Author Spotlight: Jen Pitts

With this blog post, I’m continuing my new series of posts profiling authors I know personally. In the first of the series, I profiled Daniel Paliwoda. This time I’m profiling my friend Jen Pitts. I’m excited for you to learn more about her and her writing! 

I’ve known Jen since we went to Rollins College together in Winter Park, Florida, where we were both English majors and became sorority sisters. Back then, I admired her positive outlook, her sense of humor, and her creativity. Not much has changed, as I still admire those things about her. Now, though, I admire her for even more. 

After a career in retail marketing and while she and her husband raised two children, Jen gradually transitioned into a career as a full-time creative writer. To make this transition, she first published a blog, then she switched to publishing books. I admire her for juggling so many changes in her life so successfully!

 

Author Jen Pitts (Jen Pitts Mystery Author/Jen Pitts)

Jen writes cozy mystery novels. For those not familiar with them, cozy mysteries are a genre focused on crime solving by an amateur detective surrounded by a small circle of friends or family. Works in this genre tend not to describe in detail any sexual or violent acts, hence the “cozy” moniker. Wikipedia offers a comprehensive overview of the genre as well as a list of some books, TV shows, and radio broadcasts that fit the mold.

Jen’s first series of cozy mysteries, called A French Quarter Mystery, contains seven books so far, all of which take place in the French Quarter of New Orleans. She has also started a second series, The Witches of the French Quarter, and she recently released her second book in that series. She’s accomplished all of that in four years, making her a pretty prolific writer! You can find all of her books on her website. She also maintains author pages on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Goodreads. If you subscribe to her newsletter, she’ll gift you a free short story, which is a prequel to her first cozy mystery novel.

I’m pleased to share this interview I conducted with Jen, which we edited collaboratively. 

When did you first know you might become an author?

I realized I was a writer in college, but I didn’t imagine I would become an author until I was about forty-eight years old. I wrote a handful of fiction pieces in college, but I concentrated on personal essays. Those stopped when I entered the corporate retail world. My entire writing time revolved around work—newsletters, ads, and catalog copy. I left that world to focus on being a stay-at-home mom and returned to personal writing. Yet, fiction writing was constantly on my mind.

When my youngest child entered elementary school, my husband suggested I go back to fiction writing. For Valentine’s Day in 2015, my husband gave me a drawing he did of a fleur-de-lis with a dagger and a pen. His artwork is now my logo for my company.

With his encouragement, I started working on my idea for my first book, The Key to Murder. I devoted time to it occasionally. When I became part of an arts community, attended classes, and joined a critique group, I finally believed I could be an author. It took me until March 2020 when I published my first book that I called myself an author.

What or who motivates you to write?

I love sharing my love of mysteries and New Orleans with others. At first, I was thrilled to get these stories out of my head and onto paper. When I began publishing, the demand for my books brought me joy, excitement, and a bit of worry about keeping pace. But I am keeping up and I love writing even more.

What is your favorite part of your writing process and what do you most like about it?

I love plotting. Planning mysteries, selecting characters, settings, and clues is fun. My outlines are always subject to change and they always do. New characters, different settings, more puzzling murders always pop up as I write my stories. And of course my characters always want to add in their two cents.

Where do you do most of your writing and why is that your chosen place?

I love my office at home. Behind my desk are bookshelves filled with all kinds of books. Some are for pleasure, some for work, although my “work” books are ones I enjoy, too. Once I tell visitors I’m a mystery writer, they’re not as concerned about the Voodoo and witch handbooks on my shelves.

I also love to write in coffee shops and not just for the coffee. Now, some might call what I do there eavesdropping, but I call it research. I’ve found unique names for characters, interesting bits of dialogue, and an occasional dramatic scene.

Whose books do you most like to read and why?

I love all kinds of mysteries! From cozies to police procedurals, I’ll read just about anything with a mystery element. I also enjoy psychological thrillers.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

It’s never too late to go for your dreams! Once I started writing fiction again, I wasn’t sure if I would finish a story. But I wanted to at least try. I’m so glad that I wrote that novel. I published my first book at fifty-one years old and I’ve released eight books with one available in prerelease and more to come. Don’t let your age or fear of failure keep you from trying!

Anything else you'd like to share?

I’d love to say thank you to my family and friends. They have been an amazing support group through these last four years. Not just my friends I see every day, but also those I’ve reconnected with on Facebook. And a special thanks to my sorority sisters, especially you, Karen! You’ve been a steadfast supporter from the beginning. Now it’s time for you to write a book!