Happy Thursday, Friends! I’ve got a new writer to introduce to you today. Judi Lynn and I are sister authors with Kensington Publishing. We’re also blogging and Twitter friends so naturally when she announced a new release, I was more than happy to roll out the red carpet and invite her to my blog. I hope you’ll do the same by welcoming her.
I’ve already got her new release COOKING UP TROUBLE downloaded to my Kindle, awaiting my reading pleasure. And (psst!) I’ll let you in on a little secret…Judi writers in another genre as well, but I’ll let her explain that—and how she came to develop the characters who populate Mill Pond.
~ooOOoo~
Thank you, Mae, for inviting me to your blog.
I know from reading your posts that you love folklore, legend, and cryptozoology. (I had to look that up). We have similar tastes. I love Greek and Norse myths, along with witches, vampires, shifters, and succubi. That’s why I write urban fantasy under my real name—Judith Post. It’s fun to think about “others” with special powers, powers that make their lives more complex instead of easier. I like the struggles and battles, the good vs. bad.
Imagine my surprise, then, when my agent asked me to try my hand at romance. “No paranormal, no magic, just boy meets girl and eventually an HEA.” No magic? No supernaturals? I panicked. How do you build a plot like that? I spent the next four months treading my plot across emotional ups and downs, misunderstandings, and unspoken desires. It felt like hiking across a soufflé that you didn’t want to fall. Fitting—because I love to put cooking and food in my stories. But I discovered that I like writing romance, too. Romances focus on feelings and character studies, innuendos and inner battles. When I finished COOKING UP TROUBLE, I wanted to stay in Mill Pond for a long time. I wanted to bump elbows with the people who live there. I used the pen name Judi Lynn, so that readers who followed my urban fantasy would know Mill Pond only houses mortals. I’m working on my fourth Mill Pond romance now, and I hope people enjoy these stories as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.
BLURB:
It’s impossible not to notice when someone new shows up in Mill Pond. Especially someone as obviously out-of-place as Ian McGregor. His stylish suit and fancy car scream “city slicker.” And when Tessa Lawrence discovers he can’t even change a tire, she has no choice but to help. That’s just what the locals do. And when she finds out Ian’s her new neighbor, of course she’s obliged to invite him to dinner too…
Turns out Ian’s come from New York to open a luxury resort on the property next door to Tessa’s farm, where she grows berries and sells her famous jams and delectable baked goods. But despite their quickly growing friendship and temptingly close proximity, Tessa plans to keep things with Ian strictly neighborly. For one thing, Ian’s got a fiancée who, unlike Tessa, doesn’t have dirt under her nails. Plus, Tessa knows from bitter experience that a guy this gorgeous is all too likely to break a simple country girl’s heart. Even if he’s as sweet as one of her cinnamon buns—and equally hard to resist…
Purchase From:
Kensington Publishing
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
iTunes
Google
Kobo
Connect with Judi at the following haunts:
Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter @judypost
From the Pen of Mae Clair 
Thanks for sharing your blog with me, Mae! Can’t wait for the release of A Thousand Yesteryears!
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A pleasure to have you visit, Judi. I’m looking forward to discovering all of the characters in your Mill Pond series. It sounds like a place I’d love to live 🙂
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Interesting to write in such different genres.
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I agree, Craig. I’ve straddled different genres, but never went so far as to write under two different names as Judi has done. I think it’s wonderful to cross genres. I do it as a reader all the time. As a writer we should have the same freedom.Thanks for commenting and making Judi feel welcome!
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I do too, but I keep it speculative. I’ve heard of others who use a pen name to vary too far afield, and I found this very interesting.
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I love hearing about multi-genre authors, as I am one myself. I’d love to hear more about how you juggle writing and marketing the different genres. In the meantime, good luck with the new series. Mill Pond sounds lovely.
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Thanks for visiting, Staci. You are one of my favorite mutli-genre authors. Regardless what genre you tackle, I am always enthralled by the results. Thanks for commenting and making Judi feel welcome. I’m going to be diving into her Mill Pond release soon!
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Love all these multi-genre authors! I’ll have to check out the Mill Pond books, and Judith’s urban fantasies. Great post, Judith!
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Glad you dropped by to check it, Julie. I think more and more of us are straddling multi-genres 🙂
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I did the same thing. I write paranormal under this name, but I decided to try romantic mysteries under another name. Coincidentally, that pen name also has the last name “Lynn”. LOL
I’m very intrigued by your Mill Pond romances. Do I need to read the first one before this one? Or does the reading order matter?
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Or is this the first one? I think I got confused. LOL
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LOL! No worries. Yep, this is Judi’s first.
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Romantic mysteries and paranormal are good alternate genres to work in, I think. Normally, the audience will follow along. I know I like both genres, so I’m always happy to read different genres by the same author.
I’m looking forward to discovering Mill Pond, too. This one is Judy Lynn’s first in the series.
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I have the same interests as Judi and am currently working on a non-paranormal romance, which made this post especially timely for me. The book sounds wonderful, and I have added it to my TBR. Thanks for the suggestion, Mae.
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Glad you dropped by to check it out, Flossie. And I want to hear all the details about the non-paranormal. No matter what you write, your characters always win me over!
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