5 Terrific Things for Tuesday: Fun Facts about Author Jocelyn Green
Hello Fiction Friends,
I had the pleasure of meeting one of our great authors this weekend. When I first started working here at Moody Publishers, I was corresponding with Jocelyn Green and noticed on her email signature that she lives on the same street that I did when I attended the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. It was a fun little coincidence to me. Well, my husband and I took a little trip back to that area this past weekend for a get together with some of his college buddies and their wives and I was able to pop in on Jocelyn and finally meet her face to face. This was my first sit down with an author and it was really neat to hear about her process and see firsthand the different ways in which she organizes herself and her thoughts. Here are 5 fun little facts that I learned about Jocelyn and her writing process:
1) The 4 Civil War fiction novels that Jocelyn is writing for us are her first fiction novels. She has done so much research. In order to keep her ideas organized, she tapes colored index cards to the wall with one line running east to west with actual historical events and then cards running north and south that are fiction lines she is adding in. 
2) She also keeps bulletin boards that are packed with pictures of real people from the specific time and place she is writing about, samples of clothes, and pictures of the actual places.
3) She has her own writing room where she keeps all of her materials and said her necessary items include a cup of coffee, her coffee cup warmer, a candle, and writing pants. 
4) Jocelyn is a wife and mother of 2 children on top of being a busy author. She keeps her house rolling smoothly by preparing dinners in bulk and freezing them so that her family can still sit down together for dinner at night even though she is working hard at writing. 
5) My favorite thing that Jocelyn told me is that at one point in time it was relaxing to have her cat pounce around while she was writing but now she has to keep an eye on the cat because not too long ago he caught his tail on fire while playing too close to Jocelyn’s candle. That would be a little stressful I would say! He looks so sweet and innocent here!
It was so great meeting Jocelyn and getting a chance to learn firsthand what a writer does in preparation for a novel. Thanks again for your time and hospitality! Go Panthers!
~Brittany
River North Fiction 
Brittany, It was so fun to have you come over and visit! As I mentioned, being a writer is lots of fun, but it’s a very solitary occupation, so it’s always great to talk to actual people in the flesh, and not just the characters in my head. (No, I don’t hear their voices speaking to me late at night like the author of the Twilight books, I promise!) Thanks again for coming and for taking an interest in the behind-the-scenes process. After you left I realized I forgot to tell you about one more little trick I use to get and keep me in the mood of my novel–I created a soundtrack I listen to while I write. It includes the music from the Gettysburg movie, Cold Mountain, Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary, plus a variaty of classical. It helps! Speaking of which, I’m off to write the almost-ending!
Love catching a glimpse into other writers’ lives and their work spaces. Jocelyn, love your home office.
Best wishes on your novel adventures.
Kathleen
Enjoyed reading about Jocelyn and discovering how she organizes her life and her writing space. So clever. It seems she’s doing everything possible to keep the creative juices flowing and in the mood while writing historicals. I often listen to classical music while writing, too. All the best with your Civil War series, Jocelyn.