Interview from The Crypt: Jean Joachim

INTERVIEW FROM THE CRYPT

Once again the doors to The Crypt creak as they open slowly to allow yet another unsuspecting soul deep inside and today's willing victim, I mean visitor, is the wonderfully talented Jean Joachim.

First of all I would just like to say welcome to The Crypt Jean and thank you for stopping by today.

So Jean why don’t you introduce yourself to my creatures of the night and tell us a little about yourself.

I’ve been a writer for 20 years. I have  seven non-fiction books published and four fiction with two more coming out in the next month or two. I’m married, live in New York City and have two sons who are no longer teenagers. We rescued a pug named Homer, or maybe he rescued us, I’m not sure. I love to write almost more than anything else. Losing myself in a romantic story, letting it carry me along on a journey about love, passion and the darker side of life makes my day. I am also a movie reviewer. I have a syndicated movie review column called “Movie Choices for Kids”.

When did you first begin to write? Was there a specific moment or did something happen to make you think ‘I could be a writer’? 

You know when your little and you think you want to be a doctor or a fireman? When I was seven I thought that being a writer was the most exciting thing in the world! Shows you what I know!! LOL.

What are you currently working on? Would you mind giving the readers a quick synopsis in 100 words or less?

I’m working on several books now, but one of my favorites is “Lost & Found”, it’s a romance with a Marine as the hero and I’m writing it with a partner, a retired Marine who I met in a writer’s group online, Ben Tanner. I have enjoyed writing this and we are almost finished with the first draft. It’s a labor of love, pun intended!!

Where do you draw your inspiration for your stories, characters and settings?

Although stories and characters do pop into my head from nowhere, I often use settings that I’ve fallen in love with, for example my son’s college town is a setting I’ve used for four books. The tiny town where I have a summer cabin is another setting for a different group of four books. I will be starting a New York City series in the winter.

Is there one particular genre you prefer writing in and is there a genre you would never attempt and if so why?

I’m a contemporary romance writer and will always be. I love historicals, I admit, but they require a great deal of research for accuracy, which is important to me.

If you weren’t a writer/ couldn’t write anymore what would you do?

I’d die. There isn’t anything else I want to do, and I have done plenty of different jobs in my lifetime, from the corporate advertising to selling stockings at a shoe store. Writing is it for me.

If you could become a member of the opposite sex for 24 hours what would be the first thing you would do?

Apply for a job…no just kidding! I would like to know what a male orgasm feels like. I know that’s not original, I read Dawne’s answer to this one, but it struck me as something I’m curious about, too. So I give her credit for being first on this.

Which fantasy creature/being do you like the most?

I’ve always like Tinkerbell. She had great aspirations…being in love with a guy 100 times her size. Raises a lot of interesting questions, doesn’t it? LOL.

If you could be your favourite fantasy figure what would be the first thing you would do?

I’d fly! No doubt about it. I’d fly everywhere, play a few tricks on people and find a hunky guy my own size who either could fly or wouldn’t be put off by the fact that I can. Then I’d probably write about it. Tinkerbell’s first normal love affair!

What scares you the most?

 Any harm befalling my children. Death, theirs, mine. Spiders. Drowning.

Favourite film?

There are so many, it’s hard to name just one. So a toss-up, “Parenthood” for being a great movie, brilliant, insightful, touching and funny and “While You Were Sleeping” for being the most romantic in a quiet, real-love kind of way.

Worst film you have ever seen? 

Gable and Lombard and the M. Night Shaymalan movie about the little kid with a tattooed head. So bad I don’t remember the name. I walked out, which is something I NEVER do, because I review movies.

Favourite book?

Again a toss up: Pride & Prejudice and Dodsworth  by Sinclair Lewis. I’m a big fan of classics. Great writing and stories.

When you go shopping what is the one thing that you always HAVE to buy?

Something for someone else!

Going back to favourite film write an erotic scene featuring the main characters in 100 words or less. 

“While You Were Sleeping” the Bill Pullman character is on the steps outside of Sandra Bullocks apartment, he’s on the stairs. And they are discussing a reason for her not to marry his brother.

Sandy, “Come back inside.”

He enters her apartment. She gets up on her tiptoes and kisses him.

“Does that answer your question?”

“You want me to wreck my brother’s engagement for a kiss?”

He grabs her, picks her up and carries her into the bedroom. He lies her down on the bed and gently eases off her tee shirt, then unhooks her bra. She slips her hands under his shirt and runs them up his chest.

His hands and mouth explore her breasts.

“I want to make love to you…then we’ll see if you can still marry my brother,” he says, reaching for the button on his jeans…

And finally, just for a light hearted end to the interview.

What words would you want etched on your tombstone ?

She never gave up…until her number was up.

Thank you for joining me today Jean and I would like to wish you all the best in future endeavours.

Now and Forever 1, a Love Story

Callie Richards was no stranger to heartache. Her parents were killed when she was sixteen. Left with her older sister, she fell into a romance with good-looking, Kyle Maine. They became engaged and Callie’s future was set until he was killed in Iraq. Two years later, she pulls herself together to get her Master’s degree and restart her life on her own.

Working and studying at Kensington State University, Callie meets Mac Caldwell, the handsome dean. Together they fight a deadly campus drug ring with heart-breaking results. This is an emotional story, not a cookie-cutter romance, that will make you laugh and cry as Callie struggles to make a new life, find love and her happy ending.

So until I, once again, need to feed this is Julez S Morbius saying keep your necks clean, you never know when I will come calling.

T.T.F.N.