From the Race Horse to the Hot Flashes, Jayne Jaudon Ferrer Talks New Book and her Writing Career
Jayne Jaudon Ferrer has loved words for as long as she has been able to read. It was only a natural transition for her to go from reading to writing. “I can remember writing my first story when I was in the first grade called Jet, the Race Horse,” she recalls, accrediting the story to her love of horses. Originally hailing from Wauchula, Florida, Jayne grew up in a small town surrounded by cattle and orange grove country. While many of her friends lived on ranches and farms, Jayne and her family lived in town since her father owned a Western Auto store there. “Living in a small town, I had so much support from my community,” Jayne says of her experience growing up as a budding writer.
During her childhood, Jayne and her family would often take summer trips to the mountains of North Carolina. She became enchanted by the mountains, and attended college at Mars Hill University where she majored in English. Though her career was in advertising, Jayne was always a fan of poetry. In 2009, she launched www.YourDailyPoem.com, a website that now has an archive of more than 4,000 classic and contemporary poems. Poems to Lift You Up and Make You Smile, an anthology of poems from the website, was published last year..
Now, Jayne is looking forward to the release of her latest work, Hayley and the Hot Flashes, a comedic novel that tells the story of Hayley Swift, a country music star who has slipped out of the limelight but finds herself on an unexpected adventure when she is invited to perform at her 35th high school reunion. When a bus accident puts her back-up singers out of commission, Hayley convinces her quartet from high school to join her onstage for the gig. Their performance is so well-received that Hayley invites them to fill in on her low-budget tour while her back-up singers recover. They accept, excited to escape from routine life and experience something new. Uncomfortable flirtations, equipment malfunctions, menopausal madness, and illness, combined with a stalker, an overzealous fan, and other complications derail the Retro Rodeo Tour but, in the midst of the chaos, friendships are restored and relationships are redefined as the friends find new strengths and opportunities.
Hayley and the Hot Flashes brings to light the idea that just because something doesn’t happen the first time you attempt it doesn’t mean you ought not to go after it again. “I think there is tremendous wisdom that comes with age and hopefully, the ability to let go of some preconceived notions and be open to going in new directions,” Jayne says. “Attitude makes all the difference in the world; you don’t have to be 25 to make things happen in your life!”
Jayne hopes that after reading Hayley and the Hot Flashes, readers will be inspired to do something they’ve never done before, or something they have been afraid to do, such as enter a piece of artwork into a show, submit a poem, or pick up the phone and reestablish a connection with a friend they haven’t spoken to in a long time.
“I hope that wherever they are, if there is something they have been holding back because they are afraid of failure, I hope they will do it, and make a decision that from this point forward, their life should be the best it can be.”
Hayley and the Hot Flashes, Poems to Lift You Up and Make You Smile, and Jayne’s other books are available for purchase at brick-and-mortar bookstores and online bookstores everywhere. Jayne currently resides in Greenville, South Carolina with her husband and enjoys time with her three sons, three daughter-in-laws, and three grandchildren.
For more information about Jayne Jaudon Ferrer and her work, visit her website www.jaynejaudonferrer.com.
P.O. Box 14054
Greenville, SC 29610-4054
scwordwoman@gmail.com
Written by: Rosa Linda Fallon