by Trish Morey

The ground breaking and best-selling Harlequin Presents author and now successful Warner author, Jane Porter will be attending our ‘Some like it Hot!’ conference in August. Trish Morey asked her what she has in store for us as writers and readers.

Trish: Jane, it's great to hear you'll be visiting us at our Gold Coast conference again this year! What are some of your favourite memories of your 2003 visit?

Jane: Besides seeing something of Australia--which was brilliant fun, especially as my kids were along-- was meeting the authors and so many kind people. I have never felt so comfortable at a writers’ conference before and absolutely loved attending. The workshops were great, the energy so positive and having time to really get to know my Australian mates made it an incredible few days.

What do you have planned for ‘Some Like it Hot’? What can we look forward to?

I don't know what I have planned for you! I'm sure it will be good, though. No, seriously, I'm at a really amazing point in my career where it's all interesting and very rewarding and what I believe more than ever....it’s the writing. I've always done a ton of promo and support for my books, but I'm staying home more than I used to, and thinking more about my themes and what it is I want to say and I'll be sharing more about making the most of our craft and how each book should delight not just readers--but ourselves. It's important that we write great books, but also take care of ourselves.

That’s such an important message. So, Jane, just how do you manage both a successful Presents career and an increasingly successful single title career with Warner? How do you balance both when life gets crazy?

I've had to cut back on my Presents titles from four-plus a year to two to make time for the Warner books as well as the rest of my life. I see my kids less than I used to and it’s really hard on me. I’m sometimes at a loss.. but that also has given me the voice and strength to write the stories I do for Warner.

The great thing about having two publishers and two different genres is that I still get to write romance, and now I get to write straight fiction so I'm continually growing as a woman and a writer. But both genres for me are ultimately about hope and love and finding the silver lining. In romance, two people find each other, and in my fiction, a woman finds herself. Writing for Warner I get to really look at women's lives, and women's friendships, as well the socialisation of women. We - women - have such a huge impact on each other, for the good, and sometimes the bad, and having themes that I care about so much really gives me the impetus to write... even on those days when it's just nutty!

How difficult was it to make the transition from category romance to single title? Did you find any resistance to your work even after establishing a successful category track record?

Because I'm a writer, and I need and want to write, I pretty much ignore opposition and keep on keeping on. If there is a story I really need to tell, I tell it, and hope there will be a market. I'm fortunate Harlequin has been supportive about my writing. They had the first look at The Frog Prince and passed on it in one day. I didn't necessarily want to leave Harlequin, just expand my stories and themes. And Warner, now that they've bought me, have really done a lot to develop my writing style and voice, so it's great having two wonderful editors and two great houses to help me learn and grow.

And grow and grow! I've heard you've just signed a two book deal with Warner! Congratulations! What does this mean for Jane Porter fans in terms of future releases, both single title and category?

I'm very excited about the new contract with Warner. This means I'll have my July book out this year, and then Like Everybody Else Spring 2007 and a fourth in 2008. It definitely gives me a bit of job security which I really need as a single mom. Writing for Presents/Sexy has been wonderful in so many ways, and I will continue to write for them, but I’ve been through too much emotionally in the past few years with the divorce, etc, to write only intensely emotional and sexy stories. My heart got banged up in the divorce and I don't know that I lost faith in the world, but I certainly have some doubts about marriage and true love. It's hard to explore too much of that in a Presents (although I've touched on it with a couple books) due to the word length and reader expectations, so having the Warner books as an outlet is fantastic. I can still write but I can also be honest. And that's important to me now that I'm in my forties.

The subject of these next two Warner books is also something that's close to my heart. It's my take on The Mommy Wars, where two women in an affluent community don't get along and yet must work together since they're both involved with their daughters’ activities. One mom has a demanding career, the other mom has a very successful husband, and they don't see what they have in common, but only the differences and those are very negative. And that's what I want to know...why are women so hard on each other? Why do some women really like one kind of a woman and not another? Which women are we threatened by and why? Which women do we trust? And what does that trust entail?

Flirting with Forty follows on from your successful single title debut, The Frog Prince, and is set for release in July 2006. Could you tell us a little about Flirting with Forty?

Flirting with Forty isn't even out yet but it already is getting a nice little buzz here in the States. Redbook Magazine has selected it as their hot summer read for 2006 and is excerpting it in their June, July and August issue, ending on a cliffhanger in August and its so exciting to think that 2 million women might have a chance to read some of it, and hopefully like it! Jayne Ann Krentz read it and gave me a lovely cover quote and there are some fun magazines reviewing it this summer, too.

I'm actually doing less promo for this book than I did with The Frog Prince as the novel is getting some momemtum, and I need to get some serious writing done, too. There is quite a bit about the novel on my website a and in a nutshell it’s the story of a 40 year old single Seattle soccer mom who falls hard for a younger man, a surf instructor in Hawaii, and the conflict is really what happens when she goes back home. What will her friends say...how will she cope with the distance...and is there anything wrong with falling in love with a younger man from a different economic background?

Thanks so much, Jane, we look forward to seeing you at ‘Some like it Hot!’ this coming August!

I can't wait to join you all. I'm very excited and counting the days till I'm there. See you soon!

Jane Porter has written over twenty best selling novels for Harlequin Presents since she smashed through the then seemingly impenetrable Presents barrier in 2000. Lately Jane’s talents have also been realised in single title, with Warner publishing The Frog Prince in 2005 and now Flirting with Forty due out this July. Jane has further works in the pipeline with both Harlequin and Warner and we look forward to hearing all the details at our Gold Coast conference in August!
 

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