Jacquie Rogers is a former software designer, campaign
manager, deli clerk, and cow milker. She
grew up on a dairy farm outside of Homedale , Idaho , in Owyhee
County
INTERVIEW
What is the most
adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
Jacquie: White
water rafting on the Salmon River near Stanley, Idaho. It was the first trip of the season for the
rafting guides, and the water ran high—the rapids were right at the limit. Our trip went so quickly because of the fast
water, they offered to take us down the river again, which we enthusiastically
accepted. “Wet trip or dry trip?” the
boatman joked. Didn’t matter, because we
got the wet trip. “Climb the high side!”
the boatman yelled just as she took a dunking.
In the midst of high rapids called Piece of Cake, my husband righted the
boat, then fished me, the oars, and the boatman out of the water. It was a blast!
What adventure
would you like to have that you haven’t done yet if money and skill were no
problem?
Jacquie: I’d
like to go on an African safari.
Who are some of
your favorite authors? What commonality
do you see in them?
Jacquie: I
don’t see any commonality with any other author’s writing or style, but I do
have many, many must-read authors.
Because I’m name-challenged and because I’d forget someone, I’ll just
say that Mary Renault’s books captivated me in college and I’ve read all of
them except the last one, which I keep saving because she passed away and I
know there aren’t any more.
I believe color
says something about a person’s personality.
What’s your favorite color?
Jacquie: I
like a rainbow of colors—love colorful things but especially the primary
colors. I guess if I have to pick just
one, it would be red.
If you could have
a do-over life, what one thing would you do differently? What would you do again?
Jacquie:
Continue competitive shooting and not cut off my career that I didn’t know I
had (very naïve then) as a professional photographer. I’d do both of those things again.
What is your
writing process from conception to finished MS?
Jacquie: It’s
different for every book and short story.
Every time I think I have this gig figured out, the next story throws me
a curve. The one consistency is that I
have to know the characters front to finish before I start writing. I start out with a picture in my mind of a
scenario with one character, and I develop from there. First thing is to get to know that character,
then learn about the other characters that come along with that one, especially
the other protagonist. Then I do the
same thing with the villain.
Autobiographies and life calendars help.
After that, I map out the bones of the story.
Sometimes I plot more than other times—at no time have I
ever followed this, but I have to have a destination. Then it’s grind, grind, grind—stopping and
starting again. The key is to keep at
it. It ain’t easy. After the first draft is done, I listen to it
on my Kindle using text-to-speech, then send to my beta readers. I make corrections, then submit to my editor.
Are you a planner,
pantser or both?
Jacquie:
Yes. Sometimes I plan, sometimes I fly
by the seat of my pants, sometimes it’s a mixture of both.
How did you
research for your book?
Jacquie: Not sure how to answer this. I use a variety of sources. Google is my friend. But speaking of friends, I have a bunch of
them that are in the know and can either answer my questions or send me to the
source. For Silver City and Owyhee County
(Idaho) where most of my stories are set, I use the Idaho State Archives, The
Owyhee Avalanche, local lore, and I also spend time there.
What is your all-time
favorite movie? TV show?
Jacquie: I
love musicals: Mamma Mia, Music Man, Wizard of Oz all come to mind. I also love westerns—The Apple Dumpling Gang,
Broken Trail, Lonesome Dove, and Shanghai Noon.
And a couple dozen more. TV? Haven’t watched it for years because I can’t
abide the commercials, but I did watch Firefly on DVD and loved it. Mostly, I watch Mariners baseball and that’s
it. I’m in my office writing or
marketing.
How important do
feel writing workshops are to any writer?
Jacquie: When
I started writing, I attended a bazillion workshops and they were very
beneficial. The most important thing I
learned was that my process is my own—but my process evolved from learning how
others create stories. Take what you
need and store the rest for later.
If you could learn
one new skill, fear and money no deterrent, what would it be?
Jacquie: What a hard question! The reason it’s hard is because there are so
many things I’d like to do. My deterrent
is generally not fear, oftentimes money, but nearly always ability. For instance, I’d love to play the piano
well, but I don’t have the coordination. I always wanted to play the tuba—never tried
it. Would love to paint. Many of my
family members are beautiful artists, but I can’t draw a stick man. The talent gene seems to have passed me by.
If you had a
million dollars to donate to any one charity, what would it be?
Jacquie: Children’s
Tumor Foundation, Ending Neurofibromatosis Through Research. http://www.ctf.org
My oldest daughter has NF1 by spontaneous mutation (1/3 of all new cases are
spontaneous mutation) but all children have a 50% chance of inheriting the
disorder. In our case, both her
daughters also have NF1. It’s a wicked
disorder—disfiguring can be life-threatening.
It also causes learning difficulties and emotional issues. Most doctors are pathetically misinformed
about neurofibromatosis even though the information is readily available, so
recommended treatment plans go unheeded.
See my page of NF heroes: http://jacquierogers.com/faerysr_nf.html
What advice would
you like to give to an aspiring writer?
Jacquie: Be
yourself and let down your hair. You
have to be bold and not worry about whether others will like your work. Do you like it? Then you’ve succeeded.
Did anyone mentor
you or help you along the way? Please
tell us about your mentor and what you feel they contributed to your writing
career.
Jacquie: A
whole slew of people! I have a wonderful
critique group—Sherry Walker, Wendy Delaney, and Ann Charles. Stella Cameron and Karen Harbaugh were strong
influences and helped me a lot, as did Gerri Russell, Judith Laik, Eilis Flynn,
and Heather Hiestand. There are a bunch
more that I could list.
What is the best
advice anyone ever gave you?
Jacquie:
Listen to advice and save it for later.
If you could live
anywhere in the world you wanted to, where would it be? (Language is no
barrier)
Jacquie:
French Polynesia sounds good. I visited
Guam and loved it—my tropical island girl’s heart wars with my country girl’s
heart.
Where do you
write?
Jacquie:
Mostly in my office. I’m not all that
portable of a writer because I need a 55” monitor. They don’t make laptops with 55” monitors.
How much time do
you devote to writing each week? Do you
have a day every week that you take off?
Jacquie: I
write whenever I have a chance, and my publishing schedule this year doesn’t
allow for many days off. Some days I
write an hour, some days I write 20 hours.
I don’t have a writing schedule, but the closer to deadline it is, the
more hours I put in. Yes, I should plan
that better.
What is a genre
that you have not attempted that you would like to try?
Jacquie: YA
fantasy. I have the beginning of one
book but haven’t been able to get back to it because of my other commitments.
Is there anything
you would like readers to know about you?
Jacquie: A lot
of my stories come from family experience in Owyhee County. I grew up on a dairy farm but I sure wanted
it to be a ranch instead. We bulldogged,
rode our horses all over the place, and in general had a good time between
chores that would be illegal for us to do today—bucking bales, loading grain
trucks, etc. I learned to cook and shoot
before I went to first grade and to drive when I was eight. Life sure is different in the city!
Thank you so much for hosting me on The Romance Room blog
today, Sarah. For visitors, I’d like to
give one commenter a copy of Sleight of
Heart, a fun book featuring Burke O’Shaughnessy, a happy-go-lucky gambler,
and Lexie Campbell, a by-the-book spinster.
Both have to find Burke’s elusive brother. Neither are happy that the other is tagging
along. The book is set in 1883 Colorado,
mostly on the trains.
Eilis Flynn, author of Static Shock, wrote: ”I have a
weakness for clever. Clever story, clever situation, clever characters. And if
it’s in the form of a romance? Love it. I knew I was going to like this pretty
much from when I read the situation: Misinterpreted situations, good
intentions, characters who aren’t who they say they are – it’s downright
Shakespearean, if you think of it. Anyway, Jacquie Rogers has come up with a
winner!”
---
Sleight of Heart
by
Jacquie Rogers
Log
line: A gambler, a spinster, and a fortune!
Blurb:
Sleight
of hand? or Sleight of Heart?
A Straight-Laced
Spinster
Lexie
Campbell, more comfortable with neat and tidy numbers than messy emotions, is
determined find the sharper who ruined her little sister and make him marry
her. When his lookalike brother Burke appears, she greets him with a rifle and
forces him to help her. Can she resist his magic charm?
A Gambler With Magic
Hands
To
claim the family fortune, smooth-dealing Burke O'Shaughnessy has to find his
brother Patrick, despite being saddled with an angry spinster. But when Lexie
shows an astounding talent for counting cards and calculating odds, he figures
she might be useful after all. Can he draw the queen of hearts?
"...
a fun and fast paced read with a charming and sexy hero!" ~Jennifer Haddad
Excerpt:
Sleight of Heart
Copyright © 2013 Jacquie
Rogers
Burke gathered her to his chest. His hardness pressed against her thigh and
she yearned to touch his flesh, to feel what a woman should feel. But no, only a wanton woman would consider
letting a man of his profession take such liberties. She had to admit, she did consider.
He nuzzled her neck.
“Lexie-girl, let me love you.”
Her breath caught as she briefly considered letting him
have his way with her, but then she came to her senses. “I hardly equate taking unwanted liberties
with love,” she said aloud. Her outward
righteous indignation didn’t match her inner yearning. In fact, nothing she’d ever felt could match
her desire for Burke’s closeness. She
wanted more. Much, much more.
“Just a kiss, Lexie-girl.”
His husky voice sent a thrill through her. Her!
Alexandra Campbell, the pathetic girl who had kept track of her
classmates by assigning them numbers since she could never remember their
names. And they all made fun of her
brains, when they weren’t ignoring her.
Who could forget the disastrous date with number fifty-seven?
Burke nipped at her ear, bringing her into the
present. Her throat tightened and she
felt warm all over.
“Look at me, Lexie.”
Under no circumstances could she let him know how pleased
she was that a man who could lie with nearly any woman he wanted would pick
her. “I can’t, you lummox. You’re lying on my hair.” She sniffed most righteously, hoping her desire
for him didn’t show. “Kindly let me
rise, good sir.”
He sat up and groaned, whether from a hangover or his injuries,
she couldn’t speculate. Nor did she have
a chance to inquire, for in the next moment his body covered her and he touched
her lips with his.
“Maybe you should find out just how good I really am.” His voice rumbled low and sensuous.
