Joan Swan Has a Fever…and a giveaway. Back to Blog
Update: Thanks for all of the wonderful comments! The winner of FEVER is…Rachel! Congrats, Rachel!
It’s time for some guest author fun! Today, debut Brava author Joan Swan is here to chat with us–Joan is an absolute sweetheart of a lady! Her book, FEVER, is on shelves now. I was so excited to meet her at the RWA Conference in D.C. a few years back. Joan, thanks so much for coming by!
During the construction of every novel, I learn the most amazing things. Trivia mostly, but still…entertaining to say the least.
Here are some fun things I learned while writing FEVER:
- Glocks don’t have safeties
- Human antibiotics are also used to treat fish…yes, the little ones you keep in a fish tank at home.
- A breakfast feast can be created entirely out of frozen and dried food products.
- The various methods of stitching human skin.
- Upholstery needles are the best alternative to medical supplies for stitching skin.
- How to hot wire a car.
- All paranormal abilities related to heat, fire and healing.
- Aryan Brotherhood insignia.
- Racial slang I could have lived my entire life not knowing.
- How autopsy reports are phrased.
- The details of Nicole Brown Simpson’s and Ron Goldman’s deaths via their autopsy reports.
- How court appointed attorneys are assigned.
- Geography of Oregon, Washington and Canada.
- Radius of propane gas that is flammable.
- What type of spark is necessary to set a propane leak on fire.
What is something memorable you’ve learned while reading (or writing) a book?
One lucky commenter will win a copy of FEVER!
I must admit your list intrigues me. 😀
I will definitely be looking forward to your book.
Hey Dinah, thanks! Fever was a fun book to write!
i think so much : i can got to know about history and it’s nice can into new world that it’s different with real world 🙂
Hi Eli! It is fun to learn about history and new worlds! One of the best parts of reading!
I learned how to fly left seat for take off in a DeHavilland Beaver.
WOW!! That’s pretty damned cool!!
Wow! That’s an interesting list. For my last novella and my wip (the 2nd in a new series that I’ll publish in May), I had to learn about newborn puppies and what happens as the weeks go on. My research included watching YouTube videos of cute puppies. (Hey, research is tough.)
I also had to learn about harvesting eggs for fertility, which was interesting. But the puppy watching was more fun.
Hi Edie! Thanks for stopping by! Amazing what we come across in our fictional paths, isn’t it? One of the parts of writing I love is digging into those little areas of life I know nothing about and opening that interesting door.
So, when can we expect your next book and how many will be in the series??
Gayle
Hi Gayle!
BLAZE releases September 25th. 🙂 LOVE this book. This is Luke and Keira’s book and exposes another level of the conspiracy, upping the stakes for the team. The reader will also meet several more members of the team. There’s non-stop action and, of course, spicy sex. 🙂
From where I sit now, I see 7 books in the series. 5 for the core firefighters themselves (2 are couples for 7 firefighters on the team) and 2 very strong secondary characters who are harping for their own book.
Somehow, I have a feeling more secondaries like that will appear 🙂
I have learned history…weapons…different mythologies…and so much more!
What an interesting list you learned writing this book!
Froggy
froggarita@gmail.com
Hi Froggy!
I, too have learned weapons and mythologies. I think I skip over history, just like I skipped that class in school, heh!
Thanks for coming by!
I love your list – now I can add some of those to my list. After a recent read, I now know a lot more about Navy SEALS and their tactics. Never thought I would know these things but it’s kind of cool.
Can’t wait to read Fever!
bas1chsemail at gmail dot com
OMG, yes! Love SEAL and military books. I find their training and tactics fascinating!!
Thanks Shannon!
Wow, I have learned a lot since reading romantic suspense! I am a just a bit more paranoid about things, sounds, people, than I used to be. I have learned that anyone can look nice but remember Stranger Danger! Even if a guy looks like he has a broken arm and needs your help getting something into his truck – don’t help him by yourself because he could be faking and hit you with the fake cast to knock you out! I have been hearing about your book and have it on my TBR list so I would love to win a copy!
So true, Amy! It’s sort of a condition everyone picks up around certain professions. We’re all hyper sensitive to whatever we’re exposed to. Pretty interesting stuff!
I’ve learned so much over the years from books I’ve read just for pleasure. One thing, which I passed on to my mother, was how to unlock her car using the blade of a window blind to save myself an hour’s drive to rescue her. She was completely stunned (me too) when it worked.
I’ve learned a lot about foreign places and I’ve visited places mentioned in books that sounded interesting.
And, most importantly to the hubby, I’ve learned a couple interesting techniques from erotic romances. Not all were successful, but fun.
acm05atjuno.com
Whoo-hoo, Anne! I’m loving those erotic techiniques! And a window blind blade??? LOL, I LOVE trivia like that! Makes a book totally come alive.
I learned that SEAL’s identity is kept secret while they are in service and if the cover is blown they can no longer serve in the field. It caught me a bit off guard but it is understandable since so much of their work is covert.
Love your list. I knew several of them from experience and also from reading. Thank you.
vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com
I didn’t know that Viki! Even after all the books I’ve read and research I’ve done. That’s…wow. Dont’ know what I think about that. Will have to ponder. Thanks for sharing!
Your book sounds so good. I read a lot of courtroom dramas so I have learned a lot do legal stuff. In one of the romance books I read it said that during Marie Antoinette’/s time women wore mink tails around their necks to get the fleas to go to that area of their bodies. They could then toss it away and be free of fleas. Ugh
Ugh is right! I especially enjoy diving into historicals now and then even though my read of choice is suspense for just that reason — learning more about that time with little amazing tidbits just like that one!
Thanks for sharing. (My skin is sort of crawling…but still…thanks 🙂 )
Your book sounds terrific. I have heard so many good things about it on different website…
For me, I learn more about Victorian England because of my love of romance books…
Hi May,
Thanks! You must be a historical lover :). Victorian England does sound so romantic.
It is amazing what one can find out about by just taking the time to look something up. In my reading I have visited many places I have never seen in person, learned about military protocols and weapons, details about different professions and so much more through the lives of characters and descriptions in books.
True, Colleen! And thank God for internet — the whole world is open to us now for research is such realistic and reliable ways. It’s amazingly rich and powerful!
Through my reading I learned a lot about history, armed forces and law enforcement. Quite a few things I can now use for my first own story
Whoo-hoo!! Go Danny!!
Hi Joan 🙂
Very interesting list of facts 🙂
For me as a reader I have learned a lot when it comes to the military. Also when I am in the mood I read books that take place in Scotland, very interesting during the time when Scotland and England were fighting and the tactics that were used when building their homes such as why stairs were put on a certain side because it was harder to fight on them.
Thanks for stopping by, was very excited about your release of FEVER and can’t wait for BLAZE 😀
Hi Michele!
I think the military info is so interesting because unless you’re in the military or belong to a military family, you wouldn’t know.
I think fiction has taught me so much more about history than any history class. (Don’t tell my Dad, lifelong history teacher) but classroom history is boring. When you apply it to people and show how it affected their lives — then it gets interesting!
I recently finished reading Fever; excellent jump start to a new series…can’t wait for Luke’s book.
I love to read about new places…sometimes the setting can make the story seem more real. I would think researching settings would be fun; but also a pain.
How do you pick the settings of your books? Do you know how many are going to be in this seris?
Hey Heather!
Thrilled you enjoyed FEVER!!
I choose settings that of course work with the plot and ones that are familiar to me if/when I need authenticity in a scene/book.
So, for Phoenix Rising series, I wanted their team to begin in a smallish town for a tight-knit feeling and chose Truckee because of the weather variations that could cause problems for my characters as well as a hideout for them. Because we lived in Truckee for several years, I was able to make the setting real for the readers.
As for the number of books in a series, that would be developed on how many solid main characters an author feels they have to write a book around. For Phoenix Rising, there are 7 original firefighters on the hazmat team which was affected by the chemicals, but because those number include 2 couples, that leaves me with 5 books.
In FEVER, Alyssa’s brother, Mitch, immediately demanded his own book. I don’t even think I had him on the page before he was nagging me about it. And in BLAZE, Keira’s brother, Cash, became a strong and sympathetic character I feel compelled to write an HEA for.
Just in writing the first three chapters of INFERNO, book 3, for the proposal, another strong and complex male showed up–Trent. I know next to nothing about him, but from the very first time he showed up on the page, I knew he’d be someone who had a book in him.
So…7…8…?
Ultimately, I think readers will be the ones to tell me how many books will be in this series.
Great questions Heather!
Hmm I think I want to see what this breakfast is 🙂 Very interesting list and I think I’d better go have a look at Fever
🙂 Hope you enjoy! First chapter is up on my website!
I’m sure I’ve learned many things and many of them have to with facts about different places. I’m pretty sure I’ve learned how to bring back the dead in a few paranormals. Note, I haven’t tried this yet.
ROTFLMAO! Let me know how that works for you!!
WOW!! What a hot F/C!!! It sounds like a good read. Best wishes on the release!! I learned all about blood letting qithin the (old) medical profession. UGH!! I also have learned so much about Old England and the aristocracy.
Hey Betty,
Thanks! Blood letting, huh. *squirming* I’ll stick with hanging out in the OR for a kidney transplant.
I’m French by birth and went to French school and one thing I learned is How many words I didn’t know the meaning of and the spelling of. Great instruction system without going to school.
Wow, that’s something I would never have thought of, Diane! Very cool!
I have learned to cook better by reading cookbooks. It is pretty obvious & simple, but true. I have also learned how to seduce a vampire if I ever meet one. Since I hope never to meet a hungry blood thirsty vamp I will stick to cooking. Love the book cover.—Rachel
LOLOL Rachel. I’d stick with cooking too! 🙂
Oh dear me, yes–all the time, actually. The best part, for me, is when I become curious about something introduce to me in a novel (such a period in history, or perhaps a particular artistic expression, or…) so that after reading the novel I look up more information about whatever it was.
Absolutely! That is very cool.
My critique partner got me interested in archeology from her first RS triology Stolen Fury, Heat and Seduction where artifacts are stolen and recovered.
LOL, this has absolutely nothing to do with romance, but while reading a new book to my five year old, I kind of had a chuckle and thought “well, there you go that explains a lot, LOL”.
We were reading UnBEElievables by Douglas Florian which is a children’s book that has poetry explaining the life of bees, then has a short paragraph of science behind each poetry piece. We both really liked it, but one of the poems deals with how the drones (boy bees) are only there to reproduce, and leave all of the work to the worker bees (the girl bees) who have to go out and get the pollen, clean the hive, feed the queen….basically, pretty much everything related to living.
I can totally relate to that, LOL.
*snort*
Actually, I learned a lot of things from the books I read to my kids!! 🙂
Lot of what I learned about mythology was learned through stories.
No need to enter me for Fever since i already have it and read it. Cannot wait for Blaze!! Mitch better get a book that’s all I’m saying!
LOL — see!! There’s that Mitch again! The man PLAGUES me!!
love that cover and your list intrigues me. I’ve learned what double tap and fubar is from books lol. Also mythology
LOL, Pam! Double tap I learned on a documentary about SEALs and fubar I learned from my hubby…a firefighter. Those guys have so many acronyms and sayings it’s ridiculous! 🙂
Very interesting list. I’ve learned about the titles of nobility and how to properly address them.
Hi BN,
I’ve read my share of historicals and I still can’t figure that out :).
I’m so thrilled for you, Joan, and can’t wait to get hold of your book (it’s on order!).
One thing I learned while writing a book? That Henry VIII was actually quite a prude (but a hypocritical one :)).
ive actually learned quite a bit! i learn all kinds of historical fact… ive learned basic car repair, tips and tricks of all sorts!
What an interesting list of facts you have listed! I think that most interesting stuff I learned from historical romances 🙂 for instance: how French courts smelled (awful, they actually had to wear handkerchiefs to be able to breathe at all) during the Maria Antoinette’s reign – form M. Moran’s book “Madame Tussauds”
I have learned alot from reading fiction, but I’ll tell you the first thing I remember learning when I started reading paranormal romance: “OMG, he’s got supernatural strength, and stamina…that means. Ooooohhhh,my. That’s awesome!”
*snort*
I definately learned quite a bit while reading. I have learned interesting stuff about Greek Gods & Goddess while reading some paranormal stories. I have learned some history reading historicals. I have learned about nobility and who ranks the highest to lowest. I also love to read true stories & biographies. I have learned a lot about JFK, Marily Monroe, Robert Kennedy, and Alan Alda.
Would love to win and read this book.
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congrats!