INSOMNIA! Jenn is awesome!

I met Jenn (JR) Johansson for the first time back in 2009, at a writer's retreat in Southern Utah. While there, we...barely talked to each other. I'm not sure why. She seemed lovely. I suppose our friendship was one that took a while to get going, kinda like how a semi-truck needs time to get up to speed but once there it's all good.

Over the years, we slowly discovered we were connected in more ways than we'd ever guess. We'd learn more about each other and—at least for my part—wonder why it took so long to get the ball rolling. Though I've always known Jenn through writing, we've somehow never crit for each other but instead have been there cheering each other on side-by-side through the ups and downs. I say this because I think it's proof that you don't have to be crit-partners to be close friends in this business.

Now Jenn is one of my dearest friends. I can't imagine not having her in my life. And today her debut novel, INSOMNIA, is officially out in the world. Having just gone through this, I'm so very happy that Jenn has gotten here as well. I'm glad that we could go through it together, experiencing the crazy ups and downs of debut year almost simultaneously, thanks to our close release dates.

So congrats, Jenn! I'm so proud of you for pushing through all the rough bits, and I hope today you are feeling a million times better than you thought you would. Because you did it—you published a book and you have THREE MORE ahead of you already. You rock, my friend.

I highly recommend picking up INSOMNIA if you love thrilling stories with some creep on the side. People often ask me if this book is TOO scary, and I will tell you no. I'm a total WUSS when it comes to scary (which is probably why I don't crit for Jenn), and I could handle INSOMNIA.

That said, I still made sure to read it in broad daylight.