Y’all. It’s back. As you see, today we have Jax Cassidy in the house. She joining us for a Teaser Tuesday (TT) post, and *koffs* shorted us about 200 words, but she’s also the person who made the header (which for whatever reason never shows when I link the site on FB T_T), so we’ll let it slide. This once. 😛
Luna Matsya is a local celebrity as a trendsetting hairstylist, but she’d prefer to spread her fin in a nice body of water rather than make a big splash around town. She’s starting to believe that her ability to live and walk among mortals is more of a curse rather than a blessing. Especially now that the flashy tent from a touring magic show is blocking her lake. Where’s a mermaid to swim when the slightest mistake can put her in the spotlight?
Ace Conall is infamous for his daring tricks and he plans to make history with an epic illusion before taking a lengthy hiatus. This is a chance for him to finally feel at home after harboring a secret that may be the greatest magic act never revealed. What he hadn’t expected was falling for a smart-mouthed siren tangled up in his plans.
Hey y’all! We’ve got Jax Cassidy carrying the APAHM banner today! 🙂 I hope you’ll read on!
Hi, I’m contemporary author Jax Cassidy and I’m SO excited that Limecello asked me to participate this month, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM). It’s such an important month because it’s about celebrating Asian culture and heritage. I’m also equally stoked to be able to share with you some things I’ve been researching, on and off, for about a decade now. Continue reading →
First up in May! Whoo! Jax Cassidy! >.> But she abandoned me in May so I have nothing more to say about her. ;X
Brace yourselves… although I’m a city girl on the outside, I’m truthfully a country girl at heart.
Yep. It’s all true. I was raised in a tiny little cozy town called Van Buren in Arkansas. At the time the population was probably 13,000…maybe. Those were the best years of my youth! I grew up learning English from watching daytime soaps with my mom and a variety of children’s programming like The Electric Company and Sesame Street. Mr. Rogers would take off his shoes and change into his slippers and sweater on a daily basis. When I look back, I realize that I was fortunate because I can’t recall having to deal with discrimination and hate. It was a community of very loving, caring people that I was surrounded by and it shaped me into the person I am today.
This is embarrassing, but also a blessing. Growing up with my friends, I’d never known that I was any different than the kids I hung out with. I was just…well, me. There were no identity issues I can recall except for the usual childhood angst and puberty. In fact, for most of that time, I’d assumed I was white. It’s the truth. Maybe I was a little sheltered or naïve but I lived a normal, carefree, tomboy life of playing outdoors and first puppy love crushes. Even the town I lived in was magical. The downtown could be a set from every romantic comedy that featured small towns. Sweet Home Alabama, Beautiful Girls, or Hope Floats could’ve been filmed there. I swear, the townspeople reminded me of something out of Hart of Dixie. We always had an interesting cast of real life characters.
It wasn’t until the end of my middle school years that I discovered that I was different. I’d campaigned for the high school student council and during our election week I was faced with a harsh reality. Some cruel kids had painted through my signs with the words “Gook” and “Chink”. I figured it out real quick how it felt to be despised by my ethnicity. My true friends helped me remove the signs and even offered their support but that was the turning point in my life. I had to start seeing the reality of it all. There were people out there whose ignorance became their crutch and it was out of fear, their environment, and lack of knowledge that made them who they are.
Fast forward many, many years later. I embraced my love for being American as I do for my Asian heritage even more. I’m grateful for the life I’ve been given and I feel like it’s a blessing to have the perfect balance of Eastern and Western cultures to turn to. I don’t feel any differently than when I was growing up. I’m, well…still me.
As an Asian author it is important for me to continue writing ethnic characters. I have a responsibility to show that we’re no different in the way we think or act when it comes to love. It’s a universal language and readers will eventually forget what race the characters are as long as they’re immersed in the storytelling. Most importantly, I also have a responsibility to my readers, Asian women who look up to me. I’ve been blessed to have met readers who appreciate what I’m doing and have told me how wonderful it is to see Asian heroes and heroines. This is exactly what I’d hoped for. That’s why I want to continue to penning romances that these women can relate. It’s unfortunate I didn’t have books featuring strong Asian women to read, but now I am able to provide to readers this very thing that was missing from my life.
Hi friends! As you see we have the fabulous and lovely Jax Cassidy visiting with us today! Enjoy the eye candy she’s providing.
I never set out to write multicultural characters—although I’d always wanted to see more Asians as leads in romance novels because I wanted something to relate to. Almost all of the books I’d read in my youth had Caucasian heroes and heroines so I thought that was the norm. Of course, even knowing that, I was never one to follow the rules. I decided I would write Asian characters into my books anyway. I figured if I wanted to read them, someone out there would too. Even when those stories didn’t sell, I never stopped writing them at the same time as my Caucasian romances—which did sell…
What’s really funny is that up until five years ago, I wasn’t drawn to Asian men at all. My ideal type was mostly blond haired, blue eyed, clean cut men. Those surfer boys and GQ model types. Perhaps I wasn’t exposed to enough Asian males growing up to really find them attractive. However, when I discovered K-pop and K-dramas, I saw Asian men in a whole different light! I started becoming obsessed with Asian heroes. Who could resist those bad boys—and if they happen to put on a bit of guyliner—I was totally hooked! These celebs know how to represent themselves in public and their polished image, attitude, and fashion sense created a unique celebritydom that sucks you in.
For years I’ve written proposal after proposal of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean characters but I’ve learned it’s a hard sell in New York. Editors have a specific vision of what stories they want and they focus on what sells for them. Sooner or later I know my international settings will make it onto the shelves so I haven’t given up on that dream. Although I continue to write multicultural characters, the past few years I started to write stories with Korean heroes. I’m also adding historical romances set in the Joseon Dynasty as well as more contemporaries set in Seoul.
This December my holiday release Seoulful Kiss, a sweet romance, is set in—you got it—Seoul. I’m hoping it will give readers a taste of why I love writing about these characters and the wonderful setting. Now that Psy’s hit song “Gangnam Style” has finally infiltrated the US market, I have to admit it gives me hope that my stories will finally grab the editors attention. I’m extremely fortunate and grateful I have an agent that supports my choices. No pressure. It simply means I have to work harder and prove that all my efforts to bring Asian heroines and heroes to the public will happen.
In the meantime, I’m going to share a little bit of yumminess—er, research with you. Whenever I start a project, I have to have a clear vision of who my characters are. It’s such a terrible chore to look through hundreds of images of hot, gorgeous men for just the right hero. C’mon, tell me the truth, you never thought Asian men could be this drool worthy? Well, they are. So now you can see why it’s not so difficult for me to write them into my romances. Enjoy!
Jax Cassidy followed her dreams to Paris, then Hollywood to pursue a film career but managed to fall in love with penning sexy romances and happy endings–finding Mr. Right was just an added bonus. She writes contemporary and paranormal romances and is Co-Founder of Romance Divas, an award winning writer’s website and discussion forum. Jax is also known as one-half of the retired writing team of Cassidy Kent. Jax Cassidy is represented by Roberta Brown, Brown Literary Agency.
We already know Jax is incredibly generous. She, on the behalf of Romance Diva is contributing to SMSG12. But you get the chance to win today too! Jax is offering one lucky commenter a copy of Siren’s Seduction, or an ebook from her backlist!
So tell us – what do you think of heroes? What appeals to you? What would you think of an Asian hero?
And… I hope Jax will forgive me, but since she mentioned Gangnam Style, I had to share it here. Just in case you haven’t seen it before. 😉
Luna Matsya is a local celebrity as a trendsetting hairstylist, but she’d prefer to spread her fin in a nice body of water rather than make a big splash around town. She’s starting to believe that her ability to live and walk among mortals is more of a curse rather than a blessing. Especially now that the flashy tent from a touring magic show is blocking her lake. Where’s a mermaid to swim when the slightest mistake can put her in the spotlight?
Hi, I’m contemporary author Jax Cassidy and I’m SO excited that Limecello asked me to participate this month, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM). It’s such an important month because it’s about celebrating Asian culture and heritage. I’m also equally stoked to be able to share with you some things I’ve been researching, on and off, for about a decade now. 
Brace yourselves… although I’m a city girl on the outside, I’m truthfully a country girl at heart.
