BIO:
Jennifer Burrows has a message in
her heart about God's love, and she’s shared that when she was a musician in
her father's church, as a missionary to underprivileged children in a third
world country, and as a wife who stood by her husband through terminal brain
cancer that God miraculously healed.
Now, she’s sharing God's powerful love
through the art of fiction, pouring herself into edifying and helping other
writers, and teaching others how to use faith in the face of adversity.
Jennifer teaches in the greater Nashville area where she lives with her husband
and their two children. Get to know Jennifer better at jlburrows.com, or
connect with her on social media at www.facebook.com/jenniferlynnburrows or www.instagram.com/jlburrowsauthor .
INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS:
With threads of …
●
enemies-to-love
interests romance
●
science
fiction including a snarky but illegal AI embedded as a chip in the brain
●
a
beautiful German Shepherd named Sasha
Serenity Knowles (Sere) is living
one hundred and eighty years in the future. The Dome government banned history
education because of its inflammatory nature, deeming it a source of violent
ideas among its citizens. Religion disappeared after they declared it created
division in community and judgement between people groups. Government controls
most aspects of life under the Dome, placing citizens under constant
surveillance. After a wild event at the school Sere teaches at, she finds
herself and her ragtag group pitted against a government with cutting-edge
technology and genetically modified bio-weapons. The odds are stacked against
them, but the Truth needs to rise out of the deception. Will Sere find a hero
within herself and face down a future on the brink of oblivion?
The first book in The
Reconditioned Series explores the role of an absolute truth and God’s love for
us even as we bumble about trying to make our way through this world. Serenity
faces a lot of trials and tribulation, and often she doesn’t know what to do in
the face of forging a very different path from the people around her. I pray
her story of courage and seeking the truth encourages readers to embrace their
journey on the path less traveled as each of us are called to grow and stand
firm in the places God calls us to.
For Serenity, her grandfather
whispered sweet truths at night before bedtime when no one was listening,
defying government mandates. He taught her that God exists and loves her more
than she’d ever understand. Throughout the story, we discover with Serenity how
God pursues her, cares for her even when she isn’t completely aware of who He
is. He speaks to her heart and reminds her of the things she learned with her
grandfather when she was so young, and He inspires her to do what is right even
when it might cost her everything: her future, her security, her own sense of
self. There are people in our lives who need for us to be the change, to stand
out when everyone else is falling in line, and to make a way just like
Serenity’s grandfather did.
Alongside her, I pray readers
discover the power of our Almighty God who loves us more than we’ll ever
understand and cares for the details we don’t even know to be worried about.
2. What advice do you have for
aspiring writers?
I have a couple of pieces of
advice for new authors. After writing and publishing seven books, six indie and
one traditional, I’ve learned a ton about this writing journey. Network is so
important! And a year ago I met a wonderful friend and sister in Christ who
asked if there was a local Christian Writers Group. There were writers groups
near us, but no local Smyrna Christian group, so together we started Charis, a
local Christian author’s group in Smyrna, TN, and I’ve been blessed to walk
alongside several new authors as they brought their short stories and books to
publication.
Below are some paradigm shifts
that helped me on my journey:
- It’s a lifestyle, not a
destination vacation. If you think you are writing to finish the book,
you’ll find that there’s just another book, another revision, another
edit, another something that you have to do for your book. Writing the
book is simply the first step in a journey of steps. When I was younger
and dieting, I used to hear all over the place. I’m changing my
lifestyle–not dieting. Writing a book is much the same way. It’s a
lifestyle, so create systems that support your writing consistently, while
also leaving adequate time for life and family, giving you balance.
- One step has more power than huge chunks. When
my husband was going through brain cancer—an entire story in itself—I
learned I had to just make the next step through life. I couldn’t think
about the big picture or end results. I put on blinders and disciplined
myself to take the next step, no matter how much it scared me. In that, I
found the journey went more quickly, each step grew a touch easier, and I
could accomplish incredible things in brief periods of time.
- Work with yourself, not against yourself. If you
are a morning person, write in the morning. But if you are a night person,
write in the night. Don’t try to be something God didn’t create you to be.
God made you on purpose the way you are. He loves you the way you are.
There’s enough in this world to fight against. Don’t let your war be
against yourself.
- Learn! Learn! Learn! The minute you think you’ve
arrived, you will grow stale. In my writer’s group, we try to study a book
a year. This year’s book is Susan May Warren’s The Story Equation. Other
books I’ve learned from and loved are Hawker’s 17 step method,
unfortunately named “Take off your Pants” referring to pantsers learning
to plan; Story Genius by Larry Brooks; John Truby’s “The Anatomy of
Story”; “Break into Fiction” by Mary Buckham and Dianna Love; “The
Emotional Wound Thesaurus and that entire series by Angela Ackerman &
Becca Puglisi. And I have at least fifty more on my TBR that I can’t wait
to dig into.
- Work to the end. So many newer authors get lost
in the spiral of starting a book, writing to chapter four or five, then
having a new idea or learning something or any other distraction, and then
they go back to the beginning and revise, cut, edit, get to chapter four
or five, then have a … You get the idea. It’s essential to learn to
persevere to the end of each phase of writing. So when you start a rough
draft, work until you’ve finished that first rough draft. Allow yourself
to make a note of things you want to revise, keep a notebook or an app
with notes, but finish to the end.
If I had to pick the two most
impactful of the above five, I would say “One Step” and “Work to the End.” I
teach High School English at a local public school, and in that course we cover
the writing process. Consider the following steps in the writing process:
planning, rough draft, revision, critique & revision, developmental edit,
line edit, proofread, publish. I encourage you to work to the end one step at a
time through each of these steps. Blessings on your writing journey!
3. How does your “real job”
influence your writing?
“You will know the truth, and the
truth will set you free.”—John 8:32 (NIV)
As a public school teacher, I work
with students who struggle with very real-world problems, but in that capacity,
I can’t share with students the real solution and Truth that God loves them and
has a plan for their lives—that they matter and are loved more than they’ll
ever know. I can’t tell them about the scriptures that hold me together in my
worst moments and drive me to do better in my best moments. So, I write.
FreeFalling was born straight out
of my classrooms from over eighteen years of experience over nine schools,
three districts, and two countries. I started asking what if questions and
FreeFalling blossomed from that. What will come of schools and students if the
teacher shortage continues? What is the long term impact on education as news
segments continue to emphasize the “Crisis in the Classroom,” a segment on our
local news that airs every night at ten pm. Just hearing that phrase has an
impact on any local listener and especially any teacher or mother who has a
child in a local classroom. What might be the far-reaching repercussions of the
vast spreading of everyones thoughts toward education and teachers that are now
propagated at will on social media?
FreeFalling is about the potential
damage society might suffer if we continue in this direction. As it is, we are
seeing incredible shortages in teaching, and I believe it’s because no one
chooses to become the villain of the story. Teachers are heroes, but the longer
our society labels them the villain, the longer we cry out how awful they are,
the less young people will want to become a teacher. Our local state college
used to graduate over six hundred teachers a year, feeding many local public
schools. This number is now under one hundred.
Serenity isn’t a Christian and she
is serving her four years of government-mandated community service as a teacher
before she has access to the future pathways for her career under the Dome.
Because, under the dome religions and history do not exist, weaving in
scripture as the backbone of this story had to be done carefully through a
still small whisper that speaks to Serenity, guiding and teaching her just as
the Holy Spirit guides and teaches me. After a terrible fight between the
girls, Serenity risks everything to try and save her two favorite students from
reconditioning—a chemical brain washing procedure that rectifies the
argumentative part of the brain. By stepping out and fighting for these two
girls, Serenity risks everything: her future potential, her place in society,
even her sense of self if she gets reconditioned.
I was recently asked if I’ve ever
had to risk my life for a student. About four years ago, at the end of a tough
school year at a school I wasn’t returning to, a student of mine brought a gun
to school, and we were in code red, lockdown.
I turned the lights off, and the
students cowered in the least visible corner of the room with textbooks
covering their chest, and we waited. Would my student round the corner and fire
on us?
My nerves were on fire.
I didn’t want to leave my family
motherless.
But no matter what, I knew I would
not let any of the students in my room get hurt if I had the power to stop it.
If the shooter came through that
door, I would stand between him and the students.
Training didn’t touch the truth at
that moment.
Nothing hits like knowing the kid
carrying the gun.
What if I’d triggered him?
Swallowing back fear and choosing
to stand in a courage that simply wasn’t there.
Time slowed.
It felt like hours had passed. I
don’t know how long it took for them to apprehend the student, but I know I
learned something about myself that day.
In the soul-searching,
mettle-testing darkness of that classroom, I imagined myself between a bullet
and my students.
I’ve thought about shootings,
especially after those that happen close to home. I still held the firm belief
that it would never happen to me, my classroom, or my students.
After that situation, I learned
I’d fight for the students under my responsibility.
Since moving schools, I’ve had the
honor of teaching Advanced Honors and Honors English II to sophomores at our
local magnet school. So, God has blessed me to spend the daylight hours
teaching others to write and exploring the writing of talented authors, and
then I come home in the evenings, and tell the stories God writes on my heart.
The students love to have a
teacher who’s actively using what she teaches. They are so curious about what I
write and about how to become writers. I’m the Creative Writing Club Sponsor at
the high school, and I’m a mentor to a couple of aspiring writers that are
doing great. One of my students, Lynnea Mileusnich, published her first
middle-grade, Christian Fantasy book, Heir of Promise. I’m so proud of her and
excited to see where God takes her next.
God gave me a gift, and it is my
responsibility as a member of God’s kingdom to give that gift back to God. For
every book I write, I pray it reaches the readers that will be most impacted,
edified, and encouraged by it. I pray readers feel seen and inspired to keep
hoping when it seems all hope is lost, to keep walking when it seems all is
futile, to keep loving when it seems the world is full of hate and loss.
There is a beautiful hope and joy
despite the difficult world we live in, and we have a heavenly father that
loves us more than we will ever be able to understand. I want to help others
remain focused on God’s love for them. Use everything God has given me to share
this truth and my experiences both in and out of school. God has an incredible
plan for the books he gives us, and I’m thrilled to be writing the next part of
The Reconditioned Series journey—Awakening.
And of course, I’d love to have readers join me in any
of the following social places:
BOOK LINKS:
Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222350373-freefalling
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPTFGM8S
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenniferlynnburrows
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jenniferlynnburrows
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jlburrowsauthor
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jenniferlynnburrows/freefalling-book-1-in-the-reconditioned-series/
Website: www.jlburrows.com
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/freefalling-the-reconditioned-book-1-by-j-l-burrows
LINK FOR NEWSLETTER JOINING:
https://BookHip.com/TTZQCBA
- Includes a freebie Prequel Anthology - Invading Darkness the origin stories
to my Balance Keepers main characters.
BOOK BLURB:
One hundred and eighty years in the
future, the U.S. government eradicates warfare and violence.
Serenity should feel safe, but she doesn’t.
Serenity Knowles knows two things for certain. Finishing
her government assigned community service as a teacher is mandatory in order to
start her adult life. And stopping those in power from reconditioning two of
her favorite students will ruin her chances at a future and a life.
Everything she thought she once knew to be true, suddenly
is now in question after her typically peaceful girls fight in plain view of
everyone at school. The Federal Bureau of Acceptance storms in and collects
them both for reconditioning—chemical brain washing. With no one to help,
Serenity is driven into a wild rescue and escape plan. The girls can’t be made
into shadow children, brainwashed and limited to a menial future.
All that stands between the overreaching government and
her girls is Serenity’s budding faith, a furry beast companion, her modified
illegal AI, and a ragtag group of men and women set against the use of cutting
edge technology and genetically modified bio-weapons on citizens under the
Dome. If any of them get caught, they will be reconditioned. If they don’t move
fast enough, the girls will be lost. If she doesn’t become a hero, any hope of
a real future will be forfeit.
In her transformation from
a teacher with a broken family to a radical defector leading a team of rebels,
Sere discovers America’s deadliest threat—its own government.
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