Today we’d like to introduce you to Jami Albright.
Hi Jami, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
When I was 47 years old, I decided I would write my reading buddy a romantic comedy book for her birthday. I know, it was a lofty goal for someone who’d never written a word of fiction. But I was determined, so I bought Writing Romance for Dummies and got to work.
I wrote and giggled and wrote and giggled, then my computer crashed, and I lost all 30k words that I’d written. “Oh, well,” I thought, “I’m not a writer, anyway.”
When I turned 50, I told my family that the only thing I regretted was not finishing that book. They encouraged me to start again, but the thought of starting from scratch was overwhelming. Then a few months later, my daughter came in and said, “Mom, I think your book is on this flash drive I found in my drawer.”
Sure enough, it was.
I thought, it’s now or never, so I joined Romance Writers of America and started working on that book.
Romance Writers of America was a godsend. I joined a critique group they had, and those ladies taught me to write. Six months after I joined the critique group, I won my first writing contest with the first few chapters of that book. It took three more years of revising and perfecting that book before I published it, but in April of 2017 I self-published my first book in my Brides on the Run series, Running From a Rock Star. Six months later, I put out the second book in the series, Running With a Sweet Talker, and two months after that I was making more from my books than I was from my day job, so in December of 2017, I quit and became a full-time author.
In the summer of 2022, the cancer that my younger sister had been fighting for ten years got a lot worse, and she died in October of 2022. It devastated me. My grief took up residence in the place where my creativity lived, making writing impossible. In fact, the only thing I wrote from October 2022 until April of 2025 was my sister’s obituary.
But in April of 2025, I began writing my latest release, The Summer That Changed Us—Steel Magnolias meets Schitt’s Creek. A book inspired by the last few months of my sister’s life. It’s hilarious and heartbreaking. Told with sharp humor, messy love, and the kind of honesty that sneaks up and wrecks you, The Summer That Changed Us is a deeply moving, laugh-through-the-tears story about sisters, second chances, and what it really means to show up when it matters most.
It’s perfect for readers who love emotional women’s fiction, small-town family dramas, and unforgettable Southern characters.
I took a chance, followed what seemed like a silly dream and created a whole new career for myself at 50 years old. It’s never too late to follow your dreams.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I’d always made up stories, but never wrote them down because I had terrible grammar, and I was always embarrassed. The critique group I joined kicked my behind for six months. One week they got me for run on sentences and the next week they hit me for sentence fragments. I cried that day, but I waitied until I got to the car to do it..
Also, because I chose to self-publish my books there was and is all kinds of technology, marketing strategies, and basic business practices that I had to learn.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I covered most of this in the first question.
I’m also proud of the fact that I cohost a the Wish I’d Known Then… For Writers podcast. We’ve been doing the podcast since 2020 and have over 500K downloads. Because of this, I’ve become a voice in this community of incredibly talented self-published authors.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Carla Rossi and Stacey Purcell—My writing metors and critque partners
Sara Rosette—My best writing friend and podcast cohost. Sara is a hugely sucessful historical mystery author.
My husband, Chris and my children have been my undying supporters, even though most of my books are kissing books and embarrass my adult children. lol
My Mom, Dad, and sisters have supported me the whole way through this journey, especailly during the writing and since the publication of The Summer That Changed Us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jamialbright.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamialbrightauthor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586663751970
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jamialbright5683
- Other: TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@jamialbrightauthor
