The Writers
J.M. Jeffries is the award-winning writing team of Miriam Pace and Jacqueline Hamilton. Authors of romantic suspense and romantic comedies, they can’t decide if they like killing people more than they like making them laugh. Miriam and Jackie have been writing together for eleven years, though it seems longer on occasion when they are on deadline. Miriam thinks Jackie is a master manipulator. Jackie knows Miriam is a bulldozer. Miriam has a deep and passionate love for shoes, amber jewelry and purebred cats. Jackie collects red lipsticks, Animaniacs memorabilia and steals pens.
Together they’ve written over twenty-two romance novels including the award-winning Cold Case Crime Unit series for Genesis Press and the critically acclaimed Cupid series for Amber Quill books. They have also appeared in three anthologies.
Books By J.M. Jeffries include Virgin Seductress, Creepin, Suite Seduction, Vegas Bites Back, Soldier Boys, Lotus Blossoms Chronicles: Book 2, Suite Nothings, Carnivale Diabolique, and Naughty Girls with Badges.
Miriam and Jackie live in Southern California. Their website is http://www.jmjeffries.com/.
The Books
When a girl wants hot and spicy, she finds herself a Latin lover.
In J.M. Jeffries’ "Partners in Crime," Vincent Mendoza is a CIA agent in charge of his first mission. He must liberate some top secret documents, and he turns to jailed cat burglar Cleo Harris to help him. To gain her freedom, she must help the sexy agent. Little does Vincent know that the beautiful thief will steal his heart in the process.
Brash, bold, lingerie designer Honey Harlow doesn’t believe in love, but she does worship at the altar of lust. In Paris for her new lingerie line, Sweet Nothings, she meets the sophisticated, suave French vintner, Etienne Marais. Etienne has come to Fashion Week for one goal--to woo the beautiful Honey and add her as the new crown jewel to his business empire.
Honey's her own woman who plays by her own rules. She's not interested in going upscale. She likes the Frenchman just fine and she's happy enough to play with him, but not be owned by him. But Etienne wants what he wants and he wants Honey.
Interracial Romance
What moved you to write interracial romances?
Jackie: We wanted to explore new directions. We're thinking about a new anthology called The Color of Love with each a Latina, black, white and Asian heroine. We're looking for writers now.
Miriam: I told Jackie when we first started writing together that I wanted to do a lot of different types of stories. Screwball comedies from the 30s are some of my favorite movies, and I thought we'd try something like that.
Is the difference of race between the main characters always a conflict within your books?
Jackie: No.
Miriam: Sometimes they may mention it, but for the most part it isn't in the plot line. People are people.
Have you ever received negative comments about your work, and if so, what?
Jackie: We received one letter from a reader who was upset because race wasn't an issue, and in my personal and professional opinion, good personal hygiene has always been more important than race will ever be.
Miriam: Jackie's black and I'm white. When she told me she was black, I was really surprised because for me it's never an issue.
What has been the overall positive reception to your work?
Jackie: I was surprised at how many women wanted to read interracials because they wanted to see their lives reflected in romance.
Miriam: I was surprised, too, because we originally set out to just tell a good story.
Here we are in 2009 - how open do you think people are to seeing...and reading about interracial love? Do you think there's still a stigma to these relationships?
Jackie: I think people are really open. I would love race to never be an issue, but I think it's always going to be an issue. But how we deal with the issue is what defines us humans. As a child of an interracial relationship, I grew up dealing with the stigma. My parents were married in Germany and once they came back they dealt with it on a daily basis which probably made me more non-judgmental because I know how hurtful it is. I think things have come a very long way which gives me hope, and we still have issues to be worked out, but I think things are way better now than they were when I was child and I think they will continue to improve.
Miriam: I was just on a cruise and I was surprised at the number of interracial couples on board both white women and black men and white men with black women. I'd like to think our society is more open to interracial relationships. It gives me hope. I remember my first exposure to an interracial marriage. I was at Disneyland in the early 70s and a black man and his white wife were on the train with my husband and I. And at that time they were talking about their daughter's wedding which told me that in the early 70s they'd already been married a long time. Turned out he was a psychiatrist and she was a professor at UCLA. I had to ask them about their relationship and they were very honest with me. By the way they'd been married thirty-six years, had three children with six grandchildren and were in the process of marrying off their youngest daughter. I've never forgotten them.
Any closing comments you'd like to make regarding writing interracial romances?
Jackie: Thank you for giving us this opportunity to talk about our books and the topic closest to our heart, writing romance. I want to write stories about interesting people who just happen to be whatever ...
Miriam: Thank you. We intend to continue writing interracial romances. Our next story is going to be either Suite Dreams or Suite Persuasion. We're still arm-wrestling over the title and I'll let you know when I win. It will be Sunny's story. But we have a few projects to finish before we can get started.
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