Interview with Jesi Lea Ryan

Q: What is your favorite part of the writing process?
A: I love writing beginnings. The first five or six chapters of a novel come very easy to me. I typically plan out the characters and the basic plot in my head before I even sit down to the computer, so those chapters just flow out of me. It really is the easiest and most exciting part for me.

Q: What was the hardest part about finding an agent?
A: Everything about finding an agent is hard—that’s why I am going without one for my first book. The market right now is really tough for new writers to break in to. Agents are reluctant to take chance on new talent when publishing houses are decreasing production. Every agent that I have talked to tells of how busy they are with their existing clients. That makes it hard to take on new talent.

I queried agents for about two months, but in May 2010, I while attending the Romantic Times Convention, I met Jean Watkins, the managing editor for DCL Publications. She liked my idea and asked me to send her the first three chapters. Less than a week later, Jean offered me a contract to purchase it. You’d be surprised how much of this business depends on meeting the right person at the right time.

Q: Your first novel, Four Thousand Miles, was released October 7th. Where did the inspiration for this story come from?
A: I was traveling in England last summer and ended up staying at this medieval farm that has been turned into a bed & breakfast. It was set in the Kent countryside in the middle of sheep pastures and wild flowers. It was truly the most romantic setting I could imagine. I started day dreaming about Natalie, my main character while I was there. What better place for an American woman to fall in love with a hot guy with a British accent!

Q: How long did it take you to write Four Thousand Miles?
A: It took about four months, but I wasn’t writing every day. Like I said, I am good with beginnings, but I tend to stall out about six-ten chapters in. Then, I take a bit of a break and think about where I want the story to go and how it will progress. I tend to change my mind a lot in that period. Since I don’t believe in sitting in front of a blank screen, I put the story down and walk away for a while. I might not be physically writing, but I am planning it out on my mind. Once I am comfortable, I go back to the computer. I might do that three or four times during the course of a novel.

Q: When you were in the writing process, did you have a certain routine you followed? (such as so many words written a day, so many pages edited, only wrote in one place?)
A: Not at all. I am awful when it comes to writing organization. I don’t plot outline, I never know how it is going to end and I don’t force myself to write when the muse is not calling me. That, by the way, goes against every piece of writing advice I have ever been given, but it works for me.

Q: How did you celebrate when you sold Four Thousand Miles to DCL Publications?
A: I didn’t really. I guess I kept waiting for something bad to happen. The company offered me the contract before seeing the whole novel and I was suspicious. I thought they might read the full manuscript and change their mind! I guess publishing a book was such a dream come true that it took a while to sink in.

Q: We are from the same hometown- Dubuque, IA- though we both no longer live there. What are some things you miss about Dubuque? I always ride the Fourth Street Elevator when I’m back!
A: I live a bit closer to Dubuque than you do, so I probably get back more often. My mother lives there along with a few other relatives. Mostly, I spend time with them. It is fascinating though how much the city has changed in the eight years since I’ve been gone. The city has done a great job on the new river front.

Q: What are you currently reading, and what are some of your favorite genres?
A: I read a lot—several books a week. I’m pretty open to genres. I don’t read westerns or sci-fi. I tend to gravitate to female authors, but not purposely.

At this very moment, I’m reading two books, one by my bed and one that I keep in my purse for reading every time I get a chance. Nightkeepers by Jessica Andersen is my at-home book. It’s a paranormal romance revolving around the Mayan end-of-world prophecy of 2012. My purse book is the steampunk novel Changeless by Gail Carriger. Oh! I’m also listening to a book on tape in the car—The Inner Circle by TC Boyle…one of my favorite authors.

Q: What is your best advice for aspiring writers, especially those who didn’t go to college to pursue a degree in writing?
A: Some of the best writers never went to college. Don’t get me wrong, I love to learn and I think my education was valuable, but even my writing program in college didn’t prepare me for the business of writing like writing query letters and finding an agent. If a person seriously wants to write, my best advice is to read. Read a lot. Read many different genres and levels of writing. Read commercial fiction and literary fiction. Find out what type of book you’d like to write and really study how other authors write books similar to yours. There is a pattern to novels. If you read enough of them, you will unconsciously follow it.

Q: Where would be your dream vacation?
A: I LOVE to travel! I have been to some amazing places over the years. One place that I want to visit that I haven’t yet is India. I love the culture, the food, the twangy sitar music… I actually planned to go there a few years ago, but the trip fell through and I went to Nicaragua instead.

Q: Lastly, where can readers go to purchase Four Thousand Miles?
A: That every easy! The book will be available at most online sellers within the next couple of months, but until then, you can download the ebook straight to any computer or e-reader from the following website http://www.thedarkcastlelords.com/romance-ebooks-15.htm. The cost is only $6.50…way cheaper than new release print books. Best of all—no shipping and handling fees!