Spotlight on…Jayne Rylon

Please join me in welcoming Jayne Rylon to my blog. Jayne’s first book with Samhain, Nice and Naughty, from the Menage and More Anthology, shot to no 1 on the MBaM bestseller list less than 24 hours after it released. For good reason. Jayne writes incredibly hot, really good erotic romance. I am a huge fan, and by the time you have read one of her books, you will be too!

Jess

Hello everyone!  First I want to thank Jess for having me as her guest.  I feel very glamorous coming after that spotlight, but a little bit nervous, too.  I don’t blog all that often.  I guess I just wonder what I could have to say that other people care enough to read (other than my books, of course–but I work really hard to make those interesting!).  So, hopefully, I can think of something to hold your attention for the next half minute or so.  Otherwise, feel free to wander off and stare at all Jess’ lovely cover art.  I won’t be offended.  🙂

I’ve recently been chatting with more readers than usual as the Menage and More anthology just released.  I’m sure you know all about that already so I’m not going to bore you with the details, however, it made me realize that a lot of readers have misconceptions about how glamorous–or not–it is to be an author.  Not so long ago, I was one of those fans.  I’m an avid reader, and I never once stopped to think about a day in an author’s life.  I naively assumed all authors wrote full time.  Hah!

Now, please, don’t get me wrong.  I love to write and I can’t tell you how much joy it brings me to know even one person read and liked my books.  However, through my journey to get published (and published again, because every time is a new trial at this stage) a lot of illusions have been shattered.  First, almost every person I know at this stage in my career has another full time job or is the primary care giver of children.  I am one of the former.  I’m out of my house a solid sixty hours or more each week before counting chores, errands, or whatever else I have to do.  I can only imagine how much more difficult writing would be if I had the added responsibility of children with me at all times.

I have the utmost respect for authors who can handle all their other obligations and still crank out work on a regular basis.  I, on the other hand, am slow.  But, in my defense I thought I’d give you a peek at a typical day in my life to help explain why that might be…

5AM – Wake up.

5-6:30AM Check email quickly, shower, get ready for work, print out pages to critique or edit at lunchtime (if I get lunchtime).  I save time here by not drinking coffee (yuck) or eating breakfast.

6:30AM-7:30AM Drive to work, yell at slow cars (I admit it, Alexa’s leadfoot in N&N is based on my reality), sing out loud along with my iPod and brainstorm book ideas.

7:30AM-5/6/7PM Work for Fortune 500 company.  Boring stuff here.

5/6/7 – 7/8PM Get home, make dinner for self and husband or feel guilty for not making dinner and leaving him to eat frozen stuff or fast food.  In between, I read emails, check various yahoo loops, catch up with critique partners, etc.  Okay, so sometimes I also sneak in some goofing off here like watching TV (I limit myself to one show per season), playing Rock Band 2 (it just came out last week, I have to play a little!), doing housework and feeding my cats.

8PM – ?  So, finally, around 8PM, if I’m lucky, I’m sitting down and ready to go.  Sometimes I’ll have chats, or other reader events which give my brain a rest.  For example, today, it’s 10:17PM when I’m at this stage and I owe Jess a blog so I’m writing this instead of working on my latest manuscript.  That’s just the way it goes.  However, when I finish typing this, I WILL write/edit my story or critique chapters for my critique partners.  Because, if nothing else, I think writers are dedicated, persistant and passionate about what they do.  At least the successful ones, and that’s who I want to be when I grow up.

10/11PM-ish to 2AM I will take a deep breath, crack open my latest files and start to write.  If I am on a roll, I could do this all night.  Usually, I get the come-to-bed-now stare from my husband before I’m really ready to call it quits and a lot of nights he goes to bed alone.  This is especially bad for my guilt levels if he’s going to bed with frozen dinner or fast food in his stomach.  But, I do keep writing.  For example, last night I was working on the last two chapters of my nearly complete manuscript, Dream Machine.  This beast has been in various stages of editing/re-writing for two YEARS.  It was my first manuscript and basically has nothing original left in it except the character’s names.  But I see the light at the end of the tunnel and last night I got into the flow of the story and looked up to find it was already 2AM!

2AM-5AM Sleep.  Maybe. It’s not this restricted every night, I’m human afterall, but it was last night and has been many other times.  Hopefully, it will be again because that means I’m writing, the ideas are coming to me and I’m being productive.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Being sleep deprived is well worth the cost when I finally type “The End” on a manuscript, sign a contract, see my cover art for the first time, experience the thrill of release day, recieve an excellent review, team up with fabulous authors like Jess and Lorelei, or watch my book top the charts (okay so it’s just happened recently but it was worth the wait!).  It may not be as glamorous as I thought before, at least not for me and many others, but it’s fantastic all the same.

So, for those brave souls who made it to through my ramblings to the end… bravo!  I can’t help but finish whatever I start reading either 🙂  I was glad to visit with you all today.  Last, but certainly not least, I wanted to be the first to say a huge CONGRATS!!! to Jess on making the top ten list at ARe today.  I loved A Question of Trust and I’m so glad to see so many other people have too.

Now… if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to work.

Jayne