Online  I metJennifer (Jen) Dodrill. One of the reasons I wanted to become her friend isthat she earned a graduate degree at the University of Southern Mississippi,which is the college I attended and earned my Bachelor of Arts.

 

Since then,I have discovered that Jennifer has a way with words, a zest for living, and akind heart. She graciously agreed to tell us about herself.

(I forgot to ask her if she likes collard greens.)

1. Tell meabout yourself.  

My dad wasin the Navy until I was two. We lived in Virginia and moved to Gulf Breeze, FLwhen I started 6th grade. I went to college in Pensacola,earning a bachelor's degree in Speech Communication. It was a mistake! Ithought I'd be helping kids who had speech problems. Lesson learned!

Aftercollege, I moved to Nashville and met my husband who was going into the Navy.We got engaged two months later and married five months after that! We didn'tmove a lot, but he was on sea duty for over 14 years and served a total ofalmost 23 years. We have 5 kids, all grown, plus 2 granddaughters and our firstgrandson is due in November. Eddie and I have been married almost 38 years andhe is my best friend.

Ihomeschooled my youngest 3 kids and also blogged about homeschooling, wrotemagazine articles and guest blog posts. I even spoke at a number of onlinehomeschool conferences. I know that all of these experiences have beenhelpful as I've turned to writing.

It's thehard times that have increased my faith in God. I learned to rely on Him andallow Him to be my rock when I found out a family member was an addict. Thentwo years ago, my dad had terminal cancer. His wife decided she couldn't livewithout him and took her life. Unimaginable pain for all of us. I had theprivilege of staying with Dad until he died. Life isn't easy, and these arejust a few things I've dealt with, but God is faithful.

 

2. Tell me what you havewritten. 

I just signed a 3-bookseries contract with Scrivenings Press for my cozy mystery series - The EmptyNesters Cozy Mystery! Book #1, Birds Alive!, is due out late Feb 2024. I'mworking on book 2 now and just got back from seeing my mom in Pensacola and doingsome research for this book out at Fort Pickens. 

I've also written acontemporary fiction novel that deals with addiction in the family. I'm stilllooking for a publisher for it. This novel is something I think will offer hopeand joy to others who live with addiction in the family. It's fiction but ishonest about the toll addiction takes on everyone involved.

I have another contemporaryfiction novel in the works, and so many other ideas just waiting to be written!

3. Tell me about yourwriting habits.

This made me chuckle. Idon't work so I get to write whenever I want! I do my best in the morning withcoffee and my black cat, Tom, by my side. I will confess that I can do allkinds of things other than write. I even recently started a coffee mug shop onRedbubble - JDMugs!

I use Save the Cat BeatSheets to plan my books, but I'm more of a pantser than an actual plotter. TheBeat Sheets help me stay on track.

When I stayed with my dad Icame up with the idea for my cozy series. Dad and his wife were big birders andI'm an empty nester. So, my series is about an empty nester who starts abirding group to meet people and then she starts finding dead people! 

 

4. Share your goals

My goals for my writing - Iwant to inspire, encourage, and offer hope to people. I am a Christian andthere is a thread of my faith in my books. I also love to make people laugh sothere is always humor, even in the serious novel. I think my readers will bewomen 40s and up. Women who want to read about real life, sometimes the hardstuff, and find a way to walk in joy.

5. Mention some books youlike to read.

I read for escape, and Iread a lot. I'm stuck on psychological thrillers/suspense at the moment, but Ialso read cozies, mysteries, and historical fiction.

I use The Emotion Thesaurusalmost daily. I also have read On Writing by Stephen King, Save the Cat Writesa Novel, Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell, and The Dance of Character& Plot by DiAnnMills. I have more books on my shelf in my study that I willuse as needed.

The first thing I did whenI got serious about writing was attend writing conferences. In 2022 I went tothe Asheville Christian Writing Conference and met Larry Leech. He wasincredibly encouraging and answered so many of my questions. I also went to theScrivenings Press Writers Retreat that year and to the Florida ChristianWriting Conference. I'm active in 2 critique groups - one with ACFW and onewith Word Weavers. I still have so much to learn!

 6. Talk alittle about your platform.

I startedusing social media when I blogged about homeschooling, so I understood howimportant that is for a writer. Now I blog at Jen DodrillWrites and I'm actively working on building my newsletter email list! Because - publisherswant writers to have social media and a newsletter! Plus, I like to talk/writeso I get to share in many areas. 

You can also find meon Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (X),and Pinterest!

Jennifer and Her Daughter