Joining me today in The Loft is best-selling and award-winning author, Jordyn Kross. Jordyn spent years honing her writing skills with tech manuals and marginal poetry before finding her passion for writing sexy, boundary-stretching happily-ever-afters. When she’s not writing, Jordyn's attempting to garden in the desert Southwest, hiking with her insane pound posse, and admiring that handsome man wandering around her house who continues to stay. Jordyn says she enjoys saucy double entendres, pretending to be an extrovert, and is well-known for having no filter.
Author Jordyn Kross
S: Good morning, Jordyn. Thanks for stopping by!
What’s love got to do with writing romance?
J: Writing romance is a love affair with humanity. Once you really dig into writing a character, you get to know them like your best friend. You know their weaknesses, their passions, their past, and their future. Each character is so different and writers have to find empathy for each one. In my debut novel, "Winter’s List," I wrote the most vicious ex-wife character I could come up with as one of the villains. But I knew when I was writing that story that she would have her own book. I don’t know who said, “Every villain is the hero of their own story," but I adore that quote. I had to see if I could fall in love with Katherine. Her story, "Shattered Ice," is her redemption and I think it worked really well. If a writer doesn’t love their story and their characters, there is no way the readers will love it.
S: That is so true. At least some of the main characters have to be likeable.
Critics say romance novels mislead readers about the reality of romance and in fact, give readers false expectations. Do you agree?
J: Critics—gotta love ‘em. Romance is such an easy target because it’s primarily written by women, and primarily for women. First of all, romance is fiction. Just like with mystery, horror, or science fiction, as a genre there is some expectation that the reader suspends disbelief. In the case of my erotic romance stories, I take some liberties with refractory periods for men and I’m also very generous with their endowments. On the other hand, I try very hard to keep it real by including characters with flaws, characters who need to grow, characters who make mistakes. One huge benefit to reading romance is empowering people to expect to be treated well by their partners. Readers also see examples, at least in my work, of people getting past their fears and having open, honest communication about their relationship. I don’t write magic sex scenes that fix everything. My hero Nick, in "Xmas Angel," has PTSD at the start of the book and he has PTSD at the end of the book. However, at the end of the book, Nick has taken time to deal with his problems in a constructive way, and his partner, Noelle, accepts him for who he is and has her own ways to adapt. Romance books, written well, give readers the opportunity to consider how they could improve their own relationships, how they want to be treated in a relationship, and a sense of their own worth that they bring to a relationship. Characters, like real people, aren’t perfect, but we’re still worthy of love, or at least trying to be. An emotionally rich and satisfying relationship isn’t a myth—it’s a work in progress. And happily ever after is a real thing for a lot of folks and worth working for. And infinitely more possible for most of us then traveling in space or getting away with murder.
S: I like to explore what a good romantic relationship looks like. I want readers to say, "I want that. How do I get there?"
Do you write in other genres?
Every story I write is an erotic romance because I love writing and reading sex scenes. And I particularly love writing sex scenes that drive the plot and the character growth. Sex is such an emotionally laden activity--usually--that it just makes sense to me to make it an impactful part of my stories. That said, I write contemporary erotic romance, science-fiction erotic romance, and even cozy mysteries that are not that cozy. I have plans to write a historical erotic romance series in the next few years. The research is already underway. I live for pushing boundaries and learning new things—anything. I’m a sponge. Usually, my story ideas come from something going on in my life. In the case of my short sci-fi series, the Uhraervi Brothers, I was fascinated by the Mars Perseverance mission and the fact that people had put their names, or their loved ones’ names, in a database to be sent to Mars. Then, I wondered what would happen if, years from now, aliens found those names and misunderstood the purpose. Next thing you know, I’m writing about a furry alien abducting an astrophysicist.
Every story I write is an erotic romance because I love writing and reading sex scenes. And I particularly love writing sex scenes that drive the plot and the character growth. Sex is such an emotionally laden activity--usually--that it just makes sense to me to make it an impactful part of my stories. That said, I write contemporary erotic romance, science-fiction erotic romance, and even cozy mysteries that are not that cozy. I have plans to write a historical erotic romance series in the next few years. The research is already underway. I live for pushing boundaries and learning new things—anything. I’m a sponge. Usually, my story ideas come from something going on in my life. In the case of my short sci-fi series, the Uhraervi Brothers, I was fascinated by the Mars Perseverance mission and the fact that people had put their names, or their loved ones’ names, in a database to be sent to Mars. Then, I wondered what would happen if, years from now, aliens found those names and misunderstood the purpose. Next thing you know, I’m writing about a furry alien abducting an astrophysicist.
J: I never intended to be a writer. In fact, I hated writing in school. I would avoid it to the point of impacting my grades. Eventually, my senior English teacher was able to erode the barrier somewhat. She turned writing technical papers into a mathematical formula that made sense to my brain. She was so helpful that I was able to avoid taking English classes in college. I regret that now, but at the time I was quite pleased. Despite hating to write, I’ve always loved to read. I’m a voracious reader and typically read three to 10 books simultaneously. I also have had a long love affair with poetry, beginning with Shel Silverstein and Maya Angelou. I tell people I fell into writing as a result of a kidney stone and really good pain medication. It’s not a complete lie. I was sick, and drugged, and I spent so much time reading that the books started to repeat the plots and tropes. In my drug-induced haze, I had the crazy idea that I could write the book I wanted to read next.
S: What is the best/worst thing that has ever happened to you as a writer?
J: I’d love to say that the best thing that happened to me as a writer was being awarded the Write Touch Readers Award for my debut novel, or my first five-star review from a reader. And both of those things were huge highlights in my early career. Moments that made me feel like a real writer—as opposed to imitation writers who say, “Someday, I’ll write a book,” like it’s easy. But in reality, the best thing that has ever happened to me as a writer is meeting other writers. They are some of the smartest, most generous people as a group I’ve ever encountered. The on-going relationships I have with these brilliant people feeds my soul on a daily basis. It’s one of the reasons I joined, and am now the president of Passionate Ink. I get to interact with authors who write what I write every day and attempt in some small way to pay forward all the help I received when I was starting my author career.
S: Do you read reviews?
J: I do read reviews because I’m a closet masochist. Just kidding. Mostly. Really, I love reading what a reader took the time and energy to write about my books. I enjoy discovering what they liked or disliked about a particular story or character. Sometimes I chuckle because, like all humans, occasionally, they get it wrong. I’ve had reviews accuse me of getting details wrong, details I researched heavily to get right. I’m not someone who holds on to any negative feelings that reviews could possibly generate, so for me it’s purely fun to get that little bit of insight into my reader’s experience.
J: Wow. This is such a difficult question because I’ve received so much amazing advice since I started writing. But I think the most useful advice I was ever given was from my mother. We were sitting in a volunteer board meeting a few decades ago and trying to slate the officers, and she told me, “Raise your hand.” Now, I’m a rebel, but this was my mother speaking, so my hand shot up, and before I knew what was really happening, I’d been elected president of the organization. What? I’d never even led any kind of meeting or written an agenda, how was I going to do this job? I told her this as we were walking to the parking lot. We went to a nearby bar, and she coached me through writing an agenda. The reason this was such great advice is that she was telling me to step up, step out of my comfort zone. Whatever it is that you don’t know, ask. Learn. You’re capable of great things if you just raise your hand.
S: That's great advice.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
J: I’m not ready to answer this question. I’ve achieved a lot in life so far. I’ve raised an incredible son and have an amazing marriage. I’ve been successful in my non-writing career. I’ve received a number of accolades for my writing. I’ve been fortunate to be selected to lead an outstanding writing organization. Then there was that time I made it back up the 350 stairs from the Point Reyes lighthouse. It would be too difficult to choose something I’ve already done as the greatest moment. Also, I’m so far from being done yet. I believe my greatest achievements are still on the horizon. As I continue to grow and learn and try new things, I have so many opportunities to do more. I’m not ready to point at one moment and say, “That, that was the thing.”
S: If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose to write books?
J: I really want to say, "No," because it’s the most challenging thing I’ve ever attempted. More difficult than that time I decided to be a Microsoft Certified System Engineer when I didn’t know how to network computers. But to be honest, the challenge is the key to why I love to write. There is never a day that goes by that I don’t learn something new. Never a day when I’m not challenged to push harder, dig deeper, and improve on what I did the day before. It’s like mental Olympics. I don’t think I could ever get bored with writing what I love, whereas there are only so many ways you can wire up a network.
S: I love that comparison!
What do you want inscribed on your tombstone? How do you want to be remembered?
J: You ask the hard questions! My inner smart ass went with a tombstone that says, “Death becomes her.” Hopefully, I’ll be remembered a bit more fondly than that. Maybe something along the lines of, “She dared greatly and cared deeply.” I want to be remembered as someone who took the lead and forged the path so that others could travel with me more easily. I want to be seen as someone who wasn’t fearless, but acted in spite of fear. Who understood the fears of others and helped mitigate them so they could do great things too. I’d also like an engraving of a martini glass with an olive, just for accuracy.
S: Maybe a tombstone shaped like a martini glass? Think big!
Jordyn, thanks so much for joining me today! If you'd like to learn more about Jordyn and her books, please visit--
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