Behind the Story: Main Characters Plus a Committee
How do you imagine authors coming up with their story ideas? Today's guest author, Lori DeJong just might surprise you with her latest plot. She's introducing her characters, as well as how she thought them up. 
I was thrilled when asked to join the ladies writing the novella collection for A Match Made at Christmas, when another writer had to bow out due to a scheduling conflict. I’d never written a novella before, but was so excited to dive in. All I needed to do was come up with a synopsis and write the first two chapters for approval by our publisher. Problem was, because I was a late-in-the-game replacement, I had no story and only had a couple of days to come up with one.
Thankfully, the ladies came alongside and did a little brainstorming with me over group chat. I had a loose concept of a character who had left their small town with big dreams and was coming home for Christmas either disenchanted with their life or feeling like their dream hadn’t panned out the way they’d hoped. I wasn’t even sure if it would be the male protagonist or the female. And I wanted their mothers involved somehow in the scheme to get the characters together. As we tossed out ideas, the bones of this fun, quirky, second-chance romance began to take shape.
So, it’s my pleasure to introduce to you Cody Lansdale and Aubrey Mayfield, the "stars" of Jingle Bell Matchmakers. Cody and Aubrey grew up together in Cantwell, TX, and it was during their sophomore year of high school that they discovered their long-time friendship had blossomed into something more. Both talented singers, Cody and Aubrey were encouraged by their high school music teacher to put their voices together, and their dream of becoming Christian music artists was born.
After getting engaged during Christmas break their senior year at Belmont University in Nashville, they were approached by an ambitious young agent with a pitch to cut a country music album, something Cody had no interest in. However, Aubrey had big dreams Cody couldn't see himself competing with and left her in Nashville to be all she could be. On her own.
The opening scene of Jingle Bell Matchmakers finds Aubrey, now billed as "Aubrey May", Nashville country music star, being lured home under some questionable intel eleven years after that Christmas marriage proposal, having not been back due to her hectic schedule. Although, if she were honest with herself, she knows the real reason is because she didn't want to run into Cody again, especially knowing he'd fallen in love with and married someone else a scant two years after their breakup.
Cody, now widowed and raising the daughter his late wife brought with her into the marriage, and whom he loves as if she were his own, has no idea Aubrey's back in town. And when these two keep finding themselves in the same place at the same time, they begin to wonder if something's going on behind the scenes.
I hope you enjoy Jingle Bell Matchmakers, a second-chance romance story with a committee of well-meaning, spunky ladies pulling the heartstrings!
Jingle Bell Matchmakers
When country music star Aubrey Mayfield is lured home after years away, she’s bewildered when she and ex-fiancé-now-widowed-dad Cody Lansdale keep finding themselves in the same place at the same time. As they become reacquainted, however, old feelings stir. Aubrey’s at a crossroads in her career and is contemplating a change. But when a chance at headlining her own tour takes her back to Nashville, Cody realizes her dreams may once again come between them. Unless God, with a little help from the Jingle Bell Committee, has a better plan.
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 three decades. Other than their two fur-babies, their nest is empty, as their daughter 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, is the 2022 winner of the ACFW Genesis Award, a double finalist in the 2024 Selah Awards, won 2nd place in the 2024 FHL Reader’s Choice Awards, and was released in June 2023. "Love’s True Home", Book Two in the series, released in June 2024, and "Love’s True Measure" will release in June 2025. Lori's Christmas novella, "Jingle Bell Matchmakers", released as part of "A Match Made at Christmas" novella collection on October 1.
Links:
https://loridejongwrites.com/
https://bit.ly/LoriDeJongCommunity
https://www.instagram.com/loridejongwrites/
https://www.facebook.com/loridejongwrites
https://www.amazon.com/author/loridejongwrites
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/38460845.Lori_DeJong
I was thrilled when asked to join the ladies writing the novella collection for A Match Made at Christmas, when another writer had to bow out due to a scheduling conflict. I’d never written a novella before, but was so excited to dive in. All I needed to do was come up with a synopsis and write the first two chapters for approval by our publisher. Problem was, because I was a late-in-the-game replacement, I had no story and only had a couple of days to come up with one.Thankfully, the ladies came alongside and did a little brainstorming with me over group chat. I had a loose concept of a character who had left their small town with big dreams and was coming home for Christmas either disenchanted with their life or feeling like their dream hadn’t panned out the way they’d hoped. I wasn’t even sure if it would be the male protagonist or the female. And I wanted their mothers involved somehow in the scheme to get the characters together. As we tossed out ideas, the bones of this fun, quirky, second-chance romance began to take shape.
So, it’s my pleasure to introduce to you Cody Lansdale and Aubrey Mayfield, the "stars" of Jingle Bell Matchmakers. Cody and Aubrey grew up together in Cantwell, TX, and it was during their sophomore year of high school that they discovered their long-time friendship had blossomed into something more. Both talented singers, Cody and Aubrey were encouraged by their high school music teacher to put their voices together, and their dream of becoming Christian music artists was born.
After getting engaged during Christmas break their senior year at Belmont University in Nashville, they were approached by an ambitious young agent with a pitch to cut a country music album, something Cody had no interest in. However, Aubrey had big dreams Cody couldn't see himself competing with and left her in Nashville to be all she could be. On her own.
The opening scene of Jingle Bell Matchmakers finds Aubrey, now billed as "Aubrey May", Nashville country music star, being lured home under some questionable intel eleven years after that Christmas marriage proposal, having not been back due to her hectic schedule. Although, if she were honest with herself, she knows the real reason is because she didn't want to run into Cody again, especially knowing he'd fallen in love with and married someone else a scant two years after their breakup.
Cody, now widowed and raising the daughter his late wife brought with her into the marriage, and whom he loves as if she were his own, has no idea Aubrey's back in town. And when these two keep finding themselves in the same place at the same time, they begin to wonder if something's going on behind the scenes.
I hope you enjoy Jingle Bell Matchmakers, a second-chance romance story with a committee of well-meaning, spunky ladies pulling the heartstrings!
Jingle Bell MatchmakersWhen country music star Aubrey Mayfield is lured home after years away, she’s bewildered when she and ex-fiancé-now-widowed-dad Cody Lansdale keep finding themselves in the same place at the same time. As they become reacquainted, however, old feelings stir. Aubrey’s at a crossroads in her career and is contemplating a change. But when a chance at headlining her own tour takes her back to Nashville, Cody realizes her dreams may once again come between them. Unless God, with a little help from the Jingle Bell Committee, has a better plan.
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 three decades. Other than their two fur-babies, their nest is empty, as their daughter 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, is the 2022 winner of the ACFW Genesis Award, a double finalist in the 2024 Selah Awards, won 2nd place in the 2024 FHL Reader’s Choice Awards, and was released in June 2023. "Love’s True Home", Book Two in the series, released in June 2024, and "Love’s True Measure" will release in June 2025. Lori's Christmas novella, "Jingle Bell Matchmakers", released as part of "A Match Made at Christmas" novella collection on October 1.
Links:
https://loridejongwrites.com/
https://bit.ly/LoriDeJongCommunity
https://www.instagram.com/loridejongwrites/
https://www.facebook.com/loridejongwrites
https://www.amazon.com/author/loridejongwrites
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/38460845.Lori_DeJong
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