Guest Author Thursday: Krista Lynne Jensen

Happy 2012!

 

I can’t wait to tell our LDSWBR readers about a new feature on the blog this year. We are so excited to announce Guest Author Thursday, where we will be honored to present a blog post written by a guest author.

Here to start us off in the new year is Krista Lynne Jensen, debut author of Of Grace and Chocolate being released January 2012.

I had the opportunity to beta read Of Grace and Chocolate for Krista, and I LOVED-LOVED-LOVED it. (It even made my Top Ten Reads of 2011 list despite not having been published yet.)

If you enjoy Krista’s post, please leave a comment below and let her know!

Watch the book trailer for Of Grace and Chocolate at the end of the post.

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From Krista: Riding in a Mine Car

I’ve been sorting through the Christmas cards and letters. I keep up the family pictures for a while; make sure everyone has read the update letters before letting them go, keep the super-pretty cards for whatever reason in a box labeled Super-Pretty Christmas Cards.

So many friends have written things like, “So excited for all your success!” “Happy for all the good things you are experiencing!” Some of them are referring to my book and its launch in just a week or so (grinning). But holy wow, November and December have kicked my tush. The “good things” are definitely worth clinging to, because I feel like I’m riding in one of those mining cars on a rickety rail in an old abandoned mine, like in Temple of Doom, or The Apple Dumpling Gang, or Harry Potter in Gringotts, with cave walls collapsing and the tracks falling away and Indy is nowhere in sight and there’s a dragon chasing me and stalactites drop and WHERE’S MY INVISIBILITY CLOAK?

Okay, that may be exaggerating a bit (writer), but our family has been hit with all kinds of not-fun stuff the last several weeks. Things that might discourage me. Things that have worn me down. Health, job, kids, parents, friends. Things that have those close to us throwing up their hands and saying, “Are you kidding me?!”

Things that have me saying, “Oh, I am SO supposed to be writing.” Because alongside all of this weight, good stuff is happening with my writing. Good stuff that both scares me and thrills me. And I’m not discouraged. There’s a saying: “Be the kind of woman that, when your feet hit the floor each morning, the Devil says “Oh crap, she’s up!”

Maybe, with me, it’s when I open my doc. Maybe my words are where I can be strong. I can be a force. I’m supposed to do this.

Honestly, if you are compelled to write, whether it is a personal history, a short story, a novel, then write it. Figure it out. If it’s something you begin, and you’re hit with a barrage of “No-you-can’ts”, well, maybe that’s because yes-you-can. And you should. And you don’t know how many amazing things will come of it. Weather it out. Hold your chin up. Square your shoulders. Think of your favorite authors and how they didn’t give up. Surround yourself with people who shout, “Go, Krista!” or, you know, your name.

And hang on. That ride in the mine car is a doozy. *ducks*

Krista Lynne Jensen’s debut novel, Of Grace and Chocolate, will be on shelves anytime now at an LDS bookstore near you. Come join her and author Sarah M. Eden at their Double Book Launch, Saturday, January 14th at the Fort Union Deseret Book in Midvale, Utah from 11:00-1:00. There will be chocolate and wonderfulness.

 Connect with Krista: WEBSITE | BLOG | Twitter | Facebook