Author Interview with Rachel Jones

Author Interviews

February 18, 2015

Author Interview with Rachel Jones

Today I’d like to welcome Rachel Jones to my blog. Rachel is the author of contemporary romance “To Dance One More Day”. I loved reading through her interview responses, especially finding out more about her goals for 2015 and the project she’s currently working on. Thank you for the interview!

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I discovered this about two months into writing my first manuscript. That will be three years ago this May. When I started writing, it was to satisfy a curiosity to see if I could do it. A few months in, I realized I wanted to write.

Where did you get the inspiration for To Dance One More Day?

I am a lover of ballet, so I wanted my heroine to be a ballerina. I have been an RN for twenty-five years and I just couldn’t keep that part of me out of the story. So…my manuscript about a broken ballerina repaired by the love of a trauma surgeon was born.

What is your editing process like?

My editing process has changed with each of my projects. I find myself in a continuous state of learning and that includes how to edit. With my first manuscript, I edited as I wrote, wanting to make my story as perfect as possible at that moment before I continued. My challenge now is to get the initial draft on paper before I start my edits. I am on my third manuscript and have established a routine that is adequate, but I’m open to changing how I edit as I learn more about the editing process. After my story is drafted on paper, I break it down by chapters. I use a checklist to catch all those things we look for, making this a lengthy process. My last step is to read my manuscript, beginning to end, making notes as I edit the style of my work.

Did you set any writing goals for 2014? Did you accomplish them?

My writing goals for 2014 included:

Attend my first national writers conference
Have a manuscript ready to pitch at that conference
Attend a reader luncheon
Learn about promotion
Launch my website

I am happy to say I accomplished all of my goals.

What are your writing goals for 2015?

My 2015 writing goals are:

Sell enough e-copies of my debut novel to fulfill my publisher’s requirements for a paper version of my novel
Attend the Romance Writers of America national conference in New York this July
Host an author table at a reader luncheon
Present a craft workshop at the Moonlight and Magnolias conference in Georgia this October
Participate in a book signing event
Finish my third manuscript
Be more engaged on my social media platforms

Are you working on something now? If so, can you tell us a little about it?

I am working on a manuscript about a concert pianist. She has some medical issues that have interrupted her touring schedule. After being away for a decade, she returns home to San Francisco and tries to reconnect with her family. The unresolved grief over her parents’ death two years before keeps her anchored in the past. She falls in love with her uncle’s younger colleague. He is attracted to her but his past prevents him from building a future with her.

About The Book

Title: To Dance One More Day

Author: Rachel Jones

Genre: Contemporary Romance

From her early teens, ballet has been an integral part of Jillian Russell’s life. One by one, she loses her parents, grandparent, husband and child. If being alone in the world wasn’t bad enough, a medical diagnosis takes away her chance to become a prima ballerina.

Knowing a part of her will die if she walks away from ballet, she changes her focus and builds a ballet company and opens a dance school. This endeavor takes all her resources and leaves no time to build new relationships outside her world of dance. Jillian rationalizes if she doesn’t build relationships, she can’t be deserted. And she’s not sure she would survive another loss.

Handsome trauma surgeon, Alan Armstrong has relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina for a fresh start. Until a few years ago, he had always envisioned his future to include a wife and children. But after his father died in a plane crash from lack of medical attention, his focus for the future has shifted to equip himself professionally to set up a rural clinic. A supporter of the arts, Alan finds himself on the board of the North Carolina Ballet Company. He has always had a penchant for fixing things. Realizing Jillian’s professional life could use some help, it is not long before he realizes he is drawn to her romantically as well.

They fall in love, but when Alan discovers Jillian has been misdiagnosed, he tells her she must decide between their love or a performance career in ballet.

Author Bio

In 1977 Rachel earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education and taught music for ten years. After the birth of her second child, she returned to school and in 1991 earned her Associate of Applied Science degree in Nursing and passed the state boards for registered nurses. She has been a labor & delivery and antepartum nurse since that time.

Anticipating her retirement from healthcare, Rachel decided to write her first novel at age fifty-seven. For years she had experienced scenes of heroes and heroines rambling about in her thoughts and spilling into her dreams. So it was a no-brainer that she should attempt to capture these thoughts on paper.

Rachel resides in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia with her husband of thirty-seven years. She has three adult children, who help spoil their Labrador retriever. She is a member of Georgia Romance Writers, Southeastern Writers Association and is a PRO member of Romance Writers of America.

Majanka Verstraete