JJ Grice, Author
Genre: Romance, All kinds of romance. My current series is Contemporary Romance. But I have a series I will be releasing next that is Romantic suspense.
Publishing Type: Self Published
Latest Book: Beautiful Ghosts, The Maine Stay Series Book 4. I am also a part of Resisting You, An Anthology for Charity to help raise funds for Stop AAPI hate.
Upcoming Book: My next book is Breathless, The Maine Stay Series Book 5. It will be released on July 9th.
I started reading JJ Grice’s The Mainstay Series with book four because that is when I discovered her. I was intrigued how the book worked well as a stand-alone, but also developed the other characters so well that I wanted to go back and read from the beginning and at the same time I can’t wait to read the next book.
Currently, I am working on a five book series that I am both excited and nervous about! I know that a lot of authors write in series and I had some questions some questions for JJ. Read below to find out what she had to say.
Jennifer Franz Griffith: Do you plan your whole series before the first book or do you write where the stories take you?
JJ Grice: I am a pantser when it comes to writing. So I don't necessarily plot or plan out completely. However, I usually do have somewhat of an idea of where the whole series will go. I usually just let my characters talk to me and lead the way through the series.
JFG: Are your books cliffhangers or stand-alone?
JJ: They can be read as Stand-alone's. However, in order to get the full experience of the stories, I highly recommend reading in order to get the complete backstory for each character.
JFG: What is your favorite trope? Do you mix them up within your series?
JJ: I honestly don't have a favorite trope. I just love a good story. I like the characters to have depth and history that truly defines who they are. So I do my best to keep my characters from being one-dimensional. I don't want my readers to think they have them figured out so easily.
JFG: In your opinion, what makes a series successful?
JJ: It's all about the characters and their relationships with each other. In the romance genre, of course the relationship between the Hero and heroine is important, but in order to keep the story going for multiple books (whether it's focused on the same couple or different couples), there has to be more to focus on than just the main character. That's why with The Maine Stay series, I focused it around a group of lifelong friends. They clash, support each other and help each other through life's challenges.
JFG: How long do you typically wait in between books to publish the next in the series?
JJ: It depends. I try to put at least a month between each book in order to give each book the proper attention it deserves. However, as a reader I hate waiting for books to be released when I'm looking forward to them, so I try not to do that to my readers.
JFG: Anything else you would like to share?
JJ: I've dreamed of being a writer for as long as I can remember. I always dreamed that I would create these beautiful worlds that would pull people in and create these characters that were lovable and relatable at the same time. I feel incredibly blessed that I get to live out that dream now.
Find JJ Grice here:
Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/jjgrice
FB Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJJGrice
FB Readers Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/223706055737769
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jjgrice_author/
