I’m super excited to welcome romantic suspense author Jennifer Pierce to the blog today! Her newest novel, Expecting Danger, releases next Tuesday, December 4, but one of you lucky readers will get an early Christmas gift, as Jennifer is giving away BOTH of her novels to the winner!
Welcome, Jennifer! Thanks for being with us today!
It’s great to be here!
What was your inspiration for Expecting Danger?
I wish I could tell you. Lol. The opening scene came to me one day. Once I started writing it, I thought I’d have Jacob, a/k/a Jake, be the hero of the story, and it all developed from there.
How has the writing, editing, or promotion process for your second novel differed from your first? What worked well for you the first time around that you’re repeating, and what are you doing differently?
When I finished the first draft of Expecting Danger, I went over it and used what I had learned while editing Hidden Danger with my publishing company. It made the editing process with my editor much easier.As far as promotion, I’ve been making graphics and sharing them on social media to promote my books. That seems to work really well. For the release of Expecting Danger, I’m trying something new and cohosting a Facebook Release party with Laurie Wood. Her debut novel, Northern Deception, releases the same day. (The party sounds amazing, and you’re all cordially invited to attend! There will be guest authors,n games, and giveaways! Click here for more info!)
How did God change you, or what did He teach you, during the writing of Expecting Danger? What lesson do you hope your readers take away from the book?
I hope that the readers learn that it doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve been through, or what you’re currently going through: God is always with you.
What does your writing routine look like, if you have one? What obstacles or challenges do you face in making time to write?
I don’t have a writing routine. I’m married with two kids and work full time so I write when I can. I’ve found I do my best writing on my lunch break. Maybe not my best work, but I can focus more on my lunch. Otherwise, there’s family and social media to distract me.
As you look back on your journey to publication, how did God open those doors for you? What event or connection that may have seemed insignificant at the time ended up being enormously important?
God opened all kinds of doors for me in this process. I had originally written Hidden Danger to submit to Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense. It was rejected so I put it to the side so I could finish Expecting Danger. My best friend kept trying to get me to submit it to different publishers. I wanted to wait until I had Expecting Danger finished so I could say, “Oh, you like Hidden Danger? I happen to have a second novel.” It didn’t happen that way, though. One day I was on my lunch break and playing on social media when I noticed a friend had shared a post about #PitMad going on on Twitter. I thought, “Why not?” I boiled the 55,000 word novel to 144 characters and got a like within five minutes.The contract came less than a month later. God has truly blessed me.
If you could have coffee/tea/gratuitous amounts of carbs with any author(s), living or dead, who would you choose? What would you talk about?
Oh, that’s hard. I have so many I’d want to hang out with. Can we have an author party? If I had to choose just a few I think I’d want C. C. Warrens, Dana Mentink, Shirlee McCoy and Angela Ruth Strong. We’d start off talking about writing of course, but I’m sure we’d branch off to other fun topics and stories.
What do you do when you’re not writing?.
I’m a paralegal by day and a referee by night. My kids and I like to play Skipbo and Phase 10, when they’re not fighting. I’ve always got a book around me too.
How can we pray for you?
Thank you so much for asking. I could definitely use prayers. I recently had an MRI of my lumbar spine and I’ll be making an appointment with a neurosurgeon soon. It looks like surgery is in my future. I’d appreciate prayers through this journey.
Yikes! We will definitely be praying for that.
As usual with my giveaways, leave a comment on this post to enter; the winner will receive a digital copy of both Hidden Danger and Expecting Danger! We will draw and notify the winner one week from today!
MeetJennifer:
Jennifer Pierce currently lives in Arkansas with her husband and two children. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and River Valley Writers, where she serves as secretary. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, or at her website.