CJ Eernisse Chase became a writer in an unlikely fashion: with a degree in statistics and a career in information technology. But after coworkers discovered she was a member of that rare species—a computer programmer who could also craft a grammatically-correct sentence—she spent more time writing computer manuals than computer code. Leaving the corporate world to stay home with her children, CJ quickly learned she did not possess the housekeeping gene, so she decided to take the advice of her ninth grade English teacher and write articles and stories people actually wanted to read. A member of Romance Writers of American, she loves to set her romantic suspense stories in times past. CJ is a six-time Golden Heart^Ò finalist, most recently in 2010, who plays classical piano (badly) and teaches a special needs Sunday School class. She lives in Southeastern Virginia with her husband and sons.

 CJ’s Inspirational Golden Heart manuscript is UNFORGIVEN:

American Mattie Fraser arrives in Regency London with a chip on her shoulder and a pistol in her pocket. But her inquiry into the fate of her brother, a sailor impressed into His Majesty’s Navy, draws her into a web of lies, conspiracy, and danger. Is Kit DeChambelle—the one man who might help—working for her or against her?

Kit DeChambelle thought the war was over, until his government tasks him with one final assignment: find out what Mattie knows about British plans to nullify the Treaty of Ghent and claim the Louisiana Territory for Britain. Can the woman bent on vengeance and the man who won’t forgive learn true forgiveness in time to save Mattie’s life?

 And now a little about CJ:

1)  How long have you been writing?
I guess I’d have to list 1996 as the beginning of my “career” as a novelist. I’d started novels before that (going all the way back to my sophomore year of high school), but in 1996, I finally started a book and stuck with it for all 100,000 words to “The End.”

 2)  Did you always want to be an author or is this something you fell into later in life? 
I wrote my high school newspaper, but when I got to college, I decided I really liked to eat, so I switched majors from journalism to statistics. I worked for a number of years in the information technology field. I tried writing novels occasionally, but after a long day at a keyboard, I seldom felt like doing yet more typing during my free time. The hours weren’t particularly family-friendly and our younger son’s health issues prevented me from working a typical outside-the-home job, so I left to stay home. After a couple weeks, I realized I wanted an activity that let me think in complete sentences — my time to write had come.

3)  What do you do in your “other” life? (Day job, family, etc.)
I raise boys. We have two biological sons and are adopting a third. (Unfortunately, the adoption has been stuck in bureaucratic … limbo and what should have taken a year is now at three years and counting.)

We left the Northern Virginia suburbs for a semi-rural part of the Southeastern Virginia swamps, and we’re turning our property into a hobby farm of fruit (peaches, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries) and chickens. We now have 18 chickens: one rooster, one postmenopausal black cochin hen with a bad attitude, four 4-week-old Rhode Island red chicks, four 3-month old white leghorn pullets (which really aren’t ours yet but belong to the mosquito control program to track EEE and West Nile outbreaks—did I mention we live in the swamp?), and 8 white leghorn hens who are actually useful and lay eggs.

 4)  Who are your favorite authors?
Amanda Quick and Carla Kelly top the list for me in general romance. I read all Dee Henderson’s and Deeanne Gist’s books in the inspirational romance genre. I still go back and re-read Madeleine Brent (whose gothics I prefer to Victoria Holt’s – a sacrilege, I know). And one of the great things about being a parent is introducing old favorites to your children. I’ve read Ralph Moody’s Little Britches series and CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series more times as an adult than I did as a kid! And if you have children (particularly boys), you simply MUST read Franklyn Meyer’s Me and Caleb books with them.

I’m not much for heavy literature but I love meaty non-fiction such as the works of Thomas Cahill, David Hackett Fischer, Thomas Sowell, John Taylor Gatto, and Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom. Oh, and of course, CS Lewis gets a mention here as well.

And for poetry, I’d have to mention the Psalms. I’m currently rereading them all, and in keeping with my contrary nature, I decided to start at 150 and work my way backwards. I’m just amazed at how writings 3,000 years old can still speak so eloquently to the human condition. Now that’s impact!

5)  Do you have an agent?
Not at the moment.

6)  Where do you see yourself in five years?
Working to fulfill my third 3-book contract with all my boys playing oh-so-politely at my feet.

It’s great to have CJ with us!. And now, on to her post:

Perseverance and the Non-Selling Author

 “Welcome to the industry that will break your heart.” – Steve Laube, literary agent

Do you remember 1999? The preparations for Y2K? JFK Jr.’s missing plane? Americans wept with the families of Columbine and felt patriotic pride when Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France. We took our children to see Toy Story 2, spending a mere $1.22/gallon for the gas to get us there. And in Virginia, a young mom and wannabe published author got the most exciting phone call of her writing career – a Golden Heart finalist notification.

Okay, I’ll forgive you if you’re in the 99.99% of the population who somehow missed that last event. It was earth-shaking for me. The GH is the ultimate validation for an unpublished romance novelist. Surely, it wouldn’t be long from GH call to THE CALL, right? Or so I thought in my naïveté. After 11 years and 5 more GH calls, I’m a bit more cynical and a whole lot more stubborn than I realized back then. I have to be, or I would have quite long ago.

I contacted several of my fellow 1999 finalists who, like me, haven’t sold yet still continue to write, to submit, to hope. Along the way, we’ve finaled/won other writing contests. We’ve signed with agents and parted with agents. We’ve collected complimentary rejections and come close to sales. What keeps us writing despite the setbacks?

Debbie Swanson stressed the importance of looking forward, not backward. “I like steaming forward. Basically immersing myself in the current story is what works for me. That’s what keeps me writing.”

Candis Terry’s motto (from Galaxy Quest) is “Never give up. Never surrender.” “Over the years I’ve taken breaks when life interferes or I just get tired of being kicked around the publishing world. I’ve tried to quit several times but then I’d get a new story idea and . . . I realized I just love writing. I love the process. I love seeing characters coming to life and falling in love. And that keeps me going. I write for me because I love it.”

How do you keep going when rejections pile up or relatives offer well-meaning advice about quitting? Is there ever a time to give up–to stop writing, or at least, to stop pursuing publication? How long should one invest time and tears in a dream?

I just got this today. The German cover for STOLEN FURY:

I also need some help. I need a Greek name for my new kickass heroine. Any suggestions?

Okay, before we get to the spotlight today, I just have to say thanks so much to the golden heart spotlighters we’ve had so far! Keely, Linda, Sharon & Lisa – I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you better and can’t wait to meet you (hopefully) in Orlando! Now that my book is done and turned in (TEMPTED – Book 3, Eternal Guardians, as of today, wahoo!) I can relax a little and get back to enjoying the blogosphere.

And now, as they say in tinseltown, on with the show…

***

Writer Jennifer Jakes lives outside St. Louis, Missouri on fifteen rural acres with her husband, two daughters, two elderly horses and four spoiled dogs. While she’d like to say she spends peaceful days writing, that’s not quite true. Her process is more of a manic sprint than a relaxing stroll. In fact, that kind of describes her life. 

Her manuscript – RAFE’S REDEMPTION – is a finalist in the Historical category of the Golden Heart contest. It also won First Place and Grand Prize in the 2009 Gateway to the Best contest.

To learn more about Jennifer and her writing, visit her website.

Here’s a little about Jennifer’s Historical Romance Golden Heart finaling manuscript, RAFE’S REDEMPTION:

Artist Maggie Monroe wants to travel and see the West. Her cousin wants to see her dead. But when they are stranded in a rough Colorado outpost, Maggie becomes collateral for her cousin’s gambling debts.

Disillusioned recluse Rafe McBride went into town to buy supplies, not a woman. Maggie is exactly what he doesn’t need: a female, yes, that, but worse, someone depending on him. He has problems of his own. He’s being hunted by a vengeful killer – his own stepbrother. But Rafe’s conscience won’t let him leave Maggie in the hands of the lecherous townsmen, so he buys her, promising to return her to St. Louis. All he asks is that she follow orders.

Maggie isn’t about to follow orders. This is her first taste of freedom after a controlled upbringing, and just because Rafe is the most attractive man she’s ever met, he’s still a man -an infuriating one at that – and his rules were made to be broken. But her new found independence drives Rafe to distraction. And desire. Each day he wants her a little more. But he knows no woman would accept the dark secret he’s hiding.

So together they trek across the Rocky Mountains, pursued by killers, delayed by blizzards, and tempted by passion, forced to face all three head-on.

And now a few fun questions to get to know Jennifer better:

1)  How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing about four years. Perhaps it’s better said I’ve been putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, about that long. I’ve been writing stories in my head since I was a little girl.

2)  Did you always want to be an author or is this something you fell into later in life?  
No.  I actually didn’t consider it until my first (colicky) child was born. Walking the floor all night gave me lots of time to consider the story of my heart, Rafe’s Redemption. So I made several notes and stuck them into a file folder labeled: The story I’ll write someday. Ten years later I finally decided it was “someday.”

3)  What do you do in your “other” life? (Day job, family, etc.)
Well, my mom says I’ve been a Jen-(not Jack)-of-all-trades. Guilty. But my most unusual day job was driving a dump truck! My husband and I owned a dump trucking company for twelve + years. So besides doing the paperwork and payroll, I was the fill-in driver. Once we sold the company, I told my husband I wanted to devote my time to writing—‘tho I do work part-time at a bookstore. (Dream job for a writer!) Besides that, we are Civil War re-enactors.  My husband is an artillery man, and I portray an Army laundress. It’s great fun for a historical enthusiast like me.

4)  Who are your favorite authors?
 The author I pick up over and over again is Sabrina Jefferies. I love her style, her voice. And her plots always have some new quality. Not easy in a flooded Regency market.

5)  Do you have an agent? 
Not yet.

6)  Where do you see yourself in five years?
How about a beach! I’m thinking Key West. Pastel buildings, white sand, blue water, and me with my laptop, cranking out storiesJ

 It’s great to have Jennifer here today. And now, in her own words…

PERSONAL: WESTERN OR NOT?

Michaela and Sully. Stands with a Fist and John Dunbar. Hawkeye and Cora.

Have I got you thinking? Take a moment. What TV series or movies did these characters come from?

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; Dances with Wolves; Last of the Mohicans.

I like to use peanut M & Ms as a reward. So if you got one right, give yourself one  M & M (your choice of color). If you got two right, give yourself two. If you got all three right  –  go ahead and give yourself the entire package.J They’re small.

Now, down to business.  The characters I mentioned are those I never tire of. These are the kind of characters I write about. These are the kind of characters that grow larger than life in my head. Ever since elementary school, when I spent my summers reading about Sacajawea leading Lewis and Clark, I’ve had a love affair with frontier stories. So I have to wonder: Does that make me a western historical romance writer? I’m not sure. Let me explain. In my opinion ‘western’ brings to mind a certain image. When you say the word, do you automatically picture Clint Eastwood or John Wayne riding down a dusty Texas street? Do you picture two gun-slingers meeting on said street at high noon? Mmm-Hmm. Me too.

And therein lies my dilemma. None of my stories take place in Texas. Stagecoaches? Nope. Cacti? Sorry. And *gasp* there’s not a tumbling tumbleweed in sight.  

Am I a fraud? Will the real card-carrying western romance writers kick me out of the circle?   OK, I joke, but it’s something I’ve given some – maybe too much – thought to. And I have to ask: What is my subgenre?

A chaptermate suggested I call my work frontier historical romance. What do you think? What do you expect when you pick up a book labeled western historical romance?