Jaime Jo Wright Interview

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

A:  Coffee. It’s a singular answer, but it says so much, doesn’t it? I love coffee. LOL Aside from that, I am a mom of two little rapscallions who keep me so in love every day it’s perhaps a tad obsessive. I also hold down a day job as a Director of Sales & Employee Development for a cell phone company. Sometimes it’s a bit hard to keep my life segmented, but that’s where the coffee comes in. Outside of writing and family, I enjoy bow hunting (my sisters call me “Katniss”). I also love to curl up in comfy chairs, with blankets, coffee, and a candle to read. Reading is my go-to form of relaxation for sure!

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

A:  OOOOOO! I realized this when I was 13 years old. In fact, I told my Dad I wanted to be like my all-time book-author-idol-of-sorts, Tracie Peterson. Of course, as time has progressed, I’ve mashed my insatiable love of historical romance with contemporary suspense, but I’ll always hearken back to the days when I flip-flopped between Tracie’s amazing novels and Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew novels. I was a young, wannabe writer, that’s for sure.

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

A:  Lots of writing. Really, that’s honestly a piece that’s overlooked. I wanted to be a writer at 13 and my first published work didn’t happen until I was 39. That’s a long time to practice, but it was worth it. My first writing break came from my editor at Barbour Publishing, Becky Germany, who was gracious enough to take a chance on a little-known writer. My novella appeared in “The Cowboy’s Bride Romance Collection” in March of 2016. My huge writing break with Bethany House Publishers was several years in the making after, (get this!), my editor found me on Twitter and sent me an email asking if she could read my stuff. Four books later, we finally met over coffee with the good news that I was to become a Bethany House author.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release The House On Foster Hill?

A: The best way I can describe it, is by hearkening that old cliché: if walls could talk. I always feel as if old houses, antiques, vintage clothes, all hold stories that if released, we’d be astounded by. So “The House On Foster Hill” is truly the story of an old house and the secrets it harbors, discovered by the reader as they visit Ivy, my heroine of 1906, and Kaine, my present day heroine. The story unfolds in both time periods and the mysterious story surrounding Foster Hill House tells a tale of trial, fear, but also an eternal hope.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for The House On Foster Hill?

A: Well, honestly, my mentor and dear friend, Colleen Coble suggested I try writing a split-time story. This meaning, not time travel, but merely two stories told in different time periods that tie together across the century. One of my favorite classic novels is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The House Of Seven Gables, and so I hearkened the darkness in his novel as I wrote the story of Foster Hill House. But, I also am inspired by strong women, and women who fight through abuse, grief, and even the turmoil of just being alone. So, I wanted to write Ivy and Kaine as women with struggles but with spirits that have strength within themselves and fueled by faith. The romance angles are always fun to play with, and while both of my heroines tend to save themselves when they’re in trouble, it doesn’t mean they don’t need that soul-mate to compliment their personalities and walk beside them in their trials.

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

A: Eternal hope. And, emphasis on “eternal”. I think all too often in this world, we look for hope. Maybe I’m jaded, but my reaction is usually “good luck with that”. I’ve found that grounding faith in Christ that comes from He who is not of this world. A Savior, a Home, a place of belonging and fulfillment that breeds itself inside our souls and creates a longing for that which isn’t of earth. So, I pray while my faith threads are subtle, the readers come through seeing that eternal hope in what lies far beyond this broken world, and is found in the only Hero I’ll ever need.

Q: What inspires you to write?

A:  My imagination. It never stops. I honestly do not have a “mission” behind my writing beyond the fact I can’t not write. It’s not easy. It’s a decision to write, not just a calling. Good story is what inspires me to write.

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

A:  I’m working on edits for Book 2 and also the first draft of Book 3 with Bethany House Publishers. They’re both standalone novels, but still in the romantic suspense and split-time vein of “The House On Foster Hill”.

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

A: I love to bow hunt (call me Katniss) and I love to hang out with my family, usually with a book while they do crazy stuff like jump off cliffs and hang from trees. I’m an attentive parent 😉