Today I am so pleased to welcome Jaycee Edward to Joyfully Jay. Jaycee has come to tell us more about herself and her latest release, Dragons. She has also brought along a great tour wide giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!
Three Questions and Moan Worthy Deserts
When did you write your first story and what was the inspiration for it?
When? During NaNoWriMo 2013. By the end of that month, I had completed the first draft of my novel, which was going to be titled “Stay.” (Riley Hart has released a M/M novel with that same title in the interim, so I’m still wrestling to come up with a different title.) It’s still a work in progress. I keep getting pulled in other directions, but it’s really the piece that’s nearest and dearest to my heart.
As for the inspiration, that goes back to the title and why I’m having such a hard time coming up with an alternative title. I was chatting on Twitter with AJ Rose about a scene in Power Exchange and she sent me the link to the song Stay by Hurts. I’d never heard it before but instantly loved it. As I was listening to it one day while vacuuming the pool, the entire storyline of my novel came to me.
I hope to actually get it published soon – I still have a few changes to make – then you’ll see why there really is no other possible title.
When you got your very first manuscript acceptance letter, what was your initial reaction and who was the first person you told?
It was actually an email and it was more like ‘who told me’ – ha! Helena Stone and I had co-written a little novella called Strangers In The Night and submitted it to Dreamspinner. It was written on a whim, submitted on a whim… we never really thought or hoped to dream it would be accepted. Because Helena lives in Ireland (I’m in the U.S.) there’s a five-hour time difference between us. I awoke one morning to a string of PMs on Facebook. “Where are you?” “Why aren’t you up yet?” “This is killing me! Get up and look at your email!” “Where ARE you?” “We’re going to be published!!!!!”
I’m grinning just thinking about it. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Hearing it from her was way better than reading it an email.
If I were snooping around your kitchen and looked in your refrigerator right now, what would I find?
Not much, unfortunately. Because I’ve been tied up with back-to-back book releases and blog tours, my hubby has had to do the cooking, which usually means ‘man food’ – like potatoes and onion mixed with Kielbasa or spaghetti. I finally got my fill of that stuff and made some Mediterranean Chicklaki things with grilled chicken, onions, feta cheese, tomatoes and lettuce on pitas. So, you’d find the leftovers of those and a bunch of fruit and that’s about it. And milk. We are never without milk.
Speaking of food…
Moan-Worthy Desserts
In Dragons, Will is amused and slightly turned on listening to Joey moan over food. One of Joey’s favorite things in the world is cheesecake and it’s something he doesn’t get very often.
Don’t know if any of you remember the Baker’s Square restaurant chain, but they were known for their pies. Every month they would add a “Feature Pie” to the list – something seasonal. In December it was Bavarian Mint.
O. M. G.
I still remember the first taste. Orgasmic doesn’t even begin to describe it. It had a chocolate crumble crust, a thick, dark chocolate-mint bottom layer, a light, fluffy chocolate silk middle layer and tons of whipped cream on top. (I’m not a big whipped cream person – that was my least favorite part.) It was adorned with tiny red and green ‘kisses’ and big curly shavings of mint chocolate. I looked forward to it every year and because my birthday is in the first week of December, I often found myself in possession of several pies at once. One particular year, I went and bought two to take to work with me. Little did I know, several co-workers had also bought them in celebration of my birthday, so we had a huge Bavarian Mint Pie Party. Best. Birthday. Ever.
So, imagine my dismay a few years back when, on December first, I made my pilgrimage to Baker’s Square only to find the picture in the foyer – which should have been displaying my Bavarian Mint Pie – was showing an almost cartoonish looking pie called Candy Cane Pie.
I had this awful, sinking feeling.
I went in and went straight to the pie case. No sign of my beloved Bavarian Mint Pie. Dead center – Featured Pie position – was the pink and green speckled Candy Cane Pie. I went to the counter and asked.
“Where is the Bavarian Mint Pie?”
“They’re trying something new this year.”
The realization hit. I would have to go an entire year before tasting my favorite thing in the entire world. Okay. I could do this, but I needed confirmation.
“It’ll be back next year?”
“We never know! It depends on what sells better.”
I waited. An entire year… wondering… waiting…. Would it be back? Did the damn Candy Cane Pie outsell my Bavarian Mint?
On December first, the following year, I stormed through the doors praying to see the familiar picture of my Bavarian Mint Pie with the dark chocolate mint curly shavings, in the Featured Pie frame, but again, to my horror, I saw the picture of the childish Candy Cane Pie. AUGH!!!!!
That was like ten or fifteen years ago – maybe twenty – time flies. The Baker’s Square restaurant itself closed up a few years back, which put the final nail in the coffin. I’ve tried several versions of chocolate mint pie, but none have even come close to making me moan with pleasure when taking that first heavenly bite. What’s your one moan-worthy food?
Blurb
A chance encounter in a hospital waiting room between twenty-two year old Will Messina and sixteen year old Josiah Pinkerton ends with a gift of a stuffed dragon off the hospital gift cart and a memory neither of them can shake.
Five years later, when a lonely, buttoned-up Will ventures into a gay club, he spots a pale, leather-clad specter with violet eyes tracking his every move. Will realizes he’s being watched by the grown version of the boy who’s haunted his thoughts for years.
Joey recognizes Will, but he’s no longer the sweet, brown-eyed boy worthy of Will’s attention. He’s damaged and defective and lives in a different world than Will now. When his childhood crush makes his way across the bar, Joey doesn’t have time to decide whether to be enchanted or dismayed because, unless he turns and runs, those worlds are about to collide.
Bio
Jaycee Edward is no longer seventeen years old but don’t tell her that. She’s actually a tad older and lives in northeast Ohio with her handsome husband and one, big gorgeous dog. She has two grown stepdaughters and is proud to be the ultra-cool Nana to two amazingly incredible grand-teens. Jaycee loves pistol shooting and is has earned her Bar 7 Sharpshooter status in the Winchester/NRA Marksmanship Qualification Program and hopes to someday reach the level of Expert Marksman. She is proud to be the token liberal at her gun range. Jaycee knows way too much about the inner workings of Walt Disney World and anything related to One Direction. She’d love to pull you into the rabbit hole with her. All you have to do is ask. Find her there or contact her through social media.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | FB Author Page | Twitter | Google+ | Goodreads | TS? |Ello | Tumblr
Book Links: Amazon | Evernight Publishing
Giveaway
Jaycee has brought a gift certificate from Evernight Publishing to give away to one lucky reader on her tour. Just follow the Rafflectoper link to enter.
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Congratulations on the new release. I do love cheese cake like Joey, but I must recognise that Bavarian Mint Pie you talk about sounds amazing… I may check the internet for recipes… 😉
Oh, good luck. Trust me. I have scoured the entire interwebs in search of a similar pie but have yet to find one that is perfect. ALDI, at Christmas, has a frozen chocolate mint pie that is the closest I’ve ever found. Oh – and Market Day also has one that close at Christmas.
Baker’s Square! LOL, such a Midwestern thing and someplace I could never stop calling Poppin’ Fresh. My husband misses their pies a lot.
I don’t know if I have a single moan worthy food… but Chicago thin crust sausage and mushroom pizza is definitely something I’m missing terribly lately.
P.S. Don’t enter me into the contest, I already own this amazing book.
Hahaha! Poppin’ Fresh! God, we’re getting old!
Shhh…. LOL
Congratulations on the new release! My favorite dessert place is the House of Pies in Houston. I probably have tried every pie there over the years. But my favorite is their NY cheesecake. It’s creamy, tangy, just sweet enough.. I no longer live in Houston but I’ve not had a cheesecake as good anywhere else. ????
Hi Yukari!
I tend to find one thing I like and get that every time. I admire people like you who sample the entire menu.
Congrats. I love Julian’s Pie Company. We go there when I visit with my father.
Hi Debra! Never heard of Julian’s.
I’m sorry you have to find a new title for ‘Stay’, that sucks.
When I lived in London years ago we used to eat at this simple Italian chain restaurant that did the most delicious Tiramisu. Have never been able to find or make one that tasted quite as good. But cheesecake is a favourite too.
Well, at this rate, if I wait long enough, I can probably still use it. Never been a fan of Tiramisu. It’s one of those foods that I keep trying because I wished I liked it. Like fresh tomatoes.
Congratulations on Dragons.
I almost hate to tell you but my moan worthy food is actually whipped cream, especially if it’s in a hot chocolate or on a lovely apple and cinnamon crumble.
That’s my hubby! PILE on the whipped cream! I’m not fond of whipped cream either, although I do like it with warm apple desserts.
The pathetic thing is that I can’t even settle on one…it depends on my mood, the circumstance, and how long I’ve craved it. Sometimes it’s a homemade chocolate truffle cookie or my mom’s peach pie, sometimes it’s crispy pork carnitas or the onion rings in a nearby town’s burger place. It’s so awful when a place discontinues a food you love…I still ask this one bakery when they’re going to bring back their Caramel Mocha Cake, even though it’s been several years and the new employees look at me blankly.
Um, those ‘homemade chocolate truffle cookies’ sound pretty moan-worthy….just sayin’
Congratulations on this book. I can’t wait to read this.
My favorite moan worth dessert is creme brulee or ice cream!
I’m sorry I missed the contest, but I had to mention that I enjoyed your comments above, Jaycee. And, yes, I remember Baker’s Square with fondness! I liked their French Silk pie.