Joanne Rock started writing spinning romantic tales as a pre-teen, making up stories to entertain her best friend in which they became the Barbie-esque stars of adventures at school involving the boys they liked best. She began writing down her stories once she became a stay-at-home mom, deceiving herself she'd have time to write. Now, 30-plus books later, she takes pride in penning stories in which the heroines don't necessarily need to live in Malibu and drive convertibles in order to find true love and happiness. Joanne's sexy contemporary romances and medieval historicals have been printed in 24 countries and translated into 19 different languages. She is a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart winner and three-time RITA finalist, and her work has been recognized with a Blue Boa, a Beacon, and a Romantic Times' W.I.S.H. Award. With a Master's degree in English from the University of Louisville, she has also worked as a college teacher, public relations coordinator and copywriter. |
Stats at a Glance July 2008 Sun sign: Perfectionist Virgo Number of Pets: 1 cat-- see photo below Number of Siblings: 2 Number of States I've Lived In: 6 -- NY, KY, UT, LA, OH, FL Number of times I've moved: 10 Number of Major League Baseball parks visited: 9 and hoping to add PNC Park this summer Who We Root For: Reds, Steelers and the Penguins Interests: wine tasting (affordable vino only), journal-keeping, traveling, astrology, world religions, pscyhology, social history, mystic traditions Currently Playing: Will Smith, Summertime Most Recent Read: Cormac McCarthy, The Road Favorite Foods - Steamed clams in Nantucket. Or maybe filet mignon and a Chianti on a deck night. Joanne's MySpace page- http://www.myspace.com/joanne_rock Duchess in my office Q & A with Joanne What made you want to be a writer? I've always enjoyed reading and after spending some time at a variety of jobs, I decided I really wanted to explore my love of books. That led to a Masters degree in English and my decision to write a book of my own. One book led to another and another... it's a great career for someone who enjoys reading and the independence of the job allows me to work from home, which is a great plus. Any tips for writers who are just starting out? Please do visit my articles page, especially Getting Started with Your Writing. I enjoy mentoring new writers and have written numerous articles about the creative process. It's a topic I explore continually since I think any writer's creative process is a dynamic system that changes over time. Without careful tending, even the most prolific authors can run out of words! Do you have a critique group? I work with a critique partner instead of a group, but she's awesome and we've been together since I was working on book #3 and just had kid #2. Catherine Mann is the award-winning, bestselling suspense author who has helped me stay on track and enthused about writing through twenty-some manuscripts, almost all of the bazillion rejections and she was the person who convinced me to enter my books in the Golden Heart (the highest award for unpublished authors in the romance genre) after my first book had been panned by judges the first time out. Lo and behold, thanks to Cathy's advice, I finalled in the GH my next time and won the award in 2000. I could credit her with a zillion ways she's helped me, but suffice it to say, I'm very grateful for her influence on my work and am even more grateful to have such a fantastic friend. What are you working on right now? I'm hard at work on a medieval historical set in Ireland. The Knight's Return will be available from Harlequin Historicals next year. Many thanks to my friends on the JoanneRocksBlazingFans loop for helping me with the Q&A! If you have a question you'd like to see answered here, please send it to joanne@joannerock.com. |
