Get to Know: Rachael Johns and Jilted

 Hi, Rachael and welcome to the PP. Let's Get to Know you!

How did you get from your day job to writing romance?  Hmm… good question. I was actually writing before any of the day jobs I’ve had. I started writing at 17 and since then have been a checkout supervisor, on-hold message writer, high school English teacher, library officer and now supermarket owner. Writing is my ‘other’ job J

What are your three favorite books of all time? Geez, you gals ask the tough questions. But I’ll give it a shot.

1. I Have A Bed Made Of Buttermilk Pancakes – by Jaclyn Moriarty
2. Faking It – by Jennifer Crusie
3. The Magnate’s Indecent Proposal – by Ally Blake

Morning, afternoon, or evening person?  I think I’ll have to go with evening, cos naturally that’s when I’m at my best. However three young kids who get up before the sun and a hubby who gets up at the same time to go to work, have forced me to change my ‘best’.

Music--with or without? What kind? If we’re talking while writing, I never listen to music when I’m at the keyboard. Unless of course you count the three year old’s Playschool or Wiggles in the background. J I just find I’m better when the only voice I can hear is my own. But in theory, I LOVE the idea of having a soundtrack for each novel that gets me in the mood.

First or third POV?  I write in third person pov and mostly prefer to read it too. Although when first person is done well, I do really like it!

How's tricks? Do you juggle multiple projects?  As in housework, kids, shop work and writing? I wish I had an answer. Mostly I just try to do a hundred jobs at the same time and usually don’t end up doing a very good job at anything. There is ALWAYS washing on my kitchen table and dishes in the sink.

What's harder: beginning, middle, or the end?  I LOVE beginnings. If I could write beginnings and pay someone else to finish them, I would!! But as to what’s harder, that’s a tough question for me. I think I’m getting better at middles – just try to keep lots of plates spinning so it doesn’t get boring – but I would love a 101 course on endings. Anyone know of one??

Revisions: Love 'em or hate 'em?   I hate them while I’m doing them, love them when they’re finished because they usually make the book MUCH better.

How did you come up with that title?  Best advice anybody ever gave you?  The title of my first book changed a ZILLION times before it got its final one, which I offered to Carina Press with a long list of others. So I guess the editors liked ONE PERFECT NIGHT best. I was lucky with my latest release to keep the title I subbed – JILTED. When I first had this idea, it was going to be a category romance and I titled it suitably – RETURN OF THE RUNAWAY BRIDE – but when it transformed to a ST, I gave it a new name. JILTED was a word one of the characters used when I was writing and I just suddenly knew THAT was it!

Fill in this blank: My ideal fictional hero would think me gorgeous no matter… if my legs were hairy. It’s not that I LIKE hairy legs but making the time to go get them waxed is a pain in the butt!

What's your favorite dessert?  Home-made Apple Pie with ice-cream

Do you write at home or someplace else?  At home, in a corner of our VERY tiny house.

What's your favorite type of hero/heroine and why?  I love a hero who’s a little bit alpha, a little bit grumpy (but has good reason to be) and yet has a heart of gold. Good-looking and good in bed OF COURSE!
 

Here's an excerpt from JILTED – MIRA, Australia June 2012

She left him at the altar, but her heart was always his...

After more than ten years away, Australian soap star Ellie Hughes returns to the small country town of Hope Junction, determined to remain anonymous while caring for her injured godmother, Matilda.

But word spreads fast in the tight-knit community. It isn’t long before the people of Hope’s are gossiping about the real reason for Ellie’s visit and why she broke the heart of golden boy Flynn Quartermaine all those years ago.

Soon Ellie and Flynn are thrown back together again, forced to deal with the unresolved emotions between them. For Ellie is not the only one with secrets. Flynn has his own demons to battle, and Matilda is hiding something from her much-loved goddaughter.

When all is uncovered, can the ill-fated lovers overcome the wounds of their past? Or is Flynn destined to be jilted again?

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