It is with the greatest pleasure that I am featuring my friend and fellow author, Janet K. Brown, on this post. She is taking off like a rocket in the writing world with her devotional, Divine Dining, as well as her young adult series.
We met at the Red River Romance Writers of America group meeting in Wichita Falls, Texas early in 2009. It was a great group and full of talent. However, Janet made a positive impression on me the moment she welcomed me when I arrived that first day. I was a newcomer--not just to the group but to the region. Unfortunately, as a small group, the RRRW did not survive. We may no longer have regular meetings but the support for each other remains always available.
Janet has provided me with her story in her words. Let me share . . .
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My writing journey began when I was a young mom of three. I wrote short stories and even published a few. When my girls got to be teenagers, I wrote my first novel. I submitted it, got it rejected, and promptly gave up.
Emotional upheavals plagued me all my adult life. I gained and lost weight every year and kept several sized clothes in my closet for my ups and downs, mostly ups. Depression drove me to deeper depths at the same time my job as medical coder and bookkeeper became more stressful and turned into longer hours. Writing came to a stop except for personal journals.
During a Christian weight loss class at my church, I drew closer to God. He healed me emotionally, and the weight started to drop. I retired in October, 2005 to give more time to grandchildren and writing.
I joined Romance Writers of America (RWA) and American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), studied the writing craft, and began to write and submit. I wrote romance and women’s fiction. When I received a rejection, instead of working more on that manuscript, I started a brand new one. At the same time, I submitted short stories again and got a few of them published. One of the teen short stories I wrote featured a ghost legend at a registered Texas ghost town near my home. The publisher of the magazine where I submitted it asked if I’d ever considered making that story chapter one of a novel. I hadn’t, but I did. So, I wrote my first YA.
A few years ago while I was busy submitting, studying, getting rejected, and starting another manuscript, God woke me in the middle of the night with devotions running through my head. The focus was on emotional healing and weight loss. I wrote fourteen devotions before I could go back to sleep. I continued to write devotions sometimes one a week, sometimes one a day for four years. I considered the devotions therapy for me while I WROTE fiction.
In 2011, a small press out of Oklahoma, 4RV Publishing, offered me a contract not on my romance or women’s fiction but on my one and only YA. I danced, I sang, I didn’t come down to earth for months. In 2012, my debut novel, an inspirational, paranormal YA, Victoria and the Ghost was released. Before its release, God hit me upside the head and told me I hadn’t written 300 devotions just as my therapy, but to minister to others with a similar problem.
After three rejections on my weight loss class curriculum based on the devotions I’d written, I pitched a 365 day by day devotion book for overeaters to another small press out of Arkansas that was starting their company with inspirational, self-help books. That was Pen-L Publishing. They offered me a contract and had the book out by December, 2012. This book is titled Divine Dining: 365 Devotions to Guide You to Healthier Weight and Abundant Wellness. This was truly the book of my heart coming straight from my personal journals, critical failures, and testimonies of God’s goodness.
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: For the month of September, Pen-L is offering a devotion a day from Divine Dining for #FREE. If you like what you read, you may purchase the full 365 devotion book right on the site, but there’s no obligation. All you have to do to receive your #FREE devotions for a month is click on this link:https://www.smashwords.com/
My writing journey marches on.
In 2013, I signed another contract with 4RV Publishing for the sequel to Victoria and the Ghost. (Got to stick with what works, YA and ghosts). The working title of it is A Ghost for Shelley that should be released soon.
In early 2014, I signed a contract with Pen-L to publish (finally) a women’s fiction. We titled it Worth Her Weight. This book releases in November, 2014. Here’s the elevator pitch:
Lacey’s addicted to overeating.
Toby’s a controller.
Mom’s anger seeks to destroy everything in its path.
Each must let go before God can heal.
I stay active in ACFW, Faith, Hope and Love (FHL) the inspirational chapter of RWA, and Oklahoma Writers Federated International (OWFI). I take online courses, go to workshops and conferences as finances allow, contract to write short stories, and promote my books with the help of a host of wonderful new friends I’ve made through my writing. One of those new friends is Winona Cross.
Please feel free to connect with and/or follow me at the following links....
Twitter: @JanetKBrownTX
Website: http://www.JanetKBrown.com/
Victoria and the Ghost: Available at http://www.4RVpublishingcatalog.com/Janet-Brown.php
Divine Dining: 365 Devotions to Guide You to Healthier Weight and Abundant Wellness. Available at www.pen-l.com/DivineDining.html
