After spending 16 years working on her first novel, Brooklyn, New York native Jackie Kessler (www.jackiekessler.com) finally moved on. A second failed attempt at getting published eventually led her to try something different -- chick lit with a magical twist -- and her successful Hell on Earth series was born. Blending her snarky tone with humor and scorching sex appeal, Hell’s Belles, the first book in the series, introduced readers to 4,000-year-old former succubus turned erotic dancer Jezebel, who is on the run from Hell. Since then, Kessler has continued the story in The Road to Hell and the recently released Eternal Lover anthology. Book 3, Hotter Than Hell (due out in late July), will be told from the incubus Daunuan’s point-of-view.

Balancing motherhood with writing about nefarious demonic forces, Kessler not only has plenty of ideas for continuing the Hell on Earth series, but she also looks forward to the day she sells that recently revised first novel.

Kessler spoke with MediaBlvd Magazine about getting published, hearing from fans and never letting rejections bring you down.

MediaBlvd Magazine> How long have you been writing? Have you had any formal training, or have you just learned by doing it?

Jackie Kessler> I’ve been writing for about 19 years now, but I didn’t get serious about my writing until 2004. I wrote and rewrote this one book, again and again. Over the course of about 16 years, I rewrote it 10 times. I couldn’t ever get it right, and I couldn’t walk away from it, and it never occurred to me to write something else. I had to write this one book. It was my Great American Novel.

And wow, was it bad. I found the original version, from 1994, and read it. The plot didn’t kick-start until page 212. And that’s being kind. It was horrible. If I ever become a brand name, best-selling author, this is the kind of thing that would sell on eBay for a hell of a lot of money because it’s so bad.

I took a few creative writing classes in college, and I joined a few writing groups after I graduated. But, along with practicing the creative end, I got a lot of practical experience on the editorial end of things, thanks to my day job. I started as an editorial assistant at one consulting firm, working on an internal magazine. Then, I joined another consulting company, where I went from associate editor to senior editor of its external business management journal. And, I’m still there today.

In my day job, a good chunk of what I do is act as copy chief, where I oversee copy editing, consistency, style, fact-checking and proofreading. I work closely with designers once the articles go into layout. It’s all very good experience Being a copy chief for many years made me very comfortable playing with words. So when I do work on my fiction very late at night, on very little sleep, I tend to write a very clean first draft. I usually don’t go back and forth revising, two, three or four times, to finally get it right. My editing work has really been very, very helpful, and I can honestly say I wouldn’t be where I am, as a novelist, if I didn’t have an editorial background.

MediaBlvd> What was that first book that you wrote about?

Jackie> That first book was not Hell’s Belles. It was a contemporary fantasy that, sadly, died a lingering death. In 2005, it finally occurred to me that, after more than 100 rejections from agents, the book wasn’t going anywhere. So I tried something completely different, and I wrote a chick-lit novel. I went from 16 years to doing it in five months. My timing got better, which is very good. And I thought it was ready for primetime, so I sent it out, and only got about 40 rejections, a lot of which offered good feedback. Pretty much all of them liked the voice that I used. They liked the first person narrator, they liked the snarky tone and they liked the humor. I never knew I was a humorous writer, but I guess I am.

So, I had these two failed books, and no idea what to do next. I did a lot of research as I was writing the second book, and one of the things that I read a lot were articles on Media Bistro, especially the editorial interviews. In June 2005, I read this one interview with an editor, and she was just talking about the editorial board and how, at her last meeting, one of her colleagues said that magical chick-lit was going to be the next big thing. And that just struck a chord with me. My background was in fantasy, and I love all things fantasy, and apparently I had a good chick-lit voice. So, I thought, “God dammit, I can do magical chick-lit!” All I needed was an idea.

MediaBlvd> So how did Hell’s Belles happen?

Jackie> Hell’s Belles actually sprang from a short story that I wrote and got published, called “Giving the Devil his To Do’s.” It was really a conversation between a stressed out mother of two, who gets very little sleep, and a demon, who hates his new job. From there, that sprung into Hell’s Belles, and I wrote the book in two months. I took a week off to do the business end of it, to come up with a query letter, write a synopsis, and come up with a list of agents to query. And then I went back and did my revisions, which took about a week.

The day before I was going to send out my query letter to agents, I was looking in Publisher’s Marketplace for the latest deals, and I saw that there was this one book, written by Richelle Mead, called Succubus Blues, about a modern-day succubus who prefers her average life to that of magic and mythology. And I started to cry, because she wrote my book before I did.

I was inconsolable, and I cursed this woman who I had never met before, and I cursed my life, and I hated everything. And then, after 90 minutes, I said, “Oh, fuck it!” I queried anyway, and three weeks later, I had five offers of representation. It took me a week to make a selection, and then I had an agent. And a week after my agent submitted the book, we had a pre-emptive offer for a three-book deal. And the rest is history.

Since then, I introduced myself to Richelle. It turned out that we have the same publisher and editor. And, after a little bit of time, we became really good friends. She’s a fabulous person, and I love her books. It’s funny how we had a similar idea about a modern-day succubus who has a lot of personal issues going on, but did something completely different. We just happened to both write about a succubus. There were some similarities in there, and we don’t understand how they happened. We must have the same muse, or something like that. We both have characters named Roman that play an important role. We both have succubus characters who like to dance. There is a lot of stuff in there that is amazing because we hit certain things in a similar way, but they’re both completely different stories. Needless to say, we were both very relieved about that.

MediaBlvd> How has it been to find that support in another writer?

Jackie> One of the things I’m learning is that pretty much every author I’ve met is really fabulous. I used to think authors were untouchable, and that they’re private and they don’t share, and that you don’t talk about your stuff because people will steal it. No. People really are very happy to share. They’re very supportive. I firmly believe in what is the Backspace creed. Backspace is one of the best online writer groups that I’ve found, and the whole idea of Backspace is that writers support writers. And that’s what I’m finding. Writers do help each other. We share our experiences, and we tell each other what’s worked and what hasn’t worked for us, and we offer advice when it’s asked for. It’s terrific. I’m thrilled to find this whole community, not just at Backspace, but with pretty much every author I’ve met. It’s this whole community of people that are very encouraging and supportive. It made what could be an overwhelming process quite bearable.

MediaBlvd> What can a new reader expect from your Hell on Earth series?

Jackie> The first book, Hell’s Belles, is about sex, strippers and demons. What’s not to like? It’s about a succubus, named Jezebel, who runs away from Hell and hides on Earth as an exotic dancer, and learns the hard way about true love. I’m finding that there are two things that are really striking a chord with readers. One is that Jezebel is a sexual creature, and it wouldn’t occur to her to be embarrassed about that. There are a lot of good-girl-hooker-type characters out there, where someone is a sexual character but in her heart she’s really a good girl who is waiting for the right man and is only doing what she has to do to survive. Jezebel is not that. Jezebel is a sexual creature, and enjoys being who she is.

Then she falls in love, and has to reconcile this weird emotion that she’s never had to deal with before, and really move from a creature of lust to a woman who loves. And there are some complications that arise with that, like being monogamous. There’s also a plot going on, where she’s on the run from Hell and there are big, bad things coming after her.

The second thing that is striking a chord, from what people are telling me, is what I do with the mythology of Hell, which I have to admit was a lot of fun. Because I’ve got a fantasy background, I drew a map. You have to have a map. In case you were wondering, Hell looks a little bit like the island of Manhattan. So, I had a lot of fun coming up with Hell and the role that the seven sins play.

There’s a lot more of what’s happening in Hell in the second book. There’s an overall series arc for Hell on Earth. Jezebel is the main character in the overall series, but there are a couple of one-shot books, where she’s not the main character. The first of those is actually the third book in the series, Hotter Than Hell (due out in July), which is the incubus Daunuan’s book. The Road to Hell is more about Jezebel, the former succubus, who is really trying to live her life as a non-succubus, and Hell keeps coming back for her. There’s also the complication that her lover, Paul, doesn’t know that she used to be a succubus. When you have a hell of a past, it comes back to bite you on the ass.

It’s a lot of fun to write, and everything that’s happening with Hell is very interesting. There’s a lot going on, and it’s all coming to a head in the next couple of books.

MediaBlvd> Was it easier for you to write The Road to Hell, since you already knew the character and the world?

Jackie> I was actually really nervous writing The Road to Hell because it was the first time I had to write a book under contract, as opposed to writing a book because I really wanted to tell the story. I wanted to tell the story, but there was all this additional pressure. And when I was done with it, I just had no way of knowing if it was good. The way that my editor works, he needs a chapter outline before he takes a manuscript, so I suddenly had to not only think the whole book through before I wrote it, but I had to actually come up with a chapter outline before I wrote it.

At first, I thought it was proof that my editor was the devil. But what I’ve actually come to find is that it’s a very, very useful tool. The Road to Hell definitely would not have been the book that it is, if I didn’t have it mapped out.

That doesn’t mean there’s no room for creativity. I’ve found that by doing an outline, I’m actually both a plotter and a pantser. Just because I have one paragraph on things that are going to happen in the chapter, that doesn’t tell me how those things necessarily happen. There were some things in The Road to Hell that were a surprise to me, that I had no idea about until they actually started happening. I was like, “Wow, okay. I guess, somewhere in my subconscious, I knew this was what was going to happen, but damn!”

Once I got used to thinking it through ahead of time, now I like to do it that way. That’s what I did with Hotter Than Hell, and I’m really, really looking forward to that one coming out. I’m convinced Hotter Than Hell is the best thing I’ve ever written. I am happy that I’m stretching, as an author. I feel that I’m getting better with every book, and I’m excited by that.

MediaBlvd> Was it a conscious decision to switch point-of-view for Hotter Than Hell and do a book with another character’s voice, or did someone suggest that to you?

Jackie> Nope, that was my idea all along. I knew it was going to be Daun’s story. And to keep consistent with it being first person point-of-view for the series, I wanted to at least give it a try as first-person point-of-view. If it didn’t work, I would have gone to close third person.

But, oh man, it worked. It was definitely stretching outside of my comfort zone, which I discovered I like doing. It was very exciting. And I’m toying with the next Jezebel book, which is tentatively called Hell Bound. I’m tempted to go back and forth with first person for Jezebel, and possibly doing third person for Paul. I don’t know yet. It’s a pivotal book for Jezebel: she makes decisions in it that will impact the rest of the series.

MediaBlvd> Did you find it easy to write in first person for a male character?

Jackie> I didn’t know if I could do it until I did. And I really, really felt the character. I’ve been told that Daun comes across as a guy, not like a girl writing a guy, which is great.

MediaBlvd> Was there a specific inspiration for Jezebel?

Jackie> If Jezebel were Jewish, and if I were a demon, I think she’d be me. People who I’ve known for many years have said that they absolutely hear my voice in her. I’ve also had one person say, “I had no idea you wrote it. It sounds nothing like you.”

When I first sat down to write Hell’s Belles, I was tempted to have the story be in Caitlin’s point-of-view. Caitlin is the witch who turns Jezebel into a human, in chapter one of Hell’s Belles. When I sat down at my computer, it occurred to me that I didn’t know how to show a demon’s point-of-view. And then I decided to just show it. That was the last time I thought about doing it from Caitlin’s point-of-view. From that point on, it was Jezebel’s story.

MediaBlvd> Did Jezebel’s sassiness and bluntness come from you, or did that evolve from the character?

Jackie> Jezebel is a demon, and so she curses a lot. There’s nothing inhibiting her from that. And as for me, I curse like a truck driver. I don’t do that so much anymore, since I’m a parent. I really had to school myself to stop cursing as much as I did. One time, before I had kids, I was at the office, helping to do a mailing. The woman who was doing it for me was stuffing envelopes, and I was helping her stuff them. I got a paper cut and it hurt, but I kept on stuffing. And then I got a paper cut on top of my paper cut, and I just belted out, “Motherfucker!,” totally forgetting that I was in a professional environment.  My friend turned and looked at me and said, “Jackie, I didn’t even know that you knew what that word meant!” Apparently, when you’re five feet tall and you look kind of cute, people are shocked when you curse.

So Jezebel being uninhibited, in terms of her language, is partly me and partly her character. There are some words that she doesn’t use because I don’t use them. There are other words that I simply don’t like using and, therefore, Jezebel or Daun won’t use them, because I do have some say in that. But in terms of Jezebel being outspoken in other things, and the whole thing about Jezebel being a very sexual character, is really not me. I guess I’m living vicariously through her. I’m a prude when it comes to a lot of that stuff. I don’t know if it’s wish fulfillment. I don’t know what it is. But it’s fun.

I was concerned, at one point, about possibly being offensive to readers, with certain things, like Jezebel’s brazen sexiness, with her language, and what I do with the mythology of Hell and Creation. I was concerned that it might be controversial. But then, I decided that I was not going to self-censor, because all that would do is stop me from telling the story. And if there were any concerns, that’s why I have an editor. I got a great piece of advice from Martha O’Connor, who wrote a fabulous book called The Bitch Posse, which is one of the best books that I’ve read in recent times. Her advice was to write like no one’s watching. I really try to abide by that when I’m writing. I have to be true to the story -- at least when I’m getting the rough draft down.

MediaBlvd> You write about various different types of demons, beings and creatures. Did you do any research into any of that, or do you prefer to just work entirely from your imagination?

Jackie> Nope, I did a lot of research on demonology, certainly in terms of other mythological characters, and different Hell myths and stories. I’ve got a number of references in there to Dante’s Inferno. There is a lot of Paradise Lost in there, as well. And I looked into some Jewish philosophy of the afterlife, and some Christian mythology. Really, what I tried to do was pick the things that resonated with me, and used those, and then bluntly made up everything else to fill in the gaps.

What I do with the Devil being separate from Lucifer is a big deal in the story. I’ve had a couple of readers say, “Well, why isn’t Lucifer the Devil?” Well, in my world for Hell on Earth, they are two completely different characters. I had a lot of fun writing Lucifer. I feel bad for him. I don’t know what it says about me, as a person, that I feel bad for Lucifer.

Just like I researched strippers and strip clubs and strip club etiquette, I also did what research I could for demons and Hell, without going to the extreme of actually trying to summon a demon or go to Hell myself. I’m only willing to do so much for my art. I will go to strip clubs, but will not perform any sort of black magic rite.

MediaBlvd> Had you always intended to have Jezebel be a stripper? Had you considered any other occupations for her?

Jackie Kessler at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention Book Fair held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston, Texas on April 28, 2007.

Okay, funny story about prostitutes. When I was four or five years old, I went with my dad to the office. He was an assistant district attorney, and on that particular day he had to go to the police station. I was with him, in tow, and we passed by the holding tank. There were a couple of ladies of the evening there. Little-girl-me said, in my loud voice, “Daddy, is she a hooker?” And my dad said, “Yes,” because she was. And I said, “But she’s too ugly to be a hooker.” And apparently, the other lovely women of the night thought that was uproariously funny. Maybe  Jezebel really does get her outspokenness from the little girl in me that never grew up.

MediaBlvd> Have you given any thought to possible novellas about any of the other characters, besides Daun, since more of them could definitely have their own story?

Jackie> Hopefully, Caitlin will have her own book, and the Fury Megaera will have her own book. For a while, I was playing with Angel getting her own book, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. We have to see where Angel goes.

MediaBlvd> Can you talk about your novella in the Eternal Lover anthology?

Jackie> It’s called “A Hell of a Time,” and it takes place after the events of The Road to Hell. So Paul knows a little bit more about Jezebel than he did at the start of The Road to Hell. She and Paul just want a weekend away, to get away from all the supernatural shit that has been following her around. They just want to have a nice, romantic weekend in the Catskills. That’s her goal. She was not planning on something trying to kill her, while she’s there. So you’ve got this weekend where she and Paul are just trying to have an intimate moment, and she’s trying to hide the fact that the plant life is trying to strangle her. It’s a light-hearted, fun little story that also includes murder and mayhem. I knew I wanted to get Paul and Jezebel out of New York City, so a retreat to the mountains seemed like fun. And that meant there had to be something evil lurking there.

I actually wrote an outline for a different novella for Jezebel, which would have been a prequel to Hell’s Belles. But that got turned down by my editor, because the Eternal Lover anthology for Kensington was paranormal romance, and the outline that I turned in was too much of a dark fantasy. So I’m saving that one, because I think it’s going to be a hell of a story. I’m just waiting for a possible market for that.

MediaBlvd> And you’re also going to have a story in a Lilith anthology?

Jackie>  It’s called “When Hell Comes Calling,” and it will be in the Lilith Unbound anthology, edited by Elaine Cunningham. There’s been a bit of a delay from the publisher, so I’m not sure when it will be available. My story is about how Lilith (spelled differently than I do in the rest of the Hell series, for consistency’s sake with the rest of the anthology) became the first mortal demon. Lucifer, Michael and Adam all play important roles in the story. I had a blast writing it. And I solve the question of how there can be Creationism and Darwinism. Sort of.

MediaBlvd> How important are the names of characters for you? Do they hold any special meaning, or do you select them randomly?

Jackie> The name “Jezebel” just came to me. I knew I was writing about a succubus, and her name was Jezebel. It came with the fully formed package. I picked “Paul” specifically because of the Biblical reference to the apostle Paul. “Daunuan” is because of Don Juan. “Lucifer” is Lucifer. I messed around with the spelling of “Lillith” because I’ve decided that demons don’t have to abide by the standard spelling.

There are a couple other demons that I mention, and I plucked those out of demonology. In Hotter Than Hell, there is the character Belzebul, which is Beelzebub, but an alternative spelling. So I never really quite just pluck them out of the air. Some of the strippers in Hell’s Belles are named after people that I know, just to have some fun. Caitlin is named after one of my writer friends, who actually coined the term “flesh puppets,” so I had to name a character after her.                                              

MediaBlvd> How has Jezebel grown and changed as a character, since the first book, and what are the things that she’s finding most difficult to adjust to, as a mortal?

Jackie> The big change is that she has to adjust to really being mortal and forget about her demon ways. Things that came naturally to her, she has to pretty much unlearn. She has to really turn her back on lust, and stop looking at a guy and thinking, “Oh, yeah baby, now!,” and instead saying, “No, I’m in love with Paul.” She’s had 4,000 years of lust, and now it’s about love, and there’s a world of difference. And then, there’s the whole fact that Hell is not done with her, which is annoying to her. There’s a lot going on with Hell. That’s the main storyline that will be unfolding throughout the series.

Jezebel really has to learn what it means not just to be in love, but to love somebody, and all that entails. There is sacrifice that goes along with that. And also, she has to figure out everything that’s happening in Hell, and how it impacts her. There’s also a question of her parentage, and who her father and mother are. Jezebel is not your typical succubus. That’s going to be coming out more, throughout the series.

MediaBlvd> Does Jezebel still play a role in Hotter Than Hell, since it’s told from Daun’s POV? Or, will that book be focused more on him?
Jackie> Oh, yeah. The book is Daun’s, no lie. But, Jezebel plays a very important part.           

MediaBlvd> What can you say about Virginia Reed, and the role she plays in Hotter Than Hell? How did you know that she would be a good match for Daun?
Jackie> She’s his target: his assignment, given to him by the King of Lust. All Daun has to do is seduce her, and then he will become the Prince of Lust. Problem is, he’s never had to seduce someone not meant for Hell, and he finds her resistant to his charms. So he actually has to get to know her and understand her before he can woo her. And also avoid the rogue demons out to destroy him. (No one ever said it would be easy.)

MediaBlvd> Will the relationship between Jezebel and Paul continue to have issues, with her trying to deal with her complicated past? And will Daun continue to be a cause for conflict with them?

Jackie> Yes, and yes. Paul is a very important piece of Jezebel’s life. I did more with him in The Road to Hell than I did in Hell’s Belles, and I really did a lot more with him in the novella, where he got to stretch more than he had before. And then, the next Hell book that is going to be Jezebel’s book, will have more of Paul’s story. There’s going to be a lot more about his past, and his ex-fiancee, Tracy, who is mentioned in Hell’s Belles and The Road to Hell. I’m playing around with it not being completely through Jezebel’s eyes, where Paul’s sections might be in third-person POV. One of the things I did with Hell’s Belles is that I fooled around with not telling the story linearly. So I’m planning on fooling around again, for the next Jezebel book, just to see if it works.

And all I’ve got to say about the incubus Daunuan is that I feel very bad for what happens to him in Hotter Than Hell, and he is definitely not done with Jezebel, not at all. I think I’m crushing on him.

MediaBlvd> Being a very character- and story-driven writer, how do you find the right balance between telling the story and developing your characters, and the romance?

Jackie> I really don’t know. I just try to tell the story and convey everything that’s going on through the POV character’s eyes. While a lot of that is, in fact, the plot of the story and the action and everything going on, the other part, which is equally as important, is what that character is going through. I think that I really hit a very good balance with that in Hotter Than Hell, with Daunuan. If it also came through strongly in Hell’s Belles and The Road to Hell then I’m just really happy that Jezebel knows what she’s doing when she’s telling the story.

MediaBlvd> Do the steamy sex scenes come easy for you, or did you have to learn to get bolder about it?

Jackie> I had no idea how to write a nookie scene, until a good friend of mine, Faith Bicknell-Brown, who is an editor at Wild Child Publishing and Freya’s Bower, read that second failed book of mine, called Hey, Charles, Your Slip is Showing, and she loved it. She had some suggestions on the romance in there. She actually is a romance editor, and she’s written erotica and romantica and good ol’ steamy romance, so she has a lot of editorial experience in that. She said, “Jackie, you should just let yourself go and write a sex scene. Just write it!” I said, “But, I’ve never done that before,” and she said, “So?” And so I fooled around, and I wrote the scene in Hell’s Belles, where Jezebel and Daun roleplay. That was the first sex scene that I ever really wrote. I gave it to Faith, and she read it and had a couple suggestions, but overall, she said, “Good! That’s what I’m talking about!”

So I just went with it. Especially since I’m writing about a succubus, I guess it’s a good thing that I just let myself go and have fun with it. It’s kind of hard to write about a succubus and skip over the sex. One of the things that I do when I’m writing those scenes is forget about me and just totally picture the character, and really try to envision and feel what the character is feeling. My husband loves being the husband of a romance writer because he’s happy to help out with my research. “Honey, I don’t think this position is accurate. Let’s try!”

When I wrote Hell’s Belles, I had no idea that it was a romance. I thought that it was a humorous urban fantasy with some tingly sex scenes. I had no idea about this category called “paranormal romance.” I didn’t know there was this whole subgenre out there. But, when I’m writing about demons and Heaven and Hell, as long as there’s a Happily Ever Afterlife, that’s okay.

MediaBlvd> When you were writing Hell’s Belles, did you know from the beginning that it was going to be a series, or did that develop as you were writing it?

Jackie> I very much wanted to write it as a stand-alone, with the possibility of a series. That first Great American Novel that went nowhere, after 16 years, was part of a series of books, which, of course, I wound up not writing because that first book never sold. So when I wrote Hell’s Belles, I didn’t want to tie myself down to the idea of it being part of a series, but I did want to leave it somewhat open, in case there was a multiple book deal, so that I could explore. And sure enough, when I got my agent, he said, “What else have you got?” That’s when I pitched the idea of the Hell on Earth series.

Hell on Earth, on paper, is kind of light-hearted. However, as the books are unfolding, the levity is there, the humor is there and the sex is there, but it’s actually a very dark story, and I think that my dark fantasy roots are really showing through. Hotter Than Hell is a very dark story, and a very musical story, too, but it’s still very funny. (I hope.)

MediaBlvd> Do you feel like you know your characters well enough to know how they would behave and react in any situation now?

Jackie> Within the Hell series, as well as I know the characters, I also don’t know them at all. They still surprise me, which is actually really good to know. If I knew them inside out and upside down, it would not be nearly as fun, and I don’t think the stories would be that good. As much as I know them, I like that my characters are growing and changing. Daun does some stuff in Hotter Than Hell that just blew me away. I knew what’s going to happen, but as I was writing it, I was thinking to myself, “No, don’t do this!,” and he chose to stop himself, before I had to play the author card and rein him back in. So I know my characters very well, but they know themselves better than I know them. That’s exciting and fun, and it makes me sound totally schizophrenic.

MediaBlvd> Are any of your characters particularly fun or easy for you to write? Or, are there any that are particularly difficult?

Jackie> With the Hell series, considering that the first two books were all Jezebel’s POV, I like writing her. I like her voice a lot. Because there’s a lot of me in her, part of it just comes naturally. And I’ve recently discovered that as much work as it was for me to write in Daun’s point-of-view, I really like it too. So, between Daun and Jezebel, I don’t really have a favorite. They are both very different characters, and require a different thought process for each. I don’t prefer one to the other, though I will say that it takes me longer to get into Daun’s character than it does to get into Jezebel’s character.

Actually, for the erotic novella I just wrote, that story is in both Jezebel’s and Daunuan’s first-person points of view. Talk about multiple personalities! I had to write Jezebel’s scenes, then come back and insert Daun’s scenes. The two POVs rotate throughout the story. I think it works well, and it gives the reader both the man’s and the woman’s (okay, the male demon’s and the female demon’s) thoughts and feelings. That story is all about how Daun and Jezebel first met, and how their feelings for each other changed over the millennia. And, yeah, there’s sex. Steamy, sweaty sex. They’re demons of Lust, and it’s an erotic novella. What do you expect?

MediaBlvd> How long did it take you to get published, and was that easier or harder than you expected it to be?

Jackie> The first two books that I wrote went nowhere. I couldn’t even get an agent, let alone an offer for publication. But for Hell’s Belles, I felt like I was blessed. I wrote it in two months, did the revision in a week and, within three weeks, had five offers of representation from agents. And then I signed with one, he put it on submission the next day, and we had a pre-emptive offer a week later, so it went super fast. Pretty much, from the time I sat down to write it until the time that it actually sold, things really went at a whirlwind pace. (And then, the production process kicked in and everything slowed down.)

That was really awesome and really helped cement something that I have felt for 16 years. I know how to write and I love telling stories, but I didn’t know if I could be a writer. So that was very, very redeeming. It showed me that I wasn’t just kidding myself this whole time. There was something there, and it just took me awhile to find the right story to tell.

MediaBlvd> How long does it usually take you to write a book now, from the time that you get the idea until you feel that it’s ready to turn in?

Jackie> I wrote Hell’s Belles in two months, which was really fast. The new version of that Great American Novel took me five months, divided over a period of nine months because I had to take a break in between, since I was also working on The Road to Hell. The Road to Hell took me about eight or nine months, from start to finish. And Hotter Than Hell also took me about eight months from when I first started kicking around the idea. (I knew I wanted to write a Daun story, but I didn’t really know what was going to happen.) My average is somewhere around the six-month mark, give or take a month or two. That’s a pretty comfortable pace.

When I first started, if you would have told me that you need to write a book a year, I would have laughed and said, “My God, this one book is taking me years!” But I am learning that just because one book takes forever doesn’t mean that your other books will too. Just like anything else, you get into a rhythm. When I’m really in the throes of writing, everything else winds up taking a backseat, with the exception of my day job and the immediate needs of my family. I get very little sleep because I do the bulk of my writing at night, when my kids are in bed. So, around 11 o’clock, my husband will give me a kiss and I’ll say, “I’ll be right there,” and he’ll say, “Uh huh, goodnight,” and two and some-odd hours later, I crawl into bed. It would be nice if I could find the rhythm and get some more sleep, too, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.

MediaBlvd> Do you have any specific writing habits, like a particular location, that you prefer? Do you like to write every day?

Jackie> I prefer to write first thing in the morning, before I do my day job, and at night when my kids are in bed. Things would probably be very different, if I didn’t also have a full-time day job.  I basically have two full-time jobs -- my day job and my writing. And it goes without saying that I also have my husband and my kids, and a mortgage and bills to pay. But so far, the balance is working, so I’ll just keep on going the way that it works. I can still be committed to my day job and committed to my writing, and not committed to a mental hospital in the process.

MediaBlvd> Do you enjoy hearing feedback and suggestions from readers?

Jackie> I absolutely love it! I’m thrilled to get feedback, even when it’s of the “Why didn’t you do this?” variety. I’ve had a couple of people say to me, bluntly, that they really wanted more of Paul, and they were disappointed that there wasn’t more of him in Hell’s Belles. And, in retrospect, I can see that. Yes, it’s in Jezebel’s point-of-view, which makes it tough, but I probably could have done more. So I really kept it in mind when I was writing Hotter Than Hell. When I started getting feedback on Hell’s Belles, it was already published, and I had already turned in The Road to Hell, so there was really very little that I could change at that point. When I was writing Hotter Than Hell, I kept in mind that even if it’s in one person’s point-of-view, readers really want to see a relationship develop -- from both sets of eyes, if possible.

And, there are also certain expectations that readers have. When you’re a romance reader, there are certain things that you absolutely expect. Like in any genre, there are rules. For romance, the first rule is that there’s a Happily Ever After. If there’s no Happily Ever After, it’s not really a romance, or it’s certainly not a traditional romance. The other rule that I’m finding is that, once the hero and the heroine hook up, the hero and the heroine really don’t sleep with anyone else. Well, that was a bit of a problem for a character that, frankly, is a demonic slut.

So, I’m definitely keeping reader expectation in mind, and when I do break the rules, I try to do that without breaking the trust. I’m not trying to do anything bluntly just to piss readers off, but I also don’t want to compromise the story for the sake of genre taboos. I would rather blur the boundary a little bit. And I think there’s a very, very blurry boundary between dark fantasy and paranormal romance anyway. Sometimes, I think there really is no boundary. But, I would sooner break the rules to tell the right story than compromise the story just because of a pre-assigned notion of rules. I know that that’s going to piss some people off, and I certainly don’t mean to. I’m doing what I can to acknowledge reader feedback and still stay true to the story.

And when readers tell me that they love it, it makes my day. I’ve gotten some fan letters and it really does make me smile for the rest of the day just knowing that someone that I don’t know read my book and enjoyed it. That makes it all worth it. That is just so fucking cool! I love getting reader feedback, both positive and negative.

MediaBlvd> Is there anyone whose advice you rely on, if you get stuck on plot or character development?

Jackie> I turn to a couple of people. The first person that I turn to is my critique partner. I’ll say, “Oh, my God! Jezebel is being too stupid to live. What do I do?” And, we’ll knock some ideas around.

And I turn to my other friends too. At one point, when I was writing Hotter Than Hell, I quickly sent an instant message to Richelle Mead and said, “Okay, I’m kind of bored with this part of the story, but it’s an important part of the story. What do I do?” And, she said, “Well, sometimes the boring shit’s important,” and I was like, “Yeah, but it’s so boring!” I get my bitch session out, and then I write through it. I figure that the first thing to do is just get it all down on paper, and then you can always go back and edit.

MediaBlvd> Do you have a favorite book or story that you’ve written, whether published or unpublished?

Jackie> My favorite story was the one that was published in Realms of Fantasy. It’s called “Red,” and it’s a spin on “Little Red Riding Hood.” It’s dark literary horror, and I really, really enjoyed writing it. It was very lyrical to me. It was dark, without getting gruesome. It only hints at what the horror actually is, without actually getting into it. And I was thrilled that it found a home.

I had a lot of fun with Hell’s Belles. The Road to Hell was a lot more work for me than Hell’s Belles was, but I’m pretty sure it all worked in the end. And I’m beyond excited about Hotter Than Hell.

MediaBlvd> Do you know what’s next for you?

Jackie> Definitely more of the Hell series. I mentioned the Hell erotic novella, which will be published by Avon Red in January 2009. There’s also the fourth Hell novel, which I’m about to write. And there’s another project on submission now, but it’s way too soon to talk about that

MediaBlvd> What kind of advice can you offer to aspiring writers, who are not only looking to get published but who would also like to have a career as a writer?

Jackie> I’m going to paraphrase another author, Cindy Procter-King, who wrote a book called Head Over Heels. She thinks that there are three elements that need to converge for a writer to be successful, and I wholeheartedly agree.

The first is talent. You have to be able to tell a good story. These days, you have to be able to tell an excellent story if you want to get your foot in the door, unless you’re a celebrity, in which case, all bets are off. So, you have to write. And related to that, you have to read. There are some authors out there who will not read anything in their genre, for whatever reason. I respectfully disagree with that. It’s important for people to see what works and what’s already been done, and read for other people’s styles. Read like there’s no tomorrow, and write, no matter how tired you are, no matter how many term papers you have, no matter how many day jobs you have, no matter if you have a family. You have to write, otherwise it’s just not going to happen.

The second thing is persistence. Unless you’re really lucky, you’re going to get rejected, and probably a lot. That first book of mine -- that 16-year love affair -- got more than 100 rejections from agents, and they all sucked, equally. Rejection hurts. The big thing is that you can’t take it personally. Learn from it what you can, and when you get form letter rejections, know that all that they are, are form letter rejections, and stop poring over what they really mean. It means “no,” and that’s all there is to it. Try again. Develop that thick skin, and never be daunted. Keep going. Don’t let it stop you. You’ve written a book, dammit, and most people don’t get that far. Most people say, “Yeah, I want to write a book,” or “Yeah, I plan to write a book,” or “Yeah, I could have written a book.” You know what? You did write a book. Good for you! Celebrate the fact that you wrote a book, and don’t get stopped along the way, if it doesn’t work right away.

And the third element is the one that we really can’t control that easily -- timing. The marketplace, ultimately, dictates whether or not what we wrote is going to sell. To a large degree, we flounder. But, you have to treat writing like a business, if you want writing to be your business. That was the most important piece of advice I’ve ever gotten as a professional offer. Your writing is an art, but art, by itself, can’t support you. You need to research the market.

A lot of people are going to say, “You can’t research it because, by the time you’re done writing it, it’s two years out of date.” There’s a two-year cycle from the time you’re done until it actually hits the shelves. So the popular thought is that you can’t study the market, because by the time you’re studying it, it’s going to be completely irrelevant to you, when you’re done writing your book. I respectfully say that that’s bullshit. You can still study the market. You can go on Publisher’s Marketplace and see what books are selling, and you can see what authors are selling to which editors and at which publishing houses. You can get a sense of what’s popular, and a sense of what’s winding down. You can read author, agent and editor interviews, and get a sense of what they’re looking for. You can go to conferences and meet people -- authors, agents and editors -- and get a sense for what’s selling. And you can pick up the bestsellers in the genre that you’re interested in and start to look for what works, and get a sense of what rules there are, for the genre that you want to write in, because every genre has its rules. I’m not saying that it boils down to writing a formula book, but there is a formula in the genre that you need to stick with. You need a Happily Ever After for romance. There’s good and evil in fantasy. These are things that simply are.

My advice is talent, persistence and timing. If these three things converge, then you’re probably going to get sold. And, keep at it because it might not happen overnight. In my case, it was 16 years to a quick sale. Hell, if I can do it, I know other people can.