I’m very excited today, because I’m featuring one of my favourite authors on this blog. Jess Moore is a fabulous romance writer whose books always have tremendous depth, and I always look forward to her new releases.
“And by the way, everything in life writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” Sylvia Plath
I began by writing in secret. Stories begged to come out of me, but weren’t ready to be shared. Pouring them out of my head kept me sane, and it gave me something just for myself.
My name is Jess B. Moore, and above all else, I am a mother. As of right now, in 2021, I have been staying home full time with my children for seventeen years. There came a time when part of me was lost – it had gotten buried under being a wife and mother, pushed aside for the day-to-day joy and struggle of life. I rather desperately needed something for me, just me, to remind me I still existed. To bring me back to life.
“My head is a hive of words that won’t settle.” Virginia Woolf
A couple years of false starts of books, and I realized everything I wrote came from the same place. I created new characters, different settings and challenges, but they were all essentially telling the same story. Mine.
“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” Anne Lamott
I came across a quote by Anne Lamott (from her book on writing, Bird by Bird), and it gave me the courage to continue writing. It gave me the permission I needed to tell the ugly parts of my life. I took all those beginnings of books I had on my computer, found the common threads, and dedicated myself to telling the story that was trying so hard to get out.
My first book, The Guilt of a Sparrow, is about a young woman struggling with grief and guilt after the death of her brother, as well as her codependent relationship with her mother. Anyone who knew me would recognize immediately the similarities to my own life, although the story altered as it was told through the fictional Magnolia Porter, her loss, and her bravery with her mother.
“You write because you need to write, or because you hope someone will listen, or because writing will mend something broken inside you or bring something back to life.” Joanne Harris
Once I figured out the method to my madness, I took other aspects of my life, and gave them to new characters. Through my books I have explored miscarriage, alcoholism, consent, loss, anxiety, with always giving my characters a happily ever after.
I now have six published books, each featuring a strong female character (even if she doesn’t realize it in the beginning), each examining real-life issues, all dealing with family dynamics, and all with a satisfying love story.
Bio:
Jess B. Moore is a writer of love stories. When she’s not writing, she’s busy mothering her accomplished and headstrong children, reading obscene numbers of books, and knitting scarves she’ll likely never finish.
Jess lives in small town North Carolina with her bluegrass obsessed family. She takes too many pictures of her cats, thinking the Internet loves them as much as she does. She is a firm believer of swapping stories over coffee or wine, and that there should always be dark chocolate involved.
The Fox River Romance novels combine her interests in family, music, and small towns into thoughtful tales of growing up and falling in love. These books can be read as stand-alone, or as a series starting with The Guilt of a Sparrow.
Social Media links:
Facebook: facebook.com/authorjessb
Instagram: instagram.com/authorjessb
Twitter: twitter.com/authorjessb
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jess-b-moore
Goodreads: goodreads.com/authorjessb
Website: jessbmoore.com
Buy links:
The Guilt of a Sparrow: mybook.to/foxriverone
Fierce Grace: mybook.to/fiercegrace
The Worth of a Penny: mybook.to/theworthofapenny
Saving Grace: mybook.to/foxriverfour
The Chapel: mybook.to/foxriverfive
The Heart of a Peach: mybook.to/foxriversix
