Indie Support Sunday: J.L. Minyard
- Apr 6
- 6 min read
Raise your hand if reading and writing about fat characters living their best lives is what you love! I believe that’s how Jessica, aka J.L. Minyard, and I connected—through a group giveaway featuring fat folks. More than being inspired by her experiences with fatness, the stories in her Penn Warren University series also focuses on women overcoming toxic relationships with the men in their lives. If that’s not empowering, I don’t know what is!
Jessica has plans to write more stories featuring body diversity and positivity, as well as heroines over the age of thirty. But if she could, she’d love to write a monster romance. Maybe even gargoyles? Who else is excited at this prospect? 🙋🏽♀️
She might have once been the kid in English class who turned in a twenty-five page epic fantasy story, but now she writes spicy contemporary romance with delicious men on the cover and this time we’re all paying attention!
Her latest release False Finish is out now and available in Kindle Unlimited along with the rest of her books!
BEING AN AUTHOR
Who or what inspired you to write?
I honestly can’t pinpoint an exact moment when I decided I wanted to be a writer. Writing is always something I’ve done and been relatively good (hopefully) at. I was the kid who turned in a twenty-five page epic fantasy story in freshman English and didn’t get it read to the class because it was too long.
What’s the best and worst part about being an indie author?
Oooh there are lots of things I love about being indie. The best would probably be the level of control. I love working with artists and designers on covers and character art and that kind of fun stuff. I also love having complete control over the kinds of stories I put out in the world, whether they are marketable or trendy or whatnot.
The worst…probably having complete control, LOL. I do sometimes wish I had someone helping me make big business decisions. I’m absolutely horrible with money and ROI.
Why did you choose to self-publish instead of going the traditional route?
Honestly, I did not want to wait to publish on trad publishing’s timeline or have a bunch of gatekeepers deciding if my work was good enough. I queried exactly one novel to one agent one time and that was enough for me!
When you’re not writing, what do you do to get the creative juices flowing?
Reading, watching good TV, and—don’t tell anybody I said this—but exercise. I’ve fixed many a plot hole while on the treadmill.
If you were to recommend books to me (in any genre), what would they be?
I’ve completely blanked on every book I’ve ever read LOL. Holly Black’s The Folk of the Air is one of my absolute favorite series. Also, Taken to Voraxia by Elizabeth Stephens.
What are your top 5 tips or pieces of advice for aspiring authors?
Finish your first book as fast as possible and then write the next one and the next. (Note: This advice is for writing, not publishing. You may or may not want to actually publish your very first book.)
What works for other writers may not work for you and that’s okay.
Discover, love, and embrace your own process and voice
The real magic happens during revisions
It’s a marathon not a sprint, so build sustainable practices
Bonus tip! Writing is an art, but publishing is a business. Remember that.
ROMANCE AS A GENRE
Why did you choose romance as the genre to write in? What is your favorite thing about the genre?
I love love! I know that probably sounds cheesy, but it’s true. I’ve always been a romance reader. In high school, I knew about and checked out every romance novel in our library (Julie Garwood, anyone?) to read late at night with a flashlight under my cover. Romance is so diverse and multifaceted, there’s a flavor and a place for everyone, and I love that.
If not romance/subgenres of romance, what genre would you like to write in?
I would love to write adult psychological thrillers or domestic thrillers some day.
What are your most and least favorite tropes?
Favorite: enemies-to-lovers (but only when they are really enemies), forced proximity, Beauty and the Beast vibes, arranged marriage, marriage of convenience
Least: I’m not sure I can pick a least favorite trope…because I’ll read almost anything at least once.
What are some tropes you want to write in the future?
Is monster romance a trope now? Because I definitely wanna write some monster romance.
What are some topics (sensitive and otherwise) that you think should exist more in romance?
There are so many wonderful authors out there tackling tough subjects that I think we could find a book covering almost anything—which I think is awesome. But I’m always up for more body diversity (something I try to cover in my own work), 30+ heroines (which I will get to after I finish with my college babies), mental health, motherhood, and life postpartum.
If you write open door romance, why did you choose that and what inspires your sex scenes?
Open door romance is mainly what I read, so it only seemed natural to write my stories this way. I’m also fiercely sex positive, and I always want to show that on the page. I also think sex can do so much—it reveals character and motivations and ideologies and backstory. Plus, I love a smutty good time!
YOUR BOOKS
What inspired your published stories? How and when did you come up with these stories and plots?
Ooooh this is hard. Mostly because it’s usually never one thing. But! Let’s do an easy one: Sometimes Love Ain’t Enough, the first book in my Penn Warren University series, was directly inspired by a bad relationship I had in my early twenties. This book was also the first time I wrote a fat character that was inspired by my own experiences with fatness, which is something I hadn’t seen in books before.
Can you briefly tell me about your books?
I like to tell people my Penn Warren books are all about women overcoming toxic relationships with men. You know, art imitates life. 😂
Do you already have a favorite character from the stories you’ve written?
I don’t think I can choose! They are all my babies and hold special places in my heart.
How much of yourself do you put into these characters?
There’s a little bit of me in all of them, I think. It's part of that old “write what you know” adage.
What is a story/stories that you really want to tell?
I want to write a gargoyle romance!
What’s next on the bookshelf for you? Anything you can tell us about a future project?
I’ve started a new contemporary romance series! And it has sports!
False Finish kicks off the Bluegrass Performance Center series, which are all novellas centered around a gym in a small Kentucky town, and features professional and amateur rasslin’. If you’re paying close attention to my work, you may see cameos of places and people that showed up in the Penn Warren series.
When you write these stories, what are you hoping your readers will feel?
I hope they feel all the feels! All the swoony, smutty, sweet, funny feels that come with romance.
AUTHOR’S CHOICE
Paperbacks, hardbacks, ebooks or audiobooks—Mostly ebooks, but I collect paperbacks and hardbacks as trophies
Contemporary, fantasy, historical or romantic suspense
Single or Dual POV—I don’t really have a strong preference for either
Standalones, series or standalones in a series
Open door, ajar door or closed door romances
Music or silence when writing—I curate a playlist for each of my major projects
Plotter, pantser or plantser
Water, tea, coffee or….wine?—Water or iced coffee
Cold or warm weather
Write better in the morning, afternoon or night?—I’m better in the morning/afternoons, but usually have to write at night due to necessity
Illustrated or photo cover?—Depends on genre and heat level for me
Jessica is on Instagram, TikTok and in her Facebook group. You can sign up for her newsletter, buy signed books and merch on her Etsy shop and get exclusive content on her Patreon.
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