SALT LAKE CITY, UT October 25, 2016
Jen Delozier’s first novel Type and Cross (WiDo Publishing, 2016) came out strong at the first of the year and is still selling well in both print and ebook. “It’s fantastic that Jen was able to follow up so quickly with a sequel, to take advantage of the momentum she has with her first book,” states WiDo managing editor Karen Gowen.
Since the author is Dr. Delozier in her day job, how she manages a career as a busy general practitioner as well as a producing novelist is the top question that comes to mind.
“I make time. Pure and simple. I’m used to rolling out of bed and being OTD (out the door) in 15 minutes, so I’m not one of those who can get up early and write in the morning,” Delozier explains. “Blame it on beeper training from my old days of being on call. I write in the evenings and on weekends. My husband is a TV watcher, and I’m not, so I can usually find guilt-free time to write in the evenings.”
Both Type and Cross and Storm Shelter, working title on the new book now under contract with WiDo, were written while working a full-time physician schedule. What advice does Delozier have for aspiring writers? “Keep writing. The publication process is slower than I thought, especially given the on-line self-publication sites constantly touting how you can be ‘published in just one day!’ It’s nice to always have another project in the works.”
After finishing Storm Shelter, Delozier decided to take a break before starting the final Persephone Smith thriller. She tinkered with some short stories, one of which was a runner-up on the Wow! Women on Writing ezine’s quarterly contest. You can read Justin’s Room here. She has submitted other stories to various magazines and contests and is waiting to hear back.
The concept was originally meant for as a stand-alone book Delozier planned to write after Type and Cross. “But I was so fond of Seph’s character, I wasn’t ready to let her go,” states the author. “The only way I could use her for this concept was to make it a prequel, and I think it works well by creating an arc for her character – an arc which will be completed in the book I’m writing now. No spoilers, but I hope to bring her, if not full circle, at least to some level of peace with herself, society and her religion.”
The second book is set ten years prior to Type and Cross, when Persephone Smith was still a green clinical psychologist treating patient’s at the local VA hospital. The author explains what happened to her – what horrible event could have changed her from a wide-eyed, idealist, pious young woman to the hardened, tequila-swilling, foul-mouthed atheist we know (and love!) in Type and Cross.
Delozier’s next Persephone Smith book involves a great deal of research. She may be taking her readers to northern Spain, home of the Basques (and a large concentration of people with Rh negative blood…)
In addition to writing, Delozier will be giving a guest lecture on bioterrorism at Penn State University in November. She’s currently reading Circuits & Slippers, an anthology of short stories which rewrites traditional fairy tales into sci-fi. “I so wish I’d submitted a story to it!” she says. “It reminds me of when I was a teen – I waited every year for the year’s best sci-fi short stories to be published.”
J. L. Delozier spent the early part of her career as a rural family doctor and then later as a government physician, caring for America’s veterans and deploying to disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina, Ike and Gustav. Throughout it all, she quietly absorbed the sometimes fascinating, often heartbreaking and always dramatic life stories of her patients. She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and four rescue cats. Learn more at her website jldelozier.com.
To buy Storm Shelter, visit here: https://widopublishing.com/storm-shelter-by-j-l-delozier/
To buy J.L. Delozier’s first book in the series, visit here: https://widopublishing.com/type-and-cross-by-j-l-delozier/