Author Interview: Sally Jo Pitts

Christian Books, Christian Fiction, Interviews

I love meeting fellow authors and discovering the stories behind their books. Sally Jo Pitts in a fellow Elk Lake Publishing author, and I’m excited to share how she incorporates her unique background as a teacher, guidance counselor, and private investigator to write mystery and romance books.

About Sally Jo Pitts

Sally Jo writes what she likes to read–faith-based stories steeped in the mysteries of life and love that will inspire and encourage the reader.

Her careers have included: private investigator, lie detection examiner, high school guidance counselor, and teacher with over twenty years experience in the field of marriage and family living. She brings professional experience in affairs of the heart to the fiction page.

When she is not dreaming up things to investigate for her web blog and complicating her life, she is searching out ways to complicate life for her fictional characters who are ultimately trying to discover God’s purpose in their lives.

She loves family, old movies, hot mochas and resides in north Florida with her spunky schnauzer, Gibbs.

Interview With Sally Jo Pitts

How did a home economics teacher become a private investigator and then romance author?

The short answer is marital decisions. I left high school with “to do something interesting and exciting” listed as my ambition in the yearbook. My college majors were rather exciting. I shifted from pharmacy to journalism, fashion design and then fashion merchandising before I decided to marry a man going into the military.

Being practical, I shifted from fashion to education, reasoning that no matter where I lived there would be a need for teachers. Later, I remarried a lawman. After serving as sheriff, he opened a private investigations agency. I obtained my PI license working under him. For years I taught school by day and snooped by night. When I retired from education, writing became my new “something interesting and exciting.”

Tell us about your writing journey.

As a youngster I read Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Alfred Hitchcock mysteries and enjoyed writing simple little stories and plays. I took creative writing in high school and thought I might become an English teacher, but life choices took me in a different direction.

I progressed from home economics teacher to stay-at-home mom, success in daily living seminar director, guidance counselor, private detective and lie detection examiner. My writing during those years was relegated to lesson plans and factual reports. But after retiring from education, to keep my teacher certification active, I took a college creative writing class.

That class rekindled my love for writing that I’d put a stopper on for years. I submitted a short story, and the teacher posed the question, “Is there a novel in your future?”

Her inquiry made me wonder. Could I write a book? Was it really possible? What would I write? How could I start? The questions sent me on a search which involved attending workshops, conferences, writing retreats, writing groups and critiques. I wrote and made lots of mistakes but soaked up all the advice I could get … and persisted.

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing since 2011.

Seven years after that teacher posed the question, “Is there a novel in your future?”, I published my first novel, And Then Blooms Love, with Elk Lake Publishing.

How do your experiences as teacher, guidance counselor, and private investigator play into your books?

My work experiences have played a key role in the development of my characters and plots, but the characters and story lines tend to take on a life of their own. Pieces of me infuse all that I write but here are some examples: In my mystery/detective series the hero is a private investigator, and the heroine is a teacher. The interactions, techniques and types of job assignments are based loosely on real cases my husband and I worked. I drew heavily on my home economics interior design skills in the romance, Designed for Love, which featured a competition between interior designers. A private investigator makes cameo appearances in my Hamilton Harbor Legacy series.

As a Christian author, how do you incorporate your faith in your writing?

My characters often send up prayers when needs and conflicts arise. The hero or heroine might share something—like how God has worked in their life. When a character is struggling with an issue, I might slip in a truth teller to offer biblical insight.

What do you hope that readers will get out of reading your books?

Encouragement, hope and a sense that God has a plan and purpose for everyone.

Tell us about your upcoming release.

Sweet Double-Cross is a romantic suspense (book #2) in the Sweet Country Secrets series but can also be read as a standalone.

The real life love story of my friends, Tommy and Judy Parker, sparked the romance angle of this book. When I heard that he proposed the night of their blind date, it challenged me to have the hero in my novel make a blind date proposal too! I just had to figure out the how and why before thrusting the hero and heroine into danger.

Here is the description of what I came up with:

A scientific mission turns into a harrowing day of death and destruction.

Dedicated biologist Trudy Fields is passionate about her invasive plant species research in northwest Florida. When real estate developer Kirt Mayfair arrives in Sweet County to learn how to eradicate a kudzu infestation on property he plans to purchase, Trudy is assigned to assist him. Their instant connection surprises them both—especially when Kirt impulsively proposes marriage.

But research and romantic interest take a deadly turn when someone shoots and kills a colleague of Trudy’s on the way to the isolated kudzu experimental island. On the run from a ruthless killer with precision sniper training, Trudy and Kirt must navigate treacherous terrain, dangerous wildlife, and a shocking conspiracy.

As bullets fly and bodies pile up, Trudy discovers Kirt is hiding his own secret. Amidst an unexpected attraction and a lethal betrayal, the two find themselves in a fight for survival.

Who is your favorite Bible woman?

There are many interesting, brave women in the Bible but Rhoda, a little-known character in Acts, intrigues me. Many people were praying for Peter to be released from prison. When Rhoda hears Peter’s voice outside the door, she offers a bit of comic relief during difficult times. She is so excited she doesn’t open the door. She leaves Peter standing outside and runs to tell everybody. They basically tell Rhoda she’s crazy, but she insists. She exemplifies a kind of child-like faith that is refreshing.

What is your favorite Scripture?

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present in trouble.

Anything else?

I invite readers to keep in touch by signing up for my news at https://sallyjopitts/author and receive a free short story and cookbook.