Author Interview | Introducing Jennifer Mistmorgan

Today we’d like to welcome Australian author Jennifer Mistmorgan to the blog. Jennifer writes Christian historical romance, and has recently signed with Rachel McMillan,  a Canadian literary agent.

We’ll start with our Fast Five: five quick questions so we can get to know Jennifer better!

Long black or flat white?

Flat white. Always.

Mangoes or kiwifruit?

Mangoes. They are clearly superior.

Cricket or rugby?

Either, as long as I’m watching it with people who don’t mind if I chat through the whole thing.

Books or TV?

I love well-told stories, no matter what form they take.

Plotter or pantser?

I’m a plotanster…if there is such a thing! I always write an outline as a map, but I’m happy to change course if inspiration strikes!

Great answers! (Although I am contractually obliged to favour kiwifruit over mangoes.) Now, let’s get into the detail!

Where are you from?

I’m a Sydney-sider at heart. I grew up on the outskirts of the city, but the big smoke lured me in as an adult. I still am happiest when there’s a beach nearby! But I now call Canberra home.

What is your town or city most famous (or infamous) for?

Canberra has a reputation as a boring place full of politicians and public servants…but it doesn’t deserve the bad rap that it gets! It’s a country town with big city benefits (although, sadly, no beach!) and a great place to live with a family. Canberra is very beautiful with a big wide open sky, and I’ve seen more Australian wildlife here than anywhere else I’ve lived. Kangaroos actually do bounce down my suburban street!

What books are set in your town/city?

Have you ever seen Secret City on Netflix? It’s based on The Mandarin Code by Steve Lewis and Chris Uhlmann. Politics, journalism and spies…it’s all very Canberra.

No, but it sounds like I need to check it out.

What do you write?

I write courageous WWII romance. I think that war and conflict raises the stakes of any love story and I’m constantly inspired by the generation who fought in WWII. My stories have strong flourishes of faith and foodish flair. When I’m not writing fiction, I’m a content and copywriter with a focus on sustainable gastronomy.

Who or what are your main writing influences?

If you like Sarah Sundin and Roseanna M. White, you’ll like the kind of books I write. In my food writing, I’m highly influenced by Hugh-Fearnley Whittingstall and food historian Bee Wilson.

I love Sarah Sundin and Roseanna M. White!

Do you have any books published?

My first novelette is available for free to email subscribers. It’s set in a Special Operations Finishing School during WWII where people learnt spycraft so that they could parachute behind enemy lines and sabotage the Nazis. I’m working with Canadian agent Rachel McMillan to get my full length novels published in the US…so watch this space!

How long have you been writing?

I like to say that I have been a professional word wrangler for over twenty years. But the initial part of my career was as a voice and dialect coach (where I helped actors wrestle with spoken words). Then I became a copywriter and then finally started writing fiction seriously.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process? That moment when a seed you unthinkingly planted in the first act suddenly becomes a tree bearing fruit in the third act. You might not have intended the detail that you wrote to mean anything when you wrote it, but it’s like magic when it suddenly does!

What’s your biggest writing challenge?

Time. There’s never enough.

How does your faith impact your writing?

I really want to keep Christ in the cultural conversation in our post-Christian world. That informs how I write.

Finally, where’s the best place to find you online?

I blog about WWII books and Foodish history at my website. On social media, I’m most active on Instagram and Facebook. Or click here to get my free novelette.