Today we welcome Lori DeJong to the Brave Blog to talk about her writing process and more. She writes contemporary Christian romance. So happy to have you, Lori! Let’s jump in.
Sarah: How would you define bravery? What is it? Where does it come from?
Lori: I would define bravery as moving ahead in the face of fear, not necessarily when there’s an absence of fear. Some of my biggest achievements or victories came about because I didn’t let fear hold me back. Even if I wasn’t sure of an outcome, whenever I moved ahead knowing the Lord was with me, and after seeking His guidance, I never regretted it. So, I guess that’s where I believe bravery comes from, at least from a Christian perspective. I believe bravery is more about being faithful than being fearless.
Sarah: Well stated. What’s your favorite genre to read?
Lori: My favorite genre to read is my favorite genre to write – contemporary Christian romance. Romantic suspense is a very close second, however. And although I don’t write any historical fiction, nor do I read much of it, I do enjoy western historical, especially when there are cowboys involved. Haha!
Sarah: Gotta love those cowboys! So, when did you know you wanted to be an author?
Lori: That is a very good question. I think in some ways, I’ve always wanted to be an author. I remember even back in high school dreaming of one day being an author, but I wasn’t actually pursuing it. Back in my twenties and thirties, I was pretty consistent about making yearly goals lists, and at the beginning of every year would list out my short-term goals (for that year), mid-term goals (2-3 years) and long-term goals. In the early 2000’s, we were packing for a move and I found one of those lists from the early 1990’s. One of my long-term goals at that time was to be a published author. And I wasn’t even writing! Fast forward to 2023 and my first book was published. Life lesson is to keep those dreams alive. You never know when they might actually come to fruition!
Sarah: That’s encouraging! Thanks for sharing. What is your brainstorming process like? Where do your ideas come from?
Lori: Brainstorming is one of my favorite things to do as an author. I love getting together with other writers, setting up a premise, and then just letting the ideas flow. I have three critique partners who brainstorm with me quite a bit, especially if I get myself stuck somewhere in my story. They’ve been gracious to hop on a Zoom call with me and we’ll just let the ideas fly. I love brainstorming other people’s stories too. It’s just fun, and it always oils the gears up for my own writing. If I’m having trouble with a title, I have actually stuck a premise into ChatGPT and asked it for title ideas. But I’ve never done any actual brainstorming for story ideas from AI. I’d much rather do that with real live people.
Sarah: Sounds like you have good community. When do you write, and where?
Lori: I’ve only recently left the day job to write full-time, so I’m still trying to find my best writing time. It used to be evenings and weekends since I worked days, but now I’m trying to do most of my writing during the day and leave my evenings free. But I do find myself still writing in the evenings if I have to be out and about during the day, or if I get on a roll and want to keep going. I’m an empty nester, so I don’t have kids at home, and my husband is cool about me not cooking every single night. So, while I haven’t actually developed a clear writing schedule as of yet, I do hope to do that so I can schedule all of the other writing-related tasks around that, such as social media, marketing, and so on. I mostly write at home in my living room, but I also love to go to the library or to a local coffee shop here in Georgetown (Texas) that plays Christian music. I’ve been known to hang out there for hours to write. It’s nice to get away to a different setting now and again.
Sarah: Yes! Coffee shops are great for a chance of scenery. Do you prefer paperback, eBook, or audiobook? Why?
Lori: I much prefer paperback because I love holding a book in my hands. But my budget prefers Kindle Unlimited. Haha! If I had hundreds of dollars to spend on books, I’d have stacks of paperbacks. I do try to support my writer friends by purchasing their books, however, so it’s fun to read their books in paperback. My mind is a natural-born wanderer, so I’m not sure I’d be great at the audio book thing. I’ve tried the audio function on my Bible app but find myself having to go back quite a bit because I missed stuff when my mind wandered off.
Sarah: Understandable. Let’s talk about your writing. Which book of yours was the hardest to write? Why?
Lori: Strangely enough, the one I’m currently writing. I’m just finishing the first draft of Love’s True Measure, the third and last installment of my True Calling Series that comes out next June, and it’s taken me forever, and a lot of brainstorming with aforementioned critique partners, to wrap this one up. I think with books one and two, I went into them knowing already how they were going to end. I didn’t have a clear ending in mind when I started this third one, and I don’t think my characters wanted their story to end, so they weren’t cooperating with me. I think we worked it out, though, and I’m really excited about their story.
Sarah: Oh no, not uncooperative characters. Glad it ended well for you. If you could travel anywhere for a week, where would you go? Who would you take with you?
Lori: Italy. That’s my dream vacation. Which is funny because I hate to fly. I’m a very nervous flyer, so I can’t imagine being on a plane that long. But I would absolutely love to see Italy. And, of course, I would have to take my husband, but my daughter (who’s 24) would be my number one traveling companion. We have such a great time together and we laugh at everything. She knows I’m a goof and just rolls her eyes at my little faux pas. But we have the best time when we’re together. And we love to eat, so there’s that.
Sarah: Sounds fun! What subject have you done the most research on for your writing?
Lori: In Love’s True Home, Book Two of the True Calling Series that released this past June, my female protagonist was raised on several different Central American mission fields, the last one being in Guatemala, where her father still served. During the course of the story, she takes the male protagonist to Guatemala, and he falls in love with it. I’ve never been anywhere near Central America, so I did a lot of research for that. Most of which happened through a writer friend I met at the 2022 ACFW National Conference in St. Louis who turned out to be a missionary in Guatemala. I had just started writing LTH so it was such a God thing that we met at that exact point in time. Over the next few months, we had two Zoom calls where she answered my dozens of questions, she sent me over 200 photos and videos of the area where she serves, and generally just gave me a first class education about Guatemala. She was a huge factor in making the fictional village of Pamoca come alive in my book.
Sarah: What a great connection! Okay, last question: What are you working on now?
Lori: I’m finishing up the first draft of Love’s True Measure before I start deep editing and layering, then will start sending those chapters out to my critique partners. Once those come back, I’ll make final edits and send it in to my publisher. I had a late October deadline that was thankfully pushed to November. However, I can’t take too long to get that done because the deadline for book one of my next series, a new one featuring a suspense element and a bodyguard in each story, is in February. Thankfully, that draft is written so I’ll go right into the deep editing stage.
But what I’m most excited about right now is the October 1 release of A Match Made at Christmas, a collection of Christmas romance novellas, which includes my story, Jingle Bell Matchmakers. I had such fun writing this novella, and I hope it gets everybody in the mood for Christmas!
Sarah: Thanks so much for joining us on the Brave Blog. It was wonderful to hear more about you. Blessings on all your writing endeavors.
You can purchase A Match Made at Christmas which includes Lori’s Jingle Bell Matchmakers here.
Lori DeJong (pronounced DeeYung) is a contemporary Christian romance author who enjoys penning stories full of grace and the redemptive power of God’s love that inspire others to hope regardless of circumstance, find joy in the moment, and grow in their faith.
Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Lori arrived in Texas in 2005 and dug those roots right in. She currently resides in beautiful Georgetown, north of Austin, with her husband of thirty years. Other than their two fur-babies, their nest is empty, as their daughter graduated from college and settled in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, where she is thriving in her faith and career.
Lori loves to write about love and romance and all that fun stuff, with a firm foundation of faith. Clean but sassy, sparkly, and even goose-bumpy romance, with God in the middle and characters seeking and learning and changing, couldn’t be more heartwarming or spine-tingly.
Lori’s debut novel, “Love’s True Calling”, Book One of her True Calling Series, was the 2020 winner of the Scrivenings Press Novel Starts Contest, the 2022 winner of the ACFW Genesis Award for Romance, and a 2022 Maggie finalist. It was released by Scrivenings Press in June 2023, “Love’s True Home” released in June 2024, and “Love’s True Measure” in June 2025.
