Savoring the Whiskey Love

Joy Allyson grew up in a time when social media was not a thing. Spending most of her young decades enjoying ‘real life’ was a completely unique experience. However, she’s also enjoying her digital life now. The retired educator has turned into an author and is becoming popular on the internet.

“I’ve learned a whole new career. The publishing industry is going through tremendous changes with indie publishing and all the social media marketing – I’m always learning something new,” Joy says.

The Tennessee writer’s ‘Whiskey Love’ is her debut book.’ Whiskey Love is a historical romantic suspense novel about a young woman’s determination to save her family’s famous whiskey distillery at a time when women weren’t even allowed to vote!

“I have been writing ever since I retired five years ago. I received rejections from two earlier manuscripts; Whiskey Love, my third book, was accepted by The Wild Rose Press and published in June of 2022,” she said.

Joy recalls the steps to bring the novel to the market; in her own words, it was ‘terrifying.’ The journey was of almost a year.

Sitting for hours and hours to write, going through lots and lots of edits, the experience was challenging, but it was all worth it! Romance readers are loving the taste of Whiskey Love.

“Several book clubs have selected my book as their reading selection. I have even done a Zoom call with one Book Club. I’m having lots of fun,” shared Joy, who is enjoying her life as an author. She also has participated in several book signings throughout the South.

The story first triggered in the author’s mind when a friend told her about a woman in Nashville that inherited a whiskey distillery when her husband passed away in the 1890s. The premise of the book required lots of whiskey research. Joy visited seven different distilleries to compile research for her book.

“I’ve always loved history and believe it’s so much more interesting if you can see it through the characters’ eyes who could have lived through the historical events of the time they happened,” Joy shared. “My father was an officer in the USAF. He made sure that of all the places we lived and traveled to, we also learned the history behind where we were visiting.”

After the debut novel, Joy is unstoppable! She has just signed a contract for her second book. It will be a sequel to Whiskey Love entitled Whiskey Secrets.

Joy believes an author’s life is pretty interesting as it revolves around being both solitary and social. “You have to be able to focus for long periods of time and seek out opinions from others – knowing that without readers, you will fail,” she shared.

“I leave a trail of Post-It Notes throughout my house and car where I will write down an idea, a name, or a description of a place.

You never know when an idea will pop up,” she said. “I am a morning person – so if I am writing a new book or editing, I will work on that in the morning. I like to take breaks and walk- that is when I get most of my creative ideas.”When she’s not writing, Joy spends time with her family. She has six grandkids – they keep her busy with all their sports, plays, and activities of all kinds.

PS: Whiskey Love is available on Amazon; find more details about the author Joy Allyson on their website.