Jenna Night Interview

Q: Let me start with asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself.

A: I was born on the east coast, moved to California as a child, have bounced back and forth across the country and now live in the Inland Northwest. I taught high school Social Studies for a few years, taught basic educational skills in a prison, and taught conversational English in Japan. I was a volunteer firefighter. I’m a crazy cat lady. I like to do crossword puzzles although I’m not very good at them. I brazenly look at the answers in the back when I get stuck.

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

A: After I read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton in junior high school and found out she’d written it while she was a teenager. I realized you didn’t need anyone’s permission to be a writer, you just needed to start writing. So I did. Several years passed before I completed entire novels, but that’s how it started.

Q: Could you give us the highlights of your professional writing career including how you got your first writing break?

A: For a very long time the highlights of my writing career consisted only of the slightly more personalized and more encouraging rejection letters that starting coming my way. My first writing break came through Love Inspired Suspense’s Killer Voices contest.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release LAST STAND RANCH?

A: Working at a battered women’s shelter in Las Vegas, Olivia Dillon has managed to make a mob attorney very angry with her. She drives to her great-aunt’s ranch to hide, but she’s followed. Neighboring rancher and combat veteran Elijah Morales is willing to help fight bad guys, but he doesn’t get personally involved with anyone. Well, not until he meets Olivia.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for LAST STAND RANCH?

A: There are so many stories around about people who appear to be nice but actually aren’t. I started thinking about people who are the opposite. People who hide a kind and generous heart behind a rough demeanor. I asked myself what kind of life experiences would cause someone to be that way. Pretty soon rancher Elijah Morales showed up in my imagination and I had my story.

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?

A: We all make mistakes, have regrets, and feel sorrow. Accepting God’s grace and moving forward with your life does not mean you’ve forgotten those things. It means you can use those hard-earned lessons to improve someone else’s life and perhaps have a little more compassion than you might have had before.

Q: What is your favorite scene/chapter from the book?

A: The story opens with the heroine driving across an isolated stretch of high desert and she’s stalked and harassed by another driver. I like it because it freaks me out a little every time I read it. Probably because I’ve driven across country several times and each time my overactive imagination has made me a little nervous.

Q: What inspires you to write?

A: Writing offers me a creative way to ponder questions that are important to me. Plus I get all the time I need to think of a witty response to a character’s comment, which never happens in real life. And it’s fun.

Q: How has being a published novelist differed from your expectations of the profession?

A: My fellow authors, my editor and my agent have been more supportive than I could have imagined. On the challenging side, being published means there are more demands on my writing time.

Q: What advice or tips do you have for writers who are just getting started?

A: Putting in the time to make friends with other writers is one of the best investments you can make. If you’re like most writers, it can be a long haul getting published. Friends who understand what you’re going through, who can encourage you as you encourage them, are worth their weight in gold. If you can’t make it to actual meetings, search out online groups.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?

A: Another Love Inspired Suspense. This one also has a western setting. My heroine is at work having a perfectly normal day. And then her world changes in an instant.

Q: When you’re not writing what do you like to do?

A: I like to read, to play with my cat, catch up with my friends, or go for a walk and enjoy the natural beauty where I live.

Q: Where can readers find you on the internet?

A: You can find me at my website, www. JennaNight .com. My Twitter handle is @Night_Jenna. I also have an author page on Facebook.

Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us?

A: I’d just like to say thank you. And I’d like to encourage any aspiring authors to keep writing.