Giveaway and Author Interview: Save the Date

     Welcome to Writing for Christ, Jenny B. Jones, it is great to have you here! Do you have an interesting fact about yourself the average reader probably doesn’t know?

      No, but I really need to make something good up to have on hand when I get this question. Let me see...I'm crazy addicted to movie previews. It's a little bit OCD. If I don't get to the movie in time to see them (from a very good seat), I don't want to stay.

      What surprised you the most about being a published author?

      How much I have to sit. I've always known two things: I want to be a writer. I do not want a desk job. I'm not sure how I thought those two things weren't one and the same. It's also been surprising

      Do you have a favorite genre to read/write?

      My favorite genre to read is actually historical romance, but I read almost everything. I love YA, love contemporary romance, love nonfiction.  My favorite genres to write are YA and women's romance. I like them because, for me, they do not include vampires, werewolves, or zombies. Yet.

      When you aren’t writing or interacting with fans, what do you enjoy doing? 

       I love going to plays, love to travel. This summer I went to Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia for vacation and research. I definitely loved my writing job then. I teach part-time in Arkansas and enjoy wiling away the hours writing detention slips and shooting the stink eye while leaving no child behind. I am constantly painting the interior of my house. Then repainting it. It's kind of a sickness. Love spending time with my family and just hanging out without deadlines and papers to grade.

      Do you have a nugget of writing advice that has completely changed how you view writing?

      A few things.  On the philosophical side, Agent Chip MacGregor has been quoted more than once as saying, "Getting published will not validate you."  It's so true. If you're looking for writing to complete you on any level, even if it's just to look cooler at your high school reunion, forget it. It's a hard business, and it's not going to make you bigger, faster, stronger. If you're not happy with your life now or who you are now, having a book with your name on it will not fix that for you.

      On the practical side,  super author Colleen Coble once mentioned that listening to Michael Hague's The Hero's Two Journey's was the most important thing she'd learned about writing. It really is good. If you're a writer, make the investment for the CD.

      What do you enjoy most about being a published author?

      I love a lot of things about it. I really enjoy reader feedback about the books--hearing how a book impacted a reader, that it made them laugh, think, cry, challenged their expectations of Christian fiction, or just let them get away from life for a while.  I also love that through social media, a must for any writer, I've made so many friends. Readers are some awesome folk, and I so appreciate them.

      What do you like readers to take away from your books?

      Receipts from the store where they purchased their copy and the 10 they bought all their friends? Just kidding. 

By the time a reader shuts the book, I want her to feel lighter, entertained, and encouraged. I want the read to have been a good time investment that lifted her up and made her smile and forget about the stresses of life for a while.  To maybe have caught a whisper from God and feel like he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug. And maybe a reason to smile and giggle.

      Places for readers to learn more about you:

      I blog at www.jennybjones.com as well as www.southernbelleview.blogspot.com, a new blog about the life of a Southern girl. I share that blog home with authors Lisa Wingate, Rachel Hauck, Beth Webb Hart, and Marybeth Whalen.

      I’m on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jenny.b.jones

      And I pretty much live on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jenbjones

      Thank you for being with us today!

      Thank you so much for letting me stop by.

Okay readers, here is your chance to enter to win Jenny's latest book, Save the Date.

Please leave an email address. If I draw your name and there is no email, you will not win!

For extra entries:
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And an EXTRA one:
~Read and then rate this review (you will never leave my blog). Please return here to leave a comment telling me you have done so. Thanks!

Contest is only open in the U.S. and void where prohibited. Chances of winning are based on the number of entries and winner is draw from a non-biased third party- Random.org. I am not responsible for any lost or damaged items for said prize.

Thanks for coming by to enter! Contest ends on February 18th.

*** CONTEST NOW CLOSED***