Joanne Sundell is represented by the interviewer's Pump Up Your Book Promotion, a public relations agency specializing in online book promotion.
Born in a tiny hospital in rural Virginia, Joanne Sundell cherishes her country beginnings. Fond memories of toddling along after her older sisters along the Appalachian Trail, catching tadpoles in a nearby creek bed, chasing after lightening bugs, or falling asleep to the evening hum of katydids, remain with her still; despite the family move to more urban Arlington where Joanne spent her formative school years, and then on to Richmond where she earned her nursing degree. Joanne grew up reading romance, falling in love with heroes and heroines from Regency England to the American West, from London’s pubs to Colorado’s ski slopes, loving that moment when the hero and heroine meet and fall in love. That moment to Joanne is the moment when Jane Eyre meets Edward Rochester, when Elizabeth Bennett meets Mr. Darcy — that’s the heart-stopping, passionate moment for Joanne in romance.
That moment is what led her to attempt traditional, old-fashioned, historical romance. Joanne sold her first book, Matchmaker, Matchmaker, in 2005 to Five Star-Gale, Cengage Learning, for their Expressions Line, a combination of romance and women’s fiction. Subsequent sales include A…My Name’s Amelia, The Parlor House Daughter, Meggie’s Remains, and The Quaker and the Confederate series, Hearts Divided and Hearts Persuaded. Her books have been reviewed nationally by Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, and Romantic Times. With her three children grown and off on their own adventures, Joanne lives part-time in Colorado and California along with her husband and their entourage` of felines and huskies. Joanne’s writing groups include Romance Writers of America, Colorado Romance Writers, Los Angeles Romance Writers, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and Women Writing the West.
We interviewed this remarkable woman to find out more about her writing life.
Thank you for this interview, Joanne. Do you write full-time?
Joanne: If I’m in the middle of a manuscript, I write every day, part-time, until I’ve finished. I’m a morning person, at my best if up with the birds. When on deadline, I take an afternoon break and go back to the drawing board come evening.
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