Welcome to Bookworm Mama! I am so honored to have you here today! I have a fresh pitcher of cold brewed coffee for us to sip on today while we visit!
JJW: I’m thrilled to be here! I love visiting!
Where did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing/etc. come from?
JJW: My love of stories was fostered as a little girl. My Dad was always concocting stories and taking me on adventures! It was ingrained in me and then I started reading when I was four years old, and there was no looking back!
Rachel: This just makes my heart smile! My son just finished Kindergarten and I taught him how to read! I am SO excited for all the adventures he is going to go on!
When did you KNOW that you wanted to be an author?
JJW: I would say my early teens. I dreamed of penning my own book and seeing it in print. I wrote my first novel when I was thirteen . . .huh. I should dig that out and see how bad it was! LOL
Rachel: LOL, You never know, might be a great base for your next story!
What literary character is most like you?
JJW: Ohhhh, that’s a tough one. I know a lot of people probably say this, but my mom used to call me “Anne Shirley”. I’m super stubborn, I talk too much, I have mood swings like nobody’s business, and I live in my imagination. Although I do not have red hair and have never been to PEI Island.
Rachel: Surprisingly no lol! Anne Shirely is my soul sister though! Daydreaming and books...and I have the red hair!
What were your goals and intentions in your book?
JJW: I know it’s not usually expected with mystery novels, but I do intentionally pick a spiritual theme to encapsulate the story. In TRAGP, that theme was grace, and it was also not just about how the Lord shows us grace, but how we show grace to others (or don’t show grace). The critical elements of grace and the health it brings to relationships.
Rachel: Oh man! That is amazing!
Can you share a behind the scenes fact about your book?
JJW: Behind the scenes, I spent quite a bit of time pouring over research my pastor fed me. He’s a natural history buff and he had already uncovered some intriguing historical facts. We met about them, conspired about how they’d fit into a story, and it was so great to get a “pastoral” view of history too--since there are evangelists and theologians in this novel :)
Rachel: How fun!!! I love when I find someone who loves history! I always want to learn more!
Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work? What impact have they had on your writing?
JJW: Oh man. Several authors have been influential. Colleen Coble is the jet fuel to my rocket. She gave me the push I needed to launch and to this day, she’s my back-up when I need to panic, need prayer, or need to text her a success. But, in my formative years, I grew up reading Tracie Peterson. Her words and prose and stories are still etched in my heart. Erica Vetsch has also been an ongoing cheerleader. She is selfless in her encouragement and I am so in awe of her writing and stories. She’s just an amazing mentor!
Rachel: Tracie Peterson is one of the very first authors I ever read as an "adult reader". Tons of credit to her for hooking me on Christian Fiction!
What hidden talents do you have?
JJW: I don’t know that it’s hidden (or that it’s a talent), but I shoot bow and love to bow hunt.
Rachel: Maybe not hidden, but definitely a talent! I haven't shot a bow in YEARS! I don't remmeber being any good at it though.
What books have had a significant impact on your life?
JJW: NANCY DREW! All of them. I devoured every hard copy of Nancy Drew from my library and when the library sold them years later when I was in my late twenties, I bought them all!
Rachel: YEEEEES!!!! I Have read several. Love them all!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
JJW: Probably that I usually only write in 15 min segments at a time for the most part. Rarely, do I sit down for hours and compose. Sometimes I write on my phone.
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Rachel: OH! That is interesting!
What writing advice do you have for pre-published authors?
JJW: Probably that, while studying craft is important, nothing beats writing. Just write. Write because you love it, learn as you can, and never lose that joy of just telling a story.
Rachel: I love, love, LOVE this!!! So good!
Before we go can you tell us about your current WIP?
JJW: My current work is finishing edits on The Curse of Misty Wayfair, which is coming out in early 2019. It’s set in the north woods of Wisconsin, there’s an old asylum, some misguided heroines, and even a one-eyed dog and a stray cat. :)
Rachel: AHHHHH! I haven't even read TRAGP yet and I am already drooling over this next one. Hehe!
Thank you so much for joining us today Jaime, I can not wait to get my hands on your book!
JJW: I am so glad to have spent the time with you here!! Thank you for having me and for your excitement over my stories. I pray they’ll bless you and that you’ll always know, (in the words of Matthew West) Grace Wins!
About the Book
For over a century, the town of Gossamer Grove has thrived on its charm and Midwestern values, but Annalise Forsythe knows painful secrets, including her own, hover just beneath the pleasant facade. When a man is found dead in his run-down trailer home, Annalise inherits the trailer, along with the pictures, vintage obituaries, and old revival posters covering its walls. As she sorts through the collection, she's wholly unprepared for the ramifications of the dark and deadly secrets she'll uncover.
A century earlier, Gossamer Grove has been stirred into chaos by the arrival of controversial and charismatic twin revivalists. The chaos takes a murderous turn when Libby Sheffield, working at her father's newspaper, receives an obituary for a reputable church deacon hours before his death. As she works with the deacon's son to unravel the mystery behind the crime, it becomes undeniably clear that a reckoning has come to town—but it isn't until another obituary arrives that they realize the true depths of the danger they've waded into.
Two women, separated by a hundred years, must uncover the secrets within the borders of their own town before it's too late and they lose their future—or their very souls.
About the Author
Professional coffee drinker & ECPA/Publisher's Weekly best-selling author, Jaime Jo Wright resides in the hills of Wisconsin writing spirited romantic suspense stained with the shadows of history. Coffee fuels her snarky personality. She lives in Neverland with her Cap’n Hook who stole her heart and will not give it back, their little fairy Tinkerbell, and a very mischievous Peter Pan. The foursome embark on scores of adventure that only make her fall more wildly in love with romance and intrigue. Jaime lives in dreamland, exists in reality, and invites you to join her adventures at jaimejowright.com
