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Romantic Comedy Writer JB Teller Takes You On a Hysterical Road Trip of a Lifetime! 15 hrs 15 mins ago
Today we’d like to introduce you to JB Teller. It’s an honor to speak with you today. Why don’t you give us some details about you and your story. How did you get to where you are today? Hi! My name is JB Teller. I am a romantic comedy writer. I grew up in a small South Texas town. When I was older, I married and left Texas. I lived in Europe for three years and in San Francisco for ten. After moving around for 15 years, I finally settled in Colorado. Once my son started school, I began writing. My writing career began by happenstance. You could say I fell into it. I was journaling some adventures that my sister, Joann, and I had gone on through the years. However, after spending a couple of months journaling those adventures, I decided it would be more interesting if I wrote a fictional story around it. It was a fun way to reminisce with my sister about the adventures we had been on. Before I knew it, it quickly snowballed into a full-blown writing career. After a year of writing full time, I found out my sister had cancer. My writing became a way to make her laugh while she was going through chemotherapy. If I could make her laugh, it was a good day. It fueled me. When we found out things were not going in the right direction, I pushed to finish the book so that I could read it to her. In my own way, I keep her alive in my stories, our adventures. I’m sure your success has not come easily. What challenges have you had to overcome along the way? The biggest challenge I have had to overcome is making the time to write. My son, Robbie, has had some significant medical challenges and all my concern and efforts went into being the best mom to him. He is a walking miracle. He had a bone marrow transplant; he was blind for a year, had open-heart surgery, learned to walk three times, had fractures in his back, and had Aspergillus in his heart, lungs, and brain. After going through all of his challenges, he could finally go to school for the first time in fifth grade. Suddenly, I had time on my hands that I hadn’t before. That was after I stalked him at school for the first few weeks by volunteering for everything that I could. Last September, he had a kidney transplant. My husband, Rob, was a perfect match. Robbie is a high school Freshman this year; I’m not even allowed to make eye contact with him. If you have kids, you know the feeling. I am very fortunate that he is doing very well now, and I don’t feel the need to hide in the bushes. He is my endless supply of humor and inspiration. Let’s talk about the work you do. What do you specialize in and why should someone work with you over the competition? I am a romantic comedy author. I love to make people happy, and the fastest way to do that is through love or making them laugh. Romantic comedies allow me to do both at once. I have a set schedule to write. I rarely stay home to work. I head to the local coffee shop to write, people watch, and meet new people. When I am not writing, you can find me traveling. I have an immense love for traveling. I love to see things I haven’t seen before. That is, as long as it is not on the side of a mountain. I have a very irrational fear of heights. I guess that’s a product of growing up in Texas, where we didn’t have things like mountains. Mountains are beautiful from afar, but when you get up close, like driving on the side of one, it’s a whole different story. Kind of like bears are super cute from afar, but when one is right in front of you breathing on you, not so much. What’s your best piece of advice for readers who desire to find success in their life? I have found that when trying to find success in life; you have to first figure out what’s important to you. Then do everything in your power to achieve it. Once you have what you want to do in your sights, make a plan, and just do the next thing. Put one foot in front of the other, and by the time you know it, you have scaled a mountain. You only have one life; it is an adventure; treat it as such. Realize early that money doesn’t equal success. It also doesn’t equal happiness. Money allows for certain pleasures in life, but it doesn’t make you successful. Speaking of success, what does the word mean to you? What does success mean to me? Success to me is being able to do what I love with the people I love for how ever long I want to do it. What’s next for you? The sequel to my book will be out this summer. It’s called Open Bar. I am also in the beginning stages of writing a biography on Dr. Rajni Agarwal, a Pediatric Oncologist at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, CA. I am super excited about it because Dr. Rajni Agarwal has an awe-inspiring story, and I will travel to India for research. Finally, how can people connect with you if they want to learn more. People can always reach out to me through my email jbrteller@gmail.com, Twitter @JBTeller1, Instagram @JBRTeller, or my Facebook Page @JBTeller.