Local best-selling author and rural romance specialist Jennie Jones has just released her latest novel, The House on Jindalee Lane, and it is sure to be a hit with old and new fans alike.
Jennie had a keen interest in love stories from a young age, enjoying films such as The Sound of Music and listening to the soundtracks of her favourite Disney musicals. She says about romance “I was always drawn to it, but I think it was more the drama of the romance, how they get to that point and the trauma and trails they had to go through.”
With a successful acting background in the UK, Jennie left the profession when she moved to Australia and was raising her young child. Still seeking a creative outlet (and with a now teenage daughter not so reliant on mum!), she re-visited a historical western love story she had written years earlier and was enthralled with the idea of writing again.
“I wrote about 4 or 5 books straight away, just getting it all down on paper, and then realised I actually needed to learn how to do this properly, that there is some crafting involved in writing fiction.
One of the best things I did was join the Romance Writers of Australia, a fantastic group of aspiring and established authors, and that was where I met my tribe. I did a lot of online courses from the US and here in Australia and really put my heart and soul into, and I loved it. I absolutely loved it.”
Jennie is a self-described ‘seat of your pants’ writer and finds the process both energising and exhausting. “While I am in that zone and writing, I can really feel a bubbling energy. When that syncs mentally, and your fingertips are flying over the keys, that is the most magic moment for any writer. On the other hand, I can be in that zone for 4, maybe 5, hours and you come out the end of it and you are exhausted.”
With a best-selling rural romance anthology already established and her next book written and set for release next year, Jennie’s passion for the romantic combined with her dedication to learning the technical aspects of her profession has her on the right path.
“I think the more books you write, you realise that this is a constant road, that learning is a constant road and if you stop and think ‘oh, I’m there now’ then you are going to trip up. Every single book is different.”
Jennie will be signing copies of The House on Jindalee Lane at Dymocks Ellenbrook on Saturday 9 September from 11am.
