In this episode of Curious for Christ, I welcome Jennie Goutet, an accomplished author of over 13 historical romance novels, to discuss her journey of faith, creativity, and life in a small town outside Paris. Jennie shares her remarkable story of discovering Christ, her marriage, and how her experiences across the globe shaped her relationship with God.
The conversation delves into Jennie’s writing career, from penning her memoir Stars Upside Down to becoming a full-time novelist. Jennie opens up about how her Christian faith influences the depth of her characters and stories, emphasizing love, goodness, and integrity. She also provides valuable advice for aspiring Christian writers, balancing authenticity and creativity in a world that often challenges faith-based values.
What You’ll Hear in This Episode:
1. Jennie’s journey to Christ through moments of humility and divine intervention.
2. How a dream of marrying a Frenchman led Jennie to meet her husband on the first day they attended church.
3. The inspiration behind Jennie’s writing and how grief propelled her into storytelling.
4. The influence of author Georgette Heyer in Jennie’s transition to historical romance.
5. How Jennie’s faith shapes her creative process and the values in her novels.
6. Advice for aspiring writers, including the importance of persistence, discipline, and trusting God’s guidance.
7. Jennie’s thoughts on navigating the secular literary world while maintaining integrity.
Resources Mentioned:
• Jennie’s blog: A Lady in France (faith articles available).
• Get Jennie's books: https://jenniegoutetbooks.com/
• Join Jennie's Reader Facebook Group
Connect with Jennie Goutet:
• Website: https://www.jenniegoutet.com/
• Sign Up for Jennie's Newsletter
• Follow Jennie on BookBub
Episode Takeaways:
1. God is the ultimate storyteller, and He is the author of each of our lives.
2. God has placed dreams in our hearts, according to His divine plan, and only through Him can we see how our story unfolds. These dreams ultimately draw us closer to Him, as our greatest dream is to know God and have an eternal relationship with Him.
3. God’s plan for our lives often emerges through seasons of grief or hardship.
4. While not explicitly Christian, the qualities we admire in characters and heroes in any story actually stem from the fruit of the Spirit, such as love, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, loyalty and faithfulness
5. Prayer is an invitation to bring God into every aspect of your life and work.
6. Creative tip: First, create, then edit. These are two distinct processes that require different mindsets.
7. Matthew 12:36 says that everyone will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken - this reminds us that whatever we do, we should do it to honor God.
8. Ultimately, God is our King and our greatest reward, far beyond any success we might gain in this world!
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to Curious for Christ and
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Want to go deeper? Let's connect—set up a FREE Discovery Call today. See you next time!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I was very interested in justhaving a career of,
(00:02):
sophistication, adventure, allof these things.
And God didn't really fit intothe picture.
But over a period of about twoor three years, I went through a
lot.
And in the course of those yearsI was reached out to by the same
church, the one I still go tonow four different times.
I didn't put it all togetheruntil afterwards, but it was a
(00:22):
very comforting sign that Godwas leading me to the place that
He wanted me to be.
And it was also through muchgrief and difficulty that I
found God Welcome back tocurious for Christ.
I'm your host Alexandra.
And today we are kicking off theholiday season a little early.
With a very special episode,featuring my friend, Jenny Jenny
(00:46):
is the best selling author of 13historical romance novels,
including the clusteringChronicles, memorable proposals
and the daughters of the gintree series.
Her books have received firstplace honors in historical
romance at the new Englandreader's choice awards hit the
number one spot in Regencyromance on Amazon and have been
(01:06):
translated into six languages.
Jenny is an American bornAnglophile who now lives with
her franchise Benz and theirthree children just outside of
Paris.
Her imagination, however,resides firmly in Regency
England.
The backdrop for her cleanromances, her work, not only
transports readers to anotherera, but also reflects her face
(01:30):
and values in a meaningful way.
In this episode, we'll hear howJenny's face influences her
writing and how she's used herGod-given gifts to touch readers
Worldwide.
Jenny's journey is a Testamentto how God's purpose can guide
our creative pursuits and howour talents, when surrendered to
him can bring light and joy toothers.
(01:52):
So settling for this inspiringconversation, it's the perfect
way to begin the season ofgratitude.
And reflection.
Welcome to curious for Christ.
Do you ever find yourself lyingawake at night?
Wondering about God's plan foryour life.
(02:14):
Maybe you wake up with bigdreams, but feel unsure where to
start or what your next stepshould be.
If you're curious aboutexploring your faith and finding
purpose, then you've come to theright place.
Hi, I'm Monica, Sandra.
I too felt lost unsure of thedirection my life was taking.
I yearned to understand mypurpose and have someone guide
(02:35):
me.
But I kept telling myself I wastoo busy, the timing wasn't
right.
And my lack of clarity preventedme from being consistent until I
found Christ.
He brought peace into my lifeand we field the way to find
purpose by anchoring myself.
In him.
In this podcast, we'll journeytogether, exploring the Bible to
(02:58):
gain a deeper understanding ofhim.
and cultivate your own personalrelationship with Christ.
So open up your Bible, put inthose ear buds and listen up
because God is speaking to you.
He is making everything new andyou don't want to miss it.
Let's get started.
Hey there, before we dive intoday's episode, I want to take
(03:19):
a moment to talk about somethingreally important.
When we become Christians, Godtakes the lead in every decision
we make.
We step back and let him guide.
Because we know he has theultimate plan.
My coaching program, spiritualgrowth coaching.
Isn't just an option.
It's essential.
(03:40):
Your relationship with God isthe foundation of everything,
your identity, your purpose,your relationships, your family,
your children, your children'schildren.
And so on.
And of course in every aspect ofyour business.
Can creation understand acreator's plan.
Remember when God asked job.
(04:01):
Were you there when the earthwas formed?
Where are we.
It's time to stop relying on ourlimited understanding and start
building our lives on the truthof God's plan.
God is mighty.
He is.
Almighty.
And he is the answer toeverything we're searching for.
So if you are unsure of how tostart building a relationship
(04:24):
with God, Connect with me for aquick discovery call.
Just go to bit dot L Y forwardslash curious for Christ
discovery to book a free calland start living your life on
the unshakeable foundation ofGod almighty.
B I T dot L Y forward slashcurious for Christ discovery.
(04:45):
Good morning, Jenny, or should Isay good afternoon?
Cause we have the pleasure tohave you directly from France, a
little town outside Paris.
How are you doing?
Thank you for joining me.
Oh, thank you so much for havingme.
I'm doing great.
I'm very happy to be here.
Oh it's such a pleasure to haveyou.
(05:05):
I first discovered your work,actually, I stumbled a few years
ago on your biography, and I wasimmediately captivated by your
story.
And then when I had the chanceto meet you in person in Paris,
your hospitality was soheartwarming, very French.
Loved it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So to start, I'd love for you totell us a little bit about your
(05:28):
faith journey for you to sharehow you came to know Christ.
Tell us about even meeting yourhusband and then all the way to
moving to France.
Okay I will try to do thisrather quickly, or rather
succinctly, but in a few words.
But if anybody is, if thissparks curiosity in anyone, I
did write a memoir.
(05:49):
It's called Stars Upside Down,and the whole thing is in there.
But basically, I grew upPresbyterian, going to church.
I respected God, but I wouldn'tsay that I wanted to follow him.
I was very interested in justhaving a career of,
sophistication, adventure, allof these things.
And God didn't really fit intothe picture.
(06:09):
But over a period of about twoor three years, I went through a
lot.
I was traveling.
I was living in Asia and in NewYork City.
I was living in Paris and justtrying to discover myself.
And in the course of those yearsI was reached out to by the same
church, the one I still go tonow four different times.
(06:29):
And in those four times, two ofthem were in New York City, one
was on a beach in Hawaii, andone was in Paris.
And so that was obviously, Ididn't put it all together until
afterwards, but it was a verycomforting sign that God was
leading me to the place that Hewanted me to be.
And it was also through muchgrief and difficulty that I
(06:51):
found God, I think I neededperhaps to have been humbled a
little bit in order to open myeyes and see what I truly
desired, which wasn't all thosethings I was going after.
It was eternal life andrelationship with God.
And so that is, The story in anutshell, and my husband and I
(07:12):
came to church, I had dreamtthat I would marry a French man
when I was 18 years old.
And he and I came to church onthe same day for the first time.
We were both an hour earlybecause it was daylight savings
time.
And we got baptized about sixweeks later, me at night and him
the next day.
And, and then we started datingthree years after that.
(07:34):
That was another sign where youknow, because I had been dating
a French man, and that was oneof the difficult things to give
up because he was not interestedin God.
And that was also a comfort,like God saying no, I have
something better for you.
And so here I am in France,married, three kids, and very
grateful.
Amazing how God weaves ourstories and brings us to Him.
(07:57):
And you have written over 13historical romances.
How did you begin writing andwhat inspired you to choose
romance as your main genre?
Yes, okay, that, that is quite astory.
It was not Straightforward.
Although, when I was younger, Idid write a book, that's in air
(08:20):
quotes, because, it was ahandwritten, eighth grade novel.
And I had always dreamt ofpublishing a book, of being a
writer, but when I tried I, Gotabout 10 chapters in and my
husband was like, this isboring, like nothing's
happening.
So I was like, okay, I'm not awriter.
But when everything settleddown, we got our house, I had my
(08:41):
three kids and, the youngest wasa baby and I was just like, it
was the period of blogs.
So I started a blog.
It's called the lady in France.
It's still there, but I don'thave time to add to it.
But it does have some faitharticles, by the way, he's still
on there that you can look for.
And people would say, Oh, you'vehad an interesting life.
You should write a memoir.
And I did not really take thatseriously until I had a second
(09:07):
term miscarriage.
And there was something aboutthis deep grief, which kind of
brought everything to thesurface.
And I just plunged into.
Telling my story like thesubtitle of the memoir is I
think it's called a memoir ofgrief, travel, and an
incandescent God or somethinglike that.
(09:27):
And I just realized that therewas something unifying, and it
was just the story that God waswriting.
of my life.
And so I wrote that.
When I was, when it was out andit was published, I realized,
Oh, I don't want to go back tojust the blog posts.
Like I, I want to keep writinglonger works, but I didn't have
the courage to I had justdiscovered by that point, George
(09:49):
at hair, who was an author wholived.
last century, and she wroteRegency Romance.
She developed the genre.
She was not a contemporary ofJane Austen, but she was the one
that brought all that backagain.
And I thought she was brilliant.
Before then, I think I thoughtthat romance authors were not
very not a respected literarygenre.
(10:11):
But when I read her, I was like,wow.
Romance can be so rich andthere's so much you can do with
it.
And so I wanted to write ahistorical like she wrote.
I didn't have the courage.
I popped out two contemporariesand then I was like no.
I'm going to do it.
So that's when I started writinghistorical romance.
It was because of her, I wouldsay.
That's amazing.
(10:31):
And your vocabulary isfantastic, I have to say.
I love it.
I know I have to catch up on thelatest one, but I've read a few
of your books.
So I want to explore a littlebit.
As a Christian, how does yourfamily How does faith shape the
way you explore relationshipsand emotions in your novels?
And how do you think yourapproach also impacts your
(10:52):
readers?
You were impacted by GeorgetteHeer.
So how do you think yourapproach with your faith impacts
your readers compared to moremainstream romance novels?
Yeah.
I know that something thatreally touched me When I was
younger was reading books thatwere not necessarily with an
(11:14):
obvious faith focus but had allof the nobility of character
that we aspire to as Christiansor the ones that are listed in
Galatians five, like the fruitsof the spirit and, and I know
that was, that gave me somethingto aspire to that gave me a
goal, even though I was not yet,seeking Christ, I was seeking
(11:37):
those attributes.
And so I think there's somethingabout that, which makes me want
to write those same kinds ofthings.
I would say that perhaps thecharacters might be deeper in
some ways or since we can't Gointo all the physical
attraction.
It's there, but we can't go intodetailed physical attraction.
(11:59):
We have to build the connectionon a more basic human connection
level of the heart.
And so I think that is that'swhat's maybe different than some
Somebody else that might writewith more open door scenes mine
are very much about the heartsof the two people coming
(12:20):
together.
Yeah, I don't know if I answeredthat well, but that's, there's
like maybe a slowertransformation as well of their,
of their, Love, it develops moreslowly because, you're
everything is all the physicalside is repressed until the
right time.
And so the romance is able todevelop.
Yes, the relationship, thechange of heart and everyone is
(12:43):
inspired by love, goodness,integrity.
all these things.
So definitely I see howappealing it would be to anyone.
You don't express overtly yourfaith in your books, but could
you tell me a little bit howyour faith actually influenced
your creative process?
And also, do you feel like Godis guiding your work or?
(13:04):
Have there been moments whereyou felt his inspiration, the
Spirit's guidance?
Yes and no.
So my faith guides my workbecause there are certain lines
I will not cross.
I do not want to make anyonestumble reading my book.
I don't want anyone to stumblein their You know, if they're
trying to, for instance, ifthere is somebody who is single
(13:26):
that's trying to stay pure, Idon't want my book to be a cause
of stumbling.
That's probably the most obviousway that my faith affects my
book.
And in terms of God guiding mycareer, I will say that the very
first book that I published thathad a huge success, which was A
Fall from Grace, that was justGod.
Because I would just look at myhusband and I'm like, Oh my
(13:48):
goodness.
It's still selling.
It's like it's been two monthsand it's still selling, like
really well and you know thatwas when I was starting to be
able to earn my living as anauthor and I was like, Oh my
goodness, and it was very clearto me that was God.
That was not my brilliance.
That was just 100 percent God.
But in terms of how he guides mysort of journey.
(14:09):
Day to day, or, do I feel hisprocess a lot of times writing
for me is really work.
It's there are some people.
There are some authors, butit's.
Where the stories just bubbleout of them.
They're, they've been giftedwith this storytelling thing,
but I was, I don't have that.
(14:29):
It is a work for me.
And a lot of times I feel likeI'm going very blindly, I'm
feeling my way through and I'mlike, okay, and it's, it, I have
to force myself to sit down infront of the computer.
And sometimes I write, not evenreally knowing where I'm going
or, and I'll think, oh, this wasno good.
And then I'll read it back.
And I was like.
Actually, I can work with this.
This is better than I thought.
(14:50):
Yes, it needs work to bring outmore emotion or whatever, but
this is going in the rightdirection.
And that's God.
I know that it is.
And I do pray every day before Istart writing.
I do pray.
But I will say that I'm not oneof those people that Where it's
just such a natural gift that itflows out of me almost.
With no work.
No.
I sweat blood for the, for thesebooks, Yes.
(15:15):
You have to show up.
You have to do the work and andI would say this is a work of
faith.
This is what faith is.
Being certain of what you do notsee.
Yeah.
So you can see right away wherethis is going.
You just faithfully sit downand, do the work.
And then you see, oh, that itcan produce something.
So definitely, I would see howit has a huge impact on even
(15:38):
your process.
Yeah, it does.
And I wouldn't be able to doanything without God, without
prayer, because God is themaster storyteller.
He's told the story of so manypeople throughout time.
And he's the one that needs totell my stories for me or
through me.
Yeah.
And that is love.
What more suitable as this genreto, to read about him and
(16:02):
people's stories.
Yeah.
I wanted to see if you had anyadvice to aspiring writers who
share the same faith beliefswhat advice would you give to
Christians who are interested inwriting romance or fiction?
You also collaborate with a lotof authors that do not have the
same genre, that do not sharethe same beliefs.
So how do you.
(16:22):
How do you keep your, integrityin a world that does not follow
your value?
Yeah.
Let's see.
Okay.
Advice to aspiring writers.
I think I have two levels ofadvice.
One is for the pure act ofwriting.
And my advice for that, ifthere's anybody that's just
(16:43):
starting out My advice.
Is to really push yourself,every day, if you can, even if
you just write 1000 words, oreven if you can only write 500
words push yourself every day tosit down and write that and do
not edit while you're creating,because those are two different
processes.
And you really need to justfocus on the creation and then
(17:06):
go back with the editsafterwards.
That's my advice for forwriting.
And, if you are, you said towriters who might share the same
faith, I think one thing is tofind out if you want to write
inspirational because there aremany other ways.
Amazing inspirational lovestories or, or any like
(17:27):
historical stories that aresupposed to bring people to God.
They're supposed to make peoplelift their eyes to God.
Maybe that's the genre that youneed to be writing and that is
great.
If you decide to write somethingthat is not necessarily
mainstream, and the reason Ipersonally made that choice, I
think it was twofold.
One, because I grew up readingthe classics.
(17:49):
And for me the classics didn'thave a lot of like mention of
people sitting down to praythrough their problems or
opening the Bible.
And so that was the kind ofliterature that I was writing.
And so I was, it didn't seemnatural for me to add that.
The second reason was becauseback when I was You know, when I
believed in God but was notinterested in following Him, I
(18:12):
would say that all those booksthat I read that were not
necessarily blatantly Christian,and those books, the ones that
were blatantly Christian, mighthave caused me to push back.
But the ones that showed all theChristian characteristics, those
were the ones that I would read,and it would stir something in
my heart and make me want tofollow God, which I eventually
(18:34):
decided to do.
So for the aspiring writersdecide, do you want to write
inspirational?
There is a place for you.
Do you want to write romance orsomething else that doesn't
necessarily appeal to the crowdof proclaimed Christians?
That's okay too.
But something I think about is,I think about the scripture that
says we will be, it's somethingI'm paraphrasing, but we will be
(18:56):
judged for every word.
That we say there's a scripturethat says something like that.
And I just think, wow, I want mybooks to honor God, no matter
what I think it's worth takingthat into consideration if you
want to draw near to God whatkind of legacy I'm leaving?
Am I leaving behind?
What am I, portraying to thereadership?
(19:19):
Yes, the scripture, I found itas you were talking.
Thank you! Matthew 12, verse 36.
But I tell you, on the Day ofJudgment, people will have to
give an accounting for everycareless and useless word they
speak.
Yes.
Yeah.
And when you're writing, it'snot careless or useless.
You have reread that thing 10times, so just, I think to me
(19:42):
that's, yeah, I want to pleaseGod.
I want him to say, well done,good and faithful servant,
including with the books that Iwrite.
That's great.
That's integrity.
I love that.
Thank you.
So what can we expect from youin the future in terms of
writing?
Are there any new things?
Are there any themes ordirections you're excited to
explore?
(20:02):
Yes, there is.
Yes, I I can tell you that theproject I'm working on now I
cannot give all the details, butI signed a three book series
with Baker Publishing Group.
So they're the ones that haveBethany House, with writers like
Julie Klassen and Erika Vetch,and, you know, they're really
(20:23):
this really great.
Publishing house.
I'm so excited.
And the series is going to beset on the continent in the
Georgian era, which means thatthe books are going to be in the
1700s and they're going to takeplace in Belgium, although
Belgium was not yet a country.
Yes, the first book is in Spabut it was not Belgium at the
(20:46):
time, not until 1836.
It was the Southern Netherlandsand then the second book takes
place in Paris and the thirdbook takes place in Rome.
And so I'm working on the firstbook for that series.
It's not coming out until summerof 2026, but I am very excited
about it.
Congratulations.
How exciting.
So lots of writing.
(21:06):
A thousand words a day.
Yes, at least, do you have adeadline or how it's due mid mid
January, the first draft, butit's the first polished draft,
as if I thought it were ready topublish, and then it will go
into development, edit it sothat I'll get it back.
And there will be tons ofchanges to make, hopefully.
(21:28):
The more prepared it is, theless changes there will be
because I'll of course beworking on my next book that's
outside of the, the publishinghouse.
So yeah, it's, I'm, oh, it's,I'm nervous but I'm very excited
too.
and thank you for carving time'cause it's, you're in the
middle of it, I'm assuming,since you Yeah.
Finished by mid January.
Thank you so much.
(21:48):
I wish you the best with that.
And so my last question, mylast.
A few questions.
Is there anything that you'dlike to leave our listeners with
regarding faith and creativity?
Yeah.
One thing is, a reminder thatGod is A creator.
So he he honors our creations.
(22:08):
And, even in the Old Testament,he chose specific people to
create for the temple, thesepeople are going to work with
cloth, these ones are going towork with wood, and these ones
with gold, and, and Creativityis a gift, and it's something
that God honors and so I thinkyou, you should treasure it, if
you, if there's any form ofcreativity, no matter what it
(22:29):
is, whether it's writing orsewing, or quilting, or
anything, it, it comes from God,and you should value it but I
think that The other thing toremember, especially if you
aspire to being successful orthings like that.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But I think to remember thatnothing on this earth is going
to remain, and I'm veryconscious that yeah, my books,
(22:50):
God has allowed it.
He's allowed me to have fun.
He's allowed me to give pleasureto my readers.
But, I'm, I'm really nothing.
My books are going to go up, inthe, on the last day and maybe
he'll give me something else todo in heaven, and I'll have a
different type of creativity.
But this is not going to last,the only thing that lasts is our
souls and his words.
So not to, don't.
think more highly of yourselfthan you ought.
(23:12):
That shouldn't be the main, nomatter what your creative goal
is, even acting or anything,that shouldn't be the main thing
that you focus on.
It should just be pleasing Godand enjoying yourself.
That's so true.
Yes.
Our hope is in God and Godalone.
And he We can't dethrone him forsomething that we create or
(23:33):
whatever dreams or passions thatwe have.
Exactly.
Thank you so much for sharingthat.
It's a great reminder.
And then finally, you mentionedyour blog.
Where can our listeners findyour books?
Connect with you.
I'll put all the links in theshow notes.
Okay, thank you.
Yeah, so the blog is A Lady inFrance, but again, I don't write
much on there and you can findme on my books, either my
(23:57):
website JennyGoutte.
com, but there's alsoJennyGoutteBooks.
com, which is an actual shop.
Most of my books are inlibraries.
If you don't have a physicalcopy, you can ask them to get
it.
But ebooks, audiobooks, you canget it for free on YouTube.
Listen to audiobooks on YouTubeif you don't mind listening to
the advertising.
(24:18):
Otherwise, you can get them onthe Nook, Apple, Kobo, Kindle,
Google, like all the platforms.
They're everywhere, or of coursein paperback.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for your time.
I'm not going to take more ofyour time because you're a very
busy woman, but I wish you thebest with everything.
for putting God first.
Thank you so much.
(24:38):
Thank you for this time.
I feel honored to be here.
My pleasure.
Bye.
Bye.
What a conversation Jenny'sjourney as a writer reminds me
of how God weaves his purposethrough every area of our lives.
Her commitment to creatingstories that are clean,
uplifting, and rooted inmeaningful connections.
(25:00):
Shows how we can glorify God inour work while serving others.
So here are a few key takeawaysfrom our time together.
Number one.
God is the ultimate storytellerand he is the author of each of
our lives.
Number two, God has placeddreams in our hearts, according
to his divine plan.
(25:22):
And only through him, can we seehow our story unfolds?
And these dreams ultimately drawus.
Closer to him is our greatestdream is to know God and have an
eternal relationship with him.
Number three God's plan for ourlives often emerges through
seasons of grief or hardship.
(25:42):
Number four while not explicitlyChristian, the qualities we
admire in characters and heroesin any story, actually stem from
the fruit of the spirit, such aslove.
Patience kindness.
Goodness, gentleness, loyaltyand faithfulness.
Number five.
Prayer is an invitation to bringGod into every aspect of your
(26:04):
life and work.
Number six, creative tip.
First create, then edit.
These are two distinct processesthat require different mindsets.
Number seven Matthew 12 verse 36says that everyone will have to
give an account on the day ofjudgment for every empty word
(26:26):
they have spoken.
This reminds us that whatever wedo, we should do it to honor
God.
Number eight, ultimately God isour king and our greatest reward
far beyond any success we mightgain in this world.
I hope this episode encouragesyou to reflect on your own
(26:48):
story.
The one that God has written foryou.
Instead of judging it based onwhere you are now.
How can you start.
To see it the way God sees it.
Take a moment this season toconsider how he might want to
use your unique gifts, talents,and abilities for a greater
(27:09):
purpose than just yourself.
So what's one step you can taketoday to align your story with
God's greater narrative.
Join me again next week for moreepisodes, as we continue this
journey together.
Until next time.
(27:31):
Hi, I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
If so, would you like to take 30seconds and share it with a
friend who may also strugglewith knowing God and His purpose
for their life.
Also, leave a review onapplepodcast.
com.
Podcast, and let me know whattopics you'd like to hear about
in the future.
Your voice matters.
(27:51):
I'll meet you back next Fridayfor another episode.
I was very interested in justhaving a career of,
(00:02):
sophistication, adventure, allof these things.
And God didn't really fit intothe picture.
But over a period of about twoor three years, I went through a
lot.
And in the course of those yearsI was reached out to by the same
church, the one I still go tonow four different times.
I didn't put it all togetheruntil afterwards, but it was a
(00:22):
very comforting sign that Godwas leading me to the place that
He wanted me to be.
And it was also through muchgrief and difficulty that I
found God Welcome back tocurious for Christ.
I'm your host Alexandra.
And today we are kicking off theholiday season a little early.
With a very special episode,featuring my friend, Jenny Jenny
(00:46):
is the best selling author of 13historical romance novels,
including the clusteringChronicles, memorable proposals
and the daughters of the gintree series.
Her books have received firstplace honors in historical
romance at the new Englandreader's choice awards hit the
number one spot in Regencyromance on Amazon and have been
(01:06):
translated into six languages.
Jenny is an American bornAnglophile who now lives with
her franchise Benz and theirthree children just outside of
Paris.
Her imagination, however,resides firmly in Regency
England.
The backdrop for her cleanromances, her work, not only
transports readers to anotherera, but also reflects her face
(01:30):
and values in a meaningful way.
In this episode, we'll hear howJenny's face influences her
writing and how she's used herGod-given gifts to touch readers
Worldwide.
Jenny's journey is a Testamentto how God's purpose can guide
our creative pursuits and howour talents, when surrendered to
him can bring light and joy toothers.
(01:52):
So settling for this inspiringconversation, it's the perfect
way to begin the season ofgratitude.
And reflection.
Welcome to curious for Christ.
Do you ever find yourself lyingawake at night?
Wondering about God's plan foryour life.
(02:14):
Maybe you wake up with bigdreams, but feel unsure where to
start or what your next stepshould be.
If you're curious aboutexploring your faith and finding
purpose, then you've come to theright place.
Hi, I'm Monica, Sandra.
I too felt lost unsure of thedirection my life was taking.
I yearned to understand mypurpose and have someone guide
(02:35):
me.
But I kept telling myself I wastoo busy, the timing wasn't
right.
And my lack of clarity preventedme from being consistent until I
found Christ.
He brought peace into my lifeand we field the way to find
purpose by anchoring myself.
In him.
In this podcast, we'll journeytogether, exploring the Bible to
(02:58):
gain a deeper understanding ofhim.
and cultivate your own personalrelationship with Christ.
So open up your Bible, put inthose ear buds and listen up
because God is speaking to you.
He is making everything new andyou don't want to miss it.
Let's get started.
Hey there, before we dive intoday's episode, I want to take
(03:19):
a moment to talk about somethingreally important.
When we become Christians, Godtakes the lead in every decision
we make.
We step back and let him guide.
Because we know he has theultimate plan.
My coaching program, spiritualgrowth coaching.
Isn't just an option.
It's essential.
(03:40):
Your relationship with God isthe foundation of everything,
your identity, your purpose,your relationships, your family,
your children, your children'schildren.
And so on.
And of course in every aspect ofyour business.
Can creation understand acreator's plan.
Remember when God asked job.
(04:01):
Were you there when the earthwas formed?
Where are we.
It's time to stop relying on ourlimited understanding and start
building our lives on the truthof God's plan.
God is mighty.
He is.
Almighty.
And he is the answer toeverything we're searching for.
So if you are unsure of how tostart building a relationship
(04:24):
with God, Connect with me for aquick discovery call.
Just go to bit dot L Y forwardslash curious for Christ
discovery to book a free calland start living your life on
the unshakeable foundation ofGod almighty.
B I T dot L Y forward slashcurious for Christ discovery.
(04:45):
Good morning, Jenny, or should Isay good afternoon?
Cause we have the pleasure tohave you directly from France, a
little town outside Paris.
How are you doing?
Thank you for joining me.
Oh, thank you so much for havingme.
I'm doing great.
I'm very happy to be here.
Oh it's such a pleasure to haveyou.
(05:05):
I first discovered your work,actually, I stumbled a few years
ago on your biography, and I wasimmediately captivated by your
story.
And then when I had the chanceto meet you in person in Paris,
your hospitality was soheartwarming, very French.
Loved it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So to start, I'd love for you totell us a little bit about your
(05:28):
faith journey for you to sharehow you came to know Christ.
Tell us about even meeting yourhusband and then all the way to
moving to France.
Okay I will try to do thisrather quickly, or rather
succinctly, but in a few words.
But if anybody is, if thissparks curiosity in anyone, I
did write a memoir.
(05:49):
It's called Stars Upside Down,and the whole thing is in there.
But basically, I grew upPresbyterian, going to church.
I respected God, but I wouldn'tsay that I wanted to follow him.
I was very interested in justhaving a career of,
sophistication, adventure, allof these things.
And God didn't really fit intothe picture.
(06:09):
But over a period of about twoor three years, I went through a
lot.
I was traveling.
I was living in Asia and in NewYork City.
I was living in Paris and justtrying to discover myself.
And in the course of those yearsI was reached out to by the same
church, the one I still go tonow four different times.
(06:29):
And in those four times, two ofthem were in New York City, one
was on a beach in Hawaii, andone was in Paris.
And so that was obviously, Ididn't put it all together until
afterwards, but it was a verycomforting sign that God was
leading me to the place that Hewanted me to be.
And it was also through muchgrief and difficulty that I
(06:51):
found God, I think I neededperhaps to have been humbled a
little bit in order to open myeyes and see what I truly
desired, which wasn't all thosethings I was going after.
It was eternal life andrelationship with God.
And so that is, The story in anutshell, and my husband and I
(07:12):
came to church, I had dreamtthat I would marry a French man
when I was 18 years old.
And he and I came to church onthe same day for the first time.
We were both an hour earlybecause it was daylight savings
time.
And we got baptized about sixweeks later, me at night and him
the next day.
And, and then we started datingthree years after that.
(07:34):
That was another sign where youknow, because I had been dating
a French man, and that was oneof the difficult things to give
up because he was not interestedin God.
And that was also a comfort,like God saying no, I have
something better for you.
And so here I am in France,married, three kids, and very
grateful.
Amazing how God weaves ourstories and brings us to Him.
(07:57):
And you have written over 13historical romances.
How did you begin writing andwhat inspired you to choose
romance as your main genre?
Yes, okay, that, that is quite astory.
It was not Straightforward.
Although, when I was younger, Idid write a book, that's in air
(08:20):
quotes, because, it was ahandwritten, eighth grade novel.
And I had always dreamt ofpublishing a book, of being a
writer, but when I tried I, Gotabout 10 chapters in and my
husband was like, this isboring, like nothing's
happening.
So I was like, okay, I'm not awriter.
But when everything settleddown, we got our house, I had my
(08:41):
three kids and, the youngest wasa baby and I was just like, it
was the period of blogs.
So I started a blog.
It's called the lady in France.
It's still there, but I don'thave time to add to it.
But it does have some faitharticles, by the way, he's still
on there that you can look for.
And people would say, Oh, you'vehad an interesting life.
You should write a memoir.
And I did not really take thatseriously until I had a second
(09:07):
term miscarriage.
And there was something aboutthis deep grief, which kind of
brought everything to thesurface.
And I just plunged into.
Telling my story like thesubtitle of the memoir is I
think it's called a memoir ofgrief, travel, and an
incandescent God or somethinglike that.
(09:27):
And I just realized that therewas something unifying, and it
was just the story that God waswriting.
of my life.
And so I wrote that.
When I was, when it was out andit was published, I realized,
Oh, I don't want to go back tojust the blog posts.
Like I, I want to keep writinglonger works, but I didn't have
the courage to I had justdiscovered by that point, George
(09:49):
at hair, who was an author wholived.
last century, and she wroteRegency Romance.
She developed the genre.
She was not a contemporary ofJane Austen, but she was the one
that brought all that backagain.
And I thought she was brilliant.
Before then, I think I thoughtthat romance authors were not
very not a respected literarygenre.
(10:11):
But when I read her, I was like,wow.
Romance can be so rich andthere's so much you can do with
it.
And so I wanted to write ahistorical like she wrote.
I didn't have the courage.
I popped out two contemporariesand then I was like no.
I'm going to do it.
So that's when I started writinghistorical romance.
It was because of her, I wouldsay.
That's amazing.
(10:31):
And your vocabulary isfantastic, I have to say.
I love it.
I know I have to catch up on thelatest one, but I've read a few
of your books.
So I want to explore a littlebit.
As a Christian, how does yourfamily How does faith shape the
way you explore relationshipsand emotions in your novels?
And how do you think yourapproach also impacts your
(10:52):
readers?
You were impacted by GeorgetteHeer.
So how do you think yourapproach with your faith impacts
your readers compared to moremainstream romance novels?
Yeah.
I know that something thatreally touched me When I was
younger was reading books thatwere not necessarily with an
(11:14):
obvious faith focus but had allof the nobility of character
that we aspire to as Christiansor the ones that are listed in
Galatians five, like the fruitsof the spirit and, and I know
that was, that gave me somethingto aspire to that gave me a
goal, even though I was not yet,seeking Christ, I was seeking
(11:37):
those attributes.
And so I think there's somethingabout that, which makes me want
to write those same kinds ofthings.
I would say that perhaps thecharacters might be deeper in
some ways or since we can't Gointo all the physical
attraction.
It's there, but we can't go intodetailed physical attraction.
(11:59):
We have to build the connectionon a more basic human connection
level of the heart.
And so I think that is that'swhat's maybe different than some
Somebody else that might writewith more open door scenes mine
are very much about the heartsof the two people coming
(12:20):
together.
Yeah, I don't know if I answeredthat well, but that's, there's
like maybe a slowertransformation as well of their,
of their, Love, it develops moreslowly because, you're
everything is all the physicalside is repressed until the
right time.
And so the romance is able todevelop.
Yes, the relationship, thechange of heart and everyone is
(12:43):
inspired by love, goodness,integrity.
all these things.
So definitely I see howappealing it would be to anyone.
You don't express overtly yourfaith in your books, but could
you tell me a little bit howyour faith actually influenced
your creative process?
And also, do you feel like Godis guiding your work or?
(13:04):
Have there been moments whereyou felt his inspiration, the
Spirit's guidance?
Yes and no.
So my faith guides my workbecause there are certain lines
I will not cross.
I do not want to make anyonestumble reading my book.
I don't want anyone to stumblein their You know, if they're
trying to, for instance, ifthere is somebody who is single
(13:26):
that's trying to stay pure, Idon't want my book to be a cause
of stumbling.
That's probably the most obviousway that my faith affects my
book.
And in terms of God guiding mycareer, I will say that the very
first book that I published thathad a huge success, which was A
Fall from Grace, that was justGod.
Because I would just look at myhusband and I'm like, Oh my
(13:48):
goodness.
It's still selling.
It's like it's been two monthsand it's still selling, like
really well and you know thatwas when I was starting to be
able to earn my living as anauthor and I was like, Oh my
goodness, and it was very clearto me that was God.
That was not my brilliance.
That was just 100 percent God.
But in terms of how he guides mysort of journey.
(14:09):
Day to day, or, do I feel hisprocess a lot of times writing
for me is really work.
It's there are some people.
There are some authors, butit's.
Where the stories just bubbleout of them.
They're, they've been giftedwith this storytelling thing,
but I was, I don't have that.
(14:29):
It is a work for me.
And a lot of times I feel likeI'm going very blindly, I'm
feeling my way through and I'mlike, okay, and it's, it, I have
to force myself to sit down infront of the computer.
And sometimes I write, not evenreally knowing where I'm going
or, and I'll think, oh, this wasno good.
And then I'll read it back.
And I was like.
Actually, I can work with this.
This is better than I thought.
(14:50):
Yes, it needs work to bring outmore emotion or whatever, but
this is going in the rightdirection.
And that's God.
I know that it is.
And I do pray every day before Istart writing.
I do pray.
But I will say that I'm not oneof those people that Where it's
just such a natural gift that itflows out of me almost.
With no work.
No.
I sweat blood for the, for thesebooks, Yes.
(15:15):
You have to show up.
You have to do the work and andI would say this is a work of
faith.
This is what faith is.
Being certain of what you do notsee.
Yeah.
So you can see right away wherethis is going.
You just faithfully sit downand, do the work.
And then you see, oh, that itcan produce something.
So definitely, I would see howit has a huge impact on even
(15:38):
your process.
Yeah, it does.
And I wouldn't be able to doanything without God, without
prayer, because God is themaster storyteller.
He's told the story of so manypeople throughout time.
And he's the one that needs totell my stories for me or
through me.
Yeah.
And that is love.
What more suitable as this genreto, to read about him and
(16:02):
people's stories.
Yeah.
I wanted to see if you had anyadvice to aspiring writers who
share the same faith beliefswhat advice would you give to
Christians who are interested inwriting romance or fiction?
You also collaborate with a lotof authors that do not have the
same genre, that do not sharethe same beliefs.
So how do you.
(16:22):
How do you keep your, integrityin a world that does not follow
your value?
Yeah.
Let's see.
Okay.
Advice to aspiring writers.
I think I have two levels ofadvice.
One is for the pure act ofwriting.
And my advice for that, ifthere's anybody that's just
(16:43):
starting out My advice.
Is to really push yourself,every day, if you can, even if
you just write 1000 words, oreven if you can only write 500
words push yourself every day tosit down and write that and do
not edit while you're creating,because those are two different
processes.
And you really need to justfocus on the creation and then
(17:06):
go back with the editsafterwards.
That's my advice for forwriting.
And, if you are, you said towriters who might share the same
faith, I think one thing is tofind out if you want to write
inspirational because there aremany other ways.
Amazing inspirational lovestories or, or any like
(17:27):
historical stories that aresupposed to bring people to God.
They're supposed to make peoplelift their eyes to God.
Maybe that's the genre that youneed to be writing and that is
great.
If you decide to write somethingthat is not necessarily
mainstream, and the reason Ipersonally made that choice, I
think it was twofold.
One, because I grew up readingthe classics.
(17:49):
And for me the classics didn'thave a lot of like mention of
people sitting down to praythrough their problems or
opening the Bible.
And so that was the kind ofliterature that I was writing.
And so I was, it didn't seemnatural for me to add that.
The second reason was becauseback when I was You know, when I
believed in God but was notinterested in following Him, I
(18:12):
would say that all those booksthat I read that were not
necessarily blatantly Christian,and those books, the ones that
were blatantly Christian, mighthave caused me to push back.
But the ones that showed all theChristian characteristics, those
were the ones that I would read,and it would stir something in
my heart and make me want tofollow God, which I eventually
(18:34):
decided to do.
So for the aspiring writersdecide, do you want to write
inspirational?
There is a place for you.
Do you want to write romance orsomething else that doesn't
necessarily appeal to the crowdof proclaimed Christians?
That's okay too.
But something I think about is,I think about the scripture that
says we will be, it's somethingI'm paraphrasing, but we will be
(18:56):
judged for every word.
That we say there's a scripturethat says something like that.
And I just think, wow, I want mybooks to honor God, no matter
what I think it's worth takingthat into consideration if you
want to draw near to God whatkind of legacy I'm leaving?
Am I leaving behind?
What am I, portraying to thereadership?
(19:19):
Yes, the scripture, I found itas you were talking.
Thank you! Matthew 12, verse 36.
But I tell you, on the Day ofJudgment, people will have to
give an accounting for everycareless and useless word they
speak.
Yes.
Yeah.
And when you're writing, it'snot careless or useless.
You have reread that thing 10times, so just, I think to me
(19:42):
that's, yeah, I want to pleaseGod.
I want him to say, well done,good and faithful servant,
including with the books that Iwrite.
That's great.
That's integrity.
I love that.
Thank you.
So what can we expect from youin the future in terms of
writing?
Are there any new things?
Are there any themes ordirections you're excited to
explore?
(20:02):
Yes, there is.
Yes, I I can tell you that theproject I'm working on now I
cannot give all the details, butI signed a three book series
with Baker Publishing Group.
So they're the ones that haveBethany House, with writers like
Julie Klassen and Erika Vetch,and, you know, they're really
(20:23):
this really great.
Publishing house.
I'm so excited.
And the series is going to beset on the continent in the
Georgian era, which means thatthe books are going to be in the
1700s and they're going to takeplace in Belgium, although
Belgium was not yet a country.
Yes, the first book is in Spabut it was not Belgium at the
(20:46):
time, not until 1836.
It was the Southern Netherlandsand then the second book takes
place in Paris and the thirdbook takes place in Rome.
And so I'm working on the firstbook for that series.
It's not coming out until summerof 2026, but I am very excited
about it.
Congratulations.
How exciting.
So lots of writing.
(21:06):
A thousand words a day.
Yes, at least, do you have adeadline or how it's due mid mid
January, the first draft, butit's the first polished draft,
as if I thought it were ready topublish, and then it will go
into development, edit it sothat I'll get it back.
And there will be tons ofchanges to make, hopefully.
(21:28):
The more prepared it is, theless changes there will be
because I'll of course beworking on my next book that's
outside of the, the publishinghouse.
So yeah, it's, I'm, oh, it's,I'm nervous but I'm very excited
too.
and thank you for carving time'cause it's, you're in the
middle of it, I'm assuming,since you Yeah.
Finished by mid January.
Thank you so much.
(21:48):
I wish you the best with that.
And so my last question, mylast.
A few questions.
Is there anything that you'dlike to leave our listeners with
regarding faith and creativity?
Yeah.
One thing is, a reminder thatGod is A creator.
So he he honors our creations.
(22:08):
And, even in the Old Testament,he chose specific people to
create for the temple, thesepeople are going to work with
cloth, these ones are going towork with wood, and these ones
with gold, and, and Creativityis a gift, and it's something
that God honors and so I thinkyou, you should treasure it, if
you, if there's any form ofcreativity, no matter what it
(22:29):
is, whether it's writing orsewing, or quilting, or
anything, it, it comes from God,and you should value it but I
think that The other thing toremember, especially if you
aspire to being successful orthings like that.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But I think to remember thatnothing on this earth is going
to remain, and I'm veryconscious that yeah, my books,
(22:50):
God has allowed it.
He's allowed me to have fun.
He's allowed me to give pleasureto my readers.
But, I'm, I'm really nothing.
My books are going to go up, inthe, on the last day and maybe
he'll give me something else todo in heaven, and I'll have a
different type of creativity.
But this is not going to last,the only thing that lasts is our
souls and his words.
So not to, don't.
think more highly of yourselfthan you ought.
(23:12):
That shouldn't be the main, nomatter what your creative goal
is, even acting or anything,that shouldn't be the main thing
that you focus on.
It should just be pleasing Godand enjoying yourself.
That's so true.
Yes.
Our hope is in God and Godalone.
And he We can't dethrone him forsomething that we create or
(23:33):
whatever dreams or passions thatwe have.
Exactly.
Thank you so much for sharingthat.
It's a great reminder.
And then finally, you mentionedyour blog.
Where can our listeners findyour books?
Connect with you.
I'll put all the links in theshow notes.
Okay, thank you.
Yeah, so the blog is A Lady inFrance, but again, I don't write
much on there and you can findme on my books, either my
(23:57):
website JennyGoutte.
com, but there's alsoJennyGoutteBooks.
com, which is an actual shop.
Most of my books are inlibraries.
If you don't have a physicalcopy, you can ask them to get
it.
But ebooks, audiobooks, you canget it for free on YouTube.
Listen to audiobooks on YouTubeif you don't mind listening to
the advertising.
(24:18):
Otherwise, you can get them onthe Nook, Apple, Kobo, Kindle,
Google, like all the platforms.
They're everywhere, or of coursein paperback.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for your time.
I'm not going to take more ofyour time because you're a very
busy woman, but I wish you thebest with everything.
for putting God first.
Thank you so much.
(24:38):
Thank you for this time.
I feel honored to be here.
My pleasure.
Bye.
Bye.
What a conversation Jenny'sjourney as a writer reminds me
of how God weaves his purposethrough every area of our lives.
Her commitment to creatingstories that are clean,
uplifting, and rooted inmeaningful connections.
(25:00):
Shows how we can glorify God inour work while serving others.
So here are a few key takeawaysfrom our time together.
Number one.
God is the ultimate storytellerand he is the author of each of
our lives.
Number two, God has placeddreams in our hearts, according
to his divine plan.
(25:22):
And only through him, can we seehow our story unfolds?
And these dreams ultimately drawus.
Closer to him is our greatestdream is to know God and have an
eternal relationship with him.
Number three God's plan for ourlives often emerges through
seasons of grief or hardship.
(25:42):
Number four while not explicitlyChristian, the qualities we
admire in characters and heroesin any story, actually stem from
the fruit of the spirit, such aslove.
Patience kindness.
Goodness, gentleness, loyaltyand faithfulness.
Number five.
Prayer is an invitation to bringGod into every aspect of your
(26:04):
life and work.
Number six, creative tip.
First create, then edit.
These are two distinct processesthat require different mindsets.
Number seven Matthew 12 verse 36says that everyone will have to
give an account on the day ofjudgment for every empty word
(26:26):
they have spoken.
This reminds us that whatever wedo, we should do it to honor
God.
Number eight, ultimately God isour king and our greatest reward
far beyond any success we mightgain in this world.
I hope this episode encouragesyou to reflect on your own
(26:48):
story.
The one that God has written foryou.
Instead of judging it based onwhere you are now.
How can you start.
To see it the way God sees it.
Take a moment this season toconsider how he might want to
use your unique gifts, talents,and abilities for a greater
(27:09):
purpose than just yourself.
So what's one step you can taketoday to align your story with
God's greater narrative.
Join me again next week for moreepisodes, as we continue this
journey together.
Until next time.
(27:31):
Hi, I hope you enjoyed today'sepisode.
If so, would you like to take 30seconds and share it with a
friend who may also strugglewith knowing God and His purpose
for their life.
Also, leave a review onapplepodcast.
com.
Podcast, and let me know whattopics you'd like to hear about
in the future.
Your voice matters.
(27:51):
I'll meet you back next Fridayfor another episode.
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!