How long have you been writing?

On and off for over fifteen years. Definitely more off than on during that time. I’ve been writing steadily and nearly full time for the past two years.

Not really. Romance is my first and only love right now. I have no desire nor inclination to write in any other genre. I do have a couple books under consideration with a category romance publisher right now, but those are 100% romance. Just not the level of sensuality found in Ellora’s Cave books.

What motivated you to write erotic romance?

The freedom to explore sexuality and go beyond the boundaries of traditional romance publications. I do enjoy writing romances that contain sex. When the hero and heroine reach the bedroom(or whatever room or location they choose!), as a reader I want to know exactly what happens—every movement, every sigh, every caress, in detail. As a writer it’s difficult for me to reign that in when I’m crafting a love scene. Erotic romance was the perfect venue for me.

What made you choose an electronic publication for submission of your book? How did you choose what e-publisher to approach? How has your experience with EC been, in general?

How long did you have to wait before learning that they accepted the manuscript?

My response time was very quick. I submitted a partial and my editor requested the full manuscript three days later. When I sent in the full manuscript I was offered a contract within four days! Now that’s turnaround time! Granted, that isn’t always the case as it depends on the ebb and flow of an editor’s workload, but I got lucky. Wait times to hear back from Ellora’s Cave editors is nothing like some of other publishing houses, where it isn’t unusual to wait upwards of a year to hear back on a manuscript.

How has your working experience with your editor been?

*gushes enthusiastically* Brianna St. James is my editor, and I don’t know what I did to get so lucky, but she’s absolutely fabulous. She’s encouraging, always takes time to listen to my ideas about future stories, whips me to death to write more more more, and is a first-rate editor. She’s incredible about keeping her authors in the loop as to what’s going on and where we stand in her editing process. And I swear the woman must work 200 hours a week for us. You should see her “to do” list! It’s scary! ;)

"Passion in Paradise: Paradise Awakening" would be the first of a series, right? So, how many books have you planned for this particular series.

Yes, Paradise Awakening is the first in the Passion In Paradise series. Right now two are written and scheduled. Paradise Awakening for September and Paradise Revival for November. I'm working on a third right now which will have some fantasy elements. Not sure about another one after that, but there’s this one character that my editor is insisting on a story for, so there may yet be a fourth!

How long did it take you to write "Paradise Awakening"? Has it been easier to work on the sequels? Why or why not?

This is a funny story. I was like a woman possessed when I wrote Paradise Awakening. The story hit me, practically plotted itself and I wrote like a madwoman (you’ve got a visual of this dontcha?). I finished it in a week and then worked on edits another week. Believe me, that hadn’t happened before nor has it happened since, despite my editor thinking I can now write ALL my books in a week! ;)

As far as the sequels, in some ways they’ve been easier because I’m already familiar with Paradise Resort and the island in the Caribbean I created with the first book. In other ways it’s more difficult because I have to work hard to avoid becoming redundant and to keep the ideas and tone of the book fresh. Fortunately each story is completely different and separate from each other…the only commonality being the resort and the island.

What made you choose the particular setting for these stories? In other words, what inspired you?

I love the ocean. The heat, the humidity, tranquil, warm waters and the smell of tropical flowers. It gets me thinking about steamy sex and passionate nights with warm breezes and exotic drinks. When I set out to write my first book for Ellora’s Cave, I chose the location that made me feel sexy, desirable, and filled with thoughts of non-stop lovemaking. Hence, Paradise Resort was born!

What can you tell us about your upcoming work?

My first futuristic, True Lies, will come out in October as part of the Mesmerized anthology. The anthology will also include stories from Sahara Kelly and Ashleigh Raine True Lies is the story of an earth woman and a M’Loran hunter who work together to catch a M’Loran criminal. There are hypnosis elements in the story and they result in some very..uhh…interesting situations. ;)

In November the second of the Passion In Paradise series will debut. Paradise Awakening is the story of Morgan Brown, the owner of Paradise Resort. Morgan holds some dark secrets that prevent her from enjoying the pleasures of her own resort. But sexy Tony Marino, an investigative journalist, uncovers more than just Morgan’s past, and in doing so opens the door to her long-repressed sexuality.

I also just contracted my first paranormal! A Storm For All Seasons is a planned series, the first of which, Summer Heat, will debut in February, 2004. The Storm family, owners of The Rising Storm Hotel in New Orleans, possess a magical influence over the weather. Aidan Storm heats things up in Summer Heat when frosty Bostonian Melissa Cross enters his life.

Obviously, I’m playing around in all the genres with Ellora’s Cave, and loving every minute of it!

How easy/difficult has it been for you to write the sex scenes in your books?

A lot of people think writing the sex scenes are easy. Believe me, they’re not. In order to avoid becoming repetitive and boring, you have to take a fresh view of every love scene, since Ellora’s Cave books have moresexmoresexmoresex, that equates to many more love scenes! And love scenes must have an emotional spark, not just the physical aspect, so mixing sex with emotion means stripping bare your characters in more ways than just removal of clothing. Typically the characters don’t care much for that since they’re fighting hard to keep their deep emotions from interfering with all that great sex they’re having.

How did your family and friends react to the news that you would be writing erotic romance?

My family was thrilled. Charlie and I jumped up and down and did the happy dance together (it’s really lame—you should see it). My mother was thrilled and then laughed when I told her that I was writing erotic romance. She said she was happy for me but she’s 82 and there’s only so much sex she can read about so she hoped I didn’t mind that she didn’t read the books. My two grown sons and my 14 year old stepdaughter were thrilled and yet ‘ewwwwwww mom writes sex’ about the whole thing, but they’re incredibly supportive.

How much influence has your husband had in these stories?

Charlie is in every book I write. It might be a mannerism, a turn of speech, a lovemaking technique or a whispered endearment, a certain way of letting me know he wants me, a way he irritates the hell out me, or something he's suggested or done sexually that really lit my fire. He is, I guess you could say, my inspiration. Although a lot of what I write comes from my head based on my characters coming alive for me as I write them. But he can't help but creep in there, too ;)

It is now widely known that your husband supports you in your endeavors as a romantica writer and that he will even be having his own column in your website, how did this aspect of your partnership get started? Did you expect him to be as involved as he is in your endeavors as an author?

Charlie has been incredibly supportive. In fact, the reason I started writing again was because of him. When he found out I used to write, he encouraged me to pick it up again. That was two years ago and I haven’t stopped writing since! Charlie edits all my work and stays very closely in touch with what I’m doing, writing-wise. I kept telling him how much fun I was having on the various reader chat groups, and eventually I convinced him to join in and say hello. Since we spend so much time together, I think he figured out that was the only way he’d get to talk to me since I’m either writing or posting on the readers’ loops!

Charlie’s a naturally friendly guy, and extremely open about sex and relationships and a man’s point of view. One thing led to another and we found the readers very receptive to his suggestions. When I discussed adding a page to my website for his comments, he jumped on the idea.

Did I expect him to be as involved as he is? I expected him to be involved, because he takes an active interest in everything I do. To the extent he’s jumped into my world? No way. I’m still shocked and pleased as hell about that. He is truly the man of my dreams.

Name one thing that you love above all others about your husband (yes, only one) and why.

One thing? Man, that’s tough. I guess the one thing I love about him the most is he’s such an honorable man. When he says he’s going to do something, he does it. When he makes a promise, he keeps it. When he tells you he loves you, he means it.

Name the thing that you like the least about him and why.

That’s easy. He’s impatient. I’m more of a let things roll off my back, wait patiently kind of person. He’s not and he gets irritated quite easily.

What are Charlie’s favorite:

What sound or noise do you love? What sound or noise do you hate?

I love the sound of ocean waves. There’s nothing that calms me faster than hearing ocean waves crashing against the shore. Must be the rhythmic back and forth that lulls me into a relaxed state. I used to have a CD that I’d play at night when I went to sleep. All it was was ocean sounds. Put me out instantly.

I hate any kind of screeching sound. Metal table legs against a cement floor, chalk scraping on a chalkboard, a fork squeaking on a plate. *shudder*

What is your favorite cuss word?

If Heaven exists and God meets you at the Gate what will his first words be to you?

Tsk, tsk, tsk. ;-)

And now, for a little bonus! Jaci's husband, Charlie, agreed to answer a few questions for us as well. As many of you already know, Charlie is now part of the male crew at the Ellora's Cave loop. Charlie manages an advice section/column at Jaci's website named "Charlie's Playground". Since he is quite involved on his wife's work and has become a celebrity on his own merit we thought it would provide an interesting touch to have him as a "guest" interviewee for this month's issue of the newsletter.

What motivated you to get actively involved in your wife’s work?

This is going to take a few minutes to answer. It all started when I found out she had done a little writing before we got married but had abandoned it. I encouraged her to try it again and she did. Now you have to understand something about Jaci and I. She and I spend a great deal of time together (she also works for me) and we love it that way. We don’t like to be separated overnight and don’t if at all possible. So I encouraged her to write not knowing how much time it was going to take for her to do it and do it right (and I wouldn’t go back and discourage her even now that I know how time consuming it is). She started writing romance and getting online and meeting other writers and they were critiquing back and forth and somehow I got involved. She would run her chapters by me and I would look for mistakes. She bought books on grammar and style and all the things she thought necessary to write well. And as I was reading her chapters I started giving my opinions on things, like male point of view and if I thought something was good or not. And she encouraged me to help her and my involvement just kept growing. NOW to answer your question “what motivated me”. I could see that this was something she deeply loved doing. And I did encourage her to do it. So I had two choices: 1. I could start throwing a fit at the time it was taking away from our togetherness or 2. I could roll up my sleeves and help her. It was an easy choice.

What do you like the best about your involvement? What do you like the least?

BEST The sense that I’m helping her with something she loves doing and the enjoyment I get from her burgeoning success and how it makes her feel. And all the new friends we have met since she started writing and especially everyone involved with Ellora’s Cave. WORST Being the research dummy. I’m just kidding. The only down side I can see to it is the incredible amount of time it takes.

How do you feel about your activities as her “research partner”? Would you like her to research more or has it been just right?

I love research. We have a pretty active (to say the least) sex life and both love playing around. And hey how much sex can you have at our ages (I bet we haven’t missed 15 days in the 2 ½ years we have been together and those were more than made up for by the days with multiple or multiple multiple or more researches).

Name the one thing that you love above all others about your wife and why.

Her intelligence. (and those drop dead gorgeous looks don’t hurt either…just had to sneak that in)

Name the one thing that you like the least about her and why.

We clash sometimes since we’re both pretty much used to being the boss. But hey, without that if might be dull and I don’t like dull. And then you throw that incredible amount of passion we have in there and we’re going to fight sometimes.

What are Jaci’s favorite:

“Paradise Awakening” is now available not only in electronic format from www.ellorascave.com but in print as well from www.amazon.com. If you want to keep up to date on the latest from Jaci Burton make sure to bookmark her website address at http://www.jaciburton.com/ and of course, you don’t want to miss Charlie’s column. For those who like things a bit more of personal interaction Jaci has her very on own Yahoo group, Jaci Burton's Paradise, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JaciBurtonsParadise

Thanks for your time, Jaci!