Jennifer Bernard
In my series The Write Path, my guests talk to me about their books. Today I welcome author Jennifer Bernard, who will discuss It’s a Wonderful Fireman, her Christmas novella and the last book in the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel series.
Let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Jennifer’s.
1. What is your book about?
It’s a Wonderful Fireman is the last book in the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel series. It’s a novella about Dean Mulligan, a firefighter who falls through a collapsing roof into a Christmas store. As the rest of the crew works on rescuing him, he experiences a sort of dream/hallucination in which Lizzie Breen, the girl he’s in love with, takes him back to his past to convince him that he’s worthy of her love. There’s a bit of It’s a Wonderful Life and a bit of Ladder 49 in this story. Not only that, but all the heroes of the previous books in the series make cameo appearances as they call come together to try to save Mulligan.
2. What do you think attracts readers to your main characters?
Since I write about firemen, my male (and sometimes female) protagonists have a natural, built-in heroism that I think appeals to readers. What I find special about firefighters is their blend of ordinary and extraordinary. They consider danger and risk part of the job, and are quite down-to-earth about it. I find that combination very attractive. I struggle much more with my female characters. I myself am an introspective person who lives a lot in my own head. When it comes to writing my heroines, they tend to have a lot of doubts and insecurities, which they’ve no doubt inherited from their creator. But those qualities can come across as whiny and … well, boring. So I have to work harder on my heroines to keep them from being annoying.
3. What message do you hope the reader takes away from your book?
I hope readers come away from It’s a Wonderful Fireman with a warm, hopeful, inspired feeling. Dean Mulligan is a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas because he’s had a rough road in life. He’s not able to see his own worth, which is something I think many people struggle with. What he experiences through the course of the book enables him to see inside his own soul to the light that lives there. And he’s able to allow himself to let Lizzie in, which he was never quite able to do before. And he can finally appreciate the magic of Christmas.
4. What was it about your book that made it so easy to attract your editor?
Since this book is part of a series, I was lucky that I didn’t have to go through the submission process with it. We’ve already released 6 full-length books and 2 novellas in the Bachelor Firemen series, and with this book, I really wanted to wrap everything up with a big Christmas bow. I sent my editor an email saying, “What would you think of the last book being a Christmas novella called “It’s a Wonderful Fireman.” She loved the idea and that was that. I wish it was always that easy!
5. Comparing the ideas you had before writing the book with the finished product, would you change anything if you could travel back in time?
Wow, how did you know that I originally wrote something completely different, then travelled back in time several times to do revisions? I thought it was my little secret! I did actually have an early version of a fireman Christmas novella that involved a road trip, a fire at a baseball stadium and a different love interest. I’d written about half of it, but it just felt wrong. I took a break to brainstorm titles when “It’s a Wonderful Fireman” popped into my head, along with the kernel of the idea (the trapped fireman dreaming of his beloved.) But it was a different heroine who showed up in my head — the little sister of the hero of a previous book! So I salvaged what I could from the first version and went with the new one, and everything flowed so easily after that. It’s my belief that nothing ever wasted in writing. It took slogging through that first version to come up with the right one.
About the Author
Jennifer Bernard is the USA Today bestselling author of the Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriels series. She is a graduate of Harvard and a former news promo producer. The child of academics, she confounded her family by preferring romance novels to … well, any other books. She left big city life for true love in Alaska, where she now lives with her husband and stepdaughters. She’s no stranger to book success, as she also writes erotic novellas under a naughty secret name not to be mentioned at family gatherings.
Visit her on the Web at www.JenniferBernard.net.
Jennifer’S Links
Jennifer’s Website JenniferBernard.net
Twitter @Jen_Bernard
About the Book
Hard-edged fireman Dean Mulligan has never been a big fan of Christmas. Twinkle lights and sparkly tinsel can’t brighten the memories of too many years spent in ramshackle foster homes. Although he’s established himself as one of the top firefighters at San Gabriel Station 1, he doesn’t think he’s good enough for someone like gorgeous Lizzie.
Lizzie Breen is used to fighting—from her alpha male brothers who try to smother in the name of safety to the childhood life-threatening illness she overcame. She knows what she and Mulligan feel for each other is a lot more than a fling, but she can’t get him to see that. The only gift Lizzie wants to give him this season is her love, but he’s not willing to accept it.
When Mulligan is trapped in the burning wreckage of a holiday store, a Christmas angel arrives to open his eyes. But is it too late? This Christmas, it’ll take an angel, a determined woman in love, and the entire Bachelor Firemen crew to make him believe … it is indeed a wonderful life.
December 15, 2014
Thank you so much for having me on your blog, Carmen! It’s a pleasure to be here.
December 15, 2014
It’s my pleasure. I fell in love with your novella through this interview, and will now have to buy the series. Thanks for adding to my Christmas TBR list. 🙂