Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenny L. Cote
Hi Jenny L., thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
What Goes Into the First of Life by Jenny L. Cote
My first memory of life is standing in the middle of the road, clad only in a diaper, holding up traffic. I had slipped out of the house and gone on walkabout with our dog, Tip. My brother was shouting for me to get out of the street before he ran inside to tell my mother who was teaching a piano lesson. Meanwhile, I stood there staring down a grey Chevy, fearless in my cloth diaper and pins. The blood drained from my mother’s face when she saw what her toddler was doing, and she promptly ran outside to retrieve me. She must have felt her dreams of receiving the Mother-of-the-Year award slipping through her toddler-gripped fingers.
I haven’t changed much.
The diaper-in-the-road moment has led to similar situations throughout life. I’ve given my parents more than a few frights, like climbing so high up the mast to the crow’s nest of our sailboat that I couldn’t get down. Or jumping overboard to snorkel alone in the Bahamas to face three barracudas by myself. Or taking the wave-runner out so far in the ocean that my dad thought I was shark bait. There was the incident where I accidentally set off the alarm at Patrick Henry’s house in Virginia, with two sheriff deputies pulling guns on me. And being kicked out of the Mamertine Prison in Rome so I could research a little longer. My carpe diem sense of adventure has gotten me into trouble, but it has also gotten me into good.
Little did I know that when I was a toddler roaming the battlefields of Yorktown, or a child skipping down Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg that I would someday write America’s story as a children’s historical fiction author. Nor did I know that as I wrote stories of talking fruit as an eight-year-old that I would write stories of talking animals as an adult. Or when I boldly went selling my books door to door for a dime that I would someday be selling books around the globe as I speak to kids about my adventures in researching and writing. I’ve shared with kids that I sat in George F. Handel’s composing room in London to write the scene of him writing the Messiah. And I spent two nights in C.S. Lewis’s house and interviewed his secretary in the Eagle and Child pub in Oxford because I asked boldly and seized the day when they said ‘yes’. I tell kids to pursue their wildest dreams and ask big for things, because they are loved, and they are able to achieve more than they could ever hope for or imagine.
I know I was born wired for adventure—it’s in my DNA. I’ve always been this way. But the primary reason I’ve pulled off all of this crazy stuff is because of what was first instilled in me as a child by my parents. I was loved unconditionally, raised in a home filled with joy and safety, and taught to love Jesus and my country. My parents didn’t have a lot of earthly wealth to give me, but what they gave me was worth more than any fading trinket or possession. They gave me a rock-solid foundation of unshakable self-confidence to go out and conquer my world with my God-given skills and passions. They broadened my horizons with experiences rich in history, learning and adventure. And yes, they disciplined me so I would learn respect for authority and rules, and so I would treat others with courtesy. When a child feels safe, loved, encouraged, and is taught to follow God and the Golden Rule, they have a solid foundation on which to build a life. When the storms come, that child will be able to weather it well and come out stronger as a result. My parents knew this, for their stormy childhoods were undergirded by amazing, godly mothers despite their harmful fathers. They were determined that the painful things they experienced as children would not be repeated in our home, and they weren’t. Perhaps it was my grandmother’s oft-repeated phrase that drove home their resolve: “What goes into the first of life goes throughout all of life.”
I didn’t set out to be an author. I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be a marine biologist and swim with dolphins. I wanted to be a singer on Broadway. I wanted to design greeting cards. So I decided to major in Marketing at the University of Georgia, and then got an MS degree in Marketing from Georgia State University. I worked in healthcare marketing at Scottish Rite Children’s Medical Center, and of course our mascot was a Scottie dog. So I got a Scottie dog named Max. One morning I was watching Max and our black cat Liz play fight, and wondered, “When did dogs and cats first get on each others’ nerves? Maybe when they were cooped up on Noah’s Ark for a year. That inspired my first book, The Ark, the Reed, and the Fire Cloud, about the animals heading to Noah’s Ark where they foil a plot by a stowaway who is out to kill Noah and wipe out the human race. This band of animals saves the day and are chosen to save the day through pivotal moments of history. The first six books are Biblical stories through time up to the fall of Rome. Now I’m writing a six-book set on the American Revolution. Then I’ll cover WWII. I finally found my calling and love writing these historical fiction fantasy novels for kids.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Anything worth achieving comes with obstacles and challenges. Someone once said that, “every great book was written with the author’s blood.” I work 3-4 times the amount of hours I ever did in the corporate world. But because I’m doing what I love and what I was wired to do, it’s not work. When you’re living in your passion, it’s joy. I knew nothing about book publishing, but with my education and work background, I quickly realized that I had the knowledge to apply my marketing expertise to launch a successful author platform. Authors must do three things well to make it: write well, publish well, and market well. Anyone can get published on Amazon these days, but with nine million titles listed, how are readers going to find you? That’s a big challenge! But I’m grateful that with my traditional publisher and successful marketing, readers have found me.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I love making history fun and come alive for young people. Not every kid loves history, but every kid must study history in school. I’m passionate about helping kids realize that all history is just one story after another, and they all love stories. The way I do it in my historical fiction fantasy novels is that I have a team of seven talking animals (the Epic Order of the Seven) who work behind the scenes in human history. I look for those moments where we either don’t know how or why something happened, and I slide my characters in as the agents that affected that event. I don’t alter the history, but I make it super fun for kids as they watch these talking animals navigate under the feet of clueless humans to make history! The animals also act as commentators and tour guides through history if you will, explaining what’s going on. What kid would pick up a 650 page biography on Patrick Henry? Zero. But put talking animals into a 650 page book, and kids will eat it up like ice cream.
My lengthy books aren’t just for kids, but adults! My oldest reader is a 98 year-old lady in Australia who wrote to me that four generations in her family love my books. My books are distributed in stores around the world, and are on audiobook as well as ebook formats. Our Epic Order of the Seven Podcast based on the audiobooks has reached 28,716 downloaded hours in all 50 states and in 65 countries around the globe! The Real Life Network (250,000 subscribers) has just added our podcast, and it’s free! Simply add the RLN to your smart TV, phone, or computer and enjoy.
I visit schools and homeschool groups and present creative writing and history workshops for lower, middle and high schoolers. I love getting kids excited about RESEARCH and tell them about my crazy adventures to get them to think differently about the task they have to do in school. I tell them that research is an adventure, so put on your Indiana Jones hat and hunt this stuff down. It has been a joy to have readers write to me years later who are now authors themselves, and how much my workshops and books inspired them to start their own literary journeys.
I had the opportunity to partner with the National Park Service to develop a summer writing camp called “Epic Patriot Camp” to teach kids how to research and write America’s story at Kings Mountain and Cowpens National Battlefields. When covid killed the camp, I took it virtual with my fellow author colleague in Richmond, VA, Libby McNamee. We’ve held camp for two summers, teaching 25 kids from across the U.S. (and Australia!) how to research, write and publish books. We published their two books on Amazon, and even set up book signings for them in such prestigious places as the American Revolution Museum in Yorktown, VA. We also offer online Epic Homeschool Classes based on my books, with the fall semester launching in September. Inspiring the next generation is one of my highest honors. I hope you’ll visit my website to learn more about my books and fun events at www.epicorderoftheseven.com.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Publishing was already changing rapidly when I entered the fray in 2008. Amazon is a blessing and a curse for authors! It has offered tremendous opportunities for authors to get published and have their work available for sale; but it has also been the demise for most brick and mortar bookstores. I don’t think we’ll ever become a “Star Trek” world where no one has a paper book except Jean Luc Picard, but the trend of digital books will continue to rise. Audio books are another upward trend, especially for busy readers and parents looking for ways to educate and entertain their kids.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.epicorderoftheseven.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennyl.cote/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennylcote
