Hi!  I would like to thank Jewel Adams for taking the time to answer these questions for me!  Welcome, Jewel.

I'm truly flattered to be interviewed by you Susan :)

How did you get started writing?

Oh my, I think I always wrote, but my first romance I started back in the seventies when my daughter was very young. I would sit out on the porch with my pencils and notebook paper and write until I couldn't write another word. I think it was my way to escape work, family and just relax.

After I started that first book I started to read everything I could find about writing. I knew nothing, not even how to set up the pages for a manuscript. I checked out books from the library, started subscriptions to Writers Digest and Romantic Times, joined local writers groups. I never have finished that first story, but I kept writing and writing. The more I wrote the better I became, writing is a continuous learning experience.

What or who has influenced you the most in your writing?

I would have to say that no one person really influenced me as much as all authors of all fiction genres. I was always a reader, from The Black Stallion and Tarzan, to Navy Nurse romances, the old masters like Chaucer and Shakespeare to gothic romance and then category romances and when they stopped publishing the gothic romance I moved into the historicals.

I learned how to write by reading and I was a ravenous reader :) I think I read so much that I ran out of reading material and felt as if I were reading the same story in romances all the time. And one day I said to myself that I could write better and more exciting than I was reading, so I started reading. But I also studied, I picked three of my favorite authors at that time and I studied how they wrote. I read more to see how they did dialogue and scenes, to pacing the plot, character traits. It was exciting to realize I could see how they built the story and when they would foreshadow a future event.

As I mentioned, you never stop learning when you write.

What is your favorite genre to read?

I love time travels, but I don't read them because I'm writing them. That might sound odd, but it is just something I felt I shouldn't do if I were to write in that genre. I do love a great historical and I always love the gothic romance, but they are so hard to find. Anything that is out of the ordinary I love to read. The vampire, werewolf and shape shifter romances are really good, though I don't think I could ever write them. Of course the contemporaries are a favorite standby for me.

You know, I think I love them all lol, and don't forget the westerns!

Which authors do you respect the most and why?

Wow, that is a tough questions to answer. I think I respect the authors that don't give up. When I say that I guess I mean the authors that have kept writing, kept publishing and keep trying different genres to write in. I love it when I can find an author that has kept her style and quality in her writing no matter what genre she tries or how many books she writes.

I respect the author that has matured in their writing enough to know they need a good editor and they listen to that editor. Not every book is going to be a best seller, but it can always be the best writing it can be and that takes an honest edit, a hard look at your own writing and knowing when it needs to be fixed or changed or polished.

What is your favorite genre to write? Is there any genre you are uncomfortable attempting to write?

My favorite is Time Travel Romance and I love writing erotic romance. I also like to write gothic romance. Both combined is an awesome read :) I have one coming out in June with Midnight Showcase Erotic-ahh Digest, Catching Shadows, this book combines Time Travel, suspense, ghosts and mystery in one provocative story. I really enjoy it when a book blends genres and flows so beautifully that the readers are there and a part of the story as they read.

One genre I know I will never be able to do is the Vampire genre. I am amazed at these wonderful and compelling stories, I just can't write them myself :) They have all the elements and I really like reading them, but it isn't for me to write.

What is your favorite book that you have written so far?

Just one favorite? LOL, that is so hard to answer, they are all so special. I'd have to say that Dream Lover is my favorite, though, Catching Shadows my new one is going to probably beat Dream Lover out as my favorite.

In Catching Shadows I think I actually captured that Gothic essence that I always loved about that genre. It is an exciting read that will keep the reader on the edge through every page and I hope they enjoy it as much as I did writing this one :)

In your newest book Creole Blues the hero is a bit unusual what inspired his creation

Creole Blues is the first of my Midnight Pearls a dark erotic contemporary series. I think that a dangerous man always possesses that unspoken lure that draws a woman to him. Lucas Cortine is that dangerous man, New Orleans' mafia lord. What woman wouldn't find this dark and handsome man attractive?

This is the first of four dark contemporaries that will touch on the dark side of romance. I've always loved to write those alpha males that glow in danger and I think the readers will love them as well. Throw in a strong heroine that can hold her own when up against a man like Lucas and you have a very volatile mix, full of passion and hot love making that will leave the reader breathless.

Your upcoming book Catching Shadows has a definitive parnormal element. Where did the ideas for this story come from?

Catching Shadows is a blending of all my writing styles in one story. I have always loved the suspense of gothic romance and felt the desire to write Charity and Jacob's romance.

My stories are character driven and to be honest, I don't know where a story is going or how it will turn out until the characters tell me. I know that must sound rather odd, but they start with a sentence or title and go from there. With Catching Shadows it came with Charity seeing her shadow come to her at night and then disappear with the morning light. Of course dear Jacob is not to be ignored and is very determined to get his wife back and to keep her in his bed and stop her from disappearing on him!

Tell us about your radio show? How did it get started?

I had an interview on Artists First last November and the response to my show was so great, I heard from many people I didn't know and those I did, and everyone loved the show. Well, my show made me think of what a great medium the Internet Radio could be for Romance Authors to reach readers. There are so many readers out there that just don't know about all of the romance books available on the internet. Once a reader discovers that wealth of books available in all the romance genres out there, well they never go back to the brick and mortar stores lol. I hope my show and all the fabulous authors that I have as guests will help get the word out there about their books.

Ebooks are the way of the future, we have grown so much over the last couple of years and I hope I can help us grow a whole lot more by having these chat interviews on the internet radio. They are such great chats too, we all get to listen to authors that we know from the groups on the net. The best part is that the listeners can email questions in for the authors and I read them right on the show for the author to answer. It is as close to one on one that we can get at this time. We also have some great book giveaways on each show for the listeners to be in the drawing, all they have to do is enter by sending in an email to: jewel@jewelsway.com and put giveaway in the subject line.

There are so many things going on all the time. Like this month, Jewel's Way Romance Authors Internet Radio Show is going to be at the Romantic Times Bookfair in St. Louis with the help of Genesis Promotions. We will be live from the bookfair on Saturday April 30th at 1pm to 3pm that afternoon. We will also have a broadcast from the opening party on Wednesday night at 11pm Eastern time, April 27th to see what is happening and hear all about the RT Convention!

Everyone should check out the Calendars at http://www.jewelsway.com to learn about
the guests and events taking place on the show. Right now, both the 10 pm and 11pm shows are booked solid for every Wednesday night for the rest of the year. The listening audience is growing every week and I hope that everyone will continue to listen and tell their friends about the Romance Authors' Radio Show. I try to bring the latest news to the readers and many of the announcements from the authors are heard for the first time on the show!

It is a thrill to be a part of this wonderful world of romance on the internet and Wednesday nights at 10 to Midnight Eastern time is becoming the must be listening time for readers and authors :)

How do you prepare for your radio interviews?

Each guest sends me the information on their books for the pages that I put up on jewelsway.com The web pages for the guests are there for the listeners to go to during the show so they can see the books we are talking about and use the links to the author and publisher sites to read the excepts and reviews. During this process I learn about the authors and their books. I make up a list of questions for the guest that we can use for a guide during the show, of course we rarely stick to it lol, but it is nice to have so that when we do go off in a different direction I can lead the topics back to the books and information that the authors want the listeners to hear.

I also call the guests before the show and answer all their questions concerning how we get hooked up to talk to each other for the show and other things. My main goal is to make the whole process as enjoyable as possible for the guests. I think everyone enjoys doing the shows and I know the listeners enjoy hearing from their favorite authors and finding new authors to try.

Can you tell us about any upcoming projects you have both in writing and on the radio?

Right now I have a huge project that I am involved with that encompasses the radio show and my writing. Bev Haynes and myself are going to be releasing our first Midnight Showcase Romance Digest in May. We thought it would be a wonderful way to introduce readers and the listeners of Jewel's Way Romance Authors Radio Show to the published authors on the internet, by putting together a sweet collection of stories by the authors. Each Digest will contain three or more works from published authors that will give the reader complete stories as well as let them try new authors and even experience an ebook if they haven't done that before.

Each of Midnight Showcase Digest will be a treat in reading of like genres. Romance and Erotic-ahh will be in separate Digests, with stories of like themes that have evolved on the Internet. Our first Digest is Romance with the Western theme. In June the Erotic-ahh Digest with a paranormal theme will be released.

The beautiful cover of the Midnight Showcase Romance Digest can be viewed on jewelsway.com or at www.midnightshowcase.com Readers are going to love these stories and they will also get a write up of each author with each story, telling them about that author's other works with links to the author's website.

Midnight Showcase Digest will also be releasing full novels from these authors in Special Digest over the course of the year. It will be an innovative way for readers to try a group of authors in one book and discover a whole new author that they want to read more books from.

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Follow your dream and keep writing. Learn all you can about your craft, join a critique group and writer group on the Internet or in your local area, other authors' input is invaluable. Read what you write and study your favorite authors, figure out their style, see how they handle various aspects of writing. Just let yourself write, let the words flow and don't over think it all, just write the book, turn off the spell check and grammar check and just write, the rest comes later. Good luck!

Thank you so much for this wonderful interview.  If you would like to find out more about Jewel as an author, please visit here  If you would like to learn more about her radio station, please check it out at www.jewelsway.com

Susan
Interviewer