Five by Five: From the library stacks to published author

Bonnie Jo Pierson

By Max Bowen 

Bonnie Jo Pierson’s journey to writing her first book began, where else, at her local library.

There, she read countless books before penning her first novel, “What Happens in Idaho,” through Rising Action Publishing.

Trauma surgeon Dr. Liliana Chase, still grieving her husband and daughter's deaths, reluctantly returns to Clear Springs, Idaho, after seven years. Her short visit extends unexpectedly when she crashes her car to avoid a cow. Local mechanic and single dad, Blake Richardson, helps her, despite his own vow against new relationships after a painful divorce. As Lili's car repairs delay her, she grows close to Blake, whose warm, genuine nature tempts her to believe in love again. However, a dark secret linking Blake to her family's death threatens their budding relationship.

In this Five by Five interview, Pierson talks about the choice to write her first book and how her many association helped shape the final story. She also goes into the lessons learned during the writing process.

I read that your own life helped to inspire the book. How so?
One of the things that drew me to my husband was his love of classic cars. When we were first married, we owned a 66 Mustang named Blue Beauty. Renee’s Mustang is based on our lovely car. We had to sell it to help pay for medical school. And our adventure began in the medical field. I am definitely not a doctor, or a nurse (thankfully!). I get a little woozy at the sight of blood. But being married to a medical student, I learned a ton about the process. Watching normal people enter med school and come out as doctors was inspirational. Hence the reason Lili is a trauma surgeon.

This is your debut novel — what inspired you write a book?
When my first baby was 14 days old, we moved away from family, and anything familiar, across the country to St. Louis where my husband entered the realm of medical school, leaving me at home to care for this infant. I was blessed with a daughter who slept a lot, like six hours a day, 12 hours at night, a lot. To pass the time, I went to the library and read stacks and stacks of books. Until one fall day I told my husband, I wanted to make one of these magical things that transported me to different worlds. His response was, “why don’t you?” So I opened my laptop and started writing.

What was your process to create Liliana and Blake?
As I mentioned earlier my husband is good with classic cars, and he’s now a doctor. So basically, I split him in two, and then made him fall in love with himself. Haha.

You’re a member of the Romance Writers of America, the Storymakers Guild, Idaho Sisters in Crime, Idaho Writers Guild, and Manuscript Academy. How has this helped you grow as a writer?
Community is everything in writing. These organizations connected me with people who didn’t think of writing as a hobby, but as a career. They also see things I don’t in my manuscript. Throughout the years, I connected with beta readers who improved my book one sentence at a time. Eventually, through Manuscript Academy, I met a group who not only kept me sane through the query trenches, but also made the connections which led to my publishing deal. I wouldn’t be where I am today without my writing friends, and professional communities, who have lifted me up through all these years.

According to your web site, it seems that you’re always learning something new. What lessons did writing “What Happens in Idaho” have to teach you and how will they help you with future projects?
Well, first I learned how to write a messy manuscript. And then through years of trial and error, I found out what I did right instinctively and what needed to be reworked. Though it took me years to complete this book, I now have a streamlined writing process that helps me draft tighter stories. This novel gave me the gift of perseverance. It taught me that I can do hard things, like never giving up. This will help me weather the storms of negative reviews, the ups and downs of publishing, and keep me in this game for years to come. Which means my future projects won’t remain trapped in my head. They will actually get written, edited, and sent out into the world.