Jessica Ferguson

Author, Writing Coach, Speaker

Blog Tour and Happy, Happy Birthday

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Late last year, I had an opportunity to be a part of a series of Christmas stories. While I don’t “comfortably” write short stories, I jumped at the chance because Kathi Macias was spearheading it, and I knew anything that had Kathi’s name on it would be a success. Plus, this would be my first real chance to write Christian fiction and be published by a Christian publisher. How could I let this opportunity get by me?

Kathi said the theme would be 12 Days of Christmas and that we twelve writers (that includes her) could write anything we wanted–a historical, a mystery, a romance, Amish fiction–whatever. The catch was that the story had to take place on a single day. Our stories would be epublished first, then come out in an anthology. It all sounded good to me.

My story occurs ten days before Christmas. The title is If You Believe, and the theme is “trust God’s will for your dreams.” My theme meant something to me. I knew when I married my husband after being divorced for nine years, and moved to Louisiana almost immediately (after living in Texas all my life), I was trusting God’s will.

Thirty-one years ago today, our daughter was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Here’s a picture of when we stood before our pastor and dedicated her to God. Look how tiny she is. Just looking at this picture, I can hardly believe she’s real.

Here’s a picture of her “reading” her little picture book. We put books in her hands from the get-go. We definitely wanted a young reader!  A few weeks after she was born, she attended her first writer’s meeting–at our house. Her first public appearance was to the Goodwood Library in Baton Rouge.

By the time she was three, she knew many of my author friends and was a Hemingway fan…through me, of course. We lived in New Iberia, Louisiana and started a writer’s group there.

Our daughter has always been chatty and had a beautiful, happy personality. You can probably see that by these other two pictures. 

On May 29th, 12 Days of Christmas will release. If you’re wondering what my daughter has to do with any of this … it’s simple. She’s always my heroine. No matter what I write–mystery or romance–the heroine is always the young woman you see here. 

Happy birthday, Chaney. Thank you for being the perfect daughter for me and your father. The years went too fast.
I pray God’s blessings on you, and that you’ll always trust God’s will for your life. I love you.


 Please visit the other authors in our 12 Days of Christmas anthology. Several are giving away a copy or you can purchase one HERE. We hope you enjoy our stories and above all, we hope they bless you.

May 19 – Ruth L. Snyder at http://ruthlsnyder.com/

May 20 – Anne Baxter Campbell at http://pewperspective.blogspot.ca/
May 21 – Marcia Lee Laycock at http://marcialeelaycock.com/
May 22 – Mishael Witty at http://bluebrownbooks.com/
May 23 – Christine Lindsay at www.christinelindsay.com/
May 24 – Sheila Lagrand at http://sheilalagrand.com/
May 26 – Jessica Ferguson at http://jessyferguson.blogspot.com
May 28 – Peg Phifer at http://www.whispersinpurple.com
May 29 – Jeanette Hanscome at http://jeanettehanscome.com/

Blog Tour

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I volunteered to participate in a blog tour and answer the four questions below. I was supposed to find three other authors to answer the same questions on January 6th but I could only find one, so I hope you’ll pop over to visit her too–next week. Caryl has a new book coming out in early 2014.
 
1. What are you working on right now?
I’m working on a career plan for 2014. These days, publishing is a little like walking down the detergent aisle. There are way too many choices. Should I try for an agent? A traditional publisher or a small press? Those are questions I wrestle with. I heard recently the chances of getting our digital rights back from a traditional publisher are pretty slim. That makes me want to investigate smaller presses and stick with the ebook market.  Then I confuse myself by asking… why should I care about digital rights? Aside from my career plan, I’m working on a couple of romantic suspense novels and a romantic comedy.
 
 
2. How does it differ from other works in its genre?
I don’t know that my work differs in any way from what’s out there. That’s sad, isn’t it? If it does differ, readers will have to tell me.
 
 
3. Why do you write what you do?
Do I have a choice? I write what comes to me–romantic comedy, romantic suspense, women’s fiction. The other day I got an idea for a time travel. I have the beginning and the ending but no middle. The middle is always the hardest part for me. When ideas pop into my head, I start writing.
 
4. How does your writing process work?
I don’t have a tried and true, real-to-me process. Each story dictates how I write it. The Groom Wore Blue Suede Shoes was outlined chapter by chapter. The Last Daughter was the easiest to write. It came to me all at once, pretty complete. I wrote the synopsis first. My short stories were taken from novels that didn’t sell or are unfinished. There’s no method to my madness.

I wish I could get organized in 2014 and actually learn how to ‘churn’ out books, novellas and all kinds of stories. All tips welcome.
 
Don’t forget to visit Caryl McAdoo on January 6th.