Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions to The Passionate Pen. Here I give information about myself, this page and many other mysterious, interesting topics... Intrigued?
Read on.
 Photo by Annette Batista |
Q: Who are you anyway? A: Ah, who are any of us? What, you don't want philosophy? Well, fine. You're no fun. I am Jess Michaels. I am also Jenna Petersen. LOL Confused? Me too! As Jess Michaels I write erotic romance. As Jenna Petersen, I write historical romance set in the Regency period. You can see a full listing of all my books here. I have been writing romance full-time since early 1999, shortly after I graduated from University of Washington with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. I am very happily married to my hero-husband (since 1997) and we live with our two sweet cats, Harley and Quinn in Central Illinois. I am also the owner, designer and maintain-er of this site, which I started in 1999.
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Q: Are you published?
A: Yes! As Jess Michaels, I am published with Avon Red and Red Sage Publishing. Check out my Jess Michaels site for more info on my books..
As Jenna Petersen, I write for Avon. Check out the Jenna Petersen site for more info.
If you'd like to get my monthly newsletter with updates on contests and releases from both my pseudonyms, you'll want to join my email newsletter group:
Click to join JessNJenna now!
Q: So, what makes you qualified to tell anyone else what to do??
A: Wow. You're kind of passive aggressive, aren't you? Would you like to talk? Maybe we can work through these issues together.
Seriously, I'm not qualified to tell anyone anything. Writing is an art, and art is done as it is done. That said, there are certain rules that a piece of genre fiction generally follows and certain industry information that one either has or doesn't have. But The Passionate Pen isn't meant to tell anyone what or how to write or where to send whatever they do end up writing. It is simply meant to be a tool to help other writers on their own unique road. I hope it does.
Q: What made you design this site?
A: When I sent out my first manuscript to publishers in 1999, I had a terrible time finding out anything about them or their submissions guidelines. At the time, I wasn't a member of RWA and was doing this on my own. I decided that a resource with links to publisher websites and their submission guidelines was something more than one person might need, so The Passionate Pen was born. Since moving to its own domain in April 2000, it has really taken on a life of its own.
Q: I'm an unpublished author, can you help me get my manuscript published?
A: I wish I could! If you have specific questions about the trade or publishers, go right ahead and ask. I'll do my best to answer. My biggest hint is to join Romance Writers of America. You'll not only get research and industry info, but the support and the knowledge that there are many other people out there trying to do what you're doing. That can be very valuable in those dark times of the soul.
Aside from that, just read as many books in the specific genre you're writing (historicals if you're writing historicals, contemporaries if you're writing contemporaries, category if you're writing category). Reading romances will give you the feel for the rhythm and themes romances follow as a general rule.
Finally, if you don't like romances, please don't write them. You may think it's an "easy" market to break in to, or that "anyone" can write them. Those are two big misconceptions. If you don't like romance, your contempt will come across in your work and editors and readers will sense it. Write what you love!!!!
Q: I write (fill in the blank here) stories. Would you have any recommendations for a publisher?
A: I've only done research on romance publishers, but many of them publish a wide variety of genre and literary fiction. You can still link through to their pages and check out what other types of fiction/non-fiction they produce.
Another good hint is buy the most recent edition of Writer's Market, a book that lists where you can try to sell your book, short story, etc.
Finally, read what you're writing. It's really the best way to figure out who's buying your type of story. When you read a new mystery, science fiction novel, erotic fiction piece... whatever, check for the publisher. If you're writing something similar to what they're publishing then check out their website. You'll usually find submissions guidelines if you look hard enough.
Q: How do you write romances?
A: Read, read, read, read!!!!! If you read them, they'll spark ideas for you. Buy or check out books on romance writing. The more you know your craft, the easier it will be to make your ideas flow together.
Those things can help, but if you love to write and can think up a plot, you have a good start. I won't lie to you, it isn't always easy. I mean, this form of work involves a lot of rejection. Remember that it isn't personal, and that you can learn from it. Writing in any form is hard work, without the regular paycheck or feedback a regular job gives to keep you going! I only know that from my experience you wake up every day... and you do it.
Q: What happened to some of the pages on this website?
A: Well, a website should be a constantly changing entity, and Passionate Pen certainly has been. I have removed pages or altered their content on a regular basis. This site also has a tendency to change as my career changes. Plus, sometimes I just like to clean house!
But I'm always interested in what other authors want to see here! If you have a suggestion about what you'd like this site to contain, feel free to Contact Me!