Jessica McQuinn

Contemporary romance author JESSICA MCQUINN is proud to have Omnific Publishing offering her debut novel, Passion Fish, a collaborative work with Alison Oburia. Jessica has enjoyed being a part of a thriving online writing community for two years that helped her polish her writing skills.  In honor of the release of Passion Fish on February 16, 2010, Jessica has agreed share a little bit about her writing process and the publication of her first book.

               
Omnific: What is your writing process like?  How long does it take you to write a book and where does it fit in your schedule?

I guess if I were to say that I had a process, it would be just listening to the characters in my head. Once an idea pops into my head, I get a general sense of where a story is going, and a few key scenes, but I don’t usually outline…I just write what the people who live in my head tell me (and sometimes I completely disagree with what they want to do!)

One thing that I have to do is start out writing by hand. I have two notebooks full of the original Passion Fish with everything from notes I took when talking with Alison about plot on the phone, to actual almost completely handwritten chapters. And several more with other stories and story beginnings. Once I have a decent start, I transfer it to the computer and edit along the way. I find the blank computer screen much more intimidating than a piece of paper.

Where does it fit in my schedule? Wherever I can make it fit. With two busy kids, I keep one of those notebooks with me so I can write when I have a few minutes while waiting for practice/class/events to end. At home, I write either early in the morning or late at night when the house is quiet and I can think for a minute.

Omnific: What about editing? Passion Fish was previously posted online.  How did you go about editing it into a novel?

Editing Passion Fish was a very long and hard task, but so worth it. Bringing out the characters was an interesting aspect of rewriting Passion Fish. In the original version, the personalities and characteristics were already there and assumed, but in rewriting, we could give them their own backgrounds and personalities.

The rewrite also gave us a chance to change the flow and some of the information that the reader has. We were able to add a lot to the story that really filled in the blanks.

I will say that rewriting a story is much harder than writing it in the first place. Trying to maintain the plot and the feel of the original, yet wanting to change and redirect other things was difficult. When you are writing the story, you can make it go wherever you want. When you are rewriting, you have to stay on the road that’s already been paved, but maybe find a few side roads…

Omnific:  Passion Fish is a collaborative product between you and Alison Oburia.  Did you write different characters or different scenes, or how did you split up the work?

In the original version, Alison and I each found a voice in certain characters, and so we each wrote what we were comfortable with. As it worked out, Alison did a great job capturing two of the main characters, while I fell in love with the other two. We each also found a voice in one of the "villains," and that was a lot of fun to explore the bad side of someone's personality. So the work actually turned out to be pretty evenly split as far as writing goes.

We spent many, many, many hours on the phone talking out our plot. That was the best part of writing Passion Fish. We would talk out every thread of plot and where it could go and how we could get there. I loved our talks and how we would weave our ideas together into one story.

Omnific: What made you decide to publish Passion Fish as a novel?

When Alison and I first wrote Passion Fish, it was so much fun, and it wasn't until about half way through when we got an email from a reader who worked in publishing. She told us that she thought our story would make a great novel. That was the first time we both went, "Really?"

After that, we had it in the back of our head to try to publish the original storyline as a novel. And people were so supportive of us that we need to thank all of them for that. Now, we are so lucky that Omnific has allowed us to realize our dream.

Omnific: Have you written anything independently that you hope to publish? 

I might have...

Actually, I am working on a trilogy extracted from another story that I have written. But given my busy life, and the amount of research that I need to do for it, I'm not making any promises as to when the first book would be ready. 

Omnific: Tell us about the main characters in Passion Fish.

 Ohhh, I love this question because in editing Passion Fish, I truly fell in love with our characters.

Passion Fish centers around the relationships of two couples; Museum curator, Eve Carwyn and Entrepreneur, Will Prentiss along with Eve’s best friend Skylar Montgomery and the object of her affection, Gage Vandenberg. The interaction and developing relationships of these two couples is pushed and prodded by their friends Josie, Beau, Noelle and Thomas.

Of course, we have our bad guy, Eve’s temperamental ex, Julian Meadows, and we have developed him so much more than in our original, with some background that lets the reader see into his head a little bit more. I’m really excited about this character and what we have done with him.

Omnific:  What is your best advice for aspiring writers? 

I have two things that I would say to an aspiring writer.  First if you have an idea…write it. Get it down on paper and out of your head.

Second, once you have written what you’ve had spinning in your head, find someone who you can show it to who will be honest with you. Sometimes it hurts to hear that something that you have worked hard on isn’t a good as you thought it was, but that’s how you get better.  

Omnific:  Many established authors have said that reading books is the best research you can do when you want to become a writer.  What are your favorite books and authors?  Do you have a favorite genre?

Oh gosh, I have always loved to read. From the time that I could read a “real” book, I was rarely found without one. One of my biggest problems is that I find an author I absolutely love and then voraciously read everything they write, then I have to wait for the next book…and I’m not a patient woman.

Some of my favorite authors are Michael Crichton, Janet Evanovich, Charlaine Harris, JR Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christine Feehan…the list goes on and on. I love when a friend recommends a new series to me, and I have that kid at Christmas feeling knowing I will have several new books to read before I have to wait.

If I had to choose a favorite book…ugh…I don’t know if I ever could…but I would probably say The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It actually hurt to read that story, and it was so beautifully written. I think I need to reread that one…again. 

Omnific: Thank you so much for being so generous with your time, Jessica. Everyone is looking forward to reading your novel, Passion Fish, available February 16, 2010 at www.omnificpublishing.com.