Meet CJ England

In The Beginning

  CJ credits her passion for writing, to her second grade sweetheart, Steven, a blond haired cutie with dimples, who dumped her for a girl who could swing on the monkey bars.   She wrote her first story about love and loss after that tragic episode.  

   Encouraged by a mother who is also  a writer, CJ kept on writing, using her dreams and fantasies as guides.

   A life long reader of all genres of books, CJ lists some of her favorites as Agatha Christie, Laura Ingalls Wilder , Lillian Jackson Braun, Jayne Anne Krentz, Anne McCaffrey, Piers Anthony, Barbara Cartland, James Herriot, Nora  Roberts, Frank Peretti, Linda Howard, Jayne Anne Krentz, and a dozen other authors that have influenced her.

   CJ was first published by Country Magazine when she wrote a touching story about the grandfather who helped raise her.   She has also had work published by Rodale Press and  has written several children's stories as well.

    Trying to be a full time mom, and teacher, put a crimp in the whole writing thing for awhile, and most of the stories CJ had in her head took the back burner to Algebra 1, Biology and Music. But it didn't stop her completely.   Many a night, she could be found scratching out notes about a book that wouldn't get out of her head.   It wasn't until her kids were older that she felt she had the time to do what needed to be done.

  One cold winter night in Idaho, when she couldn't sleep, she got on the computer and started to write down one of the stories that she had dreamed up at night.  

   That story turned into her first full length novel, The Peacekeeper Journals, a eight  book series about a group of supernaturals who join together to save humanity from evil.  The first three books of this series are available from Whiskey Creek Torrid and is featured in the Special Editions line.

Since then she has written about gods and goddesses, royalty, elves,  shapeshifters, witches, mutants, vampires,  and aliens, as well as just regular folks.

CJ has been nominated for several top awards including CAPA, Ari, and the Pearl.  She has won Top Author awards from several review sites and was  given the distinction to be one of Ecataromance Sensual's Top Five Authors for 2007.

Reviewers have had great things to say about CJ's work.  Phrases like... With her incomparable writing abilities, CJ England touches the hearts of readers.  Or... CJ England provides stories not simply about fantastic sex, but instead about that deep emotional tie or bond that occurs between soulmates. Or finally... The name CJ England is synonymous with the word excellence when it comes to writing.

And even more fun and sexy books are in the works for 2008.  It looks to be a banner year with new publishers, new stories and new opportunities.  While some places will change for the showcasing of her work, quality is what CJ seeks and all her readers will benefit from it.

So keep checking back...and hang on for the ride.  2008 looks to be an even better year.  For the books will keep on coming as long as CJ keeps on dreaming.

Blessings and see you around the internet!

CJ England with husband Jonathon

   CJ England felt like she was always a little different from everyone else. Never content to spend too much time doing the same thing, she enjoys her writing for the simple reason that in a book, she can do anything she wants to do, and never gets bored.

   She calls herself a gypsy, due to her  curiosity and "itchy feet", She has spent time in fourteen countries, and has visited forty two states in our own.

   Married for 20 years to the same wonderful man, she gives her husband all the credit for her writing. "Not only is he a great inspiration for erotic romance, he gives me the ability to concentrate on my writing just by supporting my dream."

   Right now, CJ lives in Orlando Florida. The plan for the future is to move to different localities so she can embrace the flavor of each city and then write about it.  On the list so far are... Seattle, San Francisco, New Orleans, Key West, and coastal Maine.  Lucky for her, Jonathon has wanderlust too!   In fact his only complaint about her chosen career, are the eighteen boxes of books she insists that he has to pack around on all of their travels.

   In her life, CJ considers herself a "Jill of all Trades".   She has modeled, competed in rodeo as a barrel racer and trick rider, taught preschool, performed as an actress and singer,  served cocktails at Disneyworld, specialized in production work, and got carried away by Spiderman when she worked with him at Universal Studios.

  But her best gig ever, has been being a wife and a stay at home mom. She has home educated her three kids. Her oldest, Jessaca, is a certified massage therapist. Jeramiah, her oldest son is a musician and a songwriter, and her youngest son, Jasiah, who is still in high school, plans to go into production work as a Lighting Design Specialist.

   A natural empath, CJ uses her gift  to try and make sense of her everyday world, and keep track of four ferrets, a turtle and a pigeon, as well as  her family who is as "unique" and "different" as she is.   It is a never ending, and always interesting way to spend her days, and she wouldn't change a second of it.

   So, if you ever have a chance to come  and visit, do so.   But make sure you call ahead.   You never know where you may find her!

Ideas that Dance in My Head

   I am often asked where I get my ideas for all the stories I write. The truth is... most of the time they are already in my head, and it's just a matter of figuring out how I can coax them on to paper.

   Sometimes they cooperate, and it flows. Other times, they turn stubborn and drag their feet. But eventually, they realize they were born to be written, and give in.

   I dream them out. At night, I think of a story line, and let my mind go. As I sleep, my dreams fill in the rest. When I wake up in the morning, if I'm lucky... I have the next part of my book, and all I have to do is flesh it out.

   Sometimes I do get an idea from a blurb on the news, or a picture I see on line. In fact one of my shapeshifting books came about when I saw a picture of a hot guy standing next to a picture of a panther. Next thing I knew, I'd dreamed up a story!

    I can be sitting on a beach, and wham... a story hits me. Or sometimes if I'm bored, I will go online and just look at different pictures. I have found some great heros that way, as well as some dynamite areas in which my stories take place.
 

   Do I believe the stories I write? Could faeries exist? Can vampires fall in love? Will aliens visit our planet looking for mates? I am a huge believer in possibilities, and have seen and felt too much not to have an open mind.
 

Even if I don't see something in the real world, I imagine, and it becomes real in my world. The world of my thoughts and dreams. As I have told my kids... the best nation to visit is the imagination. There you can explore ideas and fantasies and dreams. The imagination is a place where anything is possible, and if you want it bad enough... you can make it happen.
 

   While a lot of authors have influenced me, there are four that I count as my all time favorites.

   Elizabeth Lowell, a great storyteller, whose tender, heart wrenching romantic stories, always have the ability to make me cry.

   Jayne Anne Krentz, who has the ability to imbibe humor into the relationships she writes about. There is this part about a pickle, in her book Falling Awake, that cracks me up just thinking about it!

   Linda Howard was actually the first erotic romance I ever read. It was her short story White Out and her steamy hot sex scenes, had me searching for more of her books.

   Nora Roberts, is probably my overall favorite author. She has tremendous story telling ability, and her characters are people you feel you can get to know personally. I know whenever I read a series by her that these people will feel like friends by the time I'm finished.

   It is my goal that my books will spark the imaginations of my readers. That each time they read them, they feel like they are meeting friends. And that somewhere, in their hearts and souls, they too will begin to believe that anything can happen if you follow your dreams. When this happens, then I know I will have succeeded in what I set out to do!
 

It's easier to capture a dragon then to tame a gypsy!