Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Reunion in Stringtown: Finding Faith, Family, and Healing is actually my third non-fiction book. I began writing fiction stories secretly in the middle of the night around the age of 8 or 9. By the time I was a sophomore in high school I knew I wanted to be a journalist. I worked on my high school paper and, at 16, started working at the Whittier Daily News as a junior reporter. I got my degree in Journalism from San Jose State University and after graduating found work in the defense industry as a technical editor and writer. I later became editor of a technology magazine. From there, I moved into marketing writing and public relations. For over 20 years I supported myself as a freelance marketing communications writer and strategist. During that time I co-wrote my first book, a non-fiction technology guide called Bar Code and the IBM PC with Russ Adams as my co-author. Later I wrote one of a series of short histories on the 20th Century, published by David S. Lake. I have also written countless articles for various business and technology magazines and represented many technology companies to the media. In 2004 my husband and I relocated to the Dallas-Fort Worth area where we acquired an organic garden center called Marshall Grain Company. As Vice President of Marketing, I spend most of my time writing blog articles, newsletters, and promotional copy for the business. I have been honored by many civic organizations, including the Daughters of the American Revolution, for my advocacy of land resource conservation and sustainable, organic landscaping, as well as for my support for animal welfare causes. My husband and I have 3 cats at home. Three more that live in our retail store and are often featured in our advertising and on our social media pages.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Reunion in Stringtown: Finding Faith, Family, and Healing” is the summation of more than 25 years of searching for my birth family and a lifetime of wondering who gave me up and why. I hope my story will help shatter the myths about adoption that it is somehow a “blessing” that you were unwanted and that your adopters are heroic saviors. In truth most adoptees are traumatized once by their original abandonment and abused again by the parents who supposedly “saved” them. My work attempts to show how we can become whole only by first acknowledging the truth and then by walking through the fire of recovery.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t have writer’s block and I love working with a good editor, which I am told makes me unique among authors.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have always considered myself to be a journalist and have been most inspired by my first editor, Betty Schaumbacher of the Whittier Daily News, along with investigative reporting by the likes of Woodward and Bernstein (All the President’s Men). Most of what I read is non-fiction: history, archaeology, and other sciences. I also love American classics such as Huckleberry Finn and the works of Edgar Allen Poe.
What are you working on now?
At the moment I am occupied full time as Vice President of Marketing for our garden center and in promoting my new book. However, I have an idea for another non-fiction book about organic gardening and sustainable landscape practices.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Is there one? I’d like to know.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just write! Let your thoughts flow. Don’t expect yourself to produce a masterpiece with the first draft. Most of the joy in writing comes with reorganizing, rewriting and editing your ideas. Remember, good writing is hard work.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Start at the beginning, write until you get to the end and then stop.”
What are you reading now?
non-fiction: The Good Money Revolution by Derrick Kinney and Gobekli Tepe: Genesis of the Gods by Andrew Collins.
What’s next for you as a writer?
As I mentioned above, I have an idea for an organic gardening book.
What is your favorite book of all time?
Huckleberry Finn
Author Websites and Profiles
Joyce A. Connelley Website
Joyce A. Connelley Amazon Profile
Joyce A. Connelley’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile