An Author Interview with Jennifer Slattery

I’ve got an extra treat for you this month. Author Jennifer Slattery, whose books include Beyond I Do, When Dawn Breaks, and now her newest release Intertwined, has stopped by for an interview.

Jennifer writes soul-stirring fiction for New Hope Publishers, a publishing house passionate about bringing God’s healing grace and truth to the hopeless. She also writes for Crosswalk.com, Internet Café Devotions, and the group blog, Faith-filled Friends. When not writing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband.

You can visit with Jennifer online at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com and connect with her on Facebook.

Jennifer, this is your third release in just 2 years. What did you learn in the marketing of your first 2 books, and how did those things affect what you did this time around?

I think marketing is probably the hardest part of publishing. It can feel like you’re putting yourself out there saying, “Hey, look at me!” But whenever I begin to feel self-conscious, I remind myself I’m not marketing me, I’m marketing Jesus (since my books point people to Him). I’m also honoring my publisher who’s invested time and money into me and my books. And honestly, I want to see my publisher do well. I love their mission and their message and would love to see God continue to bless them. I figure whatever I can do to help increase sales also helps in that regard.

As to what I’ve learned: God is continually showing me the intricate interaction between hard work and surrender. I’m to do everything, including marketing, to the very best of my ability, releasing the results to Him. This really takes the stress out of it all and brings every moment back to obedience. Short answer, I’m learning surrender-based excellence. (smile)

Surrender-based excellence, I like that. Where my own work is concerned, I’m still learning to release the results to God. Thank you for that reminder. The backdrop of your story is a hospital and your main character is an organ procurement coordinator. How did you research the medical aspect of your book?

This was crazy hard! To begin with, I didn’t write this novel alone. I have a friend, Ami Koelliker, who was working as an organ procurement coordinator at the time, and she helped me immensely. We met for hours! Over coffee, over lunch, at her house; we talked by phone. She taught me the technical side of donation, from how patients get listed and how organs are matched, to how surgeons prep organs for transplant. It was fascinating! Once I had plot thread ideas, I shared them with her, and she told me if they were plausible. Then, once I wrote the story, she read through it—three times!—to verify accuracy (and tell me what I needed to change).

I also contacted others experts in their fields—a hospital chaplain, hospital workers, mental health professionals—and did a great deal of online research. I purchased and read books about those who needed organs or had received them as well as a compilation filled with stories from those working in the organ transplant field. As you can see, this novel required a tremendous amount of research!

Wow! Sounds like you might have spent more time in research than in the actual writing of the book. How did your friend get you to write about organ donation?

Intertwined originated from an off-the-cuff statement my friend Ami Koelliker made on Facebook. I had posted something, I believe it was a question, though I don’t remember what. She responded, “Write about organ donation.” Which was a bit strange, considering her reply had nothing to do with my post. (Funny how God works, huh?) I read her comment and thought, “Um… no.” But then one morning when I awoke, Tammy’s story began unfolding in my mind. I knew her struggles, her dreams, her arc.

The story came with such clarity, I knew it was from God, so, glancing toward the ceiling I said, “Fine. I’ll write it. But I’m going to need a lot of help.”

Of course, whenever God assigns, He always provides everything we need to fulfill His assignment, and that was certainly the case in regard to Intertwined. I called my friend and told her I’d write a story on organ donation, if she’d help me. She said she would, although I doubt she had any idea what she was getting herself into! Hours of meetings and umpteen rewrites later, Intertwined was born!

I love the unfathomable ways in which God works in our lives. Thank you for being here with us today and sharing your journey to Intertwined. I pray that readers will find encouragement and guidance in their own journey to publication through what you’ve shared here today.

If you have a question for Jennifer, type it into the comments box below.

About Intertwined:

Abandoned by her husband for another woman, Tammy Kuhn, an organ procurement coordinator often finds herself in tense and bitter moments. After an altercation with a doctor, she is fighting to keep her job and her sanity when one late night she encounters her old flame Nick. She walks right into his moment of facing an unthinkable tragedy. Because they both have learned to find eternal purposes in every event and encounter, it doesn’t take long to discover that their lives are intertwined, but the ICU is no place for romance…or is it? Could this be where life begins again?

Intertwined, part of New Hope Publisher’s contemporary fiction line, is a great reminder of how God can turn our greatest tragedies and failures into beautiful acts of love and grace. Readers will be inspired to find God in every moment and encounter in their own lives!

Buy Intertwined at:
CBD, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.