JENNIFER HAYWARD writes charismatic heroes for Harlequin Presents...

Jennifer Hayward has been a fan of romance since filching her sister's novels to escape her teenaged angst.
Her career in journalism and PR, including years of working alongside powerful, charismatic CEO's and traveling the world, has provided perfect fodder for the fast-paced, sexy stories she likes to write, always with a touch of humour.

A native of Canada's East coast, Jennifer lives in Toronto with her Viking husband and young Viking-in-training. Her book club of 10 yrs helps her keep the world right side up.

TAKE A PEEK AT  
Changing Constantinou's Game

One kiss couldn't hurt, could it? 

Alexios Constantinou is notorious for his lethal charm, so when the exquisite Isabel Peters is—literally—dropped into his lap during a hellish elevator ride, he doesn't waste the opportunity! With tensions sky-high after their near-death experience, an insatiable desire ignites between them, and all bets are off. 

But when Alex discovers that reporter Isabel's next story is him, he's furious…yet determined to use it to his advantage. He's calling the shots, but the closer Isabel gets, the closer she comes to discovering his carefully concealed secret. Now, with everything at stake, he'll need a whole new game plan….

READ A LITTLE, BUY THE BOOK

Read an excerpt here.

Jan Schliesman: Since this is my very first blog on GLIAS, I'm going to share the pronunciation of my last name: Sh-LEASE-man. How do you pronounce your hero's last name?

Jennifer Hayward: Con-Stan-Teen-O

Jan: How often to you get lost in a story?

Jennifer: Oh every day :) Almost…. When I'm writing a book, I'm usually working on it six or seven days a week. It flows so much better even if I just write a few hours that day. I take breaks in between books.

Jan: You won Harlequin’s 2012 So You Think You Can Write contest, which led to your first sale. How long had you been writing before then?

Jennifer: My story starts back when I was nineteen and submitted my first manuscript to Harlequin Presents. I got an encouraging letter back from a senior editor at the time, but they didn't want to see that particular story again. I think I also really needed life experience to write the deeply emotional stories you see in Presents. Over the years I submitted two or three more partials, but my career in journalism and PR kept me really busy. Finally I cut back my work hours with the support of my husband, finally finished a full manuscript (which I may rewrite some day because I loved the story). That story was rejected but I learned so much from writing a full book. How surfacey my earlier partials had been. I took a ton of craft courses and finally finished Changing Constantinou's Game, which was on my editor's desk when I won SYTYCW with The Divorce Party.

  

Jan:  What’s the best part of your day?  Are you a morning or night person?

Jennifer: I love the morning! I'm definitely a morning person and breakfast is my favourite meal :) But strangely, sometimes when I do write at night, I write my best material. Maybe no distractions! :) It's also hard being a mom to get to bed early sometimes. You need time to yourself and often that's an hour snuck in at night.

Jan:  Is your family good about helping out when you’re under deadline?

Jennifer: Oh yes. My husband is amazingly supportive of my writing and so is my little boy. There's a joke in our house - everyone always knows when it's deadline week. The temperature goes up a notch or two! My husband also jokes that 'it's a good day in our house when it's a good writing day'. Really?

Jan:  Did you buy yourself something special when you sold your first book?

Jennifer: I'm not sure if I did! But a fellow author told me I always should, so I do now. With my second book it was a beautiful necklace on a writing holiday in Tuscany! (Sharon Kendrick's course is amazing btw!) For my last book, it was a pair of rockin' cowboy boots from California!

Jan:  You dream of building a beach house in Barbados, which happens to be my favorite island. If you held a writer’s retreat there, who would you invite?

Jennifer: Definitely my two girlfriends who are working on books of their own who are also in my book club. Then my writer girls from the Watermill writing course in Posara and finally my two wonderful critique partners. OMG we would have a full house wouldn't we? Maybe we need a hotel! And I love that we are kindred spirits with our love of Barbados. To me, it's heaven on earth!

Jan:  Have you ever used real life experiences in your stories? Changed the names to protect the guilty?

Jennifer: Oh yes. There are many instances/scenes in my books from my own life and that of people I know. I think real life is stranger than fiction for sure! In my second book, An Exquisite Challenge, I drew heavily from some of the fun parties I've thrown in my PR career over the years. In Changing Constantinou's Game, Izzie's one-night-stand-of-a-lifetime was inspired by a marine biologist from the Great Barrier Reef I met on a flight home who I was too scared to show the town! Izzie is smarter than me :)

Jan's GOTTA ASK: My hubby works for Haagen-Dazs so I always have to ask…what’s your favorite ice cream flavor?

Jennifer's GOTTA ANSWER: Ha! I love this one. My present obsession is chocolate chip mint but I still dream about the black liquorice flavour I had in Sweden (where my husband is from) that was amazing!

WHAT'S NEXT FOR JENNIFER:

Ooh I'm very excited about my next release. Here's the back cover blurb! I took risks with this heroine and this story and I'm hoping you're going to love it! It's called The Magnate's Manifesto:

BILLIONAIRE PLAYBOY IGNITES INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT WITH HIS MANIFESTO ON WOMEN 

Jared Stone: Visionary, rebel, the tech world's golden boy…and now the most hated man on the planet! 

Bailey St. James: Survivor, powerful female executive, the only woman who refuses to bow down to Jared Stone…and the only woman who can save him? 

When Jared's manifesto makes him public enemy #1 the only way out is to make Bailey an offer she can't refuse—a very public promotion to VP! Now, with a major deal on the line and tensions rising, can it be long before Jared and Bailey move from spreadsheets to bed sheets?

Thanks so much for sharing your world with us, Jennifer!

Jennifer is offering a  $10 AMAZON GIFT CARD to one lucky reader who posts a comment:

Contact: jennifer@jenniferhaywardromance.com

Website: jenniferhaywardromance.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jenniferhaywardromance

What nationality is your favorite hero and why?