another idea. That’s it. We had a good run, but it’s over.
Once I make it through that first draft, it’s still not all golden words dripping from my pen. I have good and bad days, but at least I know I can finish a story. My advice to new writers is never abandon a story. You have to prove to yourself that you can finish something, even when a new, shiny idea that you haven’t screwed up yet is beckoning. Resist and keep wrestling with the pig you’ve got.
3. Have you experienced an aha moment, a piece of advice or a moment where something fell into place?
Recently, I picked up a story I’d relegated to the bowels of my computer, because I thought it was an embarrassment. But, reading it with fresh eyes made me realize two things: 1) Yeah, it wasn’t great, but it could be fixed, and 2) (more importantly) I couldn’t tell the difference in the writing between what was written on a day each word was chipped out of my brain with a pick axe, and what was written on a day the words flowed like honey, and little birds twittered about and braided my hair, while a unicorn farted rainbows. So on a difficult writing day, keep going. It’s not as bad you think; it’s just your perception.
4. Whose style do you admire, or is there a line you wish you’d come up with?
I’m a huge fan of Dorothy Parker. I’m always pushing The Portable Dorothy Parker on people, because it contains her short stories as well as her poetry and reviews. She’s mostly remembered for her wit now, but her short stories are masterpieces of tight, sharp writing. You could cut yourself on her prose.
Within the Romance genre, I’m an unabashed Meljean Brook fangirl. She writes some the smartest, tightest plotted paranormal/steampunk books out there, and she still manages to put a satisfying and deeply characterized romance into each one. Also, Courtney Milan writes some seriously intelligent, well-crafted Historical Romances.
5. Describe your ideal reader. Who do you write for?
This probably makes me sound more egotistical than Tony Stark, but I’m writing for me. I write (or try to write) the books I want to read. My ideal reader likes romance books with heroines who have a spine and heroes who aren’t abusive jerks but are actual nice guys- not fedora wearing, friend-zone whiners, but men who like and respect women.
A big thank you to Carmen for giving me the space to spout off my many opinions. I’ve got a Contemporary Romance entitled Rescuing Love available from Bookstrand Publishing at www.bookstrand.com/rescuing-love and Amazon. You can also check me out at www.julescourt.com.
BLURB
Recently fired attorney, Becca Lynch, only came home to Cape Cod, Massachusetts to strap on a bridesmaid dress and accompany an old friend down the aisle. Just one week of pretending that her life’s great and she’s not secretly falling apart.
A complication of the male variety is the last thing she wants. But a blistering encounter with a handsome stranger in the employee bathroom of her hometown bar might be just what she needs.
As a rescue swimmer for the United States Coast Guard, Alex Petrov doesn’t think twice about jumping from a helicopter into raging seas if lives are at stake, but off the clock, he prefers calmer waters.
Hooking up with a stranger, who turns out to be his roommate’s sister, just isn’t something he does. Until Becca.
But passion doesn’t worry about bad timing, and love can prove a more uncontrollable force than any ocean wave.
