Good Morning, Booklovers!
Where did our summer days go? We had a few days close to 80 degrees, now it was 35 degrees this morning! Sigh. I guess we'll have to wait a few weeks before regular deck time. So we’re inside again today (the good news is that puts us closer to the coffee pot) for book talk with urban fantasy writer J.C. Keough.
Welcome, Jamie. What can I get you to drink?
JCK: I’m an American, but I prefer tea. Being from the South, I drink a lot of iced tea during the summer, and hot tea during the winter. I like plain black tea–no sugar or milk for me.
Ally: That’s easy enough to fix. While I hustle up our drinks, please tell readers something about yourself.
Where did our summer days go? We had a few days close to 80 degrees, now it was 35 degrees this morning! Sigh. I guess we'll have to wait a few weeks before regular deck time. So we’re inside again today (the good news is that puts us closer to the coffee pot) for book talk with urban fantasy writer J.C. Keough.
Welcome, Jamie. What can I get you to drink?
JCK: I’m an American, but I prefer tea. Being from the South, I drink a lot of iced tea during the summer, and hot tea during the winter. I like plain black tea–no sugar or milk for me.
Ally: That’s easy enough to fix. While I hustle up our drinks, please tell readers something about yourself.
Bio:
J.C. Keough grew up and attended university in small Texas towns. She lived and worked for twenty-five years in Dallas, Texas. In 2016, she and her husband Paul moved lock, stock, and dogs to Kenmare, Ireland. Since the move, Jamie has been creating the urban fantasy mystery series, The Laramie Harper Chronicles, set in Dallas, Texas. The first two books in the series, Dying in Dallas and The Blood Will Tell, hit the shelves in 2020, and the third book in the series is coming out in October 2021. Jamie writes about Texas, vampires, wine, dogs, and murder. Sometimes voodoo, beer, and werewolves make the cut.
Something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “My current favorite alcoholic drink is a pickle martini. They’re made the same way as a dirty martini, but with pickle juice instead of olive brine. You wouldn’t think that gin and pickle juice would go together, but somehow they work. Combine three parts gin (I’m partial to Bombay Sapphire), one part pickle juice, and crushed ice in a shaker. Give it a good toss about, then strain it into a martini glass. I use Best Maid Dill pickle juice - it’s a Texas thing - and it is very tart.”
Author Contacts:
Website: http://jckeough.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jckeough
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jckeough
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JCKeough
J.C. Keough grew up and attended university in small Texas towns. She lived and worked for twenty-five years in Dallas, Texas. In 2016, she and her husband Paul moved lock, stock, and dogs to Kenmare, Ireland. Since the move, Jamie has been creating the urban fantasy mystery series, The Laramie Harper Chronicles, set in Dallas, Texas. The first two books in the series, Dying in Dallas and The Blood Will Tell, hit the shelves in 2020, and the third book in the series is coming out in October 2021. Jamie writes about Texas, vampires, wine, dogs, and murder. Sometimes voodoo, beer, and werewolves make the cut.
Something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “My current favorite alcoholic drink is a pickle martini. They’re made the same way as a dirty martini, but with pickle juice instead of olive brine. You wouldn’t think that gin and pickle juice would go together, but somehow they work. Combine three parts gin (I’m partial to Bombay Sapphire), one part pickle juice, and crushed ice in a shaker. Give it a good toss about, then strain it into a martini glass. I use Best Maid Dill pickle juice - it’s a Texas thing - and it is very tart.”
Author Contacts:
Website: http://jckeough.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jckeough
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jckeough
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JCKeough
INTERVIEW:
Ally: Writing can be fun, but it isn’t easy. What is the hardest part for you?
JCK: Starting. I can find any number of things to do besides write. I believe that this comes from the feeling that because I enjoy it so much, I must be goofing off. The other thing that I find is that if I’ve hit a roadblock in the story, even if I haven’t realized it, it’s harder to sit down and write the story. So I have a several tricks to make myself write at least a few words each day, because once I start, I don’t want to stop. The simplest one is that I put a gold star on my calendar each day I write. It may be childish, but I love opening my calendar and seeing all the stars.
Ally: Do you write with an audience in mind or to a publisher’s required theme?
JCK: My first series is one hundred percent based on what I want to write and, more specifically, the type of books I would love to read. However, I’ve found that many readers aren’t as genre fluid as I am, so I’m writing my second series with an audience in mind.
Ally: Do the people in your real life show up in your writing? In what way?
JCK: I’m excited about the book I’m currently writing for this exact reason. I have a group of six long-time friends who always read my work first and who I bounce ideas off of. One of them asked me when I was writing my second book, when would I include the people in this group as characters in my book. So I asked them if they wanted to be in the book to send me a character name and description. As they will be members of a coven, I gave them some parameters and allowed them to choose an ability, unique to their character. They blew me away with their names, descriptions, and the backstories they already had in mind for their characters. And funnily enough, their characters slotted right into the book I’d already written—that they hadn’t read—and made it so much better
.
Ally: Do you consider yourself a plotter (with an outline), a pantser (no outline), or a little of both?
JCK: I was a complete pantser on my first book. That it was okay to be a pantser was one of the things that allowed me to start my first novel. One of the things that held me back for years was the idea of sitting down and writing an outline for a novel. It seemed like so much work and so boring – just the thought of it made me feel like I was back in high school working on an outline for an English paper. Yuck. But I then heard a podcast on pantsers and got really excited. I could just sit down and start writing my story? Yes, please! The excitement lasted until I hit 150,000 words on what I’d planned to be a 100,000 word or less novel and there was still no end in sight. Then I had to admit that, at least for me, there had to be a better way and I have plotted every book and story since. However, I still find myself pantsing within the plot points. I end up cutting a lot more words in the editing phases than if I’d stuck completely to the plot outline, but I feel like the books are more creative because I give myself that leeway.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
JCK: I am currently working on the first book in another paranormal mystery series that takes place in Texas. My expected release date is December 2021.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose to answer?
JCK:
Ally: Writing can be fun, but it isn’t easy. What is the hardest part for you?
JCK: Starting. I can find any number of things to do besides write. I believe that this comes from the feeling that because I enjoy it so much, I must be goofing off. The other thing that I find is that if I’ve hit a roadblock in the story, even if I haven’t realized it, it’s harder to sit down and write the story. So I have a several tricks to make myself write at least a few words each day, because once I start, I don’t want to stop. The simplest one is that I put a gold star on my calendar each day I write. It may be childish, but I love opening my calendar and seeing all the stars.
Ally: Do you write with an audience in mind or to a publisher’s required theme?
JCK: My first series is one hundred percent based on what I want to write and, more specifically, the type of books I would love to read. However, I’ve found that many readers aren’t as genre fluid as I am, so I’m writing my second series with an audience in mind.
Ally: Do the people in your real life show up in your writing? In what way?
JCK: I’m excited about the book I’m currently writing for this exact reason. I have a group of six long-time friends who always read my work first and who I bounce ideas off of. One of them asked me when I was writing my second book, when would I include the people in this group as characters in my book. So I asked them if they wanted to be in the book to send me a character name and description. As they will be members of a coven, I gave them some parameters and allowed them to choose an ability, unique to their character. They blew me away with their names, descriptions, and the backstories they already had in mind for their characters. And funnily enough, their characters slotted right into the book I’d already written—that they hadn’t read—and made it so much better
.
Ally: Do you consider yourself a plotter (with an outline), a pantser (no outline), or a little of both?
JCK: I was a complete pantser on my first book. That it was okay to be a pantser was one of the things that allowed me to start my first novel. One of the things that held me back for years was the idea of sitting down and writing an outline for a novel. It seemed like so much work and so boring – just the thought of it made me feel like I was back in high school working on an outline for an English paper. Yuck. But I then heard a podcast on pantsers and got really excited. I could just sit down and start writing my story? Yes, please! The excitement lasted until I hit 150,000 words on what I’d planned to be a 100,000 word or less novel and there was still no end in sight. Then I had to admit that, at least for me, there had to be a better way and I have plotted every book and story since. However, I still find myself pantsing within the plot points. I end up cutting a lot more words in the editing phases than if I’d stuck completely to the plot outline, but I feel like the books are more creative because I give myself that leeway.
Ally: What is your next writing project? Anticipated release date?
JCK: I am currently working on the first book in another paranormal mystery series that takes place in Texas. My expected release date is December 2021.
Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose to answer?
JCK:
- a. memorable book you’ve read: The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub
- b. book you're currently reading: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
- c. an item on your bucket list: Visiting Transylvania
- d. a movie you’ll always remember: The made for TV mini-series of Salem’s Lot in 1979. It sent me traipsing down the vampire path. Things that go bump in the night, or as I call them, bumpies, have fascinated me ever since.
- e. Your pets: Maeve and Niamh, both mixed breed rescue dogs. They are the inspiration for my canine characters in The Laramie Harper Chronicles.
Dying in Dallas, Book 1 of The Laramie Harper Chronicles
Genre: Urban Fantasy
PG-13
Viciously attacked. Framed for murder. Turning thirty.
Laramie Harper is having a horrible weekend. Strangers viciously attack her, she finds a dead body, and the police arrest her for murder. The worst thing, though? She is turning thirty.
When young widow Laramie takes a break from renovating her Victorian home to celebrate her birthday, she just wants to live a little. But when she becomes an unwitting pawn in the hunt for a centuries-old relic, she gets more action than she bargained for.
After a rough night out, Laramie returns home with a killer hangover and vague memories of being attacked, only to find a dead community activist stuffed into her dumbwaiter. As if that isn’t bad enough, police believe she is the murderer.
Her dead husband’s best friend, Van, vows to help her. When he tells her that her attackers were werewolves and a vampire saved her life, Laramie’s sure one of them has gone around the bend. But her dog, Bodacious, fears her, and she can’t deny the changes happening in her body, or her craving for blood.
With only seventy-two hours before The Change is complete, Laramie must prove her innocence and find the vampire who turned her so the process can be reversed. She wants to trust Van, but he comes from a long line of vampire hunters, and he seems to know a lot more about what’s going on than he is willing to share. Is he there to help her, or to put a stake in her heart if she can’t stop The Change?
If you like vampires, voodoo, dogs, and wine, then you will love J.C. Keough’s debut novel.
Buy Links:
Dying in Dallas: http://mybook.to/DyinginDallas
Genre: Urban Fantasy
PG-13
Viciously attacked. Framed for murder. Turning thirty.
Laramie Harper is having a horrible weekend. Strangers viciously attack her, she finds a dead body, and the police arrest her for murder. The worst thing, though? She is turning thirty.
When young widow Laramie takes a break from renovating her Victorian home to celebrate her birthday, she just wants to live a little. But when she becomes an unwitting pawn in the hunt for a centuries-old relic, she gets more action than she bargained for.
After a rough night out, Laramie returns home with a killer hangover and vague memories of being attacked, only to find a dead community activist stuffed into her dumbwaiter. As if that isn’t bad enough, police believe she is the murderer.
Her dead husband’s best friend, Van, vows to help her. When he tells her that her attackers were werewolves and a vampire saved her life, Laramie’s sure one of them has gone around the bend. But her dog, Bodacious, fears her, and she can’t deny the changes happening in her body, or her craving for blood.
With only seventy-two hours before The Change is complete, Laramie must prove her innocence and find the vampire who turned her so the process can be reversed. She wants to trust Van, but he comes from a long line of vampire hunters, and he seems to know a lot more about what’s going on than he is willing to share. Is he there to help her, or to put a stake in her heart if she can’t stop The Change?
If you like vampires, voodoo, dogs, and wine, then you will love J.C. Keough’s debut novel.
Buy Links:
Dying in Dallas: http://mybook.to/DyinginDallas
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