Welcome, J.L. Cole! Tell us a little about yourself and your work.
Silver Heights is a women’s fiction novel published by Black Rose Writing. It was awarded the 2020 Romance Runner-Up Maxy Award and is my debut novel. It centers around a young woman who moves to a secluded ranch hoping to escape her past and start fresh, but navigating a rushed marriage, her mother-in-law and country living is nothing like she expected. I write under the pen name J.L. Cole. L stands for Lynn, my middle name, and Cole is my maiden name.
What drew you to writing?
Writing has always been a passion of mine, going back to when I was in elementary school. Initially what drew me to writing was my love for fiction stories. Before I could read, I loved when my mom would read my sisters and I books before bedtime. When I was finally able to read on my own you would never find me without a book in hand. This love for stories led me to start writing my own.
My goal was always to pursue being a novelist, no matter where else life took me. I studied journalism in college thinking that it would be a good way for me to learn to be a better writer and get paid to write. By the time I was in my early twenties I had only written short stories, so I decided it was time to tackle writing a novel. It took a few false starts and a couple hits to my self-confidence, but I finally achieved my goal!
What was your inspiration for Silver Heights?
When I sat down to write my novel I had a lot of different ideas that led to a lot of beginnings, but none of them went anywhere. I decided to start with something I was really familiar with, thinking that if I wrote on a topic I knew a lot about, I wouldn’t procrastinate with research and get stalled trying to figure out the details. Having grown up on a farm in a community that is pretty remote, I knew the setting well and the challenges and beauty that can come from living that lifestyle. I also knew the feelings and up and down journey that can come with getting married young. I also based a lot of experiences on things my parents have lived, so I had a lot of material to draw from.
I decided to name the novel Silver Heights, as a nod to my community. The dirt road I grew up on is known as the Silver Heights road, because down the road just past my family ranch there used to be a corner where a store, community hall and at one point a blacksmith stood. Now there is just a tree that marks the place, but it is still known as Silver Heights.
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Do you find inspiration in your own life for your writing?
Absolutely. Anne Lamott said it best, “If you don’t know where to start, remember that every single thing that happened to you is yours and you get to tell it.”
I think the best writing is when it comes from the heart. It’s also why it is so intimidating to put your work out there. It is such a vulnerable moment having people read something you poured so much of yourself into. I have struggled during the months leading up to my book being released with having confidence, knowing so many people who know me will read it. But I love writing, I am happiest when I write and I hope I never stop.
Did you go the traditional route (agent/publisher), small press, or self-pub? Tell us about your experience with the publishing process.
I really had no idea what I was doing when I started looking at publication options. I learned a lot through my writing group, the Women’s Fiction Writing Association (WFWA). I decided to start by querying 100 agents and see where that got me. I got to 86 when I learned about Small presses. I thought that wouldn’t be a bad way to go so I sent out five query letters to different publishers to test the waters and immediately I got a response. When the book contract offer came I was ecstatic and then immediately convinced it must be a scam (the lack of confidence thing again).
When I thoroughly looked into Black Rose Writing I put all my fears to rest and decided to give it a try. I figured I wasn’t going to learn anything by keeping my manuscript in a drawer, eventually I was going to have to be brave and put myself out there if I was really going to do this author thing. So far, it’s been a good experience.
Any new projects on the horizon?
Yes! I am working on my second novel right now. It’s coming along a little slower than I would like, having two little girls and a contract writing and editing job means I have limited time to work on my fiction writing, but I am excited for it. I’m staying in the women’s fiction genre but it does have a different tone then my last book. I’m hoping to have it in good shape by the New Year to start the querying process.
Words of advice for fellow writers in the trenches:
I wrote a blog on this recently that I put on my website. To summarize it I would say plug into a writing group, limit distractions in your life (Netflix, social media etc.) and create a writing routine. These things were key for me to complete my novel.
What was the hardest part of the story to write?
Definitely the first chapter. I have so many drafts of it, and I am still not sure I got it completely right. A lot of agents ask for the first ten pages when you query, and readers of course often will read the first little bit to see if they want to buy the book, so it’s a lot of pressure to have a strong first chapter.
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Now for an excerpt….
CHAPTER ONE: RAYNA
January 1995
If things hadn’t changed, Rayna Parker probably would’ve wound up dead by thirty.
That might be a little dramatic. She perhaps would’ve been depressed, possibly knocked up, maybe homeless, but for sure miserable. Those were the not-so-bad options. The very worst-case, but probably the most-likely scenario, was that Rayna would’ve ended up exactly like her mother.
The direction of her life took a drastic turn on the day Rayna found herself in a church, wearing a too-small green dress, waiting for a wedding to begin on a hot July afternoon. Despite the setting, it was not a religious revelation that changed the course of her life. It was when her eyes swept across the room and settled on a young man with a broad chest that strained against a blue button-up shirt.
She supposed, thinking back, the real moment of change came a little before that when she agreed to go with her college friend, Chloe Miller, to visit her family ranch. They made the six-hour trip in Chloe’s barely held together Dodge Neon, which had no air conditioning and the musty smell of dust mixed with old food radiating off the seats. The last two hours of the drive had been down a straight road with only a static-filled AM radio station for distraction. The farther north they travelled the more spaced out the towns got until it was mainly just rows of fields, dotted now and then with a scattered herd of cattle. Rayna had enjoyed the drive with the wide- open scenery casting out in either direction. There was so much space, so much room to breathe. It was like as the sky opened up and the buildings were replaced by field after field of green grass with blue above, a weight slipped further and further off her shoulders. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so light.
