A Cup Of Coffee With Author Jenny Hale, Harpeth Road Press Founder

March 2021- I bring to you another great author I’ve met on social media. Yes, another writer I’ve met on Twitter. One more author that is a fan of romance. This lady has a bunch of good romance stories! I discovered her when I found out two of her books were selected for Hallmark Christmas movies. (Yes, she is a fan of Hallmark too!)

As I have mentioned before, I follow so many wonderful people on Twitter and Facebook. People who continue to inspire and motivate me, while working on their own projects and promotions. I’m curious about who they are, where they grew up, and how they manage their writing, their creative process and their everyday lives. I also want to know how they got to where they are.

I had the pleasure of getting in touch with Jenny Hale. She published her first book, Coming Home for Christmas, in 2013. This book was selected for a Hallmark Christmas movie. Since then she has published 15 other titles, all romance stories (my favorites). She had a second book, Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses, selected for another Hallmark Christmas movie. And recently, she launched her biggest project yet: she started her own publishing company Harpeth Road Press.

Jenny Hale is a USA Today, Amazon, and international bestselling author of romantic contemporary fiction. Her books have sold worldwide, have been translated into multiple languages, and adapted for television. Her novels Coming Home for Christmas and Movie Guide Epiphany Award winner Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses are Hallmark Channel original movies.

Retrieved from Goodreads website Goodreads Author Jenny Hale.

Her titles include Coming Home for Christmas (2013), A Barefoot Summer: Love Me for Me (2014), A Christmas to Remember (2014), Summer by the Sea (2015), Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses (2015), Summer at Oyster Bay (2016), All I Want for Christmas (2016), The Summer House (2017), We’ll Always Have Christmas (2017), One Summer (The Summer Hideaway) (2018), It Started With Christmas (2018), Christmas at Silver Falls (2019), Summer at Firefly Beach (2019), The House on Firefly Beach (2020), Christmas at Fireside Cabins (2020), and The Memory Keeper (2021). Just reading this list makes me happy. And if you look at her covers, you do feel you are about to read a cozy romantic story.

Jenny lives in Tennessee with her husband and kids. She was a teacher for many years, before deciding to become a full time writer. Even with the restrictions of the COVID pandemic, she has kept on writing, and now revising and editing work from other authors that will become part of her company. With the launching of her own publishing company, Harpeth Road Press, her first released title The Memory Keeper became available, and it has been a great hit.

I want you to know more about Jenny. Here’s our conversation:

My blog is Full of Coffee, so first question I ask, do you like coffee? (I follow you on Twitter, so I know you do!)

• I LOVE coffee. I became a habitual coffee drinker after having my kids. It was a quick way to wake up in the morning. Then, when I began my creative career, I felt the caffeine helped me focus a bit. And, I must admit, working in coffee shops is a plus.

Coffee shops have become so creative and popular! I’m glad they have space for people to spend time enjoying their drink, reading, writing, or just taking a break. How do you like your coffee?

• At home, I like to make it with sweet cream made from almond milk. At coffee shops, I prefer lattes with either almond, coconut, or oat milk.

Tell me, where did you grow up? Do you have any siblings?

• I grew up in southern Virginia. I’m the oldest of three kids, and I’m the only girl of the 3.

Did your childhood influence your love for reading and desire to become a writer?

• Actually, there wasn’t anything in my childhood that I remember setting the stage for my writing. I did keep journals and I was on the newspaper staff in high school, but the idea to write novels didn’t occur to me until I was an adult.

When did you decide to give professional writing a try?

• I was a school teacher with two young kids of my own. As I was reading a novel one night, I just thought, “I could write one of these.” So I did. It was awful and never saw the light of day, but then I bought books on how to do it and studied my favorite authors. The second book I wrote was Coming Home for Christmas.

Wow! Did going for a career in writing affect your personal life, or your professional life?

• Writing didn’t change my personal life, but it definitely changed my professional life. I wrote under contract and taught school for three years until I just couldn’t do both anymore. I quit teaching to focus on my writing and I’ve been writing full-time ever since.

Tell me about your first published book! How was that experience of getting a book published?

• It was surreal. I had no expectations for it at all, since it was sort of a new hobby. The success was unbelievable.

You also have had two of your books, Coming Home for Christmas and Christmas Kisses and Mistletoe Kisses selected and made into Hallmark movies! How was that experience for you?

• It was a great experience! I really enjoyed seeing my characters come to life. I wasn’t able to go to set either time but maybe one day!

You had about 15 novels/romances published already, then you decided to start this wonderful project of your own publishing company Harpeth Road Press! Tell me a bit about how all of these came to be.

• The more I got into the profession of writing, the more I wanted to sit around the table with my publishing team. I had real ideas about where I wanted to take my brand and what I wanted for my books. When the pandemic hit, and everything was cancelled, I used the time to write an extra book and to begin to plan and construct my new imprint. 

Your romance book The Memory Keeper was published recently, the first book out of your company. It has been moving up in sales ranking on Amazon! But you have been busy writing and editing your next story, plus making decisions on the submissions your company has been receiving since you started operations. I have to say, I love to follow your writing process, as you post tid-bits of your everyday life on Twitter.

• I’m so happy the posts are enjoyable to read. It’s a goal of mine to always try to top myself. I’m constantly wondering what I can do better, how I can learn.

Any future plans you want to share with us?

• I’m working on a summer book with my current publisher, I have a new (top secret) writing project that’s something I’ve never done before that I’m working on here in Nashville (Tennessee), and I have about ten submissions to Harpeth Road that I’m considering at the moment.

Wonderful! Can’t wait for more books coming out both from you and your new publishing company Harpeth Road Press. Thank you so much for sharing your story with me, with us.

I admire Jenny and her work ethic. I admire her passion and spontaneity. She inspires me to continue my pursuit of a writing career. There is never enough romance in the world!

If you want to know more about Jenny, visit her website www.itsjennyhale.com and subscribe to her newsletter! You can also follow her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/jennyhaleauthor, Twitter: www.twitter.com/jhaleauthor, and Instagram: www.instagram.com/jhaleauthor.

And visit Harpeth Road Press website www.harpethroad.com to follow along as they get ready to publish more romance from Jenny and many other writers that are joining their company. Follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HarpethRoad, Twitter: www.twitter.com/HarpethRoad, and Instagram: www.instagram.com/harpethroad.

I hope everyone enjoys this interview as much as I have enjoyed writing it. It’s a great opportunity for me to meet all these incredible writers.

I’ll keep reading, I’ll keep writing, I’ll keep dreaming! I have some more pending projects to work on. Thank you for reading! Time for my tacita de café. Salud!

Para versión en español, vea https://fullofcoffeeblog.com/una-taza-de-cafe-con-la-autora-jenny-hale-fundadora-de-harpeth-road-press