Joanna Davidson Politano freelances for a small nonfiction publisher but spends much of her time spinning tales that capture the colorful, exquisite details in ordinary lives. Her manuscript for Lady Jayne Disappears was a finalist for several contests, including the 2016 Genesis Award from ACFW, and won the OCW Cascade Award and the Maggie Award for Excellence. She is always on the hunt for random acts of kindness, people willing to share their deepest secrets with a stranger, and hidden stashes of sweets. She lives with her husband and their two babies in a house in the woods near Lake Michigan and shares stories that move her at https://jdpstories.com/​. 

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1. If you could travel anywhere in the world for book research (expense covered for you by an anonymous donor), where would you go and why?
Italy! I've always wanted to set a book there and visit, too. My husband's family is from Italy and it seems so rich and beautiful there, full of family and life. Although, I definitely wouldn't turn down a trip to Scotland or England!

2. What does a "day in the life of Joanna Politano" look like?
Lots of little socks on the floor, smears on the table, and muddy footprints. My life is full--in a good way. I'm a stay-at-home mom with a writing hobby on the side, so most of my day is full of muddy, bug-filled, tree-climbing adventures with my kiddos. Before my kids are up I saturate myself in God's presence, and that's a necessary part of my day. Then the kids and I are up and singing songs, like "this is the day," and we have tons of fun together with interesting talks and inspired tea parties. After lunch comes naptime and when I tuck my babies in bed, I curl up on the couch and fall down my little rabbit hole into a story world. I pack as much writing as i can into naptimes, then I get sucked back up to reality when the kids wake up. We have family time when my husband comes home, then when the kids are tucked in bed again, it's back to writing, often while sitting beside my husband. 

3.How did you decide that you wanted to write historical/mystery novels?
I write the type of books I like to read, so when I was infatuated with Daphne Du Maurier, Martha Grimes, Wilkie Collins and others, I guess that's just naturally what came out of my brain! It's hard for me to write a book without a mystery thread, because I'm not sure what else will pull me back to the story every day. If I'm not pulled in, I certainly don't expect readers to be, either!

4. What did your writing process look like for A Rumored Fortune?
Honestly, this one was more frustrating and wheel-spinning than other books. I had to understand how to live well outside of writing in order to write well, and with a newborn and two year old on top of a contract, that was hard to do. Sleep wasn't happening, and creativity felt scarce. As I wrote about branches connecting to the vine as their source of life and a heroine connecting to her true vine, I found my way back to the life source I truly needed and quenched my heart. I started this book by researching vineyards, both in practical terms and in Scripture. I looked carefully at how it fit together and how the practical study peeled back the layers of the Biblical parables concerning vines. I based my story journey around that research, and wrote a (very bad) first draft. I then sent it off to my first reader who totally upended the plot and made me change direction and rewrite about 80% of it. This process felt like the necessary pruning vines undergo, removing useful and good things to make what's left more effective. It took a lot of work, but the story finally came together!

5. What inspired the idea for A Rumored Fortune?
This book is actually the combination of two true life stories--a family friend's missing treasure story, and my own personal love story. I wove them together because they had a connection in real life, too. 

6. What did you as an author take away from writing A Rumored Fortune?
This book brought me much precious time with God, untangling the truths concerning vines in Scripture, then battling to get this story to lay flat on the page and cooperate. It was a battle, but I ended up with more than a completed book. I gained intimacy with God that has rippled onto my entire life.

7. What is your curent WIP?  What can you tell us about it?
My next book coming up, which is just now turned into my editor, is about a rag girl who stands in as a replacement for a wealthy lady, and comes to find out the scary truth about the woman she's impersonating. There's a really fun book-based romance in there too, with a couple who leaves secret messages for each other through books. That was immensely fun to write--well, this whole story was--and I can't wait to share it with readers next summer!

Joanna Davidson Politano freelances for a small nonfiction publisher but spends much of her time spinning tales that capture the colorful, exquisite details in ordinary lives. Her manuscript for Lady Jayne Disappears was a finalist for several contests, including the 2016 Genesis Award from ACFW, and won the OCW Cascade Award and the Maggie Award for Excellence. She is always on the hunt for random acts of kindness, people willing to share their deepest secrets with a stranger, and hidden stashes of sweets. She lives with her husband and their two babies in a house in the woods near Lake Michigan and shares stories that move her at https://jdpstories.com/​. 

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1. What is your favorite dessert?
That's like asking me to pick a favorite book! Oh my, can I say all of them? Alllll the desserts! I have a terrible sweet tooth that I regularly indulge :)

2. What is your beverage of choice?
Ok now my oddities come out--Pink grapefruit juice! It's my guilty pleasure :) 

3. What is your favorite movie and/or TV show?
Ooh, Charade! I love, love, love how that movie constantly surprised me. I also loved several movies based on classic books--Our Mutual friend, A Good Woman (Lady Windemere's Fan), and Little Dorritt. I could watch those over and over!

4. Where is your favorite place to go on holiday?
Anywhere my husband is <3  We went to Scotland on our honeymoon, and I'd go there again in a heartbeat. Anywhere we can explore old ruins and beautiful countryside.

1. Who or what inspired you to become an author?
Actually, I think it was just my addiction to stories in general. Movies, books, personal anecdotes and backstories... it all drew me. I just love to sit down with someone I know (or THINK I know) and hear their story, seeing new layers open like flower petals. 

2. What did you want to be when you grew up? Did becoming an author ever cross your mind?
I think my childhood ambitions ran the gamut from lawyer to Biblical counselor. Now I get to write stories and stay home to play with my babies. Turns out that "growing up" looks a lot like childhood, so I'm not sure I ever really grew up :) 

3. Who are some of your favorite authors?  Do these authors inspire your own writing?
Oh so many! I love everything written by Kristy Cambron, Lori Benton, Joanne Bischof, and the Thoenes. Reading their stories make me so excited for books and imaginary tales and weaving word pictures. 

4. When you are not writing, what other activities do you enjoy?
I love playing with my kiddos more than anything, and they're my "day job" so I do a lot of that! We climb trees and play trucks on the floor and have long, involved games of pretend. I also love playing the piano and singing praise music at the top of my lungs with them. Outside of that, I have a great group of friends I love being around.

1. This is your debute novel and you are publishing with Revell.  Who helps represent you and your books and how did you become involved with Revell?
Yes, Revell has blown me away! I've loved writing for them and I'm proud to be one of their authors. They are gracious and talented and lots of fun. I'm represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube agency, and I owe my involvment with Revell to her. She made the connection and showed them my proposal and worked out all the details. 

2. What inspired the idea for Lady Jayne Disappears?
Well, a combination of things. First, I ran across a brief story about the three Bronte sisters approaching their publisher to inform him that they were the famous Bell brother writers (their pen names) and it took a while to convince him that these shy girls were those famous "male" authors. I loved that image! Second, I remembered writing stories anonymously as a kid and having them get passed around the class without anyone knowing who wrote them. I wrote about the people in my class and had a lot of fun giving the shy, overlooked kids superpowers and putting bullies in their place. So out of those things came a story about a girl who published stories about her family under a pen name and caused a lot of chaos in the household. 

3. What do you want readers to take away from reading Lady Jayne Disappears?
I want them to take an eternal perspective on their purpose, their life journey, and even their identity. My hope is also that people will start to shift their focus off of what people think of them and more onto what God is asking of them, and who God defined them to be. We will always notice what people think of us, but that should be in our peripheral vision, with God looming much larger in our sights than the opinions of others. God should be the "finish line" we're staring at as we work and serve and live, nothing else.