hello
USA Today bestselling author Jo Segura lives in the Pacific Northwest with her doggo, who vies for her attention with his sweet puppy dog eyes whenever she’s trying to write.
Jo's stories feature strong, passionate heroines and draw upon aspects of her life, such as her love of good food and great cocktails, dancing, her Mexican heritage, and her fascination with archaeology which inspired her debut romcom, RAIDERS OF THE LOST HEART, published December 2023 by Berkley Romance, and the forthcoming sequel, TEMPLE OF SWOON (Jan. 7, 2025).
When she’s not writing you can find her practicing law, perusing the aisles at Trader Joe's, or sitting out on the patio doing Buzzfeed quizzes (though she doesn’t care what the chicken nugget quiz said–her favorite fruit is not banana).
Jo is represented by Jill Marsal at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
Jo's Writing Companions
Nov. 6, 2009 - Sep. 11, 2023
Still Writing with Jo in Spirit
AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD
LIKES: butt scratches, white rice and plain
nood(le)s, hogging the bed
DISLIKES: getting brushed, baths
SWEDISH VALLHUND
LIKES: noogies, rolling in wet grass, naps,
getting brushed
DISLIKES: stopping on walks to talk to
people who aren’t paying attention to him
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ARE YOU AN ARCHAEOLOGIST?Sadly, no. I did, however, participate in an archaeological dig in Belize of a Mayan site. We uncovered lots of pottery and even human remains!
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IS RAIDERS OF THE LOST HEART YOUR FIRST BOOK?ROTLH is my publishing debut, but it’s not the first book I’ve ever written. I’ve been writing stories for decades and finished my first novel-length manuscript back in 2017, which shall never again see the light of day. Since then, I’ve drafted several other romance manuscripts and always have at least one idea swirling in my head at any given time. I actually wrote ROTLH while I was waiting to hear back from agents on another book I wrote.
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CAN YOU READ THE BOOKS IN ANY ORDER? CORRIE AND FORD (OR ANY OTHER ROTLH CHARACTERS) IN THE SECOND AND THIRD BOOKS?Each book can be read as a standalone, but because of references to the events from ROTLH and TOS, reading the books in order (ROTLH, TOS, and then TLC) is recommended. Some characters from ROTLH make an appearance and/or are mentioned in TOS and TLC.
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HOW DID YOU GET YOUR BOOK DEAL?After recently finishing a manuscript, I’d heard about a #PitMad happening that week (a Twitter event where you pitch your manuscript to agents/editors, and if they like your pitch, you can submit to them). I thought I'd give it a go and pursue publishing in earnest for a year and if I didn’t make headway, I’d reevaluate. While I waited to hear from agents who’d requested my manuscript during PitMad, I wrote another book—Raiders of the Lost Heart. In the meantime, there was another #Pitmad coming up so I pitched Raiders. I signed with an agent shortly thereafter and, ultimately, Raiders sold to Berkley in a 2-book deal on preempt on the one-year anniversary of my commitment to actively pursue publishing.
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YOU DEDICATED ROTLH TO YOUR PARENTS. HAVE THEY READ YET, AND WAS IT TOO SPICY FOR THEM?Yes! Though my mom did confirm parts of it were a tad too spicy for her. Fortunately, they are still very supportive of my writing, so that’s the best I could ask for.
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DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR NEW/ASPIRING AUTHORS?Write. If you have an idea and you want to be an author, just write. Maybe you never do anything with it, or maybe it will be terrible (my first full manuscript will never be published, that’s for sure), but you have to start somewhere. Go to writing conferences. Pitch to agents/editors even if you’re nervous. Read writing craft books. Save the Cat Writes a Novel is a great resource on novel structure, but there are so many excellent craft books out there (for example, if you write romance, check out Romancing the Beat). Find a critique group and/or a group of other authors you can just talk about writing with, because I’ll tell you what—your non-writing family and friends do not want to talk about writing and books as much as you do. LOL!
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ARE YOU RELATED TO THE COMEDIAN TOM SEGURA?No, but I'd like to think I'm just as funny as he is. 😜