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NTRWA August
2004 Spotlight On...
JENNIFER
MALONE
by Juliet Burns
Jennifer
Malone grew up in Missoula, Montana. Land of the big sky. The
average nightly temperature in January is around 10 degrees and people still
ice skate on outdoor ponds. There are more people living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area than in the entire
state of Montana! So moving to Texas for a job was quite a
culture shock for Jennifer, whose car had no air-conditioning!
But
Jennifer speaks of her move very understatedly, as if it were no big
deal. This is typical of her: brave, adventuresome and ready to do what
must be done. Her parents divorced when she was 12, and she didn’t see
much of her father for several years. But she took this in stride and now
has a good relationship with him. All of Jennifer’s heroines have these
same traits: strong, determined, and brave. Her favorite quote is by
Andre Gide, “One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose
sight of the shore for a very long time.”
Both
her parents are huge readers and they instilled in her a love for
reading. And since her mother is an English teacher, her natural talent
for beautiful writing is enhanced by a wicked knowledge of grammar,
spelling and punctuation. After graduating from the University of Montana in ’95 with a degree in
Communication Studies and a minor in History, Jennifer began her first
manuscript writing longhand in a spiral notebook. One of her favorite
movies is GONE WITH THE WIND, so it’s no surprise her story was about a
feisty southern belle who must hold her family’s plantation together at
all costs after the civil war.
Jennifer
moved to Texas six years ago for her career
and she’s now employed as Director of Marketing Communications for United Way. Her job kept her busy, but
she wrote as much as she could and joined
RWA® and NT in 2002,
quickly making friends and joining a critique group. She’s recently
published an article about the history of the rodeo in Texas and is currently working on
a contemporary romantic suspense titled Whispers of Thunder set in Fort Worth. Or should I say desperately
working on, since Ann Leslie Tuttle at HQN has requested the full
manuscript.
Jennifer
is an avid jogger and loves to go boot scootin’ to her favorite country
songs. She’s still looking for that handsome cowboy to ride up and sweep
her away on his horse, she jokingly says, “Mainly so I can stay home and
write full time”. But until then, she’ll continue to meet life head on,
leave the shore and adventure to far off lands. Even if it’s only in her
novels. We’d like to keep her in Texas.
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