WHAT?

Time travel romance is the genre I not only enjoy writing the most, but it’s also my favorite genre to read. My fascination with time travel started at an early age. I was always the girl staring off into space daydreaming in history and geography class. I wanted to live in so many of those times and places I learned about in school. I wanted to experience what those people experienced, and what better way to do that than through a book. I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. It’s always been a way for me to express myself when I’m happy, sad, angry or feeling misunderstood. I’ve written everything from essays to business letters and now I’m finally doing what I always dreamed of – writing stories about people I’d like to meet and places I’d like to visit.

WHY?

Writing is a way for me to get all those crazy thoughts rolling around in my head down on paper. There’s only so much room up there and so I’ve got to get it out. I grew up in a house full of story tellers. My large Irish and Italian families were full of funny, interesting and very tall tales. My Italian mother called it the Irish story telling gene. She obviously didn’t think her family were on a par with the Irish, but she was wrong on that one. The Italian family could tell stories with the best of them. I could count on both sides of the family to entertain me for hours on end. I’d go from one uncle to another to an aunt and even to my older brothers. We’d play games that involved making up stories as we drove past buildings and homes. Imagining who lived there and what they were doing. Did they know the people down the street? What was their relationship to them? We’d also sit in the car on a busy street, window open, listening to conversations. As people would pass, we’d take what they said and add it to what the next person was saying and so on. It was a fun way to make up a story about people we didn’t know. With such amazing influences in my childhood, I couldn’t help but set my own imagination free to make up a tall tale or two.

HOW?

Late afternoon into evening is my preferred writing window, but thoughts can come to me at any time – even in the middle of the night. So I always have a pen and paper handy no matter where I am. When those story ideas pop into my head, writing them down is a must before I forget them and then spend hours trying to remember what that great idea was. Walking my dog brings me lots of inspiration as I listen to my characters conversing with each other and with me. Music is also inspirational. I like to listen to Celtic music when I write. It’s very soothing and since my books are set in Scotland, it’s perfect mood music. I’m a partial plotter/pantser. I do a little bit of both and that seems to work for me. By joining national and local writers’ groups and by joining with other authors on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, I have found a generosity, support and limitless knowledge that have fueled me and guided me through the world of self publishing.

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Jennae Vale is the author of romance with a touch of magic. Her Scottish Medieval time travel series The Thistle & Hive, Books One through Four, is available in print and ebook versions on Amazon and other online ebook sellers. Her next series, The Mackalls of Dunnet Head is set for release early in 2016.

Jennae started life in Massachusetts, but now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, her dog, two cats and four chickens. She also has a horse, but since there’s no room in her backyard, he lives at a nearby stable. Jennae is an avid quilter, who loves to cook, read and craft in her spare time.

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