So today I thought an author interview would be fun!! Stay till the end for an excerpt and buy links!
Jean grant recently came out with a new book a hundred breaths (a prequel to a hundred kisses.) I just finished it and will be reviewing it next week! She also has a couple more books coming out this year. If you can believe it she’s one of the few(maybe only lol) authors I’ve actually met!anyway who’s excited to learn a little more about her and her newest book/books??
Heres her author blurb.
Bio:
Jean’s background is in science and she draws from her interests in history, nature, and her family for inspiration. She writes historical and contemporary romances and women’s fiction. She also writes articles for family-oriented travel magazines. When she’s not writing or chasing children, she enjoys tending to her flower gardens, hiking, and doing just about anything in the outdoors.
Social Media links:
Hi Jean thanks so much for agreeing to this interview!!
Let’s get right to the questions!!
When did you realize you wanted to be an author?
I started writing as a young girl, with poetry. My mother was a poet and artist, and I was drawn to both. I, however, ended up following my dream of science in college and in my early career. I always kept writing though and honed my craft and knowledge over many years. The passion to get word on paper, to write a story (usually with a Happy Ever After), was always there and grew stronger in my adult years. I appreciate stories of hope, healing, redemption, and the emotional journey. After writing a few practice novels, more honing, and learning the business end of it, my first book released with The Wild Rose Press in 2017. I decided to take the leap and write full time in 2018. I’ve not looked back. And I have 3 books coming out this spring!
What inspired you to write both of the “hundred” books?
The first book, A Hundred Kisses, was set to be a standalone book. I had been writing in medieval Scotland for a while. A chat with an agent encouraged me to dig deeper with my story and freshen it with some twists, and from that sprang my paranormal element. I greatly enjoyed the mystical isles people and their “gifts.” Hence, the prequel and soon-to-be trilogy was born.
Is there a particular reason you wrote a A Hundred Kisses, then a prequel?
Disclaimer – I am writing the sequel, which will be the third book in the trilogy. There was just something that grabbed me with Deirdre’s parents’ (Gwyn and Simon) story. There was this gruff laird who has a daughter with a mystical ability as a Feeler to sense peoples’ lifebloods, or auras, and I wondered, “What’s his deal? Why is he so grumpy?” Also, we learn very early in A Hundred Kisses that Deirdre’s’ mother passed away when she was young and that she was also a “Healer.” And, there are mystical Silver Folk/Ancients of the isles that have all since disappeared. They needed their story told.
I did more digging and learned about the Norse influence upon the western isles and in fact, in 1263, there was a KEY battle to end all battles of Norse encroachment. That lure, Gwyn and Simon’s story and the Norse culture itself, all drew me into writing the prequel. I was excited to tell this story. Never fear, I am writing a story now about Deirdre and Alasdair’s son, Domhnall. His story will be the focus of the final book in the series. He is a Seer, and let’s just say his visions are not always correct and he is also plagued with this “gift.” Plus he falls in love with an English “fortuneteller”…who may or may not be the real deal.
Was coming up with all the names hard?
Naming is a persnickety thing. I am usually not too attached to a name and the way they randomly come to me is funny. I have a thick book on names across cultures from Gaelic to Maori, including contemporary top ten lists. It’s a great stepping stone for naming. I do name a few characters after people who have influenced me, and then I make sure to mix it up, so not everyone has a name that sounds similar or starts with the same letter. I did name two characters after a nearby town (Peter and Sham = Petersham). My sons’ names creep into both books (I mean, I had, to right? LOL It helps that one of them has a Scottish name). I have many books on Scotland, Norse culture, and clan names. Though finding maps of 13th century Scotland is tough, with enough research, I found information on clans, locations, septs, history, etc.
Did you visit any of the places mentioned in the books?
Yes! I love research and travel and I will travel to most of the locales in my books. I use what I know to flesh out the setting and make it as real and vivid as possible. My Scotland trip was a soggy one, but filled with memories. We traveled in the lowlands, Highlands, northwest coast, and across Skye. I hope to finally make it to the big isles west, such as Uist, Lewis, or Harris, on a future trip. We kayaked on lochs, hiked up crags, visited many (and slept in one haunted) castles, toured the lowland abbeys, drove on one-lane roads to lighthouses and hostels, and observed a Highland game.
Got a fav pic you want to share?
Of course!
Now a couple questions about you.
What is your favorite part of writing the book?
I am a plotter and do extensive outlining and character development beforehand. Then, as I write, my characters “lead” me on this amazing journey. I love when either they surprise me or we come up with some plot/foreshadowing/ah-ha moment or element…and I am giddy with a wow moment. Authors talk about their characters “taking over” and they surely do! Each chapter is a fun accomplishment, and of course the HEA makes me go ahhh at the end…what a journey! Of course, when my editor says “yes” and then when I get to see my cover art…I am completely fulfilled.
What do you love to do when you aren’t writing?
I enjoy reading but with so much writing, it falls by the wayside sometimes. I love to flower garden. I have several perennial flower gardens chockful of spring, summer, and fall flowers: daisies, day lilies, phlox, catmint, eunonymous, to just name a few. I also winter some tropical flowers (hibiscus and mandevilla) and look forward to putting them outside in the spring. I kind of talk to my flowers…they are my happy place. I look forward to seeing the lupine in New Hampshire each June, too, though they don’t like to grow in my soil. I also have a gigantic raspberry bush that gives fruit through November. I love hiking and travel and will visit as many national parks and natural wonders as possible. My husband and I like to conquer mountains, too.
Do you have a favorite show?
I am a bit of a TV junkie (plus it’s fun to psychoanalyze characters and plots). LOST, X-Files, and The Walking Dead fulfill my darker/apocalypse liking. I am pleased with how Outlander is playing out. I enjoyed Downton Abbey, Shetland, and Sherlock on BBC. Rock the Park is a great little travel show on Saturday mornings. We watch a lot of The Weather Channel here due to my son’s interest. I am not big on reality shows though. I’ve also done my fair share of watching CSI and Law and Order type shows. The Big Bang and The Office are also awesome shows.
Favorite thing to read?
All of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books/novellas. I do enjoy women’s fiction, too, such as Kristin Hannah, Jodi Picoult, and Jessica Brockmole. I read a good deal of romance across the board (usually supporting fellow The Wild Rose Press authors), and will dabble in mystery/suspense/thriller including Dean Koontz and Stephen King. I love to peruse a good travel magazine, too.
Blurb:
Healing his heart…with her last breath.
1263, Scotland
Simon MacCoinneach’s vengeance runs deep. The blade is the only way to end the blood-thirsty Nordmen’s reign upon Scottish soil. His soul might be lost, but the mystical Healer he kidnaps from the isles could be the answer for his ailing mother…and his heart.
Isles-born Gwyn reluctantly agrees to a marriage alliance with this heathen Scot in return for the sanctuary of her younger brother from her abusive Norse father. Her brother’s condition is beyond the scope of her Ancient power, for larger healings steal breaths of life from her own body.
As Simon and Gwyn fight to outwit her madman father and a resentful Norse betrothed, Gwyn softens Simon’s heart with each merciful touch. Gwyn’s Seer sister foresees a bloody battle—and an end to the Nordmen—but Simon will also die. Will Gwyn save Simon on the battlefield even if it means losing her last breath?
Excerpt:
“I’m your wife, and still I am guarded?”
Simon shrugged though she couldn’t see. He’d given up on excuses. “What must I do to prove I won’t flee? I signed your marriage contract. I said my vows.” Her voice broke on those words.
Was she crying? He laid the tray of food on her table and approached. He didn’t touch her, as much as he wanted to link his arm within hers as they’d done during their walks. He reached inside his ganache and withdrew her small, simple dagger. Unadorned with jewels or carvings, it possessed a bone hilt and a blade worn from use. Likely from tree limbs, flowers, and household use. His smith had sharpened it and cleaned the hilt.
“Here,” he said, placing it in her lap. Gildy had retrieved the sheath from Gwyn’s laundered gown.
Gwyn stared at it, her fingertips dancing butterfly wings hovering over the hilt. After a moment, she drew her hand around it and pulled it from its leather sheath. She rose and whirled on him, the dagger pointed out before her, barely pressing into his chest.
He didn’t retreat as he met her fiery, misty gaze.
She made no move to remove the dagger’s tip.
“A smidge to the center, Gwyn, and you’ll be square over my blackened heart.” He held her glower. The heat blazed in her entrancing blue eyes like the devil. He fought a smile.
Buy links:
iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-hundred-breaths/id1449022252?mt=11
Thanks for hosting me again, Alecia! Loving your website!
I love having you!!! Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!!