 Jane Toombs |
We’d like to welcome Jane Toombs to our interview blog this week. A very talented author, Jane writes in many different genres, and has several pseudonyms. However, her Freya’s Bower works include Sweet Hawk of Love, a sweet contemporary romance, and her upcoming sweet contemporary romance Two Hearts and a Crow.
FB: Welcome, Jane. You’ve written in so many different genres (horror, fantasy, and mystery and a variety of romance genres), what made you choose contemporary romance for Sweet Hawk of Love?
Jane: Since erotica has become so popular, I felt there weren’t enough contemporary sweet romances for readers who preferred a romance with less sex, but weren’t necessarily interested in sweet Christian romances. Since the advent of ebooks, those we write are read world wide and, as it is in the US, not every reader belongs to the same religion. Or has the same taste in books. My belief is romance readers should have a choice–erotic, spicy or sweet. And there seems to be a dearth of sweet that is not Christian romance. Plus not all Christian romances are sweet. Sweet to me means the hero and heroine must fall in love first, even if they don’t realize they are. Then physical demonstrations of love. Though tempted to consummate their love, the couples in my sweet romances don’t quite get there. The hero may have a different reason than the heroine, but though they do indulge in passion, their commitment to be together happens first, so the reader knows marriage will follow. This is not to say I don’t also enjoy writing many other genres.
FB: The heroine, Aldis, and Coleman, the hero, meet at a Christmas party. He kisses her under the mistletoe before they even speak. What prompted this beginning?
Jane: He’s a man and was attracted to her immediately. Since the mistletoe was right there, he took advantage of it. Coleman is a man accustomed to getting his way, in most senses of the meaning. Aldis will prove to be quite a challenge for him, but I also wanted to show she was attracted as well, even though she fights the feeling.
FB: Aldis doesn’t trust Coleman. He’s a man, after all. Not that I can blame her. There was a time in my life where my opinion of men equaled my opinion of, say, cockroaches (excluding my father, of course). Yeah, I’d been burned. My opinion changed over time, not necessarily due to any man. What is it about Coleman that allows Aldis to trust a man again?
Jane: Aldis does fear being badly hurt again by a man, so resists his efforts to move closer. But gradually, as she sees his kindness to others, she begins to thaw. Only to have him demonstrate what she sees as ruthlessness, which makes her retreat. Part of her problem is fear to trust again and she has to finally realize she tends to prejudge everyone, before she’s free to break the shackles of her past and enjoy love.
FB: I am always fascinated by why authors choose different names for their characters. The few times I have written, the name seems to come out of the ether. What’s your approach?
 Sweet Hawk of Love by Jane Toombs |
Jane: I’ve come to the conclusion I store in some mind niche odd first names I’ve heard that interest me. When I begin a new story, out they pop. Both Aldis and Coleman came from there. Last names often come from people I knew here or there in my life’s travels. And, like many authors I’m not above giving a villain a first name of someone in my past I had good reason to dislike. So sometimes I do get my payback time and those involved never know it. But I get even, evil author that I am.
FB: That’s a very tame way of getting even, but it works none the less. (grin) Now, Two Hearts and a Crow, still in the editing phase, is also contemporary, but set in Alaska. You seem to like colder climates, at least for these two. Is there a reason for that?
Jane: It’s not so much I like colder climates, more that I grew up there, so have a real feel for them. My stepdaughter and her husband lived for many years in Anchorage, so I made quite a few trips to Alaska and found it a fascinating place. Nothing like being shown many of its interesting features by those who live there year round. Alas, they finally got tired of the long, dark winters and moved to Idaho. I learned from them that ravens abound in Alaska, but there are extremely few crows, which is when the idea for this book took hold. They actually had their wedding reception in Stuckagain Lodge and, yes, the sled dogs were there. First time I ever ate reindeer sausage and moose stew.
FB: Um, I can gratefully say I’ve never seen either reindeer sausage or moose stew. It doesn’t appeal for some reason. 
Do you feel the heroines of these two works have any common traits?
Jane: Yes. Both are strong, resilient women, even though they have, for a time, retreated from life after being hurt. Both are also basically nurturing.
FB: Do any of your characters exhibit any of your own personality or quirks of people you know?
Jane: I certainly have some traits I share with heroines, but by no means all. I do encounter difficulty when one of my heroines accepts a situation I wouldn’t tolerate for one second, so I have to get her out of it in her own way as soon as possible. Naturally, since I’ve learned a few things in my lifetime, I am by no means as naive as some of my younger heroines.
FB: Of all the genres you’ve written, which is your favorite?
Jane: Paranormal romance. I read Poe when I was too young to actually understand all I read, but I fell in love with darkness then, at least in my imagination. and it’s never left me. I truly enjoy writing about creatures that never were and imagining how they would act and feel. But, since I also read Dracula at an early age, I’ve never been able to write about a vampire hero. Hey, they’re dead and don’t give me any of this nonsense about Undead. As a nurse, I’ve seen enough dead bodies to become convinced that dead is dead. Vampires do, however, make great villains. Shapeshifters, on the other hand, are alive. Beasts at times, maybe, but alive.
FB: Now for some fun questions:
What about writing life/being an author took you by surprise?
Jane: The way some people viewed me after I’d been published more that once. Once at an RWA conference I stepped into an elevator and another attendee looked at my badge and squealed, “Jane Toombs! Oh, may I touch you?” I felt like a freak, but I was courteous and friendly. In later life, at a husband-wife bridge group I was in, one of the men always greeted me with, “Written any new pornography since I last saw you?” My chance to skewer him finally came when he told me, “It’s impossible to make love in a tree without falling out.” So then I knew he’d read my book where the young couple make love on a branch of a big old California live oak. This is the first I knew he actually read my books. I smiled and said, “Oh, so you’re speaking from experience? Did you break anything?” I’m not a ready quip person, but the laugh I got from the rest of the group made me feel good for days.
FB: Where did your journey as a writer begin?
Jane: When my father, who was forty when I was born, told me when I was four I was not to touch his big old L. C. Smith typewriter until I learned to spell. At six I wrote my first four line story by hunt and peck. And every word was spelled correctly. As I recall he didn’t critique that one, but later, in high school. He did help me tremendously when I wrote poems and stories. He wrote non-fiction–history of the area, and was published. His method was to first point out what I’d done well, then gently point out what could be improved, so the work would be even better. He once tried fiction and told me He didn’t know how I did it, but I wrote dialogue better than he could. Unfortunately he died before my first book was published. He gave me the confidence to believe in myself and my writing. My only problem is I still type with two fingers on the computer keyboard by hunt and peck
FB: If you could have any couple on one of your covers, who would they be?
Jane: You pose a hard question here. Because of the many clinch covers I’ve had on my romances, I’ve come to hate couples on a cover, so I really can’t answer that. I do like the cover on Sweet Hawk of Love, where the hawk takes center stage against a mountain background appropriate to the upstate NY area, and the hero and heroine’s faces are all you see of them. Not in a clinch.
FB: Of the following men, who do you think is the best kisser: Mick Jagger, Brad Pitt, Clark Gable, or Gene Kelly? Would you kiss any of them for charity? (grin)
Jane: My brother, now dead, was twenty years older than I. He was often compared to Clark Gable. Yes, he had a mustache. And, yes, he was handsome. So Gable, who was a real romantic hero, would be my first choice, if I didn’t feel it might be like my brother kissing me. None of the others are my type, but I would kiss Gene Kelly for charity.
FB: Any last words? Um, for the interview, that is. (grin)
Jane: Given my age, I’m glad you qualified that. Here’s some unasked for advice for writers : Writing is hard work, but if you enjoy what you’re writing, that helps. Always be courteous to your editors, even if you’d like to kill one or more of them. Same goes for publishers. You can get by with an ounce of talent, if you also have a ton of persistence and are willing to learn.
And thanks for this interview, Marci.
You can read more about Jane Toombs by visiting her website.
Freya’s Bower titles by Jane Toombs:
Sweet Hawk of Love by Jane Toombs |
Loved this interview, Jane. Fun to learn these things about you. : ) Karen