Jennifer Archer is the author of the unusual fantasy romance Body & Soul.  The story of a middle-aged housewife and mother who makes a wish to change places with the young girl in the car next to her, and finds her wish is granted...

It is a pleasure to welcome the author of this amusing and original tale to the Magical Romance Website.

LB    First of all could you please tell us a little about yourself as an introduction to the visitors to the Magical Romance Website.

JA    I've been married for almost 21 years to my high school sweetheart. So when cynics say there's no such thing as "happily-ever-after" I have to smile! There may be ups and downs along the way, but happily-ever-after does exist. I have two great sons, ages 14 and 16, and a Brittany Spaniel who's a constant source of chaos in our house! I've known since elementary school I wanted to be a writer, but somewhere along the way, I got temporarily sidetracked. I earned a college degree in Business Administration then worked at various jobs before taking a leap of faith and pursuing my dream. I still work, part-time, as a legal assistant and my husband and I own a sideline residential rental property business. ( A fancy way of saying we're "landlords!" I hate that term!)  I wrote for about five years before I sold my first novel.
 

LB    Your first romance novel BODY AND SOUL was released in September 1999.  For any of my visitors who have not read this novel, could you please tell us a little about it?

JA    Lisa O'Connor, in BODY AND SOUL, is a married mother of two who has become so focused on the negatives of her life and marriage that she no longer sees the positives. When she's magically given the opportunity to view her husband, Michael, and their life together through another woman's eyes, she searches her heart for a number of truths. But, while doing so, she must live the life of the young woman whose body she's been transferred into--a life that includes a sexy live-in boyfriend, a part-time job working for Lisa's own husband, and a pregnancy! Michael, the baffled husband, tries to hold his family and marriage together. He struggles to understand the sudden changes in the woman he believes is his wife, her bout with amnesia and his own overwhelming attraction to his young employee--who reminds him of the Lisa he used to know. The most fun part of writing the story was answering all the "what-ifs" and "would-shes". For instance, would Lisa make the same mistakes twice, or would she be wiser than the first time? Would she find being twenty again a blessing or a curse? Would she fall in love with the same man the second time around?
 

LB    BODY AND SOUL is the amusing story of two women who suddenly find that they have switched bodies and are living the other person's life.  Your novella BLAME IT ON BABY is a sequel of sorts with the return of  Tory and her new husband who also switch places.  Can you tell us a  little about this sequel?

JA    BLAME IT ON THE BABY in the NEW YEARS BABIES Anthology takes two of the secondary characters from BODY AND SOUL and looks at their lives three years later. The heroine, Tory, and her new husband, Dillon, are facing many of the stresses and hardships many young couples face today-- money problems, raising a child while juggling two careers and school, another baby on the way. These stresses take a toll on their marriage and they each wish the other could "walk a mile in their shoes," so to speak Thanks to a magic fortune cookie, they are afforded the opportunity to do that very thing!
 

LB    What sort of response have you had from readers in response to your body-switching novels?  Have you had any responses from men as to Dillon's reaction when he finds himself in the body of his pregnant wife?

JA    I've been thrilled by the reader response to these books! I've received many emails and letters from women all over the country who have told me how closely they related to both heroines. I love hearing that readers have been moved to laughter and tears by my stories. When they also say they were inspired to re-examine what's really important in their own lives...well, that's icing on the cake for me! Very satisfying! Unfortunately, I haven't heard from any men readers regarding Dillon's reaction to experiencing pregnancy first-hand! I would certainly like to, though. Since BLAME IT ON THE BABY has been called "the perfect pregnant female revenge story" I'm curious as to whether or not a man would find any humor in the situation! I hope they would respond with the same spirit of fun in which I wrote the story!
 

LB    What sort of books do you like to read for inspiration and who are some of your favourite authors?

JA    or inspiration, I enjoyed BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott, WISHCRAFT-- HOW TO GET WHAT YOU REALLY WANT by Barbara Sher, SIMPLE ABUNDANCE by Sarah Ban Breathnach. There are many others, but these are the three that pop immediately to mind. As for favorite authors--that's a tough one. There are several. As a writer, I'm always studying other authors' work. Sometimes it's difficult to turn off the critique button and lose myself in a story. When I'm reading a book and the button goes off without effort, I know I've found a wonderful story teller. Nora Roberts does this for me every time. So does LaVyrle Spencer. Many of Kristin Hannah's books are easy for me to get lost in.  More recently I've discovered Susan Carroll, too. Outside the romance genre, sometimes Dean Koontz does the trick, Susan Issacs, Mary Higgins Clark's early books. These are just a few.
 

LB    Both of your novels have that old moral of being careful what you wish for.  What would you do if you found yourself in possession of one of the magic fortune cookies?

JA    Wow! Where do I start? I guess I should say something noble and idealistic--like I'd wish for world peace, the end of hunger, something like that. But from a purely selfish perspective, if I had to narrow it down to one selfish wish, I think it would be to replace Harry Potter on the best seller lists!
 

LB    What are you working on now and what can we expect to see on the shelves over the coming months?  Is Once Upon a Dream still scheduled for release in January 2001 and what is this novel about?

JA    I'm currently working on a proposal for my editor. It's another humorous contemporary paranormal romance. The details are still sketchy but, basically, the hero loses five years of his life. To him, it seems he saw the heroine yesterday. But for her, five years have passed since he disappeared and she has moved on with her life. Now she must choose between her old life and her new one. And he must figure out where he's been the past five years, then convince the heroine he isn't making the whole thing up--that he didn't really skip out on her.

As for my next release, ONCE UPON A DREAM will be in bookstores January, 2001. This story is about a couple who are having the same dreams, though they don't figure this out for quite some time. The story takes place in the present, but the dreams occur in 1888. Of course, since they are dreams, and dreams tend to veer off in all sorts of wierd directions, I was able to incorporate some quirky anachronisms into these scenes. It was a lot of fun to write and, I hope, will be a fun read, too. If you'd like a peek at the cover and an early review, stop by my website http://www.jenniferarcher.ws/
 

LB    What do you think you would be doing if you were not writing romance novels?

JA    Hmmm. Since my background is in business, I think I'd probably own a small business of some sort. In the past, my husband and I have owned both a pharmacy and a medical equipment business. We now own a sideline rental property business.  Headaches go along with business ownership, but there's also a lot of satisfaction in it. I wish, though, that I'd be something like a travel writer for a magazine. I love to travel and see new places. Or I might be teaching. There was a time when standing before a crowd and speaking terrified me. But since I published, I've been asked to do that very thing numerous times, and I've learned to take control of the fear rather than letting it control me. Now, I really enjoy sharing what I've learned along the way with other aspiring writers.
 

LB    You mention on your website that the idea for BODY AND SOUL came to you whilst you were working on a suspense novel.  Have you plans to release any suspense novels at the present time or are you sticking with the romance genre?

JA    Actually, the "suspense" novel I was working on was a romantic suspense novel. So romance has always been at the core of my work. I enjoy reading romantic suspense and would love to try my hand at it again one day. But for now, my "muse" seems to be more tuned to humorous romance with a serious undertone.
 

LB    Finally, do you have a message for all your readers out there?

JA    Keep buying books! I hate to imagine a world in which ink and paper and binding and glue are extinct--totally replaced by images on a computer screen. On a more personal note, if not for my readers, the characters in my head would never get to "live". Their stories would never be heard. I'd really hate that so, needless to say, I appreciate my readers! I love hearing from them and I welcome their comments and reactions to the books I write!

And we come to the end of the interview.  I would like to thank Jennifer on behalf of both myself and all the visitors to the Magical Romance Website.  We look forward to reading more of your work in the future.

Links to  Online Stores

Books by Jennifer Archer: Body & Soul, Shocking Behaviour, Once Upon a Dream and Blame it on the Baby

Visit Jennifer Archer's Website.