It began as a guilty pleasure. Sneaking romance novels home from Grandma’s house and falling in love with every hero, learning about the exciting careers of the heroines, and traveling to exotic locations – all without confessing the sweet addiction of romance novels.
Soon, Jenna’s passion for reading, and writing, was uncovered. Teachers and professors tried to mold that interest towards literature, but nothing compares to the passion and happily ever after promise of romance.
After drifting through careers in retail and staffing, Jenna had a baby and opted to stay home. She thought she’d find spare time to finally finish one of the dozen novels she’d started, but the baby, and his brother two years later, had other ideas. Stories began, then stalled when a new idea took its place. She dated a lot of novels, but didn’t develop more than a passing crush until a health crisis forced her reevaluate when ‘someday’ was.
Just One Spark was the first book that Jenna Bayley-Burke ever completed. Though she'd been composing stories since she could write, she had never finished a story until 2004. She says she was hung up on finding that perfect word or description, but once she let that go she was able to write the entire story — and Just One Spark was born.
Finishing that first novel taught Jenna the thrill of completion and excitement of selling her first book. In between preschool pickup and bath time she stores up ideas, rushing to release them onto her computer once the kids have whined their way into that third drink of water. She hides out in the Pacific Northwest with her high school sweetheart, two boys, and a black lab with separation anxiety.
Just One Spark published in the UK in May 2006, accomplishing Jenna's goal of being published before her 30th birthday. Her second book, Cooking Up A Storm came out the following December. An avid short story writer, her work can be found on Coffee Time, eHarlequin, Romance Central, and Wild Rose Press. Jenna is also a recipe developer with a cookbook on the way (The Pocket Diet and recently won the grand prize in Better Homes & Gardens 2005 Prize Tested Recipe contest.
For more, read her interview, check out her blog or her website.
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