Karen Booth
Foreign Affairs with JM Kelley: Siren Song
Author JM Kelley is here today to discuss her fabulous contribution to the brand new Foreign Affairs Anthology, Siren Song, and her dreamy Irish hero Declan. Foreign Affairs is available from:
Amazon | Turquoise Morning Press | Smashwords | All Romance
Tell us about your story for the Foreign Affairs Anthology:
Lorelei Dupree is a legend in her hometown–not because of a deliciously scandalous life, but for her uncanny ability to get herself into pinches. From errrant lightning bolts to runaway pianos, chances are if something is amiss, Lorelei Dupree isn’t far from the scene.
Irishman Declan Healy has dropped anchor in the quiet seaside community of Lark’s Cove, South Carolina, a town in transition in the summer of 1956. Starting out on his own as a fisherman, the last thing Declan expected was to fall victim to the siren song of a bewitching local.
A chance encounter brings Lorelei and Declan together, and they quickly bond. Passion may blossom, but can Declan convince his siren that his love for her won’t lead him to certain doom?
Tell us about your hero. What makes him irresistible? What attracts your heroine to him?
Declan is a simple man. He’s not sophisticated, he’s not worldly, but he’s got a good heart, and Lorelei recognizes that. His immediate and total acceptance of her and her quirks makes it quite difficult for her to find an excuse to do anything but give him her heart.
How did you choose your hero’s nationality?
Simple enough reason-I just adore the Irish brogue. It was fun to figure out Declan’s turn of tongue, to bring out the Irish. His personality—a little brash, a little awkward, all loveable, seemed to fit perfectly with the Irish voice I heard in my head as I was writing.
Do you have anything new coming out in 2012? Any recent releases you want to tell us about?
My debut novel, Drew in Blue, is a contemporary romance available in ebook format, and soon to be in print. Drew in Blue is the story of a perpetually single guy who is forced to grow up and confront his past, and his future, when he is forced to become the primary caregiver for a son conceived out of wedlock. It is available online at Amazon.
My next release will be Daddy’s Girl, a work of women’s fiction, coming in January 2013 from Turquoise Morning Press. Daddy’s Girl is the story of Janie McGee, the black sheep of the family who must return home to care for her gravely ill father. As she copes with the harsh realities of her father’s diagnosis, she must find a way to open her heart to a love she never expected to find. Daddy’s Girl was so close to my heart as I wrote the novel, and I can’t wait to see it in print!
Any plans to write anything more about your characters from the Foreign Affairs Anthology? What about more multicultural romance?
Declan actually started out as a very small character in my work in progress. The story is set in modern times, whereas Siren Song takes place in the 1950s. Originally, he was an eccentric older resident who would pop up once or twice in the storyline, but my beta-reader convinced me to flesh him out for this anthology. I’m so glad I did, and I am looking forward to allowing his back story to color this particular tale.
After one too many Snowmageddon shoveling catastrophes, J.M. Kelley, a native of Pennsylvania, loaded her car with all of her belongings and moved to sunny South Carolina.
Now, she finds herself shivering when temperatures dip to fifty degrees, and battles against the slight Southern accent she seems to be developing. When not toiling away at her day job, she can be found huddled over her laptop in a quiet corner of her favorite coffee shop, slurping a caffeine-laden milkshake as she writes.
J.M. Kelley is a proud recipient of a Carrie McCray Memorial Literary Award from The South Carolina Writers Workshop, and is pleased to announce she will join the faculty roster at the October 2012 SCWW Conference. Drew in Blue, her debut novel, was nominated for Best Contemporary of 2010 by The Romance Reviews, and is a TRR and Night Owl Reviews Top Pick.
You can learn more about JM Kelley at jmkelleywrites.com.
Nicely done. Great questions and informative and interesting answers.
Love the blurb about your story, BTW. Declan sounds like a great guy and no wonder Lorelei falls for him.
I’ll be waiting for print before I get my hands on Foreign Affairs. :>)