Josie Juniper is a Pacific Northwest native who has worked chiefly in mathematics and journalism. She writes romance featuring STEM, sass, spice, smart women, and angsty, wicked-talking men. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her artist husband and a flock of rescue turkeys. In addition to weird loud birds, she’s a fan of Formula 1 racing, prime numbers, tattoos, rain, crochet, and lost causes.
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What’s the strangest thing you searched for on the internet for your novel?
While writing Double Apex, I did over 250 hours of online Romanian language study, but those programs don’t typically include cursing or smutty dirty talk, so… definitely the strangest thing would be some of Cosmin’s more colorful phrases in Romanian!
What book (or author) made you fall in love with the romance genre?
The first romance novels I fell in love with, back in the 1980s, were the books in the Skye O’Malley series by Bertrice Small.
What is your favourite trope? Why?
I’m a huge fan of enemies-to-lovers. I love the tension, and those little special moments when the characters see the good in each other and it challenges their perspectives. I’m also a sucker for second-chance romance, as it’s so comforting to see people “finally get it right” after making mistakes. I suppose the common theme with these two favorite tropes is that I am so fond of flawed characters, people who are struggling to find their HEA despite sometimes being their own worst enemies.
It’s the morning after, and a lover is making your main character the perfect breakfast in bed. What is it?
If Cosmin were making breakfast for Phaedra, it would certainly be cold-brew coffee with an obnoxious amount of sweetened creamer in it — something like mocha-caramel-pumpkin-spice-truffle-blast, enough to make the spoon stand up — and piles of bread products. Croissants, brioche, icing-slathered cinnamon rolls, bagels… carbs carbs carbs are the way to her heart.
What book are you reading currently?
I’m a mood reader, mood writer, and mood crafter — I like to have a lot of things going at once. Right now: 1) Kala, by Colin Walsh, 2) The Noise of Time, by Julian Barnes, and 3) Saint X, by Alexis Schaitkin. In general, I read a lot of mystery/suspense/thriller stuff, and literary fiction.