Author Spotlight: Kelly Jamieson
On this author spotlight, Leah chats with author Kelly Jamieson about her latest release, Crossing the Line, book 1 in the New Jersey Storm.
Meet Kelly Jamieson:
Kelly Jamieson is a USA Today best-selling author of over sixty romance novels and novellas. Her writing has been described as “emotionally complex”, “sweet and satisfying” and “blisteringly sexy”. She likes her coffee black, her wine white (mostly!) and her heels high. She also loves watching hockey!
Where to find Kelly:
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Along with the audio interview… I have quite a few Q&A answers from her.
Leah: How do you approach creating compelling and relatable characters in your romance novels?
Kelly: I’ve read a lot of craft books about this and over the years I’ve put together my own template that I used for each main character in a book. I have different ways I approach it depending on the story ideas. Sometimes I start with the character’s “wound” and what they need to overcome.
Leah: Romance novels often feature strong emotional arcs. How do you balance the development of the romantic relationship with other elements of the story?
Kelly: I like to think of the character arcs and the romantic arc as a “braid” of three strands. They all rely on each other. The main characters are going to learn about themselves and their “flaws” both through the story goal, which we often call the “external goal” as in “I want a promotion at my job” and the “internal goal” which is…why do they think they need that promotion? Is it going to impress other people, or show others they’re smart enough or good enough… and then through falling in love they’re going to not only come to see that their flaw is not only keeping them from achieving their external goal it’s keeping them from achieving the internal goal that they didn’t realize they have – until they realize that opening themselves to love will require them to confront their flaw.
Leah: Thoughts on Miscommunication in romance?
Kelly: Communication is the hardest thing in a relationship! Unless you have two very mature and skilled communicators, there are going to be miscommunications.
Leah: How do you handle romantic tropes and clichés to keep your stories fresh and engaging for readers?
Kelly: In Crossing the Line I switched things up and made the big tough hockey player a shy quiet guy and the librarian he falls in love with is a bubbly extrovert – going against the stereotypes and expectations.
Leah: Romance readers often have strong preferences when it comes to tropes (such as enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, etc.). Do you have a favorite trope to write, and if so, what about it appeals to you?
Kelly: I don’t have a favorite one to write – the ones I love to read the most are probably the ones I write the least often. I have written quite a few brother’s best friend books, which Crossing the Line is. Once I wrote and released two of those back to back and it made me realize that even with the same trope stories can be totally different.
Go to my review of Crossing the Line here.
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