Author Spotlight: A.L. Jackson

A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, and BLEEDING STARS novels.
Watch for LEAD ME HOME, the third sexy, heart-warming romance in the new Fight For Me series, coming mid-2017
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.

 

 

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Random Questions:

• What do you eat and drink while writing?

Usually coffee in the morning and Diet Coke in the afternoon! Since I write all day, pretty much every day, I try to stick to normal meals.

• Where were you born?

Cody, Wyoming.

• Are you a very organized person?

Yeah, I think I’m pretty danged organized, although when a deadline is looming, I tend to become more scrambled.

• What is your favorite TV show?

Arrested Development

• What three words best describe you?

Nice, antsy, forgiving

• If you could tell your 18-year-old self one thing, what would it be?

Just keeping doing what you’re doing – amazing things are coming, and be sure to enjoy every single step of the way.

• What is your favorite restaurant?

Yardhouse

• Where is your favorite or dream vacation spot?

Greece!

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 This or That:

• Pancake or Waffle?

Pancake

• Christmas or Halloween?

Christmas

• Cookie or Cake?

Cookie

• Beach or Mountains?

Beach

• Cat or Dog?

Cat

• Pepsi or Coke?

Coke

• Toilet paper: Over or Under?

Over

• Beer or Wine?

Wine

• Tattoos or no tattoos?

Tattoos

• Fruits or vegetables?

Vegetables

• Puzzles or board games?

Board Games

• Pasta or pizza?

Pasta

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Book Related Questions: **SPOILERS AHEAD**

• I have read 4 of your books. I still have many to go and many on my TBR but I can’t wait to keep reading your work.

Yay – so glad you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read 🙂

• The first book I read was A Stone in the Sea and then Drowning to Breathe. Why make these books a duet but all the others in the series stand-alones?

The story just got long – it would have been more than a 200,000 word book if I’d have kept it one, so I knew I had to split it in to two. I try to let my stories lead me, and that’s the way that one ended up.

• Shea broke my heart in this book. She was trying to do the best she could while trying to also hide herself. She knows she needs to avoid Sebastian but she can’t. What is it about him that makes her come out of her shell?

I think it was from that first moment when he was watching her from across the bar . . . when she could feel his intensity. There was something about him that she couldn’t look away. Call it chemistry or attraction, but Shea had never felt it so strongly, and then as she got to new the man beneath his gorgeous exterior, it was all over her.

• Where did you come up with the name “Sunder” for the band? Why a rock band?

Sunder means to sever something, so I felt it really fit for all the guys in the band with their sordid pasts. They’d done a lot of damage to themselves when they were younger, and their stories were about learning from those mistakes and finding redemption. And it’s just the kind of music I listen to. There’s nothing that I love more than being in the pit at a rock concert, and so of course, that was the first thing I envisioned when I started writing these stories.

• Why did you choose Savannah, Georgia for the setting of these books?

I’ve actually never been to Savannah, but when I was researching settings, I absolutely fell in love with it. I loved that there was both a river walk and the beach at Tybee Island. It was perfect.

• I felt Drowning to Breathe was a much more emotional book than A Stone in the Sea. Why add those extra emotions in the second book?

While A Stone in the Sea was their start, Drowning to Breathe was truly about them overcoming their obstacles, discovering themselves, and finding a way to build a family from that. I think just because of the content and the direction their relationship was going, it was going to be more emotional. Plus, Sebastian was beginning to discover more and more about his brother’s involvement in Mark’s death and the aftermath of that and Shea coming face-to-face with her mother definitely packed a punch.

• I got mad at Sabastian for up and leaving Shea without thinking everything through once he found out the truth. Why did you have him do this?

He felt betrayed. He’d kept a secret from Shea all that time, and once he came clean, he thought there were no secrets between them, so in his shock and hurt, he ran. Of course it didn’t take him long to run back to her.

• On to When Lightning Strikes. I absolutely LOVED this story. Lyrik and Tamar are like fire and ice. They love and they hate. They take and they give. Why did you have their characters so back and forth?

I loved the idea of two characters so similar to each other that they were terrified to get so close. Plus writing the push and the pull is my favorite thing to do.

• There were times when Lyrik said and did things that were difficult to read. Where these scenes where Lyrik was not being nice hard to write?

Oh yeah, there were times I wanted to let Tamar junk punch him 😉  But I loved to see the progression of Lyrik, how he came alive in her learned to love again.

• I am going to name some of your other books and series. In 5 words, tell me about the book or series:
• Wait:

Sebastian’s little brother’s story

• Stay:

Hot bassist meets interior designer.

• Stand: 

The drummer gets protective.

• Show Me the Way:

Sexy single dad

• Follow Me Back:

Doctor falls for patient’s mom.

• Lead Me Home:

Ollie finds his lost love.

• Closer to You series:

Lost souls finding love.

• Take This Regret series:

A father finding forgiveness.

• One Wild Night:

Super fun fantasty in Hollywood

• You have an average rating on Goodreads of 4.11 with over 127,000 ratings and over 14,500 reviews. As a writer, how does that feel?

I actually had no idea!! That’s amazing. Truly amazing. There’s no better feeling as an author than knowing one stories has resonated with someone, made them smile or helped them through a rough patch or gave them some kind of hope. It’s such a blessing I get to do what I do.

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Random Ending Questions:

• Is it hard to write duel POV?

No, I love it. I’m always thinking about what the other character is thinking or feeling, so I love being able to express that for both characters.

• Who are your one-click authors?

Amy Harmon, Molly McAdams, Corinne Michaels, Colleen Hoover, Renee Carlino, Penelope Ward. And when I’m in the mood for light, Vi Keelend and Lauren Blakely. And so so many more. Gah, there are a hundred spinning through my head right now!

• Do you write full-time or part-time?

Full-time.

• What is the most difficult part of writing a sex scene?

Really, all of it. Getting the emotions right, not focusing on too much of the physical, but the emotional connection while still allowing the scene to be sexy and intense. It’s always intimidating.

• Do you feel authors should put trigger warnings in their books?

No, I don’t.

• What is the average time it takes to write a book?

Three to six months.

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Final Questions:

• What can readers expect in the future?

I have a brand-new series coming soon – Confessions of the Heart. It’ll be a series of stand-alone novels set in a small town in the outskirts of Charleston about two brothers and the people who surround them. The first is called MORE OF YOU, and I’m absolutely in love with it!

 

• Anything you would like to say to your readers?

Just THANK YOU! I’m so absolutely honored that you pick up my books, and it’s my favorite thing to wake up to messages from my readers about a story they’ve read and loved. I couldn’t do anything without them.

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Books by A.L. Jackson:

The Bleeding Stars Series:

The Regret Series:

Closer to You Series:

Stand-alones: