

I think it's because I'm so immersed in the characters when I write. I don't really know, it just kind of comes to me. And I do that through their dialogue mostly.Īnd so, where I get the inspiration. And so, for me that's my most important part when I write, is I really want to show how they connect. And I love the funny, witty dialogue that goes along with romance novels. When I write, I just kind of get into the characters, and I imagine what they would be saying to each other.

Where do you get your inspiration for your characters, and for their witty banter, especially? Fans especially love the rapport between Jake and Casey, and subsequent novels with Kyle and Kenzie, and Emma and Finn. I have one standalone that I've been writing, as well. But, I also would like to do some new works, too. So, for me, it's actually important that I finish, at least the siblings, and maybe even some of the other side characters. And I don't know them until after I write them. JB: I definitely want to continue because just like everybody else, I would love to the stories of the siblings. Do you plan to continue in the world of the McAllisters or are you thinking about a new series? And so it kind of snowballed and then I did audio after that. And so what I ended up doing was just releasing it onto Amazon, totally without anyone knowing and it just took off within, probably two weeks, word of mouth. So about four months later, it was done and I didn't know what to do with it, because I hadn't told anybody that I had been writing it. So that morning I woke up and I started writing, and the story just flowed out and it was so fun. It would have been so much better."Īnd so I actually decided I was just going to sit down and write one myself just for fun. And I just kept saying, "If they had just done this or that. I didn't like the way it ended so, when it was finished I was just so upset, and I've never been that upset about anything about reading a book. JB: Sure, actually what happened was I had been reading a romance novel and I just didn't like the way it was going. Can you tell us a little bit about how the story behind Cake came to be? Note: Text has been edited and may not match audio exactly.

Audible Romance editor Melissa Bendixen and Coleen Barr, ACX rights evangelist, sat down with Jill to enthuse over her books, their narration, and the writing experience. Narrated by Andi Arndt, Joe Arden, and Zachary Webber, the Cake series is a favorite among audiobook fans and the Audible editors alike. A lot has happened, and she's quite enjoyed the ride.

In two years, author J. (short for Jill) Bengtsson went from being just an avid reader to being a self-published author of four books, the first of which was nominated for a 2018 Audie Award.
