Please welcome author Janet K. Brown as she tells us how she started to write series books.
Fellow author, Peg Phifer, asked me how I came to write
series.
I thought about that. I didn’t remember making a decision to
write a series, yet here I am on the road with two separate series. Perhaps,
series latch onto me.
My debut novel was a young adult, published by 4$V
Publishing in 2012.
****At fifteen,
Victoria, a city girl, loses her mother’s love and copes with country
isolation, no friends and no one who cares, until she meets a ghost.
I loved the idea of the reverse problem, Victoria ’s country nemesis moves to the
city. Problems arose on its publication. We’re hoping now for a December, 2016
release.
My first women’s fiction, Worth Her Weight, released December, 2014. This was the book of my
heart, bringing forth many feelings and experiences that I lived through in
previous years as a hopeless, empty-feeling food addict.
****How can a woman
who gives to everyone but herself accept God’s love and healing when she
believes she’s fat, unworthy, and unfixable? Can she be Worth Her Weight?
I’ll admit that when I reached the end of Worth Her Weight, I had fallen in love
with many of the citizens of Wharton Rock, TX. I began to write a second story
situated in that town. Lacey, the protagonist of Worth Her Weight, envied her best friend’s marriage and two
children, while Lacey couldn’t even keep a boyfriend.
I wrote the best friend’s story. Though even Lacey knew that
Joanne’s marriage was strained, who knew that the problem was a pornography
addiction? I researched and I wrote. I submitted it to an agent for critique
and learned it needed a total rewrite. Then, true to my nature, I laid it aside
and began a totally new story.
When I received my first contract in 2011, I had completed
ten unpublished novels. Like I said, true to my nature.
After the success of my only non-fiction, so far, Divine Dining: 365 Devotions to Guide You to
Healthier Weight and Abundant Wellness, I decided to edit Worth Her Weight and submit it to Pen-L
Publishing, the publisher who bought the non-fiction. I began a new novel, but
Kimberly Pennell of Pen-L Publishing asked if I’d considered the women’s
fiction being a series. I told her, “Yes, I did.” Duke and Kimberly Pennell encouraged
me to finish a second book. That was the start of the Wharton Rock series.
Funny thing, instead of rewriting Joanne’s story, I
discovered that Lacey’s sister, Katie, had a story to tell. This book released
on Sept. 1, 2016. It’s titled Worth
Forgiving.
****Prejudice and
mistrust hinders an ex-con, drug addict’s new beginning. Could it be that Katie
is not Worth Forgiving?
This comment from a fan after starting to read Worth Forgiving gives the real reason
for the popularity of series.
Started
reading Worth Forgiving last night. It's like catching up with friends you
haven't visited with for awhile. Thanks Janet!!!! ~ Brenda Reitsma, reader
So, Peg, thanks for asking. Brenda’s comment is my “why.” I
wish to revisit old friends. Funny thing, that happens in real life, too, and
my characters are real life to me.
♦ ♦ ♦
Worth Forgiving
Second in the Wharton
Rock Series
Prejudice and mistrust hinders an ex-con, drug addict’s new
beginning.
The state of Texas
releases from prison Katie Smith.
Full of optimism, she sets out to get a job, rent her own place, and make a home
for her eight-year-old daughter, but Katie gave away her daughter three years
ago. She could use a friend, but her past choices threaten to doom her to
continued failure.
Larry Pullman graduated
from seminary with high marks, but the fact that he has no wife makes finding a
preaching job almost impossible. It doesn’t help that running from God as a
teenager gave him a past that he can’t undo. All he needs is an ex-con, drug
addict messing up his life, but then why did God lead him to her? Or did He?
Isn’t it enough that Lacey
Chandler gave her sister’s daughter a home? Does that mean she has to clean
up Katie’s messes forever?
Could it be that Katie is not Worth Forgiving?
Purchase now at:
“An engaging emotional
novel depicting the redemptive power and love of God . . . filled with emotion
and drama that will engage you from start to finish. The book depicts the
struggles—both internal and external—that Katie Smith faces based on a rocky
past that ended up in a prison sentence. It's more than a novel however. This
Christian-based work is filled with life's realities and decisions that are
made every day. With plenty of twists and turns it brings the reader to the
conclusion that no one is beyond the grasp of God's saving hand . . . [it]
shares a theme we all face sometime in our own lives—will we forgive others and
even ourselves?
“The reader will be
headlong thrown in the internal struggle to find peace, clarity . . . and true
love. I give it a five-star rating without hesitation.” –
Valerie Caraotta, book reviewer
“Janet K. Brown touches hearts and lives of those with
addictive personalities. Exposing the core of problems in her characters, she
leads her reader to do their own soul-searching, offering encouragement as her
characters find their way through trials and personal crises. I highly
recommend Brown's WORTH FORGIVING.” – Bonne Lanthripe, playwright, award winning actress, and author
of The Ringleader
♦ ♦ ♦
Janet K. Brown lives in Wichita Falls , Texas
Worth
Forgiving, an inspirational women’s fiction, is the second in her Wharton Rock series. Her only non-fiction is Divine
Dining: 365 Devotions to Guide You
to Healthier Weight and Abundant
Wellness.
Worth Forgiving marks
Brown’s fourth book. Who knew she had a penchant for teens and ghosts? She released
her debut novel, an inspirational young adult, Victoria and the Ghost, in July, 2012.
Janet and her
husband love to travel with their RV, work in their church, and visit their
three daughters, two sons-in-law and three perfect grandchildren.
Janet teaches
workshops on writing, weight loss, and the historical settings of her teen
books. The author uses her platform of recovering compulsive overeater to weave
stories of hope for addiction, compulsion, or impossible situations.
Find her at http:/ /www.janetkbrown.com
on Twitter at https://twitter.com/janetkbrowntx
E-mail: Janet.hope@att.net
I'm honored that you welcomed me today, Peg. God bless.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed having you visit today, Janet. As it happens, I, too, ame writing series books, as well as a series of novelettes. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Series do get in our blood.
ReplyDelete