We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessica Terry. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessica below.

Jessica, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve always loved to write but I was in college when I realized I actually wanted to be an author and put my works out there.

Jessica, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I write contemporary fiction, mostly Romance and Women’s Fiction, but there are some other genres sprinkled in there. How I got into it is a good question; I’ve loved to write since I was a child but I don’t recall what compelled me to start. It’s just been what I’ve loved to do ever since I can remember.

Novels aren’t all I do; I’m also a copywriter and a ghostwriter. I also do occasional writing consulting. But novels are my first love and if I had my way, that would be what I spent most of my days doing.

I’m proud of every novel I’ve put out, from the first one that was released in 2008 to my most current. I create characters that people can relate to and feel like they’ve met before, and I love that.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

It’s funny the perceptions non-creatives have about writing; they either think it’s ridiculously hard (“You actually sat and wrote all of that?? I can’t even imagine!”) or ridiculously easy (“It took you that long to finish this book? I’d have thought you could write this in a couple of days.”). Many just don’t understand what goes into writing these novels…of course every author has their own process, but for me, I don’t just sit down and have at it. There’s the pre-writing, the writing, and the post-writing. Thinking about the characters, the plot, the storyline, the arcs, the pacing…there’s all these elements that have to come together.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I have a good number of books out there so far, and I’m proud of that. But given how long I’ve been at this, many would expect me to be further along by now. Being an indie author is awesome in so many ways, though it’s still a struggle, no matter what I do by way of promotions (which I don’t claim to be any kind of savant at).

Here’s a transparency moment regarding what I struggle with: People might buy the books, but it usually takes them a while to actually read them. Then when they do, they might or might not leave a review or share anything about it (usually they don’t). It can be extremely frustrating, especially when I see other books get released and have reviews and shares come in immediately. I don’t like to compare myself to other authors because their journey is theirs and mine is mine, but it’s hard not to notice. And yes, it can be disheartening.

But I keep writing, regardless. Sure, I have my ‘why am I bothering?’ moments, but at the end of the day, I do this because I love it. I appreciate every reader I have and I don’t take any form of support for granted; there are few better feelings than hearing someone say they enjoyed one of my books. My writing is what I can control; everything else, in large part, is out of my hands. And I’m confident in the quality of my books; it just hasn’t been my time yet. That breakout moment will come and I’ll be ready when it does, not to mention grateful because of everything I’ve been through leading up to it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jessicaterry.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/@AuthorJessicaTerry
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/AuthorJessicaTerry
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/copyjessicaterry/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ItsJessicaTerry