The Divas welcome special guest Jane Porter!!!

Please give a warm Divalicious welcome to the fabulous Jane Porter! She's dropping in with us for a couple of foggy San Francisco summer days all the way from the Pacific Northwest to celebrate the release of her newest novel, FLIRTING WITH 40!

Huge congrats on the release of FLIRTING WITH 40. It sounds fantastic! Tell us all about it.

Thank you so much for having me here.  I was delighted to be asked, and am so pleased it's the week Flirting with Forty finally comes out.  You asked about the book, and yes,  some people call it chick lit, or (and I wrinkle my nose at this one) hen lit, but I just call it fiction.  I find it interesting that women's fiction gets broken down into all these little categories.  We don't have labels for men's fiction.  Men just get books.  Can you imagine the masculine outrage if we started calling men's fiction "rooster lit" or worse? 

So as much as I can, I try to avoid labels and just concentrate on writing about themes and issues in women's lives.  I care passionately about the things that fill our lives, both good and bad.  And since I also write romance, and love the romance genre because romance validates women at so many different levels, I believe in positive endings, happy endings, endings that speak of hope, joy, and peace.  I enjoy reading lit fiction but I'm furious with books that leave the protagonist suffering in the end.  That's no way to live, and it's not what I want for others, either.  I'm not trying to preach in my novels, but I want so badly for women to learn to ask for more, to want more--more happiness, more success, more choices.  We women tend to give up pieces of ourselves through our lives--a piece to marriage, a huge piece to motherhood, a piece to socialization, and on and on until we are just slivers of who we were, or what we'd like to be.  And maybe that's really what Flirting with Forty is about.  Well that, and friendship.  Because Flirting with Forty is most definitely a look at women's friendships and how they impact us.

I'm with you on writing about theme's in women's lives, regardless of the genre that we're writing in. And I love it that you write both category Harlequin Presents and mainstream chick lit. The two kinds of books seem wildly different. How do the different genres tap into your skills/interests as a writer?

They are very different and it's sometimes really difficult for me to go back and forth between the two, but once I'm immersed in one style/voice, I'm very content, and feel very comfortable.  Each offers something unique to me the writer.  In Presents I get to write about relationships in a heightened state--intense emotions, seduced senses, fierce physical attraction.  The self is swept, seduced, taken.  It's a passionate storming of the gates, and it's exciting.  I love how Presents allows me to push the edge of the envelope in terms of heroes and story lines, too.  My editors are fantastic at letting me try things, giving me creative freedom, and encouraging my voice.  But I can't only write romance, and it's not that I don't believe in romance, but I've been through a lot in my personal life--like others, I've lost family members, have ill family members, have experienced heart break and change and loss--and writing mainstream novels (chick lit/women's fiction) helps me process real life, the life of being a mom, a wife, a friend, a sister.  In writing mainstream fiction I get to reflect on life, and change, and respond to it in a way that connects me with other women.  Sometimes I do use personal events as a springboard for my fiction, but then I ask dozens and dozens of questions to try to take something that is personal and make it universal.  My close friends tease me that I live my life in a labratory, with me as the chief experiment, and there's probably quite a bit of truth in that.  If something happens to me, or something occurs in my world, I know it's happened to hundreds of thousands of other women, too.  I'm not alone in this world, and not unique and I want to reach out to other women and hopefully validate their experiences, and their hopes, and their hurts, and their dreams.

I was thrilled to get the chance to interview you because I am very inspired by your career. You've been such a success in category and since your first chick lit came out last year, you've made a HUGE splash in trade chick lit as well. Any tips for other writers on how to find similar success?

Thank you for the compliment.  It's interesting to get feedback like that as I don't view my career or myself the way others do.  I was really proud of The Frog Prince (May '05) and it did very well for a first book, but it didn't have strong enough sales to allow me to get comfortable and relax and just write.  I wish I could just write, turn a book in and start the next but publishing is a business, and this is how I pay bills, so I stay involved even after the manuscript has gone to galley stage.  In fact, I begin reaching out to bookstores, book buyers, and wholesalers even before the book is finished.  I start "planting the seed" as soon as I can.  Last year when I was promoting Frog Prince, I reminded readers and buyers that next summer Flirting with Forty would be out.  And now with Flirting out, I'm preparing buyers for Like Everybody Else, my Fall 07 release from 5 Spot.

Truthfully, I do tend to drive myself, and sometimes it's too much.  As the example above shows, I work just as hard supporting a book after it's written, as I do writing it, and that adds pressure.  But coming from a sales and marketing background I know what publishers are looking for.  I know what they want to see their authors/books do, and so I set clear goals for myself to help increase sales, broaden my visibility, and create stronger name recognition.  I also am very aware that with editors changing houses, houses being bought and consolidated, lines closing I have to be attractive to other publishers and the way I do that is build strong sales numbers.  And finally, I want people to buy me--Jane Porter--not because it's a Harlequin Presents, or a chick lit trade paperback, but because readers like Jane Porter stories.  But it's always a chicken or the egg thing.  How do you get your book in those readers hands in the first place?  How do you jump off the fiction table, or out of the romance shelves?  And that's when I brainstorm and try to figure out how to better reach the readers and then I start implenting those ideas.

Incidentally, Flirting was just released on Wednesday and it'd already gone back for a third printing before it's official release date---so I'm relieved, and thrilled.  Sales at Amazon are very strong now and fingers crossed the trend continues.

Wow! You work really, really hard...And still, you have time to do a fantastic blog on your own web site. I love how honest you are. You talk a lot about your kids. What's it like being a writing mom? And how has it changed during the past years as your boys have gotten older? Any great advice for those of us who have a toddler with more on the way any day now? (yes, that'd be me...) 

My JaneBlog!  It is kind of a crazy mish mash, isn't it?  I realize I'm probably too honest.  My openness can be scary, but I don't have any hidden agendas, and what you see (or read) is what you really get but that was my blog's purpose.  In my fiction I try to write about real women and real issues and I thought that if I'm going to be "out there" in my fiction, then I might as well be out there in my own life.  And as we all know, sometimes in life everything goes smoothly and other times its just damn bumpy, but that's the way it is.  We wouldn't approve the smooth sailing days if we didn't have the storms.  And having just been through a month long storm, I've very glad to be back in smooth waters.

I love being a mom and a writer, and I adore my boys, love them to bits, but the kids know I can get preoccupied with my books and plots and characters that don't always behave.  And while I try to "live in the moment" it's hard not to sit on the couch with them and while (supposedly) watching t.v., not think about the current book I'm writing.  To make matters more complicated, then I get angry with myself for thinking about my books when I'm with the kids because I don't get enough time with them anymore, not since the divorce, and not with my writing/touring schedule.  I crave long hours with them (Jake just turned 11 and Ty is 7) but with school, with sports, with deadlines, with split homes it doesn't happen often and I feel their absence keenly.  You'd think I'd be able to use their away time to write, but I miss them too much.  I think like most divorced moms, I never imagined not having my children in my home with me.  I never imagined being a mom and going days and days without seeing them.  At least not when they were still so young.

And advice for writing moms?  In the old days, when the boys were babies and toddlers, I used to write whenever the kids gave me twenty minutes, or an hour, free.  I used their naps, I used their play dates, I used bouncy seats and swings and activity centers.  I'd set up all these play areas next to me--baby on tummy looking into mirror, baby on back, looking at black and white toys, baby in vibrating seat, baby in swing, baby grabbing at toys, and I'd rotate baby Jake or baby Ty from one thing to the next in ten minute intervals.  Terrible, isn't it?  But a writing mom has to do whatever she can to steal those minutes that can eventually become scenes.

I'm stealing minutes as we speak! ;-) One thing we'd all like to know more about are your fabulous launch parties! I heard the mayor of Fog City himself came to your last one. What inspired you intially to do them and what kind of feedback have you gotten from readers in the past?

The launch parties are fun.  My Frog Prince release party in SF last year did draw some media, and got me some good press, but what I discovered is that the party is for you, your family and friends.  You use the party to announce the new book, but it's really a chance to celebrate an achievement with those who care about you (and miss you when you're slaving away on deadline!).  So much of the writing life is hidden and private.  We sit at our desks for endless hours, we live in sweats and pj's, we attend romance conference events, we have a world of literary women--readers, fellow authors, editors, agents, booksellers--but then the release party includes couples and husband friends and local faces and names and it's great.  It takes a writer's work and life and makes it festive, celebratory, and my friends love it.  My kids love it.  I'm not just a crazy lady at a keyboard.  For five minutes (or the duration of the party) I have become socially acceptable.  <g>

What's out next? And what are you currently working on for the future?

I'm finishing my book for next fall, Like Everybody Else, a novel that looks at the Mommy Wars and Alpha Moms and Helicopter Parents.  It's set in Bellevue, Washington but it could be in Dallas, San Francisco, Boston.  Like Everybody Else will have a sequel, too, (think Emily Griffin's Something Borrowed and her follow up, Something Blue) and then I'm also currently working on another Harlequin Presents.  I shouldn't try to write two books at once, and I can't do it well as it slows my writing down but I love both stories and am hopping around a bit at the moment. 

We're thrilled that Jane has taken the time to visit with us here at Dishing With the Divas! She'll be here tomorrow as well giving us a taste of her JaneBlog! AND she's agreed to give away two of her books--THE FROG PRINCE and THE SHEIKH'S DISOBEDIENT BRIDE--to two lucky commenters chosen at random. So let the comments fly!

Comments

[Allison Brennan]

Hi Jane! Welcome to the Divas. I love your analogy about women becoming slivers of themselves. It's so true. I made that realization when I tried to work full-time out of the house, raise my kids, be a mother, a daughter, and a wife--and a career woman--that I wasn't successful at any of them. In fact, the first thing that went was friendships and that's sad -- except that I have kept one really good friend who stood by me when I didn't know what I was doing with my life.

Thanks for a fantastic interview and I wish you lots of success with FWF.

[Barbara Freethy]

Welcome Jane! Great blog. I loved your bit on slicing out the time. I started writing when my babies were babies and I used every single one of those techniques as well :) You do what you have to do.

I loved The Frog Prince. Can't wait to read this next one.

I was wondering about when you first started writing? Did you know as a kid? Or did you discover that you wanted to write novels once you were an adult?

[Candice Hern]

Welcome to our blog, Jane! Fabulous interview. I can't wait to read FLIRTING WITH FORTY, though it's been, ahem, some years since I flirted with that number. The book is partially set in Hawaii, so can we assume you had to do some on-site research? :-) Did you learn to surf?

[Monica McCarty]

Welcome, Jane. I'm really excited to read your new book, especially since I can definitely relate to the title! I'd love to know how you broke in, when you made your first sale, how long you've been writing...that kind of thing.

[Jennifer Y.]

Welcome! This new book sounds so good. I have heard a lot of good things about it!

What is your favorite part of being a writer?

[Call Cruncher]

The new book sounds great, I can't wait to read it. Thanks for the great interview.

[Shannon Yun]

Thanks so much Jane for the interview and I can't wait to read you blog here. I've been checking out your blog on your site 2-3 times a week ever since I discovered it some time ago. It's GREAT!
I loved your ideas on keeping the babies busy. I'm having twins in about a month and I think that those techniques could work with anything you are trying to get done.
And thanks to the Fog City Divas who remind me of home while I'm all the way on the other side of the country.

[Karen]

"I try to avoid labels and just concentrate on writing about themes and issues in women's lives." I agree with you about the labels. I'm a greatgrannie who loves to read stories of all kinds - without labels! I think one misses reading so much that is good because it is labeled.

[Estella Kissell]

Am looking forward to reading Flirting With Forty, altho it has been MANY years since I saw that age.

[joelle]

I love your books and the special characters that you create.

[ellie]

Flirting with Forty is so appropriate for today. I love the ideas and the storyline.

[pearl]

I enjoy your books especially the ones with the Italian flavor. I love Italy and travelled there for the first time this past fall and fell in love with the country.

[sharon]

Your books are so enjoyable and they are an inspiration to readers.

[Dorothy Sexton]

The new books is one i am going to read.

[Deanna]

So nice of the Divas to introduce a new-to me-author. I am going to try to start at the beginning and read "The Frog Prince"

[Amy Fendley]

How long did it take you to write your first book, and what advice do you have for first time writers?

[kim h]

welcome Jane.
great reviews for your book.

[Maribel]

Hi Jane. What a great interview! I loved The Frog Prince and can't wait to read Flirting With Forty. It sounds like an older woman-younger man story. True? Having flirted with forty a while ago, I am always interested in older woman-younger man stories. We're so much better when we're older, and I love a young man who appreciates that! Mary Tyler Moore is my idol. She's been married for years to a man 17 years younger than her.

[Billie Jo]

Hi Jane!

I can't wait to read your book Flirting with Forty. Especially since I turned 39 a couple of weeks ago...ACK. LOL. I let my birthday get to me this year because I know next year the big 40 is looming .

I also push myself too hard. I try to do so many things while being a full time mom to my two babies. I gave up my full time career where I pushed myself to the teeth to be the best I can be.

Anywho, I can't wait to read your new releases.

Billie Jo

[Juanita Stender]

Always nice to see something new. I am going to check out The Frog Prince. I am flirting with Fifty - So when is that story coming out? I am widow and my husband was much older than myself - I don't think I could have a relationship with a man much younger than myself. I would always be wondering if he was thinking about younger bodies! Thanks for stopping by Fog City Divas Site.

[jeanne]

Sounds like a good read. Sometimes us older folk get tired of reading about 20 year olds lol. I've also heard good things about "The Frog Prince" and hope to read it some day.

[Pat L.]

Flirting with Forty Sounds Very Good.

Jane, what authors are autobuy books with you and what book(s) will you always remember. For me, Barbara Delinsky's Three Wishes, Linda Howard's Sarah's Child and Kathleen Korbel's A Rose for Maggie. Great emotional reads. They really tug at your heartstrings.

Thanks.
Pat

[peggy clayton]

jane- the bay area is my hometown 4 years ago left to marry a man here in iowa but fly back and forth at least 3 times a year to visit family i left...you will love being out there with the fog city divas ...in fact i bet you will not want to leave....hey congrats on flirting with forty..i am a fan of that kind of story so keep it up!!! have a wonderful time in sf and will be looking forward to a brief description of your trip when you are back in your own nest.....a huge bay area welcome!!!!

[Danielle C.]

Can hardly wait for Like Everybody Else. Something I deeply appreciate about your books, Jane, is how emotionally engaging they are, and that they stimulate a lot of thoughts. I love a story that stays with me long after I have closed the covers!

[Carol]

Welcome, Jane! How amazing you can switch between traditional romance and chick lit! Even more amazing that you're doing both at the same time?? I've been writing category books forever and I get a headache trying to write anything else. When and how did you break into Harlequin?

[Mary F]

Thank you for being so open about things. You said you tried not to preach in your books but wanted women to learn to ask for more. Isn't the best way to do that by example? By presenting strong heroines and letting them be honest about themselves in wanting what they want, I'd think you are doing just that. In a way, an author has to be a sort of parent, showing the reader/ child by example rather than telling them. And you are doing it well.

[Jami Alden]

Hi Jane! Like Bella, I'm a relatively new mom , and I know all about stealing minutes. I have to say, Flirting with Forty sounds great, but I'm really intrigued by Like Everybody Else. Maybe because I'm already having guilt pangs over the fact that my 14 month old can't read yet...

[Lis]

Hi Jane,
Great interview. Just wanted to say how much I enjoy your books!

[Melissa]

Welcome, Jane! I'm really looking forward to reading FLIRTING WITH FORTY. Especially since I read Candice's remark about some of it takes place in Hawaii. I first visited your site when I lived on Oahu a few years ago. I also want to read FROG PRINCE. I adore chick lit!! It makes me happy and I could use some serious happy right now.
What do you love most/least about being a writer? Thanks.

[Maureen]

You make such a good point when you talk about women filling all these different roles. I love the title of your book, it makes forty sound like a great place to be.

[Audrey]

I have been reading Flirting with Forty in Redbook, I love it. I'm so impressed that they chose your book, how did it happen?

[Cindy]

Hi Jane! I can not wait to read your new book "Flirting with Forty."
I love to read books about women's lives, and your books are exciting and fun to read. I believe in Happy endings, and that the characters should have hope and joy in their lives. Also, I want to read the "frog prince," because the title alone is intriguing. Thanks.

[Haven Rich]

I love the titles, those are just too cute.

I agree, labels stink lol. Of course if I was to be labeled I think it'd be "herself"..its the only group I fall into.

Have a good one and looking forward to tomorrows post.

[Pamela Giles]

Ok, I just read the excerpt for Flirting with Forty and ordered it, now I have to wait for it to get here. I don't know why I haven't discovered you before now. But I'm glad I finally have! LOL

I'm 42, so I'm glad that you wrote about a more mature lady, please write some more like that!

Thanks,

Pam G

[Lisa Baca]

Hi Jane and welcome to the Divas Web site! I truly adored your first book and still have it. The cover was the best, so whimsical! I am glad you prefer to call our books fiction, because it is. Chick lit is chiclet and that is gum. It doesn't need definition like that. Jane, what inspired you to take on stories about the lives of older women? Is there hope for us 50somethings?

[Mahaira]

Hiya Jane,

So glad to see you here!! I hope you have a great time and that we do not scare you off. (grin)

I love reading about launch parties and conventions. Can't go to them :( but As an author what promo item do you find that flies off the table at conferences and conventions? and what items remain?

Thanks for all the great books you have written.

[Mahaira]

Jane, with chick lit, you are dealing with themes and issues in real women's lives. Considering that would you ever base a character entirely on somebody you know (If you have the required permission)? Why or why not? Have you already done it in any of your books?

I don't know about others but I would be thrilled to be in a book. ;)

[LaurieG]

Hi Jane,
I've read a couple of your books and loved them. It always amazes me how focused writers must be to get everything done in one day! How did you end up in Hawaii? Did you meet Ty there? Is he younger than you? Has your relationship affected your writing?
Best of luck with your writing and your family!

[Minna]

Hi Jane,
I have really loved reading your books! How many languages have your books been published so far?

[Zara]

Hi Jane!
FLIRTING WITH FORTY sounds amazing! I love books that not only have elements of romance, but also deal with women reclaiming their happiness. I love stories about friendship as well. I'm very much looking forward to reading this book! What is your favorite book that you've written and why?

[Kath1313]

Oh my! Hawaii, a gorgeous surfer, sun and beach.... what more could a woman want except maybe a lime margarita to go with it all. Glad to see you with the Divas, Jane, and I am rushing out to get Flirting with Forty ASAP! Great interview, looking forward to the rest.

[Jane Porter]

Hi everyone! Wow, so many wonderful comments and questions. I'm so excited to be a guest here and am delighted to be in the company of so many fantastic authors and fellow writers and friends. I've just forwarded my new blog to the divas in charge and hopefully we'll get that up soon, but in the meantime I'm going to go through the questions and try to answer as many as I can...which means you're going to be hearing lots more from me today!

Jane

[Mahaira]

Just checked in to see whether there were new posts here. BTW, Jane you have a lovely site. I always make it a point to read all the extra tid bits you put on your book pages.

Here are a more questions I would like to ask you.

1. What do you think of books dealing with non-traditional relationships so in vogue these days? Have you ever considered writing a 'hot'book? If yes, would you write it under your own name?

2. Is there a genre or a time period that you find hard for you to write? Which one and why?

3. Was there an author who inspired or still inspires you?

Have a super week!

[Jane Porter]

I've been reading through all the comments again and I so appreciate the support and love all the smart, insightful things you all are saying. I remember early in my career I heard people say "write what you love to read", but I also believe, "write what you're passionate about". If you love romantic comedies, and humor, and playful word games, and you'd die rather than write intense stories, you know your market. But if you love intensity--emotional intensity--then go there. And I take my intensity in different directions, but the one thing that's consistent is really giving my heroines (and heroes) a journey. I want to see them grow and change and confronted by conflict, which in the end produces more growth and change. I think we women need to see it in our characters, too, because growth and change is part of life and it's refreshing, as well as healing, when our fiction can mirror our inner world. And that's why we need different writers, different voices, different styles and different themes. No one book will satisfy everyone, nor will one author. So aspiring authors can't be discouraged by others' successes, and readers benefit by lots of strong novels to choose from.

[Carol]

I enjoyed your interview very much! Flirting With Forty sounds great as does FROG PRINCE!
How did you react when you your first manuscript sold?

[Jane Porter]

For those of you who don't know my personal story, I am no overnight success story. I started writing seriously during college, began submitting while I was still at UCLA, wrote 12 rejected manuscripts before finally selling my first novel to Harlequin Presents in January 2000. I've since written 23 books for Harlequin and am on my 3rd for Warner's 5 Spot. Because it did take me so long (I was 35 when I finally got that first sale!) I was thrilled beyond belief, and finally succeeding at something that had eluded me for so long really changed me. I became a fierce believer in positive thinking....and not giving up. I discovered that good things will happen, and do happen, but they'll take elbow grease, courage, patience, humor, compassion and some times just a pinch of luck. I don't *like* being such so intense with my writing, but the writing taps my inner Jane, the one that is emotional and honest and sometimes a little too vulnerable. Whereas others might cover that self up, I can't seem to...at least not in my writing. My voice lends itself to emotion and I've learned that lots of readers love the roller-coaster ride my books give them. I was asked about my favorite book I've written, and of my Harlequins, Lazaro's Revenge, was a favorite because it dealt with a seemingly irredeemable hero who desperately needs to be loved and to love in return, but he does everything within his power to destroy his happiness. I also really like both my Warner novels because they let me write flawed heroines who still wanted the happy ending, despite not being perfect. And maybe that's one of my trademarks, writing flawed characters!

Jane

[Ranurgis]

I can attest to the fact that not only do you make a "sliver" of yourself if you're married, have children, a job, etc.

I became one because of illness. In fact, sometimes for weeks on end, I'd not see anybody and I'd be lucky to get out and go grocery-shopping every once in a while. Though people knew I wasn't well, it seems they shunned me as if I were contagious. It probably wasn't that they shunned me per se, but everybody is just too busy as people are saying here to make any effort that isn't vital to our existence or that of our immediate families. Sometimes I feel totally isolated. My illness is partly to blame because almost literally from one second to the next my health can change and when I first decided to go somewhere, I find that I'm in such pain that it's impossible. We're either too busy or not busy enough. I feel that I can't blame anybody for forgetting about me but still it's hard to feel so alone at times.

[Crystal B.]

Hi Jane! I have Flirting with Forty on my to buy list. It sounds wonderful.

[Jane Porter]

Ranurgis-let me just say that I so feel for you! I have a close famiy member living with an illness that has changed all our lives. You must know you are not forgotten.

[Migedishele]

Good stuff, very nicely done.
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The Regard! The Excellent forum! Thank you!