Fear Warrior Friends: A Chat with Jaime Jo Wright on Fear, Faith, and Christmas

Jerusha: I’m so thrilled to introduce you to my friend Jaime Jo Wright in the very first FW Blog interview! Jaime just released her much-anticipated debut suspense novel, The House on Foster Hill. She’s offering one print copy of this highly acclaimed novel to one of you who leaves a comment below. So read on and don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Thanks for taking the time to chat with me, Jaime! I’m fully in Christmas mode now, so I have to ask you some questions about my favorite time of year before we get to the harder stuff. 🙂 So first I want to know, do you get excited for Christmas like I do?

I do! I love Christmas!

Yay! I love to hear that. Do you have any special Christmas traditions?

One of my favorites is the weekend after Thanksgiving. The kids and I turn on Christmas music really loud, decorate, dance, and tease Daddy when he comes inside rolling his eyes at the revelry. 😊

LOL! Sounds like a fun tradition! With all the traditions and preparations we have to do during the holidays, it can become overwhelming. Do you get stressed during the holiday season? What do you do to prevent or reduce holiday stress?

I don’t get too stressed during the holidays. Probably the traveling is the most stressful. I’d prefer to stay close to home, but, alas, then there would be no family fun! 😊 To prevent stress, I usually drink coffee. LOL!

Haha, I guess coffee really does make everything better! 🙂 As great as coffee is, though, I’m guessing it doesn’t prevent all your stress during the rest of the year. What do you do when stress of other kinds start to weigh you down?

I usually confide in my husband. He is very adept at helping me realign perspective. I believe having that confidante who can speak honestly and gently is very important!

I agree! So helpful to have that trusted listener. You sound pretty resilient when it comes to stress-related fear. But I know most of us aren’t born that way. What was one of your fears as a child? Did you overcome it as you grew older?

My fear was always of my parents dying. I have overcome it as I’ve gotten older. The fear isn’t this anxiety ripping angst anymore, although, it’s certainly not something I like to think about. It is a reality. Death does come to visit all of us. But I believe that is where perspective is so important. Not easy, but important. An eternal hope that what we see today is not all there is, and that the promises of the Lord are very true!

Amen! So much comfort can be found our Lord’s promises. Praise the Lord for enabling you to beat this fear! Given that you have experienced the battle with fear, if you knew a friend was battling fear, how would you help her or him?

Definitely come alongside of them. I think one of the most potentially damaging things we can do is encourage them to “have faith”—it implies they don’t have enough, or they’re failing at faith. I often like to encourage them to “be still”, to take deep breaths, to reason through what is fear (life/death) versus what is anxiety (worry). Help bring things into perspective.

I love that encouragement to “be still.” What a great way to quiet the soul and know that God is still God and in control (Ps. 46:10). Like myself, you’re a suspense writer, which gives you a bit of a peculiar relationship with fear as you use it in your stories. Do you ever frighten yourself with what you write?

Not usually. I enjoy trying to incorporate the “scary” but with resolution. If I wrote paranormal or thriller, then yes, I definitely scare the bejeebies out of myself. LOL! Probably why I stick to mystery/suspense over RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

LOL, sounds like a smart choice! Speaking of running for your life, do you have a secret or funny fear you’re willing to share with your fellow fear warriors?

I’m horrified of spiders. They’re wicked, leggy creatures who grow to gigantic proportions in my imagination.

Oh, yes! I definitely share your horror. So when you have a moment for some relaxation, do you have a favorite scary movie or book?

I don’t scare very easily when it comes to books or movies. Although, I will say I avoid all supernatural/paranormal style movies as they tend to be too real. My favorite scary books are Stephen King novels. Pet Cemetary is creepy, but chillingly good. As for scary movies, I’m not certain one sticks out in my mind, although I do love a good crime television show.

You’re a tough fear warrior, Jaime! 🙂 Since this really is my favorite time of year, I can’t let you go without asking you one more Christmas question. When you’re sitting by the tree sipping a cup of your favorite brew, do you have a favorite Christmas story you like to pair with it?

Hmmm, I really do love T’was the Night Before Christmas. It’s such fun to read aloud!

Such a great classic. This has been so much fun chatting with you, Jaime! Thanks for visiting with us and daring to be vulnerable with your fellow fear warriors. Merry Christmas!

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Professional coffee drinker & ECPA/Publisher’s Weekly best-selling author, Jaime Jo Wright resides in the hills of Wisconsin writing spirited romantic suspense stained with the shadows of history. Coffee fuels her snarky personality.

She lives in Neverland with her Cap’n Hook who stole her heart and will not give it back, their little fairy Tinkerbell, and a very mischievous Peter Pan. The foursome embark on scores of adventure that only make her fall more wildly in love with romance and intrigue.

Jaime lives in dreamland, exists in reality, and invites you to join her adventures at jaimejowright.com.

You can also connect with Jaime on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Goodreads.

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Jaime is giving away one print copy of The House on Foster Hill! To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment below! (Randomly selected winner to be announced Dec. 11; winner must have Continental U. S. mailing address.)

Kaine Prescott is no stranger to death. When her husband died two years ago, her pleas for further investigation into his suspicious death fell on deaf ears.

In desperate need of a fresh start, Kaine purchases an old house sight unseen in her grandfather’s Wisconsin hometown. But one look at the eerie, abandoned house immediately leaves her questioning her rash decision. And when the house’s dark history comes back with a vengeance, Kaine is forced to face the terrifying realization she has nowhere left to hide.

A century earlier, the house on Foster Hill holds nothing but painful memories for Ivy Thorpe. When an unidentified woman is found dead on the property, Ivy is compelled to discover her identity.

Ivy’s search leads her into dangerous waters and, even as she works together with a man from her past, can she unravel the mystery before any other lives–
including her own–are lost?