J.L. Langley Interview

Today the wonderful author J.L. Langley has graced the blog with her presence. JL has such a varied body of work that it’s hard to describe – she writes paranormal books, science fiction with a Regency twist, and of course being from Texas she loves cowboys, especially gay cowboys and has written about them. JL writes with heart which is the main reason I love her books and her men. They may be vulnerable, but they’re also strong. I learned a lot about JL while researching this interview and I now understand why her characters are three dimensional — it’s because she herself is so multi faceted.

I’m sure JL thought when she agreed to this interview that I would ask her the usual 6 – 8 questions about her motivations and where she got her characters (thanks for not spilling the beans Ally).

*****

Hi JL and thank you for being here today. This is such a pleasure because I really enjoy your books and re-read them whenever I’m down, which is the greatest compliment I can pay to any author. So let’s talk first about your writing:

J.L. Langley, Writer

Tell us something about yourself that you have never revealed before that doesn’t include that you took tap and ballet as a kid because that would be cheating *g*.

Ummm, hmmmm… There isn’t much people don’t know. I’m a blabber mouth LOL. Maybe the Dyslexia, but I think people know about that because it came up when my son was diagnosed a couple of years ago. It tends to be hereditary, damn it! But, I’m happy to report he’s doing fine and has, now after going to resource class (they call it something much more PC nowadays) like his old lady did, he has been mainstreamed back to all regular classes in only 2 years. He essentially learned 4 grade levels in 2 years. Bright kid!

What was the first book you published and is it still available today? Is this something you can admit to writing?

It’s not available because I didn’t renew the contract. I want to rework it. Yeah, I can admit to it. It was okay. At the time I wrote it, it was great. Now? I’ve learned a lot and am very critical of my work, so now it’s barely readable as far as I’m concerned. Hopefully that is soon to be remedied. It was called Adventures of the Soul

Now on to more serious questions – How has your writing evolved since you were first published?

BIG TIME! I shouldn’t say this, because the books are still available, but I’d love to get my hands on about my first oh seven or so. And that includes all my books. There are four out that I wouldn’t change. Other than that? Oh baby. Let me at them! Not that they are bad, they just don’t live up to my very critical analysis. And all of that is due to me having grown so much as a writer. The books are still good and I wouldn’t change the actual stories, just the mechanics.

Do you write under other pseudonyms? If so what are they?

Just one. Jeigh Lynn. Jeigh writes well whatever JL doesn’t want to write. JL writes strictly gay romance, or maybe I should say strictly gay fiction. I’m willing to try other genres.

Did you always write M/M books and, if so, what is the main attraction for you other than two hot men doing the nasty?

The attraction? I just plain love men. I get along better with men, I prefer their company. I like the dynamics in the relationship between men. It IS different from the majority of m/f relationships.

What do you consider to be your most significant accomplishment as a writer?

Wow, that’s tough. I’d have to say being published and actually making money at it. Many writers don’t even submit and try to get published; they are afraid they aren’t good enough. So just the fact that I was brave enough to put myself out there and risk someone saying, “hey you suck,” makes me proud.

Which book has been your most successful to date in terms of sales?

I’m not a hundred percent certain. Without Reservations or The Tin Star. They are all pretty close, but those two have been out longer.

I believe you write full time. Is writing something you have always wanted to do while working as a dance teacher? What is most satisfying for you about writing?

Actually, no. I would have never seen myself as a writer. I wanted to be a Rockette, but I’m too short, dang it. LOL. Writing was an unexpected path. I went to college for Graphic Art and Art History, but even so I always thought I’d teach dance for the rest of my life. My mom said it best, I think. She said, “she’d never have thought of writing as something I’d end up doing, but thinking about it she doesn’t know why it never occurred to her, because I’ve always had the potential.” The best part? Is getting to make up stories and characters and no one thinks I’m overly insane for hearing voices, they attribute it to me being a writer.

You have written stories with Dick D, one of your critique partners, and I understand you’re contemplating another writing partnership. Do you wish to share any information on the book you will be writing with this new partner?

Dick and I have written one together and bits and pieces of others. He critiques for me also. He’s been sending me plot bunnies for a story he wants to work on next actually. We’ve been brainstorming. And yes, there will be more. Dick and I actually do really well together when we aren’t on a deadline. Deadlines make me crazy and in return I make him crazy. Honestly, the fact that he hasn’t strangled me is quite remarkable. Of course, there have been times I wanted to strangle him too LOL, but we actually do very well as a team and have a lot of fun. We get way carried away and involved in projects. Our email servers probably hate us.

I have talked about doing a story with L.M. Prieto. She is one of my critique partners as well. I have a huge amount of respect for her writing. She is just amazing and her writing voice is so different than mine. It just sucks me in. I love her mages and she likes my cowboys so we’ve been discussing combining the two. I’ve been dying to work with her on a story and actually learn some things from her. She’s a brilliant writer and a super nice lady to boot.

You have two new stories coming out as part of anthologies – Lost and Found which will be in the Shifting Sands anth. about a horse shifter named Ben and a witch named Shadow. Is this an M/F story? Do you have a blurb for the story and could you tell us a little bit about it?

LOL Shadow is a guy…bless his heart. He goes by Shay for obvious reasons. His Mom is a bit of a flower child. Hmm, lets see I don’t have a blurb. Nasty things those. I haaaate them. LOL But I can tell you about it. It is for an anthology that my critique partners are all in. We are actually changing the name of the anthology because we found another book with the same title, but we haven’t decided what we’re changing it to. It actually came about because of our kidding. Somehow or another we ended up with a “shifting rooster” or actually I think the exact wording was “shifting cock” and it went downhill from there. We decided to do odd farm animal type shifters. And so the anthology was born. It’s a little more complex than that, but think ranch with farm animal type shifters (except for 2 of them) but that plays into the concept. I don’t want to give too much away or else they’ll smack me around.:)

Your other story is in the Studs and Spurs anthology to be released this month by MLR Press. What can you tell us about the characters and the story?

Its about a cowboy named Tucker and his college roommate and friend, Micah. In order to inherit his family home, Tucker must marry…the catch? His grandfather’s will doesn’t specify what sex his spouse has to be, but I bet he never imagined Tucker would marry another man. Then again, Micah never thought Tucker would settle down, much less with him. Poor Micah can’t decide whether he’s been handed heaven or landed in hell.

What can I say, I love taking the tired old used het. romance themes and corrupting them.

What advice do you have for aspiring and new writers?

The best advice I have to give is, finish it and ship it out. I know that sounds obvious and you’re probably thinking DUH, JL. But so many new writers are leery of submitting, for fear of rejection. I say, what have you got to lose? My other big piece of advice is don’t change your story for everyone who reads it. Another DUH sounding piece of advice, but I’ve seen good writers lose their uniqueness by changing things every time they got a critique. Not that you shouldn’t listen to others, do, but weight the responses. If only one person says it??? It is probably just their opinion. If a lot of people say it? You might want to listen. At the very least take it under consideration.

The best experience for me has been working with good editors. I know some authors who refuse to look at ebooks as a possible outlet, but honestly, it’s a great way to learn the craft better. There is just something about working with an actual editor that helps you grow. Wait let me preface that, a GOOD editor.

I also caution people about critique groups. I know, I know, I’m always bragging about mine. There is a good reason for that. They are exceptional and not the norm where critique groups are concerned. I absolutely adore them and they have become some of my best friends, but that’s not been my past experiences. So, when looking for a critique group, go into it with your eyes open; not everyone has your best interest at heart.

Series Books

Do you find it easier to write books that are part of a series or standalones?

I don’t know. I always get myself sucked in by secondary characters and end up writing series. LOL. If I were guessing I’d say standalone is easier, less things to remember, but they both have drawbacks I’m sure.

You currently have three series – With and Without, Ranch and Sci-Regency which is fast becoming my favourite, so let’s start there –

Sci-Regency Series

The characters in these books are larger than life – the guys are the types of heroes that readers fantasize about – strong, decisive, brave and REALLY good looking. How did you come up with the idea for the series?

I love Regency era romances. And I HATE the whole bittersweetness of the reality of gay men in that time period. I wanted a way to make Regency with gay characters and have my happily ever after. So the Sci-Regency series was born.

The plots for the two stories I have read so far are complex – a lot more than boy meets boy, fall in love, have a few hiccups and then live happily ever after. There is murder, political intrigue, the possibility of a worldwide nuclear meltdown etc. Do you do a lot of research into possible storylines before you sit down to write or do you write by the seat of your pants?

A little of both actually. I plot loosely and things usually pop up, but then when they do I can sometimes go overboard with researching. I’ve been known to research minor things that no one cares about but me. For example. I was trying to write a short story the other day and got hung up on architecture because hero #1 is a building contractor, and, as such, things would need to be up to building codes. So I couldn’t just slap a revolving door up. I needed to know, if and what safety features the building codes of that particular city called for. Silly, I know, and something most people wouldn’t even consider, but…Well, I can go overboard at times.

Which came first – the plot or the characters? Whichever it was, is this your normal approach?

The characters, almost always the characters. The glimmer of a plot, or rather the idea of mixing the sci-fi and Regency happened, then Nate showed up and the rest just unfolded.

The most recent book in the series, The Englor Affair (reviewed here) will be released tomorrow, November 11th. I think TEA is even better than My Fair Captain (reviewed here) in terms of characters AND plot. What do you think?

Wow! Thank you! I think it kicked my ass LOL. I’m very pleased with it. I really fell in love with Payton and Simon. I don’t know if it’s better, but yeah I think I LIKE it better. As sexy as Nate is, Simon is just…well he’s going to be a great king. And Payton is the perfect match for him. He’s naive, and sheltered, but he’s smart, loyal and has a lot of grit.

Have you decided how many books there will be in the series, whose story will be next, and are you going to tell us? *grin*

All the brothers will get a story, Aiden’s friend Bannon will get a story, he is next btw. Bannon’s older brother Blaise, the heir to the duke of Eversleigh, and his consort, Dalton, will get a story as well. I’m torn on how to do theirs though. I don’t know if I want one book or two. They have a before and after. By the time you meet them in Bannon’s story they are already married, but Dalton has made it quite clear to me that there is a before. I need to discuss it with my editor Sasha. I’d also love to do a before and after story for Raleigh and Steven. I LOVE Raleigh.

Ranch Series

Right now this series is at 3 books and I’ve been waiting, it seems like forever, for the next chapter. According to the posts on your website you’re thinking about whose story will be next but you haven’t made a decision. Does this mean that we will have to wait for at least another year or two before the next story is written?

I’ve no idea. LOL. Right now, Matt is screaming the loudest and Bannon is not so patiently waiting behind Matt. So I have no idea. Those Regelence boys are tough. I think Bannon could take Matt, werewolf or not LOL. So who knows.

I think of the two books, while I loved The Broken H and the two protags Gray and Shayne, (ooooh cowboys!!!!) The Tin Star is my favourite book so far in this series. The characters of Jamie and Ethan were so wonderful and very well developed that I wondered if you modeled either of them after real people. Did you?

Not really no. Not on purpose anyway, but out of all my characters, not counting Cue in Jeigh’s Adventures of the Soul, Ethan has an awful lot of my husband in him. Jamie? Jamie has a lot of me in him. It wasn’t planned but after I started writing Ethan especially I noticed Andre in him. It got to the point where when I wasn’t sure how Ethan would act, I’d put Andre in his place and ask Andre what he’d do. Which I knew. I haven’t been with the man for 23 years and not learned how he’d act, but I needed to hear his justification for why he’d do things.

Jamie? I didn’t really realize how much in common we have until after TTS was finished. Someone asked me who the easiest character was for me to write and without hesitation I said, Jamie. And he was. I never fought with Jamie, I just knew how he’d react and what he’d do and there was never a minute I wanted to write his demise. If I was in his pov there was never a doubt as to how the scene was going to work. And I got to thinking about it and wondered why that was and that’s when it hit me that out of all my characters Jamie is the most like me.

John, Jamie’s brother, was really cool and had a very prominent role in the book. Is there a strong possibility that he will get his own story soon?

Probably. I waver back and forth. McCabe seems to think John belongs to him. I, on the other hand, have huge reservations about it. You know how I feel about the straight to gay storyline. Which is honestly what my biggest hang-up is. And while yes, I can see it in John’s case, I’m not entirely sold on the idea. Regardless what McCabe seems to think. John, that boy has tons of emotional baggage. Royal has his own secrets but he’s nowhere near as big a mess as John is LOL

With and Without Series

I really love this series as well (I’m repeating myself, I know) and Keaton’s characterization in Without Reservations (reviewed here) turned out to be brilliant. How did you come up with the idea of the incredible character switch in the story?

LOL Ah, Bit and his Napoleon complex. I love taking characters and making them more than they seem. Little and pretty doesn’t necessarily mean weak.

Remi was a really sweet, submissive character in With Caution (reviewed here) but since he was a werewolf I could not understand why he didn’t beat up his father, the bully, earlier in the book so that he could save his mother and brother. When you write a story like this with a lot of angst, how do you decide on the amount of pain and suffering you’ll put the characters (and the readers) through, and at what stage in the book will you end the suffering and move on to another traumatic event?

Honestly I don’t know. It’s not something I planned. It just came with Remi. I had no idea when I first wrote Remi that he had that type of baggage. I didn’t know until Keaton told me about the scars on his back. Then I realized this guy has had a pretty screwed up life. And for him to do such a 360 and come and apologize to his best friend…It was a doozy!

My husband volunteered for the family violence center when he and I were teens and I can remember him coming home and telling me these depressing stories about these abused women. I never got it, I was like WHY? Why don’t they leave? It was so foreign to me, even with Andre explaining the psychology to me. I just couldn’t grasp it. He got it immediately and has always been very hmmm, adamant in his defense of the victim. Me? It just made me angry that someone would “allow” themselves to be treated that way.

I have unfortunately as an adult seen the results of abuse through someone I’m close to. Sadly, the reality is that the victims don’t usually fight back. There is so much psychological damage that it usually takes a big catalyst to make the change start. You can’t help them if they don’t want help, and in most cases they don’t, nor will they acknowledge they need help. With a lot of women, it’s their kids that finally make them snap out of it and fight back. With Remi it was Sterling. Remi is one of my very favorite most complex characters. I love that so much of his characterization comes from Sterling. You can’t see Sterling without being reminded of what kind of man Remi is. Sterling’s outlook on life and his sweet disposition has a LOT to do with how Remi raised him. He did a hell of a job, especially considering what he was up against.

Why did Remi’s personality undergo such a major switcheroo between the two books? What happened to the wisecracking smartass from Without Reservations?

He’s still there, but that’s not the real Remi. That’s Remi wanting to keep people at a distance. You see a glimmer of him in WC when Remi is teasing Keaton. But in WC Remi finally took that step and decided to get help. He stopped trying to keep people at a distance. Again the catalyst was Sterling.

You have to realize what an emotional thing abuse is. I don’t pretend to know all the ins and outs. I’m very fortunate to be able to say I’ve no first hand knowledge. But there are two people very very close to me who have first hand knowledge. Fortunately one of them has overcome and triumphed before I actually met her. She and I have talked at great length. The other sadly has not and probably never will fight back. My only consolation is that she’s mentally abused, so it’s not likely to kill her, but in some ways that’s way worse. You can now help battered spouses to a small degree.

Don’t get me wrong — there is no such thing as strictly physical abuse, if it’s physical, it’s mental too, but the law states that given evidence of domestic violence the police must take the guilty party to jail. Granted the bad part is they get out and the abused go right back to them, so you never know if the next time will be what kills them. But with mental abuse, a lot of them, especially in the person to whom I’m referring, they convince themselves there isn’t abuse, rather that “it’s their fault.”

The sex scenes in your books are numerous and scalding hot. How do you pace them so that they don’t overwhelm the stories?

I have no idea. It totally depends on the characters. I get some I can’t get into bed and others I can’t get out of it LOL

JL Out and About

Are you having fun?

Oh absolutely! I tell you I’m a blabbermouth LOL

Someone told me that you’re quite the crack shot. Is it true that you own a Beretta? What do you shoot – people or rabbits? 🙂 (Where I live regular people aren’t allowed to have guns, only the criminals *g*)

LOLOLOLOLOL I have a couple actually, my Beretta (aka Bob) just happens to be my favorite. Nowadays I mostly shoot paper targets, I don’t get out to the farm much anymore. But I come from country folk, so I’ve shot cans, signs, you name it. I’m hoping to take some of the rifles and shotgun out to the farm Thanksgiving and get some target practice in. No people. And believe it or not, no hunting. Not that I have anything against it, if it’s done right (a deer stand and deer scent is not the “right” way in my opinion)…don’t get me started. But I won’t eat it so, why shoot it?

What do you do for fun other than going to the shooting range or hanging out with your characters? *g*

Read! LOL Seriously. I’m really boring. I don’t watch tv very often and when I do it’s the Cowboy game, or what I call “nerd TV” aka the History Channel, Discovery Channel or Tru TV (the old crime tv channel). I couldn’t point out an American Idol if my life depended on it and have no idea what other sitcoms and reality shows are on the air now. Every once in awhile I’ll go to a poker party, but that’s about it. I’m really boring

I understand that you’re very handy with an air compressor and nail gun. Why on earth would you even want to be proficient in operating these two pieces of equipment that should only reside in a good-looking handyman’s truck, with said good-looking handyman being available to help you with anything you need to have fixed? And about the chainsaw, what the f..k?

LOL Well the good-looking handyman lives in the house. Ummm, I don’t know, there are several reasons:

A) the men in my family have never noticed I’m a girl.
B) I don’t want to pay people for something I can do cheaper.
C) if I waited for everything to be done it would never get done.
D) it’s also very rewarding to be able to go into a new room on your house, or look at the new fence around your yard, or whatever and know that you did it.
E) if you are better at it than the rest of the men around, you aren’t as likely to get sent to do the fetching (aka the running back and forth to Home Depot, not that I’m strictly opposed to that, I love Home Depot LOL).

The chainsaw? Oh it’s the power thing baby! LOL Do you have any idea how fun it is to kill trees? And well anything that needs cutting? Oh oh oh oh oh (that was a Tim Allen impression btw). Sadly, I have to fight to get to use it after I get it away from Andre; my oldest son wants a turn now too. He has recently discovered how fun it is to destroy things with it.

What do you think about when you’re writing those hot sex scenes between two men? It may not be polite to ask this next question but I will anyway – How hot do you get?

How many times I’ve used certain words. Did I just use someone’s name or a pronoun? Do I need to substitute a name for a pronoun so everyone understands who I mean? Do I have enough emotion? Is there enough sensory details? Is that position even possible? o-O LOL Really unsexy but true.

How hot as in writing? Or as in me personally doing? I’ve written most everything I can get away with. I’ve never written a M/M/M menage and only one M/M/F menage. But I will write whatever I can get away with except for my own personal DO NOTs, like pedophilia and bestiality. Other than that, anything is fair game if I can convince my editors LOL.

If you meant me personally. Bwahahahahaha…

Have you ever fantasized about being in bed with any of your heroes and if so which one? (Don’t worry your husband won’t be reading this interview so you can be honest)

LOL yeah, it’s okay, I tell him everything anyway. Um, Ethan, Nate, Jake, Simon, Dev, Raleigh, Aubrey, Steven, Remi, Chay, ummm… should I just stop now? You get the picture right? LOL

Is it cool being JL? What do you like best about being as successful as you are? Do you get great seats at concerts? If so, I’m going with you *g*

Sadly I’m not cool at all. I’m about as nerdy as you get. And concerts? The last concert I saw was Clint Black I believe and that was like 12 years ago. The best part of getting to work at home though….Sleeping late and spending the day in my pjs and bunny slippers LOL.

Who are your favourite entertainers? I have this picture of you at a Waylon Jennings concert (not that there’s anything wrong with that!!) If there are pictures of you with Waylon please send them

LOL I’d have loved to have gone to a Waylon concert. George Strait is probably my fave entertainer. I’m a big country music fan actually. Old country, new country doesn’t matter. I was, as the song goes, country when country wasn’t cool. I’ve always listened to country. I’ve gone to several country concerts but unfortunately Waylon wasn’t one of them. I’ve always had a thing for Elvis too.

I like comedy. I’ve seen Andrew Dice Clay, Carlos Mancia, and Pablo Francisco in concert. Hmmm, OH! Gene Kelly. I loved Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor. I’ve always had a thing for musicals too. I was a dancer for over 25 years soooo… It’s probably not too surprising. I made the mistake of downloading the soundtrack to Sound of Music to write to. Um, yeah no writing got done, but my dog learned how to howl. I can dance my butt off, but I sing like Scuttle on Disney’s Little Mermaid.

Tell us one fun thing about JL

Despite being a dancer I’m not the most graceful person. Stick me on a stage in heels and I’m fine, but offstage? I’m Lucille Ball! I kid you not. Most of the antics Laine got into in With Love were taken from incidents of yours truly. So there is usually something to laugh about when I’m around; it’s just not aways on purpose.

I would like to thank JL for taking the time out of her very busy schedule to answer our questions. It was a real treat to have you on the blog JL and we look forward to your return visit. I had a lot of fun with this interview and I hope that fans of the author learned a little more about her and why she likes farm animals and chainsaws. She’s probably out right now killing trees. *g* From now on I’m going to call her the gunslinger – I respect a woman who knows how to handle a Beretta as well as a chainsaw.

The Englor Affair will be released on November 11 by Loose-id and my review of the book is on the blog.

And that’s a wrap.

JL’s contact information

10star@jllangley.com OR
langleyjl@gmail.com

J.L. Langley’s Backlist

The Tin Star
The Broken H
The Christmas Tree Bargain
With Love (Hearts from the Ashes anthology)
Without Reservations
With Caution
One Good Favor (Ties that Bind anthology)
The Englor Affair
My Fair Captain