J Saman

[00:00:00]

Laura: Hi, J. Welcome to Retrodex Podcast.

J. Saman: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.

Laura: So happy to have you here. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

J. Saman: I am an author. I write contemporary romance pretty steamy stuff. I write mostly, I write a lot of medical romance. I have a background. I was a nurse practitioner for over 10 years. So I have a lot of history with that. I tend to write billionaires.

J. Saman: Also pretty. Sunni kind of guys who tend to fall very hard for their ladies. I've been doing this for almost nine years, something like that. I'm wife, mom of three girls. I live in Connecticut. It's pretty much me.

Laura: Oh, good. So good stuff. So let's talk about your romance journey. How did you get started, like from reading to writing to all the good things about it?

J. Saman: So I had been writing was always sort of like a stress [00:01:00] reliever. It was never something I considered doing as a career. It was sort of just to help me, I guess, to detach from stuff. So especially like in graduate school, it was a big stress reliever for me to just sort of write stories and get lost a bit.

J. Saman: And so, Then after graduate school, I had my girls and then after I had my third, I had by that point, I had written, I think, two books that are actually more than that, but a few of them, I don't think we'll ever see the light of day, so, but two actual books that have been published. Published and I don't know, like, I just did it, like, I really, it was bad, like, I didn't I, I didn't do, like, market research, I didn't do covers, like, I didn't do editing, like, I did all the things wrong that you should never do when publishing a book but I learned very quickly, and Got editing done and got covers made and all of that stuff.

J. Saman: So, and I just kind of did it as a hobby, I had my girls, I was working part time [00:02:00] and it just kind of was something I did and then slowly it started to build and to build and to build where I was releasing like four books a year kind of thing. Um, And it just kept going and then really, I guess, before cobit hit I kind of.

J. Saman: Made it more full time. And then once COVID hit, it just became full time. Like that was just really my slingshot into that. So

Laura: that's amazing. That's amazing journey, right? You're backlist, which we'll talk about it because there's Well, I need to go over that. It's a video of how important it is to build the backlist. I think sometimes we get caught up with the shiny object, the first book, or like, it's just the one thing. And the reality is like 10, 20, 50.

Laura: Like I, I benefit from my backlog of podcast episodes. I have 700 of those.

J. Saman: Well, Oh

Laura: It's like, but I get really good downloads, not just in my new episodes. [00:03:00] It's actually the backlist that she gets to download. It's like, that's the workforce, but it's the backend,

J. Saman: and that's I don't remember who. I don't want to misquote somebody, but somebody had once like sort of speaking to that point. Somebody had once an author had one said but basically she said, like, your backlist is like you said, it's your workhorse.

J. Saman: It's like, what should like, I guess, more or less like pay your mortgage if you can get to that point. And like your new stuff is your new stuff, but your backlist is really that sort of your core. And I think there is I think there is so much to be said about that.

Laura: yeah, especially with books, because if you go viral, like a good example, like it's pretty normal now to see books go viral and all that stuff. But reality is,

J. Saman: I've never done that.

Laura: on

J. Saman: had anything go viral for me.

Laura: same boat. I was like, can I just podcast go viral? Like, can it go

J. Saman: Yeah, no, I've never

Laura: We'll talk about like, the books are actually like, the reality is the books are actually making the bigger bang for the [00:04:00] money, or the books are like, oh, there's more books after this, because once you consume one, they do, it's like, You're likely to go back to where it started or where to go and what it does.

J. Saman: absolutely.

Laura: And you just have like this person who's bending and then it's like multiplied by 1000 or however thousands of this, they're bending all your backlist titles and it's like, well, those are the pages read, especially in KU where those are the pages read.

J. Saman: Yeah. Oh, definitely. Definitely. Yeah. And, like, that's sort of, we get to, like, on our KDP dashboard, we, it shows it, like your top, like, I don't know. Can or something titles by that. And so I get like, yeah, I get to see sort of the backlist continue to be there, which is like, it's so, it's like the best.

J. Saman: It's so nice to see that.

Laura: awesome. So let's talk about, like, writing medical, like, medical. So I was like, oh, these are doctors, which actually don't see that. And I know why, because it's actually really hard to [00:05:00] write doctors. I write the medical field accurately

J. Saman: and get it correctly. Yeah. And get it.

Laura: you can write it, but you can get it correctly. It's very different.

Laura: I work in the medical field and not in healthcare. I work in healthcare, but not in healthcare. But I'm very knowledgeable about like, about all the different diagnosis and like different specialties and what does it make sense? What does it make sense to prescribe things? And what does it make sense to perform certain services?

Laura: I work in that field. And so it's, so it's interesting to see like that. I wish there was like more stuff. But I was like, no, a lot of doctors have a lot of time, unless it's Freda McFadden. She's a doctor.

J. Saman: Oh, I didn't know that.

Laura: she's a surgeon. She's a surgeon. Yes. She's still practicing.

J. Saman: know that.

Laura: Yes. She's like, she's still practicing.

Laura: So like, we're just like, I'm like, Oh, we're not practicing anymore.

J. Saman: Yeah. Seriously. That's amazing. Good for her. That's incredible.

Laura: But yeah, so what I do, I know it's like, [00:06:00] creature of habit, you've had a career in as a nurse practitioner, you probably know like the different specifics, the general stuff, and it helps you you haven't talked to the doctors.

J. Saman: Yeah.

Laura: them like appealing enough to be like, Oh, maybe I can go with a doctor.

J. Saman: So like nurse practitioner, like they just sort of practice as doctors. So like a lot of, like some of the things, I mean, minus like, Surgery because I've never been a surgeon and I didn't like working in surgery, like as a nursing student, I hated surgery, so, I didn't do it that often. But yeah, I mean, like there, there was always, like I used to, I grew up watching like ER and like, and I loved Grey's Anatomy and all of that stuff.

J. Saman: So, I mean, I haven't watched, Grey's Anatomy and like, I don't know, since they killed McSteamy, so it's been a while. But but yeah, like I just, I liked the notion that, first of all, like you said, not a lot of people write it, or they don't write it well, because Google is not accurate medically, so, like that's just [00:07:00] never a good thing to do.

J. Saman: So I liked the challenge with that. I liked being able to take something that I'm knowledgeable about And still have that part of myself because I, I loved Matt. I love medicine. I love being a nurse. I love being a nurse practitioner. It just wasn't practical. At that point in my life my, my middle one is she had, she was just diagnosed with Crohn's actually during the pandemic.

J. Saman: And so she was on double immunosuppressants. And so it was like, I wasn't risking going into the office with that. Just wasn't going to happen. So, and it just presented a. Sort of a perfect time to continue this and to make it more of a career. And so I love being able to write. In the medical field and just, it just is my niche.

J. Saman: It just totally fits me so well. I think, I mean, I write rock stars and all of my written rock stars is that all of my doctors are billionaires. Cause I love the billionaire mentality and just [00:08:00] the fun of writing that. So, I do sort of play with with more fantasy, I guess, even though it's, Not real fantasy, but so there's still like the romance book trope stuff with it.

J. Saman: But it's, I like writing real medicine within these books, I guess is what it is.

Laura: Yeah. Oh, I love this. All right. So let's, like, let's dig into your backlist. Let's dig into where to get started. We got different generations. We got next gen. We got this early gen. We got this rock star. Like, where do we get started as someone who is just, who just read on the Natalie forbidden and he's like, okay, well, now I need to know what I need to do.

Laura: Yeah.

J. Saman: like, so I guess it's, so it's so funny, like I've been getting this question a lot. So this series, so the new series is a next generation of my The Edge series, my Boston Billionaire Bachelor series, and my Irresistibly [00:09:00] Yours series. So these are the children of that. And it can be read as a standalone.

J. Saman: Each of these books can be complete standalone. And then I do have a family tree in the front of the e book and the paperback just to make people laugh. Just to help their sanity. Because I do mention names of uncles and aunts and cousins and things and it can be a little daunting. But so if you're one of those people that is like, I like to go to the beginning and like go through Then probably the Edge series, starting with the Edge of Temptation Estlyn, who is the heroine in Undeniably Forbidden, her parents are book two in that series, which is the Edge of Forever.

J. Saman: So she's Aria and Wes's but in terms, if you don't care about reading all the way through, and this is going to sound strange and I don't know why, but I, people always be like, oh, what book should we start with of yours? And I always say Dr. Scandalous, and I don't know why I just, Dr. Scandalous is always like my go to book.

J. Saman: I [00:10:00] think it's just sort of the main lead in to this world, I guess, even though it's sort of not at the same time. Same time. But I just, the Boston Billionaires Bachelor Series, I think is probably still it's probably, I guess, the book and the series that sort of changed my life and really got me more serious with doing all of this.

J. Saman: So, I always just naturally say Dr. Scandalous, but if you're like a start at the beginning and want to do it that way. Probably The Edge of Temptation is the way to go. The Rockstar series which is my wild love series, it does sort of weave in, but not a ton.

Laura: right. Talk to us about Dr. Scandalous. What is it all about? Why we should read it? Like, you should read it. So what's what are the tropes for Dr. Scandalous?

J. Saman: So Dr. Scandalous is a billionaire. He's a doctor. It's a fake engagement. It's this couple who went to high school together. She was the poor girl, like the scholarship girl. [00:11:00] He was, the popular, rich billionaire. Eric kind of guy. He comes from a family of billionaires and all of the sons are doctors.

J. Saman: And their little sister Rena is a nurse because she did not want to be a doctor. She's sort of a I do my life by my own terms kind of person but she did not want to be a doctor and deal with that. So she wanted to become a nurse. So she did. But so they meet it. They, like, basically the, it starts where, like, he's like, I don't want to go into this reunion.

J. Saman: My ex is in there. He had a pretty bad breakup with her in college. And he was like, I don't want to go in, but his best friend, Grace, who is actually Owen's mom is there and she's like, no, you need to come in. You just have to do it, like, just do it, get it over with, whatever. And so he sees Amelia, who was the scholarship girl, sort of getting picked on.

J. Saman: It's like a hundred dollar entrance fee to come into this event and she can't afford it because her life she is the guardian of her little sister, Layla, [00:12:00] who was the heroine from Irresistibly Wild. So she, but she's the guardian of Layla and she's really been struggling since their parents died and it was a bad situation.

J. Saman: So Oliver Fritz kind of swoops in and is like, Oh, like, Hey, like, this is my fiance. He pays, or this is my, you don't think he says fiance then, but he like pays the fee and he walks in and like the two of them go back and forth. And he's like, let's go in as an engaged couple. Neither of us wants to do it, but like, let's go in, we'll show everybody up and like, let's do it.

J. Saman: So they go in. And the whole thing blows up. So, and they end up sort of going viral and his mom. sees it and his mom is sick. And so, but she's really like her whole dream is that she wants to see her kids settled. So he doesn't have the heart to sort of say no. And Amelia needs something in return.

J. Saman: And so they ventured down this whole fake engagement. episode with each other [00:13:00] which is a very public, it becomes very public for them both. So, but it's a very funny and very dirty, and it's one, it's still one of my favorites of all the books I've ever written, as you can probably tell, so.

Laura: I am actually picking this one off right after this. So, like, I'll just pick the next one. After I finish, I'll, I'll leave for bidding. I'm like, oh, this will be the next one. And I'm just going to pick

J. Saman: And that's like, that's like, I just, I, for some reason I just always, I always tell people to start with that one and then I'll get yelled at be like, but what about the edge series? I'm like, yes, the edge series is great. And I love the edge series. But for some reason I just always say

Laura: That is okay. You had my fake engagement. I was like, oh my gosh, this is like perfect because I love Undenial Forbidden. I begged you out the nanny, the forbiddeness of the nanny, single dad romance and the little kid and all the joys with that and the, like the extended family and everything to that.

Laura: But you had my fake engagement. I'm like, yes, I'm here for it.

J. Saman: I love fake engagement. Fake [00:14:00] relationships are one of my favorite tropes.

Laura: I'm like, it would not work in real life, it would not work, but in the romance world, I'm like, yeah, it's giving me more. It's just the arrangement and learning to convenience, like any type of like forced proximity that you have to make sure they're together all the time. I'm fearful. So, and

J. Saman: I write a ton of work. It's funny because I was like I was going through like tropes and stuff like recently and I was like, this is probably like a fifth or sixth book in a row where force proximity is one of my trope, like main trope. I was like, wow, apparently that's my thing lately.

J. Saman: So, but I love it. Like I can't, I, it's one of those things I can't get enough of. I love putting these two people together and just sort of seeing where they go and what happens with them.

Laura: Like it's a given, like the characters need to hang out and interact with each other. And so we've got to make them like as an author, like make them connect and so like what better way than a fake impeachment or chameleons or [00:15:00] marriage or like a kidnapping or whatever it is, or like,

J. Saman: haven't done kidnapping yet, and I should probably do that one.

Laura: Maybe an option would be like, The Dark World or The Boston Billiards.

J. Saman: Yeah. Right.

Laura: Like, the

J. Saman: For fun kidnapping. I'll make it a fun kidnapping.

Laura: was kidnapped,

J. Saman: I don't know. But

Laura: okay, give me that

J. Saman: Yeah.

Laura: give me the stuff. And I would just talk to him about, like, random shit. It's fun.

J. Saman: I totally have like Stockholm Syndrome just from all the books I've read, so.

Laura: So it's like, oh, maybe I'll follow up with my kidnapper? Like, what is going to happen? So, that's all good. Alright, we talked a little bit of undeniable forbidden, but what is Eleanor's pitch and why we wish to pick it up?

J. Saman: So, Undeniably Forbidden is a broody single dad who he goes to, he has to hire a nanny for his Little girl who's going into first grade. He's got a sort of a really awful ex wife who put them through a ringer, but so he goes out one night, [00:16:00] he's supposed to be meeting his best friend who he hasn't seen in a few years or hasn't His best friend's moving back to Boston, and so he, after a few years, so he goes to this bar, the best friend's flight connection gets canceled so he ends up meeting this woman at the bar and they flirt, and it's like, so out of his norm, and he's like, basically like, They go and they have a super hot steamy night together, but they both sort of knew unspokenly, but they both knew it was just that night, like, that's all they wanted.

J. Saman: Then the next day, he discovers that The woman he met last, that night was Estlin and the woman he thinks he's hiring is his best friend, little sister, Eddie. Eddie's middle name is Estlin. And he hadn't seen her in about 10 years, something like that. She's 12 years younger than him. So he hadn't seen her since she was like a 12 year old [00:17:00] and they just, there was nothing there between them before that.

J. Saman: So, so he, basically is sort of now stuck in this position where he needs to hire Estlin as the nanny for his daughter, who is his best friend, little sister. And he had a one night stand with her. And he's also insanely attracted to her. So, which isn't the best scenario for him. So There's a lot of tension with that.

J. Saman: They definitely have just off the charts chemistry with each other from the start. They just, there's just something about the two of them. And she pulls sort of a different side of him than I think he's ever had out. And he sort of gives her, she also had sort of a bad past with her ex and he sort of helped sort of, Give her confidence and like re help her regrow her confidence and just the two of them together have this just really great [00:18:00] dynamic and that with the little girl Rory they're just like the three of them just have this really powerful dynamic together that I really, I just loved writing.

J. Saman: Owen was one of my favorite characters. I had him in my head for a very long time and he's He's my Mr. Darcy, basically. He's my Mr. Darcy, like, through and through. And I love writing that about him.

Laura: He does have the Darcy vibes. Like, he's so groovy, he's

J. Saman: Darcy. He's protective, he's grumpy, he is Yeah, he just has this air about him, but it's really based more around his need to care for those around him and to be cautious and to not let those that he loves get hurt again. So that's, yeah, he was my Mr. Darcy.

Laura: So Julie, online.

J. Saman: So, I mean, my website certainly, which is [00:19:00] jsamanbooks. com or Amazon, most of my books are in Kindle Unlimited my Christmas. Novellas are not. Those are wide and that's usually how they stay. But the majority of my other books are in Kindle Unlimited.

Laura: Thank you, Julie. Probably on the show.

J. Saman: Yeah, of course. This is great.