Author Spotlight: Jennifer Beckstrand - Mom, Mathematician, Author

By Leah Kornacki

Today we are very proud to shine a spotlight on our client and friend Jennifer Beckstrand. Jennifer has been represented by the agency for ten years now, and was discovered by our founder Mary Sue Seymour. We love Jennifer’s story, so we asked her to share more about how she came to be published and what advice she has for budding authors.

Jennifer is a lifelong fan of fiction, but didn't begin her journey as an author until well after she started a family. Jennifer's first passion was algebra, and she actually holds a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics. Even though She isn’t a career mathematician, Jennifer says the math degree was probably the best decision she’s ever made because it has come in handy getting all six of her kids through high school and college. 

Her dream of writing came after she had her fourth child and began to suffer from insomnia brought on by restless thoughts. When she couldn’t sleep, Jennifer would write a Western romance story in her head. Eventually, she looked forward to bedtime more than ever before because she could spend the time exploring more of her story.

“You know how about four kids into your life you suffer from chronic insomnia because you can’t stop wondering what you forgot to do that day—like hug your child or go to the bathroom? 

Anyway, that is basically how I started my writing career.”

Today Jennifer has 24 books published (with four more on the way!), but she wasn’t always a book writing machine. She says it took her 14 years to finish her first novel, a 130,000-word Western historical romance titled Rachel’s Angel, which won best novel in the League of Utah Writers Contest in 2008 and first place in the Inspirational category at the Utah Romance Writers Conference in 2009.

She says the first thing aspiring writers must make peace with is the very difficult and painful realization that not everyone is going to like their work.

“I pitched my book to one agent who wasn’t interested because she said it wasn’t “steamy” enough. Another agent judged my manuscript in a contest, and I could tell without her having to spell it out for me that she hated my story with a white-hot passion.” 

It was Mary Sue Seymour who finally showed interest in Jennifer’s work. Mary Sue was looking for an author who could write inspirational romance, and she knew Jennifer was the right fit for the agency. Today, we know Jennifer as a resident rock star in Amish Fiction, but it was Mary Sue who originally suggested she research the genre. Jennifer quickly put together three synopses and a fifty-page query of her first Amish romance.

“Soon thereafter, ON MY BIRTHDAY, Mary Sue called with an offer to represent me—and a charge to ‘hurry and finish that book.’”

Five months later, Jennifer signed a three-book deal with Guideposts Books for her first Amish romance series, Forever After in Apple Lake.

From the beginning, Jennifer has dedicated herself to becoming the best writer she could be. Early on, she sought help and guidance from her author friends and attended conferences and workshops. She didn’t go it alone, and she didn’t try to rely solely on her storytelling talents. Instead, she researched and read up on writing and editing fiction. Jennifer recommends aspiring authors pick up a copy of Self-editing for Fiction Writers. She says its principles made her a significantly better writer, and she promises she isn’t exaggerating when she says reading it was “absolutely life-changing.”

Jennifer has also co-written her own nonfiction book for helping creative people called Big Ideas. It’s about how to get better ideas and more of those “Aha! Moments” by allowing your brain to go into “rest mode” rather than trying to squeeze ideas and creativity out on demand. She says her ideas usually don’t come easily, and if the inspiration isn’t flowing, she will spend lots of time contemplating and ruminating, sometimes staring at a blank screen. The problem is, sitting still at a desk for more than a few minutes makes her fall asleep.

“The advantage of being a task-oriented, stay-at-home mother is that many of my daily jobs allow ample time for musing. I ruminate while puffing on the treadmill or running a vacuum over my carpet or taking a shower. I am notorious for long, indulgent showers—my guilty pleasure. I do my best thinking in there. (My apologies to the green movement. But I do recycle!)”

At the same time, Jennifer doesn’t give her hard work enough credit. She balances creativity with research. She doesn’t consider herself an expert on the Amish, but she puts in the time to get the facts right to create a believable world and characters that are a fair representation of Amish people and their culture.

“One thing I have discovered about the Amish is that they are just regular people trying to navigate life in the best way they know how, just like the rest of us. So I try to make my characters real, instead of cardboard cutouts of what people think the Amish are like.”

To create her amazing characters, Jennifer seeks additional inspiration by observing the people around her. Anna and Felty Helmuth from her Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill series are heavily inspired by her parents, and she made a hero out of her daughter’s boyfriend in one of her books. This method seems to breathe life and humor into Jennifer’s characters. Above all, the magic in her work comes from telling stories centered on what she loves and believes in. 

“I would say, write what you love or writing becomes a drudgery very quickly. I love romance, humor, and faith-filled stories, so those are a pleasure to write.”

Jennifer’s formula for success has been equal parts dedication to her craft, dedication to her family, and a confidence that enables her to take criticism and use it. She understands that making mistakes are essential to the learning process, and she doesn’t let negative reviews get her down because she knows even the best writers get them. She says the only criticisms she takes to heart are from her beta readers, her agent, and her editor.

Jennifer says her favorite thing about being an author is hearing that readers enjoy her books, especially when her story has touched, inspired, or helped someone. Her next big goal as an author is to make the USA Today Bestseller list, and to get her first contemporary romance novel, Dandelion Meadows, published. In life, she says she is also striving to spend more time with her grandchildren and get better at pickleball.

Many thanks to Jennifer for sharing how she got started as an author and how she surmounts some of the challenges authors face. We love hearing how hard work and dedication can pay off!

Jennifer Beckstrand has several Amish fiction series including The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill and The Petersheim Brothers. Lovers of Historical Western fiction should read her novel Jessie and James which is a humor-filled romance set in a late 1800s mining town. We can not recommend diving into her worlds enough!                                                                   

You can find out more about Jennifer and her books at her wonderful website: http://www.jenniferbeckstrand.com/.                                                                                                          

Also be sure to join her official Facebook group for updates, giveaways, and more fun! https://www.facebook.com/groups/2061229137272299

The Call with Gabrielle Prendergast

My call came as a few emails at first. Having had agents before, both good and bad, I think I went into it with my eyes wide open. But even from the email I had a good feeling because Lynnette had written "We would love to talk to you about this MS, future projects, and your CAREER GOALS"(my emphasis). This was so important to me. When we spoke on the phone, my good feeling was reinforced. Lynnette and Nicole were so enthusiastic and wanted to hear about everything else I had on the go (which was A LOT) so I knew they were interested in working with me for the long haul. That's what I wanted. I took my time making a decision because I wanted to be careful and make the right choice, but even though I've only been with the agency for a while, it's already going GREAT and I'm so happy!

About Gabrielle Prendergast:

Gabrielle Prendergast is an award-winning writer, teacher and designer living in Vancouver, Canada. She writes picture books, middle grade fiction, and YA contemporary and historical as Gabrielle Prendergast. Her science fiction and fantasy stories are published as G.S. Prendergast.

She has won the Monte Miller Award, the Westchester Fiction Award and The BC Book Prize as well as being nominated or short listed for numerous other honors. Gabrielle has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and has taught writing at Sydney University, San Francisco State University, UBC, Royal Canadian College and at numerous conferences.

Website: www.gsprendergast.com

Twitter: @gabriellesarap

Instagram: @gsprendergast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorgsprendergast

     

 

 

The Seymour Agency Q&A with Author Jen J. Danna

Seymour Agency: You recently launched your new series, the NYPD Negotiators, with EXIT STRATEGY. Why hostage negotiation?

Jen J. Danna: In LONE WOLF, the first book in the FBI K-9s series, I wrote a character who was a hostage negotiator. This guy had a really tough job as the middle man between the FBI, who wanted to close the case, and an armed gunman, who was holed up with his family. The negotiator was not only trying to save lives, but was also fighting to satisfy his law enforcement brethren, many of whom saw force as the best way to quickly get their man. This character really stuck with me, partly because the situation he had to deal with was different than anything I’d written before.

SA: How was it different?

JJD: In all my other police procedurals, the protagonist is always reacting to the initial situation, usually a murder, sometimes a natural disaster. I wanted to explore police work from the opposite, proactive angle. Yes, there’s a crisis in play, but the challenge is to save lives before they’re lost, to get the hostages out in one piece, and hopefully contain and arrest the person responsible.

SA: How did you develop Gemma Capello and her first responder family?

JJD: This was the first book I wrote solo, so it was fun to take advantage of my own family history to flesh out Gemma. Like me, her family hails from Siculiana in Sicily. Like me she lost a parent at a young age (though her loss is by very violent means). But I like writing ensemble pieces, where the characters appear throughout the series, so I crafted a family around her, a father and four brothers, who with only one exception are all NYPD officers in various branches of the department (the other brother joined the FDNY). In this way, she can work with at least one of them during her cases.

SA: How does her family play a part in EXIT STRATEGY?

JJD: When an alert goes out, interrupting a family celebration, Gemma, her father, the Chief of Special Operations, and her two older brothers respond. But when the hostage situation takes a turn for the worse and Gemma has to put herself at risk with the hostage taker, everything, including her life, will rest in the hands of her younger brother.

SA: What can we expect next from Gemma?

JJD: The second book in the series, SHOT CALLER, will release in summer 2021 from Kensington Books and Dreamscape Media. In it, Gemma is called to New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail when a riot occurs and both correctional officers and inmates are taken hostage. It’s a contained but extremely volatile situation, and Gemma and her negotiating team are pulled in different directions as everyone tries to steer the crisis—from the inmates, to the staff at Rikers, to the city administrators that run the Department of Corrections, to the NYPD. She also has to balance her need to peacefully resolve the situation, which takes time, with the tactical team’s desire to go in and rapidly resolve the crisis with force. It’s a real nail biter. Then the third book in the series, LOCKDOWN, will follow in the summer of 2022.

About the Book, Exit Strategy:

In this taut new suspense series featuring NYPD detective Gemma Capello and her close-knit law enforcement family, a madman brings a halt to the heart of the city that never sleeps . . .

After her mother’s death during a bank robbery when she was a child, Gemma Capello grew up to become one of the NYPD’s elite hostage negotiators. In a family of cops, there’s rarely a day when a Capello isn’t facing down some form of threat. Still, despite their unpredictable schedules, they always find time for their annual family summer picnic. But this year, a sudden phone call changes everything. 

A heavily armed gunman has taken hostages at City Hall. Gemma races downtown to join the rest of the Hostage Negotiation Team as they scramble to identify the captives—fearing the mayor may be among them. But as they scramble for answers and struggle to gain control of the circumstances, it becomes clear that the mayor is at the center of it all, just not in the way they initially believed. 

With several lives on the line and a criminal who always seems to be one step ahead, Gemma is the only one able to connect with the suspect. Soon, she finds herself engaging in a battle of wits while enduring a battle of egos in the command center. With time running out and a mastermind who has proven he’ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants, Gemma risks it all—her career and her life—in a last-ditch effort to save the hostages. Now, she needs to figure out how to save herself . . .

About the Author, Jen J. Danna:  

A scientist specializing in infectious diseases, Jen J. Danna works as part of a dynamic research group at a cutting-edge Canadian university. However, her true passion lies in indulging her love of the mysterious through her writing. 

With Ann Vanderlaan, she writes two series. Under Danna and Vanderlaan, they craft suspenseful crime fiction with a realistic scientific edge. Their five Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries include DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT; NO ONE SEES ME ’TILL I FALL; A FLAME IN THE WIND OF DEATH; TWO PARTS BLOODY MURDER; and LAMENT THE COMMON BONES.

Under the joint pseudonym of Sara Driscoll, they write the FBI K-9s mysteries series, starring search-and-rescue team Meg Jennings and her black lab, Hawk. The series includes LONE WOLF and BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE, STORM RISING, and NO MAN’S LAND. The fifth book in the series, LEAVE NO TRACE, will release in January 2020.

Jen is also the author of the upcoming NYPD Negotiators thriller series, with the first book, EXIT STRATEGY, releasing in August 2020. The second book in the series, SHOT CALLER, will release in 2021, and the third book, LOCKDOWN, will release in 2022.

Jen lives near Toronto, Ontario with her husband, two daughters, and three rescued cats, and is a member of the Crime Writers of Canada.

You can reach her through the contact page on her website or by email at jenjdanna@gmail.com.

Social media links: Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram.

Receiving the “Email” From The Seymour Agency

Once I noticed an agent’s message in my email, I pre-judged it. My first reaction assumed the worst. Ok, who can I query next? To my surprise, Marisa’s response was better than I anticipated. Not only did she ask if my manuscript was still available—it brought a smile to her face, she wanted to know more, and wished her mother could have read it to her when she was a child. Not many more details needed, she had me at “it brought a smile to my face!”

After celebrating the news with my family, I informed Marisa that my manuscript was definitely still available. Subsequent emails with Marisa demonstrated that her personality matched mine. Her outlook on the world mirrored mine and we had even tackled similar topics in our earlier writings. One of the sayings that rings true with me is to think outside the box. Marisa counters with the idea of ‘no box.” Forget about the box. Initially, without context, I didn’t understand what that meant. Now I support her version of that idea, and I am onboard—literally and figuratively. I appreciate how Marisa and Nicole are receptive to the variety of “no box” ideas and suggestions I offer regarding my manuscripts. 

A friendly Zoom meeting with Marisa and Nicole finally sealed the deal. The more I interact with Marisa, Nicole, and various other agency members, like Joyce and Julie, the more I am convinced that The Seymour Agency is the right agency for my manuscripts. The personnel and clients are a kind, congenial group who work as a team for the best outcomes. 

I am honored to be represented by The Seymour Agency, and if you become a Seymour client— 

celebrate! You’ll be in great hands!

About Bethanie Baker Henderson

  

Bethanie writes cozy fictional and biographical picture books. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and works with youth in her church and school district. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and a concentration in English from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan. She enjoys learning about new underwater discoveries, especially the mysteries in the deep sea. Bethanie lives with her husband, two remarkable daughters and their cat in eastern PA. 

Connect with her on her website at www.WhenReadingMatters.com, on Twitter @bbakerhenderson and on Facebook at Bethanie Baker Henderson Author.                             

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT ON: KAIT BALLENGER!

Today we welcome, Kait Ballenger to the blog!

Kait is a full-time romance author, wife, former professional bellydancer and soon-to-be professor. She is the multi-published author of the Execution Underground paranormal romance series about an international network of supernatural hunters who fight to protect humanity.

She has a B.A. in English from Stetson University and a M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Spalding University where she studied dual-genre in screenwriting.

When Kait is not preoccupied with paranormal creepy-crawlies, she can be found spending time with her family or with her nose buried in a book. She lives in Florida with her husband, their doggie-daughter, Sookie (yes, like the heroine in Charlainne Harris' books) and two mischievous cats, Elliot and Olivia (yes, like the Law and Order characters) near the love and care of her supportive family. Kait believes anything is possible with hard work and dedication. One day, she will be a bestseller and have people name their pets after her characters too.

She is represented by Nicole Resciniti at The Seymour Agency.

Her latest book in the Execution Underground series released Sept. 1, 2015! This is book 3!

MIDNIGHT HUNTER IS AVAILABLE NOW!

Can dark temptations destroy good intentions? One sexy witch hunter will find out...Midnight Hunter is only $3.99

Book Blurb (from Amazon):

Hunters of the supernatural, THE EXECUTION UNDERGROUND are an elite group tasked with protecting humanity…but can dark temptation destroy good intentions? 

Occult specialist and witch hunter Dr. Shane Grey is called upon to investigate a string of crimes that bear all the hallmarks of black magic. But he can't take on this daunting assignment for the Execution Underground alone. He'll need the help of Vera Sanders, a witch with a dark past—and a woman who disturbs him as much as she intrigues him. 

Vera is determined to ignore the dangerous chemistry between herself and Shane so she can prove her loyalty to his cause; otherwise she risks the wrath of the Execution Underground once again. If she can't make Shane trust her, they won't stand a chance in hell of defeating the evil that's terrorizing their city. No easy task, considering old habits die hard…and Vera may be the very person responsible for luring Shane into a killer's trap.

Buy link for her latest book is here!

http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Hunter-Execution-Underground-Book-ebook/dp/B00OHW2QKY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441330808&sr=8-1&keywords=Kait+Ballenger&pebp=1441330810044&perid=1EZKXW779SFV1CK2SGCW

All three books together: http://www.amazon.com/Execution-Underground-3-Book-Series/dp/B0141KJFCS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1441331943&sr=8-2&keywords=the+execution+underground

Kait is active on social media! Find Kait here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaitlynschulzromanceauthor
Website: kaitballenger.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kait_ballenger
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5989661.Kait_Ballenger
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kaitballenger/

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT ON: CHANTELE SEDGWICK

Today’s spotlight is on Chantele Sedgwick who writes young adult. Her latest book is LOVE, LUCAS, it released on May 5, 2015.

Her agent is Nicole Resciniti of the Seymour Agency.

Chantele Sedgwick is a young adult author, harpist, and major book nerd. She loves happy endings, Kit Kats, and (judging by her bookshelves) buying way too many books. She is the author of Not Your Average Fairy Tale and Not Your Average Happy Ending. She resides in Roy, Utah, with her husband and four children.

LOVE, LUCAS book blurb: When Oakley Nelson loses her older brother, Lucas, to cancer, she thinks she’ll never recover. Between her parents’ arguing and the battle she’s fighting with depression, she feels nothing inside but a hollow emptiness. When Mom suggests they spend a few months in California with Aunt Jo, Oakley isn’t sure a change of scenery will alter anything, but she’s willing to give it a try.

In California, Oakley discovers a sort of safety and freedom in Aunt Jo’s beach house. Once they’re settled, Mom hands her a notebook full of letters addressed to her—from Lucas. As Oakley reads one each day, she realizes how much he loved her, and each letter challenges her to be better and to continue to enjoy her life. He wants her to move on.

If only it were that easy.

But then a surfer named Carson comes into her life, and Oakley is blindsided. He makes her feel again. As she lets him in, she is surprised by how much she cares for him, and that’s when things get complicated. How can she fall in love and be happy when Lucas never got the chance to do those very same things?

With her brother’s dying words as guidance, Oakley knows she must learn to listen and trust again. But will she have to leave the past behind to find happiness in the future?

Buy Link:

Find Chantele here: Chantele Sedgwick (website)

 Chantele Sedgwick, Author (Facebook)

@chantelesedg (Twitter)