My Winding Path to Publication

Author Kimberly Rose Johnson

Posted by Michelle Griep

No two writers’ journeys are the same. Here’s one author’s story of her road to writerly success. Meet author Kimberly Rose Johnson.

For most of us success doesn’t happen overnight. Most of us see success in increments over time. Perhaps the victory is so small we don’t even notice it except in hindsight.

As a newbie writer I attended my first writer’s conference in 2006. I didn’t know anyone there except one woman, Miralee Ferrell, whom I’d briefly met online and emailed a couple of times beforehand. When I saw her there I introduced myself. As it turned out we hit it off, became friends, then critique partners, and she is now my publisher. I certainly didn’t see that coming! It goes to show though, that you never know who or what will make a difference in your personal or your writing life.

We are in the midst of conference season, and once again I will be heading to the Oregon Christian Writer’s Conference where I received my first glimpse into how to write while sitting in a workshop taught by Randy Ingermannson, famous for his Snowflake method. After taking his class I went back to my room and wrote a short story based on what he taught. I then submitted to a mystery and suspense magazine—my first sale.

This little success was enough to keep me working hard for six more years until I sold my first novel to Harlequin’s Love Inspired Heartsong Present’s line. I then went on to sell four more books before they announced the line would close this June.

That announcement really messed with my head. It took several months before I could decide what I was going to do next. Then my good friend I met all those years ago asked if I would allow her to publish, Island Refuge, a book I’d written a couple of years ago. Not only did she want to publish that book, but she wanted it to be a series. I was cool with that. J I had the proposal already written up for a series and knew exactly what I would write. Island Dreams is the next book in the Wildflower B&B Series, and it will release in August.

That is how I came to be published by Mountain Brook Ink. My writing life has come full circle. My first friend in the writing world is now my publisher.  Talk about a winding path!

About the Book: Island Refuge

Five-Star-Chef Zoe Griffin walked away from her dream job. Did she make a mistake? 

Her engagement off, Zoe Griffin retreats to tiny Wildflower Island in the Puget Sound. Hiding out as a cook and maid at a shabby bed-and-breakfast seems crazy for a chef who’s used to running her own five-star kitchen. And just as she starts to feel at home, her klutzy mishaps make Zoe fear her handsome new boss will fire her. 

Dr. Nick Jackson is done with medicine, and owning a B&B is as far from doctoring as he can get. He needs help, but his only employee’s mistakes give him doubts. As Zoe lets her defenses down, Nick begins to see a competent and caring woman. One whose wounds are as deep as his own. But as they fall for each other, Nick and Zoe must learn the hardest lesson of all—to forgive. Only then can they heal the past and embrace the future . . . together. 

About the Author:

Kimberly Rose Johnson, soon to be empty-nester, lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their yellow lab. Island Refuge is her sixth published book and the first in a series of three. Kimberly enjoys long walks, chocolate, and mochas, not necessarily in that order.