Interview with author Joselyn Vaughn

Today I'm welcoming Joselyn Vaughn to Reviews and Interviews to tell us a bit about herself and her newest book, Courting Sparks.

Please give us a little bio:
I am currently a stay at home mom with a set of three-year-old twins and a one-year-old daughter. I write in the rare moments when they are all sleeping. I should be sleeping during some of these times, but that doesn’t happen. The little one has a sixth sense for knowing the exact moment I have finally gotten comfortable in bed or actually fallen asleep. She will wake up and be awake for at least twenty minutes and I will be awake for the next hour.

Before children, I worked as a Reference Librarian at my local library where my favorite part of my job was buying books. What else would it be?

I started writing about a year before the twins were born and finished my first novel when they were three months old.

I grew up in West Michigan on a retired dairy farm and have always loved the charm and closeness of small towns. After getting married, my husband and I tried out the big city for a while and decided the pace just wasn’t for us. We moved to a small town and live there with our children and two beagles and drive a grand total of thirty miles a week. It’s awesome.

Please tell us about your current release, Courting Sparks.
Dusting off the ashes of a failed relationship, Daphne Morrow decides she is ready to date again. But when her scorched prom photos are discovered to be the ignition point for a small forest blaze, marking her as the prime suspect for the arson, she finds they’re not the only part of her past sparking interest. After a friend’s wedding provides a romantic interlude with her longtime friend Noah Banks, Daphne tries to explain away her attraction to him: the atmosphere of the wedding, his resemblance to her ex, his heroic efforts as a volunteer firefighter. Still, their desire just won’t sputter out.

When the arsonist strikes much closer to home, Daphne fears she must risk Noah’s friendship to find the culprit and clear her name. She’ll know their love is real if his interest isn’t put out by her need to uncover the truth.

What inspired you to write this book?
The idea started with a young woman, Daphne, who is going to be a bridesmaid in several weddings because all her friends are getting married. I thought she would meet a cute groomsman and the story would go from there. That didn’t happen. Her best male friend shows up at the reception late because he’s a volunteer firefighter and was fighting a fire. Then the questions popped up: can you fall in love with someone you’ve known forever? Is it worth the risk of destroying your friendship?

What exciting story are you working on next?
I have rough drafts for two stories done and I keep wavering between which one to work on. They both involve characters from my first book, CEOs Don’t Cry. One is about Tara, the woman hired as a receptionist at the end of the book and the other is about Mark’s aunt, Minnie, the owner of the Lilac Bower. Both stories have some really fun scenes and I can’t decide which one to finish first, although Tara’s story comes first chronologically.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I don’t know if I would consider myself a writer yet. I am, but it’s not the first identifier that I would use to describe my life. Some part of my still thinks I’m pretending all this and it’s not real. I couldn’t be cool enough to have two books published. And yet, I would tell anyone who asked me if when they could identify themselves as a writer, that if they were writing even if it was only for themselves that they were a writer. Funny how your mind works.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
Maybe someday I’ll be able to write full-time. Doesn’t that sound so luxurious? Certainly better than changing diapers and trying to convince three stubborn children to eat all day. So obviously other than write, I say ‘no’ a lot and clean up messes and change diapers. (My husband is trying to convince the twins that using the potties would be a really good Christmas present for Mom and Dad. I’m not holding my breath. After a miserable fail at potty training in August, I haven’t been brave enough to try again. Maybe he can do it while he’s off work after Christmas. Haha.)

I squeeze writing time in during naps and rest-time. The twins no longer sleep in the afternoon, but I make them take a rest. Sometimes the little one coordinates her nap with this time and I can get some writing done.

I also take a notebook or printed pages with me whenever I go somewhere without them. You can get a lot done in the doctor’s waiting room.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I went through so many phases of career choices. They all had some creative element in them. Art teacher, architect, novelist, textbook writer, I don’t remember what else. I settled into librarianship because I could be around books even though I wasn’t ready to write one yet.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Thank you all for stopping by.

I’m sharing my favorite holiday cookie recipes on my blog this month. So stop by and try them out. I wish I could send everyone samples, but I couldn’t squeeze time in to make them all. Hope you all have a happy and safe holiday season.

Here's the buy link for Courting Sparks.

Thank you for stopping by and sharing a bit of yourself with my reader's today.