Maricopa author finds quick is best for novel

Maricopa resident and writer Tetonia Blossom wasn’t afraid to set a tough goal for herself late last year. She would begin and complete a novel in less than one month.

Blossom loves Christmas, so she decided on a holiday romance, and started writing Dec. 1.

“Generally the writing process is that you start with these characters that are interesting to you and the more you write, the more the story develops,” Blossom said.

She finished the first draft at 11:56 p.m. the day before Christmas.

On Nov. 5, Blossom’s debut novel Jingle My Way was published by Cerridwyn Publishing. The book, set in the fictional town of Timber, Colo. tells the story of Nina Carter, a heart attack survivor with a marriage on the rocks whose sister’s brother-in-law falls in love with her over the holidays.

“He’s got plenty of snow and the one horse open sleigh; now all Jack needs is to convince Nina to jingle his way,” Blossom wrote.

While the story is romantic and funny, it’s also realistic.

“It has real drama,” Blossom said, “especially when you have a character who is unhappily married and she is struggling with this debate of if she should leave and when she should leave.”

The story also delves into the dangers of heart disease, which Blossom researched extensively while writing the book.

Blossom, who works as a project coordinator for Wells Fargo in addition to her writing career, earned her B.A. in screenwriting from California State University, Northridge and has been writing novels since 2009. She currently is creating an interactive young adult literary series called Grievance, which is due for release next summer.

“Tetonia is very creative,” said friend Raquel Brewer, of Los Angeles. “She is always scanning things, like recording, but without a camera. She takes in the world how a painter would.”

Blossom, 32, said she started her college career majoring in computer engineering before switching to screenwriting.

“Writing was the only thing that made me happy,” Blossom said.

Blossom focused mostly on screenwriting, but in recent years she decided to learn to write for readers instead of viewers.

“I started reading and learning the craft of novel writing, and I had to learn to create that world,” Blossom said.

She added while laughing, “It could suck or not, and I was actually shocked that it did not suck.”