Today’s interview is with jj Keller, author of Undercover Housewife and the Believe series. She shares with us how even fried chicken can be inspiring to a writer, the definition of the term “mud-luscious” and her next book, Love Hurts.
Bonus! Any reader who comments on this post will have his/her name entered in a contest to win a free copy of Undercover Housewife (eprint only).
LZ: How did you come up with the concept of Undercover Housewife?
jjK: Chicken! Uh-huh, fried chicken initiated the story. My husband wanted chicken from a small drive-through on the less-traveled side of town. As we waited in line, because their food is very popular, he pointed out an old school house. His police officer friends told him about the site becoming a club catering to different lifestyles. At the time, I was reading an article about a shipment of bad ecstasy imprinted with a single rose that came across from England. Undercover Housewife came from the combination.
Note: For details about Undercover Housewife, visit http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_30&products_id=200.
LZ: Your second Lyrical Press novel—Love Hurts—comes out later in 2010. Did you notice a change/growth in your writing in between books?
jjK: I hope I always change and grow with my writing. I want the words to have meaning and the story to be exciting for the reader. If I don’t touch them in some way, then I’m not writing very well. Love Hurts is a story of families and the difficulties of making choices. It is amazing how a decision can impact the rest of a person’s life.
Love Hurts is jam-packed with emotion. Shania Miller—nineteen, pregnant and without support from her family—takes a job with Companion Connections as a telephone call girl. Her deep-throated voice makes her very popular and soon she’s able to quit and go full-time to school. Her fiancée returns from being a POW and had forgotten all of their past. But his friend, Morgan Hardwick, offers Shania hope and remains by her side until he accepts an offer of marriage from another woman. Ready to move forward, Shania needs to decide if she should break her engagement and follow her heart, hoping Morgan will take her, love her, choose her.
Morgan had fallen in love with Shania the minute his Casanova roommate introduced them and promised to protect her while his friend went on deployment. His attraction to Shania became stronger the more time they spent together. Pregnant and without support, he keeps his vow and stays by her and her son’s side for the next three years. When she arrives at the church on his wedding day, he has a chance to act on his love, but does he?
LZ: What was the most memorable feedback—positive or negative—regarding your writing you’ve ever received?
jjK: All of the reviews are memorable in one way or another. Being nominated for The Romance Studio’s CAPA award (The Watcher) and just recently coming in third for LASR’s best book award (Trade Agreement) makes me feel as though I’m on the “write” track.
LZ: Because the lowercase j’s are in honor of ee cummings, do you have a favorite ee cummings’s poem?
jjK: Not really. I admired his audacity. He defied tradition and wrote in a less-than-perfect manner and about topics Robert Frost would never have attempted. Edward Estlin Cummings studied Latin and Greek (I like his poems regarding mythology). He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and I would imagine the structures were confining. More than likely, his poems were tossed out the window because he didn’t follow form. I applaud him. Even today, knowing I have ten published books, I fear not staying inside the lines. When I do try to deviate from the norm, I get roped back in with various comments, like, “People won’t understand” or “This is too confusing.” Hey, sometimes the general public wants something different.
LZ: According to your Web site, you hope that someday your work will be considered “mud-luscious” and “puddle-wonderful.” What does that mean?
jjK: I’m sure the phrases have different meanings depending on the person interpreting them. To me, I imagine a mud puddle and how it can describe your personality and affect your life. As a child, we weren’t the least bit intimidated by tromping through a spot of murky water. We enjoyed it and generally screamed with joy…despite the splatters of water on our skin and clothes or even those unfortunate people nearby.
As we grow and change, becoming restricted by the norms, we might expect someone to throw down a cloth to cover the puddle so we don’t get our beautiful red-soled shoes wet or we might jump over the puddle, thus avoiding the small tweak at the back of our inner child urging us to jump and play.
I hope to always listen to that inner child, to become known for breaking with tradition and expectations on narrative and characterization. I want the readers to be immersed in the mud-puddle of a story I’ve created and fully enjoy the beautiful pulsing lines. Hopefully, they will feel the wonderful splatters… even later after they’ve finished the tale.
LZ: What’s next for jj Keller?
jjK: I’m working on the final story, Shadow of the Hawk, for the Believe series.
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To purchase Undercover Housewife from its publisher, Lyrical Press, visit http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_30&products_id=200.
To purchase The Watcher, Believe and Melody’s Song from their publisher, Cobblestone Press, visit www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/author/jjkeller.htm.
For more info on jj Keller, visit www.jj-keller.com.
