Interview with Bestselling Author Marcia James

I’m thrilled to welcome International Bestselling ebook author, Marcia James. Hi Marcia. I’m so glad you found time to visit me today.

Hi, Lynda! Thank you for having me on your blog!

My pleasure! Please explain how you began writing. Has it always been a passion of yours?

Yes, I’ve always written, starting with poems in elementary school.  😉  In middle school, I wrote a fairly risqué musical for Latin Club, which probably foreshadowed the fact that I was destined to write romances with love scenes as an adult. LOL. I minored in Creative Writing in college and received an Interdisciplinary Masters in Marketing and Scriptwriting in graduate school. I love trying different types of writing, and over the years, I’ve written training and information scripts, print ads, radio and TV commercials, Public Service Announcements, newspaper articles, brochures, and more. I’ve been an advertising copywriter and a journalist. And now I’m a fiction author, which is definitely fun!

Wow, you’re really versatile! I know you are also a dog lover, and you feature dogs in many of your books. How did that happen?

I love dogs! Unfortunately, I’m allergic to them and don’t own one. Instead, I write about them. For my first book, I needed a breed of tiny dog to “go undercover” as a drug-sniffing dog. And I knew a Chinese crested hairless dog would be the perfect comic relief. Smokey, that fictional dog, became my author logo. And a crested appears in all of my books, along with a wide array of other pets.

Oh, I love the logo for your Go Pets blog! Such a great title, and Smokey is such a cute, funny little guy! I see the blog is especially dedicated to rescue pets. Do you recommend a particular animal rescue organization?

I’m very pro-animal and pro-rescue. In my books, I try to get across information without being preachy, like how important it is to spay and neuter pets and how people should “Adopt, Don’t Shop.” Many people don’t realize that shelter cats and dogs, as well as those awaiting adoption from rescue groups, are wonderful pets. I think some of the ASPCA commercials showing abused animals have really done these amazing rescue pets a disservice by portraying them as pathetic. I support several Central Ohio shelters, including CHA Animal Shelter (https://chaanimalshelter.org), as well as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (https://bestfriends.org/sanctuary), which does incredible work.

I completely agree “Adopt, Don’t Shop” is the way to go. I’m a cat lover. My husband and I have three indoor cats, all rescues. We also feed and shelter several community cats. Please tell us about your latest “rescue” book.

The latest in my Klein’s K9s Service Dogs series is Scrooge & the Secret Santa—a Christmas romance. I really enjoy writing this mainstream, small-town series, which features all rescue pets. The buy links for all of my books are on my website. Here’s a book blurb for Scrooge & the Secret Santa:

Police dog trainer, Patton Carter, has nothing but bad childhood memories of Christmases spent in foster homes. When a car crash lands him in the hospital and a knee replacement requires rehab, he hires physical therapist, Faith Harmon, to live in his house over the holidays as a combination therapist and caretaker, as well as a dog-sitter for his Belgian Shepherd.

As a part-time therapy pet instructor, Faith has had run-ins with Patton at Klein’s K-9s. He’s a thorn the size of a tree branch in her side. But the pay he’s offering for a six-week job is too good to pass up. She agrees to move into his house with the stipulation that he won’t continue to disparage the important work of therapy animal handlers and their pets. She never anticipates their biggest conflict will be Christmas.

Patton soon learns the difference therapy pets can make in the lives of patients like himself. But will he be able to open his heart to love and the spirit of Christmas before he loses Faith?

Sounds terrific! Now. as an indie author, I find marketing my books a difficult hurdle to overcome. How do you market your books?

I believe the trick to marketing books, such as my contemporary romances, is to target “niche markets” within the VERY large group of romance readers. For example, you can look at your books to see if there are elements that might appeal to a specific group of readers—in my case, readers who love pets. Then you can promote to that group by looking for blogs and other options related to those elements. I can promote in pro-pet blogs, in pro-pet newsletters, in pro-pet Facebook groups, and even sign my books at pet stores. My author brand includes my dog logo on my website, business cards, promotional materials, blog, and social media. My reader e-newsletter is pet-themed, and I have a contest on my website every month with prizes that include plush toy dogs and jewelry. My tagline is “Hot, Humorous Romances featuring Heroines to Root For, Heroes to Die For, and Funny Dogs.” Trying, instead, to promote to millions of readers who like all sorts of books is too expensive and time-consuming.

Great tagline! Thanks for sharing your know-how, Marcia, and for visiting with me today. Come back any time!

Thank you again for inviting me on your blog! I love to hear from readers, so here are my links:

Website: https://MarciaJames.net/

Go Pets blog: https://marciajames.net/blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarciaJamesAuthor

Twitter/X: http://twitter.com/Marcia_James

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marciajamesauthor/

Amazon Author Central page: https://www.amazon.com/author/marciajames Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/marcia-james