Ever thump a watermelon to see if it’s ripe or stick your fingernail into the stem end of a cantaloupe to see if it’s soft inside? It’s hard to tell by a smack or scratch, but it does give you a clue. Thus, we have a few clues into B.J.
The Loves of Her Life: Faith. Family. Friends.
B.J.’s faith is strong, even though she doesn’t go to church every Sunday. Her family ties run incredibly deep. She loves her husband and the life they have together, and her family of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Since retirement, which they both found difficult to adjust to, B.J. and her husband enjoy their days filled with activities in their 55 and older community. Friends are the icing on the cake. Living near and far, B.J. is always in touch and always sharing.
A New Venture
A lover of true, personal experience stories, B.J. cut her teeth on a multitude of submissions to numerous markets. With publication success garnered in newspapers, magazines, and anthology collections like Chicken Soup for the Soul, along with winning the Guideposts Writers Workshop contest in 2004, B.J. has done a lot of nonfiction writing. She is now working on her second novel that is based on a true story and finds the art of writing fiction to be freeing. She loves character development, primary plot and subplots, timing and tempo, and strives to deliver true emotion to her writing as she did in her memoir, Charlie Bear: What a Headstrong Rescue Dog Taught Me about Life, Love, and Second Chances.
Beginnings
B.J. loves words. She first began writing in grade school, with English as her favorite subject and spelling bees her specialty. A personal diary was her journal, hidden under her mattress during her teenage years. Her penned thoughts filled numerous notepads (which she still has in a box in the garage). She admits a lot of choices are scary at first, like signing up for a writing class, joining a writers group, or submitting a novel to an agent for consideration. She plunged into the deep blue sea, took a chance with her writing, and has been blessed abundantly.
If you’d like to send B.J. a message, she’ll respond in a timely manner. Or if you would like to see what B.J. is up to now, like or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.