Cozy Chair, Crackling Fireplace and a Good Book in Winter!

Who doesn't like to cozy up with a blanket in a comfy chair by a glowing, crackling fireplace in winter? Throw in a cup of hot chocolate, and a good, clean, romantic book with a little mystery and you have an afternoon of delight. I recommend you grab Jennifer Deibel's new book as soon as it releases in February, 2023. The Maid of Ballymacool. Perfect book to read next to the fire on a cold winter day. (You can pre-order on Amazon.com.)

Jennifer Deibel has first hand immersive experience abroad. She writes stories that help redefine home through the lens of culture, history and family.

After nearly a decade of living in Ireland and Austria, she now lives in Arizona.

Erica Vetsch, author of the Thorndike & Swann Regency Mysteries (These are some more books you will want to put on your list) said, The Maid of Ballymacool is "A slow-building, delicious romance wrapped in a mystery!" What better endorsement can you get?

Brianna Kelly, the protagonist in the book, lives at Ballymacool House and Boarding School. She has lived here since she was a wee girl and feels she will likely die here. After all it's the only home she has ever known. Despite a sense she was made for something more, Brianna feels powerless to change her situation, so she consoles herself by exploring the Ballymacool grounds, looking for hidden treasures to add to the secret trove beneath the floorboards of her room.


When Michael Wray, the son of local gentry arrives at the school to deal with his unruly niece, he finds himself drawn to Brianna, immediately and inescapably. There is something about her that feels so familiar.

When Brianna unearths an intriguing silver platter in the woods, she commits to learning its origins. Could the handsome newcomer hold the key? If so, this discovery could change everything.

About the Author

Jennifer Deibel is the author of A Dance in Donegal (winner of the Kipp Award for Historical Romance) and The Lady of Galway Manor (a Parable Group bestseller). Her work has appeared on (in)courage, on The Better Mom, in Missions Mosaic magazine, and in other publications. With firsthand immersive experience abroad, Jennifer writes stories that help redefine home through the lens of culture, history, and family. After nearly a decade of living in Ireland and Austria, she now lives in Arizona with her husband and their three children. You can find her online at www.jenniferdeibel.com.

Jennifer Deibel: The Lady of Galway Manor

                                 Jennifer Deibel

When I was a child, you could always find me immersed in some make-believe world—typically involving a castle, a princess, a prince, and a wedding. Ok, there was always a castle, princess, prince, and wedding…but the details were never the same. So, I guess you could say that I’ve always been captivated by story. Though I didn’t get bitten by the reading bug until early adulthood, I think I have always been a writer. I would spend hours writing in my journal, pouring out my hopes, dreams, and deepest darkest secrets. It was only a matter of time before it morphed into characters on a page. And all throughout high school and college, I continued to write, and relished any creative writing assignment given. But I didn’t start writing publicly until much, much later, when I applied to be a regular contributor for a parenting blog that was starting up. At that time, I was about a quarter of the way through writing what would eventually (a decade later) become my debut novel.


I love the whole process of writing, and it intrigues me that—much like my own children—characters can all be so different and take on personalities of their own. In fact, when I first started writing my current project, someone asked me how it was going. I said, “Well, it’s a little slow. I don’t really know my main character yet.” And I just had to laugh. I mean, how in the world can I not know a character that I am making up? Don’t writers just…pick a name and start writing? Goodness, no. And the more stories I write, the more I’m learning starting each new story is like starting a new friendship. It takes time, commitment, and effort. And you can’t truly know what a character is going to do or say until you take the time to really get to know them—their hopes and dreams, their motivations, their history, and the lies the believe. And just like real life budding friendships, sometimes it’s an instant connection, and others it’s a slog through painful small-talk and niceties.


Thankfully, when it came to writing The Lady of Galway Manor, getting to know Annabeth, Stephen, Seamus, and the rest of the gang was a delight. Oh, they gave me a run for my money, don’t get me wrong. But they each were so full of nuggets of truth, laughable missteps, and relatable flaws that I couldn’t wait to get back into their world and find out what happens next. And I hope you’ll get to know them, too.

When Annabeth’s father is given lordship over county Galway in 1920, it seems to be both a blessing and a curse. The move gives her a window of escape from one hellish situation, but then locks her into a different one—being a British lady in Ireland at the start of the Irish War for Independence.


Stephen Jennings is also looking for an escape, and instead finds himself shackled to a British lass who fancies herself God’s gift to Éireann.


Bored without all the trappings of the British Court, Annabeth convinces her father to arrange an apprenticeship for her with the Jennings family–descendants of the creator of the famed Claddagh Ring.


Stephen longs to do anything other than run his family’s jewelry shop. Having had his heart broken, he no longer believes in love and is weary of peddling the lies the Claddagh Ring promises.


Meanwhile, as the war for Irish independence gains strength, many locals resent Annabeth’s family and decide to take things into their own hands to display their displeasure. As events take a dangerous turn for Annabeth and her family, she and Stephen begin to see that perhaps the “other side” isn’t quite as barbaric and uncultured as they’d been led to believe–and that the bonds of friendship, love, and loyalty are only made stronger when put through the refiner’s fire.


The idea for this story has been rolling around in my brain for years. I can’t pinpoint exactly when it came to me but having lived in Galway and been to the actual Claddagh Jewelers and walked the streets of the Claddagh area of Galway city certainly inspired it.


On the surface it may seem like your typical British versus Irish story, but it goes so much deeper than that. It explores the ideas and beliefs we each hold dear and examines what happens when natural enemies are thrust together in a seemingly impossible situation.


When I started writing The Lady of Galway Manor, the world was a much different place than it is now. None of the things which now are fighting to divide us had happened. And yet, as history shows us, the ugliness we are seeing in ourselves today has been there, under the surface, far longer than any of us realize…or perhaps longer than we are willing to admit.


The author of Ecclesiastes was right when he said that there is nothing new under the sun. The battles we are fighting today have been fought for thousands of years. And if we look, there are lessons hidden for us. But more than that, there is hope. Shining gems of miracles, reconciliation, forgiveness, and renewal. And that is what The Lady of Galway Manor explores, and we get to take journey with them.

Jennifer Deibel is the author of A Dance in Donegal. Her work has appeared on

(in)courage, on The Better Mom, in Missions Mosaic magazine, and in other publications.

After nearly a decade of living in Ireland and Austria, she now lives in Arizona with her

husband and their three children. 

You can find her online at www.JenniferDeibel.com.

Living The Life You Were Meant To Live

 

Jennifer Deibel             @ThisGalsJourney

One of the themes in my book, A Dance in Donegal, is living the life you were meant to live. Throughout the story, the main character, Moira, finds herself confronted with her own limitations as well as those placed on her by the local villagers. She faces decision after decision in which she must choose if she is going to do what is right, no matter the consequences. In her darkest moments, Moira questions her choice to move to Ballymann, but through her hardships, she comes to realize that she had to endure those difficulties in order to discover a deeper, richer love and joy than she would have ever dared to imagine.


Along with the idea of doing the right thing no matter the consequences, readers will find themes of bravery, love, selflessness, and grace woven throughout the book.



It is my prayer that the picture of God’s grace and love for humanity would be apparent in a very natural and organic way so readers would view how great, wide, deep, and long is the love of Jesus in a fresh way.

I attempted to achieve a rich combination of setting, history, romance and just the right amount of mystery.


In its very early stages, the story was a sweet romance. It still is in many ways, but I knew something was missing. After conversations with a dear author friend, I realized what this story needed—mystery! Once I realized there was more awaiting Moira than even I had known, the ideas flowed and the mystery almost revealed itself to me, rather than the other way around. I never fancied myself a mystery writer, but I really love that aspect of the story, and writing it just might have been my favorite part.


What I love most about the historical romance genre is being able to explore times and places long since passed. Being able to experience what it might have been like to live in Victorian England, or settle a patch of land in pioneer days, or be an Austrian woman during World War II—it ignites my imagination and awakens my spirit.





My main research came from six years of living in Ireland. Other than that, once I started writing, I researched specific dates, places, and/or people to make sure my details were as accurate as possible. I have used several books and websites, as well as lots of questions I asked my Irish friends to ensure accuracy.


I am currently writing another historical novel set to release in Spring 2022. This one is set in Galway City in 1921 and surrounds the legend of the Claddagh ring. After two years in Donegal, my family and I lived in the Galway area for four years, so I am excited to draw on our experiences there to bring the same depth and detail to this new story as I did A Dance in Donegal.



I love connecting with readers! They can find me on Instagram (@jenniferdeibel_author), where I am most active, Facebook (Jennifer Deibel Author), and GoodReads (Jennifer Deibel). And visitors to my website (www.jenniferdeibel.com) can sign up for my monthly author newsletter. 

Jennifer Deibel is a middle school teacher whose work has appeared on (in)courage, on The Better Mom, in Missions Mosaic magazine, and others. With
firsthand immersive experience abroad, Jennifer writes stories that help redefine home through the lens of culture, history, and family. After nearly a decade of
living in Ireland and Austria, she now lives in Arizona with her husband and their three children.


You can find her online at www.thisgalsjourney.com.

Even With Pandemic, Writing Has Goals

Jennifer Deibel

Did the pandemic change my writing in some way? Hmmmm, I don’t know that it has changed my writing style at all. However, during this time I have learned how to write productively outside of my ideal conditions. Before, I would hole up alone, in the silence, and write for hours on end. As you might imagine, I didn’t often write as much as I wanted because of that! Pandemic life changed that.

My family needed me—and I needed them. The majority of my second book was written sitting at the kitchen table with the chaos of a family of 5 at home all day every day swirling around me. And I grew to love it! I feel like they are much more part of the second book, simply because they were in my periphery rather than blocked out entirely. While I do still enjoy a good isolated writing session, I don’t know that I will ever go back to pursuing that exclusively.

Has the virus affected my writing? Oh my, so very much. When everything first shut down, I was so excited to have some extra time to write! I ended up with an extra week of spring break, during which I was not suppose to do any work, so I planned to use that time to write as much as I could. However, my mind was just…blocked. As time wore on, and I adjusted to quarantine life, I found my muse again. I wrote the bulk of book 2 in the month of July. The words were flying and flowing like mad! It was amazing!

But then, the new school year started. We were online the first quarter, and I suddenly found myself working 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week. I was exhausted and soul-weary. I was in sheer survival mode and didn’t touch a thing to do with my own writing for nearly 3 months.

Now, I seem to have found the balance again and am able to start being creative again.

The idea for my new book, A Dance in Donegal started as a way for me to process our experience of living in Donegal for 2 years early on in our marriage.

That time we spent there was so refining. Those were, in many ways, the hardest 2 years of our lives. But at the same time, it was also a time of intense growth and blessing. After we returned, I found myself pining to return, while at the same time vowing “never again.”

Then, the idea for a story struck me, and I just had to get it on paper. I first started writing it way back in 2004 not long after we returned. Once our daughter was born in early 2005, it sat for years.

I finally picked it back up in 2011, and worked on it sporadically until I finally completed it in January 2017. Writing this story became a way for me to honor our time there, while exploring more deeply all the things I love so much about Ireland and her people.

The descriptions of the lush Irish countryside were by far the easiest parts of the book for me to write. There is no shortage of fodder for the eye in Ireland, and the landscape has a way of seeping into the soul of all who behold it.

The most difficult thing for me was to accurately express what the culture is truly like. So many feel that they understand Ireland, when most of us have barely scratched the surface. There is so much more to the Irish people and culture than shamrocks, luck, and beer. They are a deep, complex people who have overcome so much across the centuries.

Over the nearly 6 years we spent there, the Irish outlook shaped my own so much, and I wanted desperately to give others a glimpse of the authentic Irish life and experience.

My first and main goal for the new year for my writing will be to finish my manuscript for my second book which is due to my editor at Revell in early February.

After that, I will work on plotting out my next few story ideas! I have several rattling around in my head, but I haven’t had the time to really sit down and focus on which one I feel lead to pursue.

Jennifer Deibel is a middle school teacher whose work has appeared on
(in)courage, on The Better Mom, in Missions Mosaic magazine, and others. With
firsthand immersive experience abroad, Jennifer writes stories that help redefine
home through the lens of culture, history, and family. After nearly a decade of
living in Ireland and Austria, she now lives in Arizona with her husband and their
three children. 

You can find her online at www.thisgalsjourney.com.