Today we welcome JL Merrow to the blog. She says: “Hi, I’m JL (Jamie) Merrow. I’m that rare beast; an English person who refuses to drink tea. I started writing in 2007 and nobody has yet been able to stop me. Most of what I write is m/m romance.”
1. If I was coming to the UK on vacation, tell me one place I MUST visit?
The Isle of Wight. It’s like travelling back in time, but safe in the knowledge you are in no danger of killing/accidentally becoming your own grandfather.
2. Rolling hills and sleepy villages or fast paced city life?
Oh, hills and villages, definitely. A small town at a push. I’d hate living where I’d have to drive everywhere (and if you could see the dents on my car you would understand this) so village life is ideal for me.
3. Do you really drink tea all the time? How do you take it?
Tea? Ugh. *spits* Can’t stand the stuff. Gimme a nice cup of coffee any day.
4. Have you ever met (or seen up close) a member of the Royal Family? Share the details.
I once saw Prince Harry drive into Clarence House. It was supremely underwhelming. Oh, and I used to work with the son of someone who broke her legs skiing with Prince Charles. He was a jolly nice chap.
5. Who is your favourite British author/book (outside of your genre)?
Outside of m/m, it has to be Terry Pratchett. Anything I know about writing humour, I stole learned from the great Sir Terry.
6. Corontation Street or East Enders? Your favourite character?
All I can say about the soaps is that I loathe East Enders slightly less than I hate Corrie. If I want to wallow in the grimy underbelly of life—actually, on reflection, I NEVER want to wallow in the grimy underbelly of life.
7. Who is your favourite British actor or actress?
Currently, Benedict “Sherlock” Cumberbatch. Although I used to have a bit of a thing for David Tennant. Helen Mirren, for showing you can be older and still sexy.
8. What was your first published story?
Good Company, a Torquere Sip which came out in June 2009 (and is still available) It’s about a young lad hitch-hiking from London to the North, who is picked up by an attractive older man. The working title, by the way, was Deep Fried Mars Bar, which will make perfect sense to anyone who’s read it!
9. I’m coming to your house for a traditional English meal (your choice from breakfast to midnight snack). What are you going to serve?
Me? Nothing. I don’t tend to cook for company, a fact for which company is on the whole rather grateful. My other half, however, will probably roast you a dead animal of some kind, served with boiled potatoes, several kinds of veg, and gravy. If you’re anything like me, you won’t want to eat meat again for a fortnight! Oh, and there will be pudding of some kind; the other half is quite inventive with those (I rarely eat them). My contribution will be plenty of red wine, followed by strong coffee in pretty little cups.
10. Who is your favourite British musical artist?
Er….are the Beatles still going? Okay, I’m not quite that out of date, but close! I tend to listen to old Franz Ferdinand, the Fratellis, Kaiser Chiefs, and the Zutons, with a dash of Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse when I’m in the mood.
Thanks so much Jamie. You can find a list of all of her books and other fun information at the link above. I think you do win the prize for seeing the best looking royal.
Jamie has a lot of new releases in the next few months, almost all of them set in the UK for those of us who love books set in exotic (I can say that because I’m Canadian) locales. 🙂
5 March: Tortoise Interruptus
1. April: Blazing June, in the Lesbian Cops anthology
17 May: Camwolf (novel)
1 June: The Prince and the Plumber, in the Handsome Prince anthology
19 July: Breaking Eggs (provisional title) – novella
date tba: Wight Mischief (novel)