Interview with Jennifer AlLee

» Posted on Feb 11, 2010 in Blog | Comments Off on Interview with Jennifer AlLee


This week I’m hosting Merrillee Whren with Hometown Promise and Jennifer AlLee with The Pastor’s Wife. If you want to enter the drawing for the books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (Feb. 14th) evening.

Interview of Jennifer AlLee:

1. What made you start writing?
I was a voracious reader as a child, so writing was a natural extension of that. I love creating people and places and seeing what happens.

2. How long have you been writing? When did you sell your first book?
I finished writing my first book in high school and another shortly after that. Neither one of them was good enough for publication, but they were great learning experiences. My first published book, The Love of His Brother, was my third completed manuscript.

3. How do you handle rejections?
I used to handle them with chocolate, but I’m trying to change my ways. Rejections hurt, no matter what stage of the writing journey you’re in. For me, I have to acknowledge the hurt, let myself grieve a little, then jump back into my work. It’s either that or stop writing altogether… and that’s not an option.

4. Why do you write?
I’m motivated by a desire to create something that will entertain people, but hopefully make them think, too. In the movie “You’ve Got Mail” Meg Ryan (as Kathleen) says “When you read a book as a child it becomes part of you in a way no other book ever does.” That’s so true. The books I remember most are the ones I read up through high school. Series like Nancy Drew, Little House on the Prairie, The Black Stallion, and the Chronicles of Narnia inspired me to create worlds and characters of my own. My greatest hope is that one day, a woman will mention one of my books to a friend who will answer, “Oh, I loved that book.” I don’t need much more than that.

5. What would you be doing with your free time if you weren’t writing?
I’d probably be acting. Over the years, I’ve been active in community and church theatre groups. I love everything about the process of bringing a live production to life. I hope to get back into it one day, even as I continue to write.

6. What are you working on right now?
My latest novel is paranormal women’s fiction so it’s a little different from what I’ve written in the past. It’s not contracted yet, but I’m working on that. And I’ve got several other projects in various stages of completion, including a historical I’m co-writing with a friend.

7. Do you put yourself into your books/characters?
Not much. A little detail might creep in here or there. In The Pastor’s Wife, Maura has a love of theatre, which I share. But other than that, she’s her own person.

8. Tell us about the book you have out right now.
Here’s the blurb: Maura Sullivan thought she knew what she was getting into when she married soon-to-be pastor Nick Shepherd. But when she realized the ‘other woman’ in her marriage was her husband’s congregation, she ran. Six years later, she finds herself back in the small community of Granger, Ohio for the reading of a will that names both her and Nick as beneficiaries. Now Maura must face the husband –and the congregation – she left behind.

9. Do you have any advice for other writers?
In this business, it’s very easy to look at the success of others and measure yourself against it. You just can’t do that. Your journey is unique to you. God’s plan for you is unlike anyone else’s. Share in the joy when others succeed and continue down your own path. It’s a lesson I’ve had to learn and relearn over the years!

10. How important is faith in your books?
It’s very important. It’s the reason I write for the Christian market. But I think it’s important to make the faith element an unobtrusive part of the story. By that I mean that faith (or lack thereof) is a part of each character’s makeup, like hair color, sense of humor, life experiences, etc. In my own life, I believe the best way to share my faith is to live it. That’s what I try to let my characters do: live their faith and/or their struggle with faith, as its appropriate for the particular story.

11. What themes do you like to write about?
I find themes of forgiveness and redemption are always popping up in my books. Once you get the concept of redemption, of being a new creature in Christ, then the promise of forgiveness is much easier to accept.

12. What is your favorite book you’ve written and why?
My favorite book is the paranormal women’s fiction that’s not published yet, Vinnie’s Diner. It’s special to me because there’s more of me in this heroine than in any other. Although our experiences are much different, I can totally relate to her. And I love the weirdness of it. God willing, I’ll be doing a blog tour for that book next!

13. What is your writing schedule like?
My sixteen-year-old is in a dual credit high school/college program, so every day of the school week has a different schedule. In between driving him around, I try to write at least 1000 words a day. Notice I said try. I’m finding that marketing is eating up great chunks of my day. One of my goals going forward is to be more organized with my time.

Thanks for letting me spend time with you and your readers, Margaret! I’d love to hear from you, too. Here are some of the places you can catch up with me in cyberspace:
website – http://www.jenniferallee.com/
personal blog – http://jenniferallee.blogspot.com/
group blog – http://inkwellinspirations.blogspot.com/
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/jennifer.allee
Twitter – http://twitter.com/jallee