Welcome, Ms. Moore, to Love Romances and More. I look forward to chatting with you about your books and your life as a writer. Please tell us a little about yourself and what you find relaxing when not writing. 

Thank you for having me, Dawn.  I love writing, it’s my passion.  Creating work that others can enjoy is a great blessing.  I’m married, a mother of two grown children, and I live in a rural area of South Central Texas.  I’ve spent the last 15 years in education, but I plan to make writing my full time career in the near future.  What do I finda relaxing when I’m not working?  I enjoy hiking, particularly in the beautiful autumn time here in my home in Texas.  I receive a great deal of joy strolling along the shore, as the sea is my favorite place in the world.  I enjoy drumming and singing with my circle sisters, a great group of women who enliven my life.  I enjoy baking and embroidery in the winter, when I feel most domestic.  And I love to read!

Why did you become a writer?  Was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?

I began writing very young, creating stories and picture books.  I still have these, and I marvel at the effort I put into them.  But writing as a career seemed an impossibility to me until later in my life.  My first book was published when I was 47 years old.  George Eliot once said, “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”  I took that quote to heart, and I ran with it.  I became a writer because it was the call of my heart to true authenticity.     

What do you love about being an author? Is there anything you dislike?

I love that I’m able to share what I have within me with readers.  That is a blessing and responsibility, to deliver the best book I can create to those who are reading.  I really don’t dislike anything about it! 

How do you balance your personal and writing time?

This is harder now, as my family responsibilities have increased in recent months.  Family comes first for me, before all else.  But I continue to write, fitting my work time where it won’t impede on the primary needs of family.  That’s where the balancing act begins.  Balance doesn’t always mean making all things equal.  Sometime it means doing what needs to be done in the way that works best for all, while maintaining personal time to keep the creative water well filled.          

How do you write? Do your characters come to you first or the plot or the world of the story?

Almost always, I begin with a character, usually the main female protagonist.  The world of plot and story and theme evolves from her energy and spirit.  It’s a wild ride!  

What genre(s) do you write? Why do you write the stories that you write?  

I’ve written two paranormal romantic mysteries, but I also write mainstream and women’s fiction.  I write the stories I do because they come from my heart and I want to share them with others.  That probably sounds corny to some, but that’s the main reason I create anything.     

Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination? 

A bit of both.  I may insert things I’ve seen or noticed in other people into a character’s habits, speech patterns, or appearance.  I’m always seeking, observing, taking in the richness of those around me.  This can’t help but pop up in my work!  But my imagination is a huge part of my characters, as they take the stage in my mind and show me who they are.   

Out of all the characters that you've written, who is your favorite and why? 

I would have to say Selene, the main heroine in THREE OF SWORDS.  She is the closest to my inner self that I’ve created, and being with her all those months in writing was like seeing me on the pages.  I learned a lot about myself from her, and she taught me some things I needed to know.  She is very special to me.  I also love Sarabeth, the sister’s housekeeper.  What a wise woman she is!  Izzy, Selene’s younger sister and the heroine of the sequel, SEVEN OF CUPS, is a character that I didn’t feel I knew well when I first began planning her story.  Yet she blossomed like a rose throughout the book process.  She’s a firebrand, with such courage.  Gotta love her.

What would you want readers to take away from your books? 

The theme of both books is to embrace and live who you are, without fear or exception.  I’d feel most blessed if readers felt encouraged to do the same after reading THREE OF SWORDS and SEVEN OF CUPS.  

Do you have any advice for beginning writers in regards to writing a book? 

The biggest piece of advice I’d give is to find a local writer’s group.  I did, early on in my career, and being a part of them helped me beyond telling.  RWA and EPIC offer online and real–time connections for writers.  I’m a member of both organizations. 

What are you reading right now?

Right now, I’m reading The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King.  I think I have about five books going at the same time…a Dresden Files book, a re–reading of The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood, Goddesses in Older Women: Archetypes in Women Over Fifty, and Ariadne’s Thread.  I like to keep a lot of pans in the fire, reading–wise.  J  

If you could be anyone or anything that you wanted, who or what would you be? 

I’d really rather just be me.  I’m finally good at being that, at my age.

You created the series based on tarot cards, MAGICAL MYSTERIOUS SISTERS. Can you tell us the inspiration behind this series and how many books you are planning? 

The inspiration for the series was the themes and meanings in the Tarot cards themselves.  Three of Swords holds the meaning of despair, loss, and separation, but also a threshold to a new beginning.  This was the inspiration to the challenges Selene faces.  She finds she has to embrace who she is in totality before she can act to save those she loves most deeply.  Seven of Cups is a card of illusions and dreams, of having many apparent choices but only one is the genuine choice.  Izzy has to face her misconceptions about herself before she can have any chance at happiness with her hero.  She has to find the courage to choose for love.  I’m hoping to write a third installment of the series, featuring the sister’s friend, Janell Wilson, and Finnian, an important character from the second book.   

In THREE OF SWORDS, your latest release from Wild Rose Press, you introduce Selena McPherson. She is a strong witch yet she doesn’t like magic. Is there a little of your personality in her? Is she based on anyone you know? 

Selene is very much like me!  I can relate to her feelings of wanting to “fit in”, to overcome the views of others and be seen as she wants to present herself.  And yet, in Selene’s desire to please others, she lost a part of herself.  She’s a witch who tries to ignore that she is one, in a desire to be seen as “normal” to the townspeople; not like her Grandmother, who was a fierce and wise witch to the day she died and didn’t have a drop of hesitation about it.  Selene learns that she has to embrace all sides of herself in order to be free and true.  I have been there, done that, in my life.  It was great creating a character to illustrate this journey.        

Can we get a glimpse into any future projects? How many WIP’s can you work on at one time? 

I tend to work on one WIP at a time, since I practically inhabit the character’s heads for the duration.  I do have a mainstream/women’s fiction novel started that is very close to my heart.  I hope readers will love it as much as I do. 

What is the biggest misconception about being an author? 

That we are all getting rich.  J  Maybe some of us are, but the rest of us are still working our day jobs.  Yet we keep writing, because we love it and can’t imagine living without it.  It’s part of who we are.    

When did you first decide you wanted to be an author? 

About seven years ago.  I realized that I was 42 years old and time was passing.  I asked myself, “If not now, when?”  I decided to throw caution to the wind and jump into the rapids.  I’m glad I did. 

Do you have any special rituals to help you get in the mood to write? 

I have to have quiet, dark, and the door closed.  Once I have that, I’m good to go. 

How do you decide what to name your books or the characters? 

This is going to sound weird, but I imagine the characters in my mind and literally ask them what their name is.  And they tell me.  I told a friend about this once, and he said, “You know, they have medication for that.”  LOL  No thanks, I don’t want to be cured!  J  As to the name of the book, that often comes to me right from the start, once I choose the theme of the novel.  The theme is the root of everything for me.     

Do you have any bad writing habits? 

Yes.  Laziness, the “I’ll work on that tomorrow” syndrome.  I make sure to chastise myself for it!  

You find yourself stranded on a desert island, what things could you not survive without? 

Books.  Diet Vanilla Pepsi and ice.  A radio that can pick up music.  And preferably some pizza.  J  Seriously, if I were stranded on a desert island, I’d be spending 24 hours a day planning how to get off! 

Has being published changed you at all?  

I don’t think it has.  If anything, it’s made me more determined to keep offering the stories within me to the best of my ability, and to keep improving with each creation.

What makes a great book to you? 

A book is great if I feel deep emotion about it and it stays with me long after I’ve read it.  The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is an example.  I still sense its presence, weeks after I finished it.  I like that.   

Do you have any indulgent behaviors one might find surprising?  

If I want to be really nice to myself, I go to my local Sonic drive–in, have a Diet Vanilla Dr. Pepper, and read in privacy.  I may even have some Tater Tots.  Ooo, decadence!  J   

For Fun: Soothing bubble baths or hot showers?  

This is Texas.  Hot anything is reserved only for our sadly short winters!  But I’d choose a bubble bath to relax, a shower to hurry up and get going on my day.   

Where can readers contact you? Do you have a website they can visit to find the latest news, reviews, etc? 

Readers can contact me at my email, jkmoorebooks@aol.com.  I have an author’s news blog at www.joannakmoore.blogspot.com, and I have a fun author’s MySpace at www.myspace.com/joannakmoore.  I’m also part of the Wild Rose Press blog, along with my fellow Roses! 

Thank you, Ms. Moore, for chatting with me and Love Romances and More. I look forward to reading more of your work. 

Thank you, Dawn, for this opportunity.  THREE OF SWORDS is available NOW on sale at www.thewildrosepress.com.  The sequel, SEVEN OF CUPS, will be on sale at The Wild Rose Press on August 31, 2007.  I hope readers will seek out both books and get into the world of the Magical Mysterious Sisters!