Judi Fennell has had her nose in a book and her head in some celestial realm all her life, including those early years when her mom would exhort her to “get outside!” instead of watching Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie on television. So she did--right into Dad’s hammock with her Nancy Drew books.
These days she’s more likely to have her nose in her laptop and her head (and the rest of her body) at her favorite bookstore, but she’s still reading, whether it be her latest manuscript or friends’ books.
A three-time finalist in online contests, Judi has enjoyed the reader feedback she’s received and would love to hear what you think about her Mer series. Check out her website at www.JudiFennell.com for excerpts, reviews and fun pictures from reader and writer conferences, and the chance to “dive in” to her stories.
Bewitching, by Jill Barnett When He Was Wicked, by Julia Quinn A Knight in Shining Armor, by Jude Devereaux Cardinal Rules, by Babara Delinsky
What is your book about? Please provide a description.
Two series: Mer series (IOHH, WBU, COAL)
IN OVER HER HEAD: When Erica Peck, one terrified-of-the-ocean marina owner, finds herself at the bottom of the sea conversing with a Mer man named Reel, she thinks she's died and gone to her own version of Hell. When the Oceanic Council demands she and Reel retrieve a lost cache of diamonds from the resident sea monster in return for their lives, she knows she's died and gone to Hell. When they escape the monster and end up on a deserted island, she amends her opinion - she's died and gone to Heaven. But when Reel sacrifices himself to allow her to return to her world, she realizes that, Heaven or Hell, with Reel, she's In Over Her Head.
WILD BLUE UNDER: The underwater kingdom is his as soon as he claims his queen... Rod Tritone has the looks and charm to snag any queen he wants for his Mer kingdom, but unfortunately, it's not up to him. As fate would have it, the one woman destined to rule with him is terrified of water...
She lives in land-locked Kansas and has no idea she's a princess... Valerie Dumere thinks Rod is gorgeous and irresistible—but why does he keep insisting she has another side to herself that only he can show her? Somehow, Rod has to prove to her who she really is. But when she finds out the truth, will she ever forgive him?
CATCH OF A LIFETIME: She’s on a mission to save the planet… Mermaid Angel Tritone has been researching humans from afar, hoping to find a way to convince them to stop polluting. When she jumps into a boat to escape a shark attack, it’s her chance to pursue her mission, but she has to keep her identity a total secret…
When he finds out what she really is, they’re both in mortal danger… For Logan Hardington, finding a beautiful woman on his boat is surely not a problem—until he discovers she’s a mermaid, and suddenly his life is on the line…
Genie Series (IDOG, GKB, LITG) I DREAM OF GENIES: When Eden, a genie sentenced to her bottle for killing her previous master, suddenly finds herself freed 1400 years early, she knows it’s only a matter of time before Faruq, vizier to the High Master, tracks her down. Being magical, that shouldn’t be a problem, however, she A) lost her bottle and whoever controls that control her, B) wears the gold bracelets that act like homing devices, letting Faruq easily know exactly where she is and C) has lost her ability to perform magic so now things start happening and appearing when they shouldn’t. Matt Ewing, rescuer extraordinaire of lost cats and damsels in distress, offers to help her out—until she ruins his business, steals his cat, and puts him at the mercy of spurned-suitor Faruq. Throw in a cat with an agenda, and a chase through the magical city in the Sahara, and Eden and Matt must outwit Faruq to escape with their freedom, their lives, and their love.
GENIE KNOWS BEST: Kal, the only genie ever to remove the gold bracelets that bind genies into Service, has been on the run for over a thousand years, but when Samantha Blaine finds his lamp in a Moroccan bazaar, he’s got to get it back: whoever owns the lamp, owns him. Samantha Blaine was planning to come to Casablanca on her honeymoon, but when she caught her fiancé cheating on her, she decided to make it a honeymoon trip for one—and maybe finally take a good long look at her doormat tendencies, so no way is she giving up the treasure she found to some guy no matter how charming he is. But when a shady antiques dealer breaks into her hotel room, Sam has to take Kal up on his offer of help, but she’s adamant about it being on her terms. The thing is, those terms just might include Kal and the words happily-ever-after.
LEAVE IT TO GENIE: Zane Harrison opens an old trunk in the attic of his family’s ancestral home to find Vana. The genie. A famously inept genie as it turns out—which explains so much about why his great-great-grandfather was rumored to have been crazy. Vana never quite finished her genie training and, never really took to the idea of being in The Service, but she does get that she did a number on the Harrison reputation. Now that she’s out and about, it’s time to fix that. If only she could figure out how. And if only a new vizier hadn’t shown up to put that genie back where she belonged. Except, to Vana, where she belongs isn’t in a bottle or the magical city of the Sahara, or maybe even The Service at all. No, Vana’s convinced that the one place she does belong is in Zane’s arms.
How long have you been at work on this book?
I finished IN OVER HER HEAD when over 100 people I didn't know from Gather.com asked me to please enter the First Chapters Romance Contest in July 2007. I hadn't planned to enter another online voting contest because they took so much time that could be better spent writing, but so many people had enjoyed BEAUTY AND THE BEST in the original First Chapters Contest and wanted to read more of my work, that I couldn't disappoint them. So, I finished the book, entered the contest, and the rest, as they say, is history.
How did the idea originate?
I had started out writing a series of twists on fairy tales: CINDA BELLA, BEAUTY AND THE BEST, and FAIREST OF THEM ALL. I decided to twist The Little Mermaid and the best way to do that, was to make HIM the Mer. I gave the heroine my irrational fear of the ocean and IN OVER HER HEAD was born.
When it finaled in the First Chapters Romance contest, I wanted the judges (2 editors from Pocket, Sue Grimshaw from Borders) that I was more than a one-story pony, so I developed books for other siblings in the Tritone family.
The idea for the genie series literally just popped into my head one day, but was definitely influenced by the television shows and movies I enjoyed watching growing up, specifically I Dream of Jeannie and Indiana Jones, which is how I pitched it: I Dream of Jeannie meets Indiana Jones.
Did the book entail any unusual writing habits or places?
I wrote the end of the book mostly at my local Borders store (North Wales, PA).