Let's get to know Jen Dodrill. Her Empty Nesters Cozy Mystery! Book #1 will hit the market early in 2024. I'm excited for her!

 Online  I met Jennifer (Jen) Dodrill. One of the reasons I wanted to become her friend is that 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 a kind heart. She graciously agreed to tell us about herself.

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

1. Tell me about yourself.  

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

After college, 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't move a lot, but he was on sea duty for over 14 years and served a total of almost 23 years. We have 5 kids, all grown, plus 2 granddaughters and our first grandson is due in November. Eddie and I have been married almost 38 years and he is my best friend.

I homeschooled my youngest 3 kids and also blogged about homeschooling, wrote magazine articles and guest blog posts. I even spoke at a number of online homeschool conferences. I know that all of these experiences have been helpful as I've turned to writing.

It's the hard times that have increased my faith in God. I learned to rely on Him and allow Him to be my rock when I found out a family member was an addict. Then two years ago, my dad had terminal cancer. His wife decided she couldn't live without him and took her life. Unimaginable pain for all of us. I had the privilege of staying with Dad until he died. Life isn't easy, and these are just a few things I've dealt with, but God is faithful.

 2. Tell me what you have written. 

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

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

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

3. Tell me about your writing habits.

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

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

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

 4. Share your goals

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

5. Mention some books you like to read.

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

I use The Emotion Thesaurus almost daily. I also have read On Writing by Stephen King, Save the Cat Writes a 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 will use as needed.

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

 6. Talk a little about your platform.

I started using social media when I blogged about homeschooling, so I understood how important that is for a writer. Now I blog at Jen Dodrill Writes and I'm actively working on building my newsletter email list! Because - publishers want writers to have social media and a newsletter! Plus, I like to talk/write so I get to share in many areas. 

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

Jennifer and Her Daughter 

Living Close to the Earth. Do you ever wish you had lived in the nineteenth century?

 

All Her Dreams of Love Does your mind ever wish you'd lived in a simpler time? Life is never easy. Each day has its complicatons. Let me show you some glimpses of yesteryear, of life in the Deep South in the 1880s. Talking about problems... Nancy and six-year-old Tommy sat on the porch and looked into the forest. Papa worked at a sawmill a few miles away. With money in his pocket, he walked home every Friday night, but one week he didn’t come home on time. They stared down the road with a dwindling hope he’d show up. “I heard a gunshot," Tommy said. Nancy laughed. “It was probably B. K. shooting hawks trying to steal his chickens.” “No, ma’am.” Tommy pointed to the left. “The Barneses live that way, but the shot came from the other direction.” Tommy’s words sent a chill through her body. Nancy's Cotton Field Time passed. Nancy waited, but Amos didn’t come home. The cotton blossoms changed to green bolls, and then the fluffy white cotton needed waited to be harvested. Nancy was pregnant. How would she manage?  "When you get your sack full, bring it to me. I’ll weigh it and record how much you’ve picked. Then we’ll empty it into the cotton crib. I’m gonna keep it locked up the rest of the time.” High Bank of Cohay Creek Nancy dreamed she and Amos stood on a bluff overlooking Cohay Creek. He held her tenderly. The White Sandy Banks of the Cohay Nancy stirred in the sand. Log Cabin Freed slaves lived nearby.  “It ain’t safe for us here no more. After them four Klansmen get out of jail, they’ll come for us. Maybe burn down our cabin. Or some more of ’em’ll come after us.” The Washpot Nancy built fires under the pot and filled it with water to wash her family's clothes. It also served as a cooking pot, where cubes of pigs' fat boiled to make lard. “How’s the lard rendering?” “Good. We’ll have some cracklings to share with the children soon.” Black Panther Resting on a Limb The sound of the panther's scream reminded her that Amos could have encountered danger That was then, but even today the cry of a panther sens its chilling cry through the neighborhoods along Cohay Creek.

A Review of All Her Dreams of Love... Led by a delightfully inspiring heroine, All Her Dreams of Love by Mary Lou Cheatham is a historical romance set in Mississippi after the end of the Civil War. As the sun sets, Nancy and her son wait on the porch for Amos, who always comes home from the lumber mill on weekends. When the night passes and he fails to show up, Nancy prays for his safety. Soon after, she sets out to look for him with Tommy but the roads are fraught with danger. Days pass without any sign of him and Nancy is forced to make difficult decisions. She has another child on the way and must decide what to do with the farm and animals. Nancy soon learns that she is not alone as she tries to sustain her young family without Amos. Exploring positive themes encompassing faith, family, community, and finding love after loss, the novel is a wonderful read with uplifting messages. I found its post-Civil War setting atmospheric and Nancy's strength and hope encouraging. I enjoyed the story's exciting twists and its multidimensional characters whose lives were intriguing. The author does a brilliant job of describing the harsh realities that many families faced after the end of the war and the challenges that people encountered during that era. There were many happy moments in the story and captivating conversations that were engaging. A moving tale told through unforgettable characters, All Her All Her Dreams of Love by Mary Lou Cheatham will be an excellent red for fans of historical romances. -- Edith Wairimu, Readers' Favorites

Reorganizing the Garden

Have you planted your fall collards yet?  

In west Texas where we live, it's time -- maybe past time --  to start growing collard plants from seeds. Then I'll transfer these to the garden.  

Here's a helpful site to guide us through the process:

How to Grow and Cook Collard Greens in Texas - Experiential Gardener

In my backyard, we've been gardening in feed tubs elevated on pallets. After a few years, the pallets are wearing out, and the tubs haven't produced as well as we expected. Now I'm changing over to a big above-the-ground garden box. Some of west Texas is semi-arid during the good years, but lately we've been in a drought. 

New Garden Box
My daughter and son-in-law are filling it with dirt.
These days I'm not quite up to shoveling.

I'll purchase some seeds and plant collards in flower pots. Then when the plants come up and grow to an acceptable height, I'll transfer them to my new garden box.

Tubs on Pallets
Notice the pallets are disintegrating. 
Pepper plants can endure the hot Texas sun. 

~~~

When I'm not gardening and cooking, I write novels. Here's the newest one:

     All Her Dreams of Love

It's a story about a woman named Nancy, who lived close to the earth in the late 1800s.  

Description of a meal on a fall evening:

The coolness of fall felt pleasant, especially in the evenings and early mornings. Nancy’s garden yielded new fresh vegetables - tomatoes, onions, collard greens, and beets.

She invited Jeb to supper again on Friday night. After they feasted on fried green tomatoes, cottage cheese, and a variety of vegetables, Jeb helped clean the kitchen.