59. Writing from the Heart: How Following Her Intuition Landed a Book Deal with Jennifer O'Brien

In this heartfelt episode, we chat with debut novelist Jennifer O'Brien, whose publishing journey took a surprising and inspiring turn. After a real-life dream of buying a fixer-upper didn’t pan out, she turned the experience into fiction—crafting a novel rich with themes of love, self-discovery, and the true meaning of home.

We explore how real-life experiences influence story development, the deeper messages she hopes readers will carry with them, and the pivotal moments she leaned on intuition to guide her path—from finding the right literary agent to choosing the best publishing home for her book. 

If you’re a writer chasing your dream or a reader who loves stories grounded in emotional truth, this episode will leave you inspired.

Find more on Jennifer O'Brien here.

Find more on Nicole Meier here.

Transcript

STEPS TO STORY EP 59 - How Following Her Intuition Led to a Book Deal with Jennifer O'Brien

[00:00:00] Nicole Meier: Today I have the absolute pleasure of introducing you to someone I've had the joy of working with on her stories. Jennifer O'Brien. If you love books that blend the heartwarming sense of love and family with the stylish charm of an HGTV design makeover, then Jennifer's books are for you. Jennifer O'Brien is the author of the debut novel The Summer I Found You Coming, April, 2026.

[00:00:26] Nicole Meier: After her dream of buying a Fixerupper fell through, she decided to write about one instead. As a designer and content creator, she offers a unique lens through her ability to capture the life of home and the layers of love that live there for over a decade. She's been the author behind the popular Design blog City Farmhouse, A Better Homes and Gardens style maker, and a guest on the Rachel Ratio.

[00:00:52] Nicole Meier: She's also a member of WFWA and LIRW. Currently, she's working on her second novel and planning her third. She lives on Long Island with her husband, two boys, and their lovable fur baby. I can't wait for you to hear our conversation today, so let's get right to it.

[00:01:15] Nicole Meier: Welcome to Steps to Story. This season I'm focusing on helping you grow as a writer and as an author. I am Nicole Meier, multi published author and certified book coach here to guide you on strengthening your story and getting it out into the world. This season we'll explore ways to overcome the challenges that hold writers back from breaking through creative blocks to fine tuning your story structure and navigating the publishing world with confidence.

[00:01:43] Nicole Meier: Wherever you are in your journey, consider this your supportive space to find clarity, direction, and encouragement. Let's take the next step in your story together.

[00:01:58] Nicole Meier: Okay, listeners, welcome on in. I am so thrilled to have you here because we're with Jennifer O'Brien and she is someone who's got some fun news to share, but also some beautiful insight into what it's like to listen to your intuition and follow your creative dreams, no matter the risk. So I'm so thrilled you're here.

[00:02:18] Nicole Meier: Welcome, Jennifer. Thank you so much, Nicole. I'm so excited to be here with you. Well, I love that you're here and we get to see each other from time to time, but I always especially look forward to seeing you on Zoom listeners. We're on Zoom right now, is because Jennifer started out as an influencer with her brand, which I can have you introduce Jennifer, but you always have beautiful.

[00:02:37] Nicole Meier: Backdrops. Your home is always beautiful. I always get so inspired by your design elements. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. It's a bonus. It's a bonus. With that little segue, do you want to tell listeners how you got your start in the design world before we start talking about your writing self?

[00:02:56] Jennifer O'Brien: Sure. So I started in the design world about 20 years ago, but I started blogging about 14 years ago. It was a way to stay home with my kids and still stay connected to the design world, and so many of my Midwest friends, because I was living in Colorado before that we're doing it. So it was just such a great way to stay connected and just keep abreast on the trends and what was going on.

[00:03:21] Jennifer O'Brien: Then I also had a house decorate, so it was a win-win. So that's how I started. I started as a design blogger and my brand is City Farmhouse, which was a great segue into writing, as I later found out. But yeah, it's been a fun journey for sure. 

[00:03:37] Nicole Meier: Well, it's been a very successful journey. I mean, you have so many followers and you've done brand collaborations and all kinds of amazing things.

[00:03:45] Nicole Meier: My question for you about the blog though, is when you started writing the blog for City Farmhouse, did you know at that point that you were a writer or wanted to keep going with writing, or did it kind of take you by surprise? 

[00:03:56] Jennifer O'Brien: No, I had no aspirations of writing or delving into that creative genre. I was purely a designer in telling stories through interiors.

[00:04:08] Jennifer O'Brien: But the part of writing my blog is more tutorials, DIY nonfiction. So yeah, I was really in that universe for a very long time, and there wasn't even a glimpse of writing fiction for the majority of my time being a design blogger. So it was a nice surprise when it kind of came into fruition. I love surprises like that.

[00:04:33] Jennifer O'Brien: But you 

[00:04:33] Nicole Meier: really kind of nailed it on the head because I know your stories. Yeah. Is you do tell stories through design. That is the invitation to the reader to come in. So I know that you had this sort of lifelong passion of buying a fixer upper and doing all the things you wanted to do to it, but that sort of real life experience shaped your story.

[00:04:58] Nicole Meier: So can you tell a little the listeners a little bit about that? 

[00:05:01] Jennifer O'Brien: Sure. So my husband and I were looking on and off for a fixerupper for probably the last 20, uh, however long we've been together. There's certain times in your life where it's more feasible, like before kids. Yeah. Um, and then there's times where it's completely off the table because the amount of work that it would take.

[00:05:20] Jennifer O'Brien: So we kind of ebbed and flowed with the idea. When we moved back from Colorado to Long Island, basically the only choice for a home was a fixer upper I. So we'd look and I felt like a little bit like Goldilocks. You know, this one's not this enough. It's not that enough. We tried to find the perfect house that could blend my ability to really enhance the cosmetics with only hiring contractors as a need to need basis, which really is hard.

[00:05:50] Jennifer O'Brien: It's really a hard thing to tackle when you know your wheelhouse is in one specific area. So as we went on in this journey, we took it off the table for a little while when our kids were little, and then we moved into our house, which was completely renovated five years before, which we got very lucky.

[00:06:09] Jennifer O'Brien: So it was probably about five years after that that the big fixer upper craze hit and houses here. They were still oh, oh, somewhat affordable. So I would say, oh, let's go look out by where your parents live, which is considered the North Fork, which is vineyards, farms, country peace. It's like going back in time.

[00:06:32] Jennifer O'Brien: So we would go out to open houses, we'd call up realtors. We thought, oh, we could Airbnb it. We could find something where you could really do your, your fluffing, what you do best. And just again, everything just seemed like it was so much work. And so it was just a drive home one day. It was like the sun was setting over the vineyards and the farms, and it was just so picturesque, and I thought to myself, maybe this is not what I'm meant to do.

[00:07:00] Jennifer O'Brien: Maybe I'm meant to write about it instead of actually doing it, like buying a house and fixing it up. 'cause at the time, everybody was doing it and I thought, oh, this is content for my blog, and this would be just a fantastic journey, you know, set aside the stress. But then when it really hit me that this isn't my path, I'm meant to write about these houses, I'm not meant to actually tackle them myself.

[00:07:26] Jennifer O'Brien: So it was really a moment for me that I was like, aha. Okay, how do I do it? So, 

[00:07:33] Nicole Meier: okay. That you took the words right outta my mouth. I was gonna say this was your aha moment. Yeah. But really I could see when you're talking about this, like you light up and say, this was the moment when I realized I could talk about it in a storytelling way.

[00:07:47] Nicole Meier: My passion, my love of design. Just the setting you're talking about alone is so yes. And people love to read stories about special places like that, but. I love that you've had that sort of light bulb moment where you thought, yeah, okay, I'm gonna be a storyteller and I'm still gonna stick to my passion.

[00:08:03] Nicole Meier: But sometimes it turns out in a totally different way than we planned. Yeah, 

[00:08:08] Jennifer O'Brien: and that's been the fun part. I. Oh my gosh. So fun. Yeah, I mean, definitely a lot of stress in between, but it's definitely been the fun part, so 

[00:08:17] Nicole Meier: I love it. Okay, so your stories now that you started writing these stories, I know you have many stories in you.

[00:08:22] Nicole Meier: Yes. But they all kind of explore messages of love, self-discovery, and finding a sense of home. Yes. So can you talk about what draws you to these themes and what you hope your readers will take away from them? 

[00:08:34] Jennifer O'Brien: Yeah, so I think I've always just been a lover of home old houses in particular, which is crazy because I didn't grow up in an old house, but my aunts and uncles always had old houses, and I just loved the smells and the creeks and the noises and the possibility of secrets behind the doors.

[00:08:52] Jennifer O'Brien: So growing up in a house where it was basically built three years before I was born, it was the hub. I was the youngest of four. I. And everybody was either in college or getting married. So that was where everybody came home and it felt very little womenish. Little women ask, I should say. Everybody got around the heart and told stories about their time away and what were we gonna cook for dinner?

[00:09:20] Jennifer O'Brien: And I just, it was such a fun time for me because I looked forward to everybody coming home. So I think it was a combination of just loving old homes. And then my house really being the hub. My mom always just made it so homey and accepting and loving. So yeah, I just, I always knew I wanted to, if I did tell stories, it would be I.

[00:09:43] Jennifer O'Brien: The house would be sort of a quiet, mean character. Yes. Yeah. And you do 

[00:09:47] Nicole Meier: it so well. I really, I'm nodding along those that can't see me. Because you do do that. Well, the Home is a character in all of your stories. Yeah. And for anyone that loves. A historical home or a home where it's the hub of the family.

[00:10:05] Nicole Meier: We do also love, like what you said, some secrets behind closed doors. You know what's in the attic, what's something that a relative left behind. Yeah. And that is something that people love to read about and you do it so well. 

[00:10:18] Jennifer O'Brien: And I think I did have a lot of time to think about these stories of home.

[00:10:22] Jennifer O'Brien: 'cause we were always in the car. We were always going to an aunts and uncles, and I was essentially by myself, so we always kind of created stories. So I was not necessarily a writer per se, but I always created the stories in my head. And then I was a sketcher and a journaler. So I kind of came into that.

[00:10:40] Jennifer O'Brien: It molded into that. But yeah, that's where it 

[00:10:42] Nicole Meier: started. Sketching and journaling. That is a true creative, right? Because you've got these stories to tell, but you're figuring out, how do I wanna tell it? Do I wanna tell it through journaling? Do I wanna tell it through illustration? Do I wanna tell it through long form fiction?

[00:10:55] Nicole Meier: And really, you've kind of touched on all of those so far. Yeah. Which is a true creative, I'm trying. Okay. So we're talking a lot about your multiple stories. I know you have multiple manuscripts you've written, but you've had sort of a path that wasn't necessarily linear. Yes. And the reason I actually love your story, and I know it will resonate with so many people listening, is because you didn't just do what you thought you were supposed to do.

[00:11:22] Nicole Meier: Yeah. You actually stopped. Yes. And you listened to your intuition and it changed your path. So can you take us back to before that happened and walk us through what I'm talking about? 

[00:11:33] Jennifer O'Brien: Yeah, sure. So I should probably set up a little bit that I wrote my first book, many Rejections, landed An Agent. We got close to selling.

[00:11:44] Jennifer O'Brien: It didn't sell. We parted ways. So when I wrote my second novel, I felt like I was in a good position, Headspace, but when I went to Query, I felt like I was a little bit vulnerable because it really was a risk taking those four months to pretty much put my business on part-time so I could write this, because I just felt like I needed to tell this story.

[00:12:10] Jennifer O'Brien: I felt like I was very vulnerable going into it. And as writers who have been in the query trenches time and time again, I think at this point it was like three and a half years. You want that happy ending. You want it so bad. You feel like you've done all your homework, you've taken the rejections, whether they were champagne rejections or just regular rejections, or just hurtful rejections.

[00:12:33] Jennifer O'Brien: You took all the advice, you did the homework. So when I had interest from a small press. I just felt so grateful and so fortunate, and I looked for reasons that it was right, even though in my gut it didn't feel like this was supposed to be my path. We went on this journey. I got a contract. I probably waited about 28 days to sign the contract because I really wanted to do my homework.

[00:13:01] Jennifer O'Brien: I talked to other authors. I looked up things online. I reached out to people. I really thought, I did my due diligence and I asked a lot of questions in the process. Still, it just didn't feel right. I signed the contract as I progressed in the journey, which was probably a a month, a month and a half, it wasn't too far into the journey.

[00:13:26] Jennifer O'Brien: I just, I got to a point where I knew it wasn't right, and it was very stressful because I. It was a traditional publishing deal, and in my heart, I just knew it wasn't the right path for me. So I ended up walking away and I then reached out to my agent now who had literally emailed me hours after I signed the contract and sent it away.

[00:13:56] Jennifer O'Brien: Unbelievable. Yeah. So I reached out to her after I took probably about a month and a half to regroup. I sent her my phone manuscript and I ended up signing with my agent Now, Rochelle Gardner, who I absolutely love, I just feel aligned with her in so many ways, and I feel like if she was in my town or in a group, we would be friends.

[00:14:20] Jennifer O'Brien: I love that she's somebody that I would want as my friend, so that's kind of how that came to be. It definitely wasn't an easy thing to listen to my gut because I'm not someone who generally, I'm a people pleaser, so yeah. I just 

[00:14:37] Nicole Meier: wanna pause here and recognize that that took bravery because when you sign for the listeners out there, you can go self-publishing, hybrid, small press, or big traditional.

[00:14:48] Nicole Meier: And when you signed with the small press, you knew that there was a path to publication. You didn't like the way they were gonna take you there. But you knew it was a path and you knew they were gonna give you a publication date. Yes, yes. When you would be on the shelves, right? The next day you got a ping from an agent and probably in your brain you're thinking, if I signed with her, it still would be a very long road for her to go on submission with my book, try and score a publishing deal.

[00:15:13] Nicole Meier: Then I would be in the publishing house's queue for maybe two years before I'm on the shelf. So I want listeners to know it's not this. Once you sign with somebody, it's this quick process. Either way. You have to really realize some things are well out of your control. Yes. But you have to listen to your gut and say What feels like me?

[00:15:33] Nicole Meier: Yes. And to me, that's what you did. And I was so in awe of you because you stopped everything and said, I need to listen to my own journey and what's right for my books. 

[00:15:44] Jennifer O'Brien: Absolutely. And I love writing so much that I'd rather have held onto it forever. Then not how to be right. So I think I had to come to that conclusion in my mind to be okay with it.

[00:15:59] Jennifer O'Brien: So, and something happy did come, come in a bumpy 

[00:16:03] Nicole Meier: road. So let's go back to that. So you signed with your agent, you loved her, that you guys had really good chemistry. Yes. She got your stories right? She saw the vision. Yes. You loved her vision? Yes. And then 

[00:16:16] Jennifer O'Brien: what happened? She, I just felt like we were on the same page and finding a literary agent, I think it's just very difficult because you hop on a call for a short amount of time and you really want it, you're so invested in the outcome.

[00:16:34] Jennifer O'Brien: But with Rochelle, I learned so much with my first agent experience. So she really hit all the concerns that I had, and not only that, she loved what I brought to the table. She loved that I wanted to merge the design aspect along with my writing. She just got what I was hoping for, what I envisioned as a writer, as a storyteller.

[00:16:59] Jennifer O'Brien: So I think that's where I took some time. I think I took 24 hours to respond, but I knew, I knew in my heart. I mean, the fact that I got an email so quickly after I signed the contract. I'm a big believer in science, so yes, me too. I just felt very lucky and she's just been a great advocate for me along the way.

[00:17:20] Jennifer O'Brien: Yeah, I just feel very fortunate, but it was a long journey. I would say five years from start to finish of my book being sold. 

[00:17:29] Nicole Meier: Yep, 

[00:17:30] Jennifer O'Brien: purchase. Okay, so 

[00:17:31] Nicole Meier: talk about the book sale. So you guys went on submission. How long were you on submission with her? 

[00:17:36] Jennifer O'Brien: I would say a month and a half. 

[00:17:39] Nicole Meier: Okay, great. Not too long, a 

[00:17:41] Jennifer O'Brien: month and a half.

[00:17:42] Jennifer O'Brien: And I got a text message as I was driving to Kohl's of all places. Um, can you talk? And I kind of froze. I'm like, okay, this could be a good sign, it could be a bad sign, maybe no one's interested. You know, when you've had so many rejections, your mind does that thing where it's trying to protect itself. So I pulled over in the parking lot and she called me and she said.

[00:18:04] Jennifer O'Brien: You have an offer from Alcove Press and I was just over the moon because they were really on my like top list of publishers just from the very start. So yeah, I mean, it took a few weeks to get that all solidified. I. And then we were off and running with it. And I love my editor. It's just been overall such a great experience.

[00:18:29] Jennifer O'Brien: Incredible. 

[00:18:30] Nicole Meier: Yeah. Incredible. And so now that we've shared that really fun news with listeners, can you tell us the title and when it's coming out? Yes. 

[00:18:38] Jennifer O'Brien: So the title is The Summer I Found You. And it will be coming out April, 2026. So April 7th, I believe. 2026. I cannot wait. Yeah, I know. I'm excited. 

[00:18:50] Nicole Meier: Yeah, so we will be looking out for that for sure.

[00:18:53] Nicole Meier: Yes. Okay. So Jennifer, we've talked about this before, is oh, if you could only tell your earlier self, just hang on. Just wait. So to the listeners out there who are in the query trenches who are wondering. Do I put this manuscript to the side and start a new one because I'm not getting any bites? What kind of wisdom would you like to share with them?

[00:19:14] Nicole Meier: What can you tell them that will encourage them, but also ground them in 

[00:19:17] Jennifer O'Brien: reality? Once I got my structure down, I felt pretty confident in the story that I was writing. So I feel like if you're working on a manuscript and you feel like the bones are there and you're hitting all the notes and the structure.

[00:19:34] Jennifer O'Brien: I would say don't give up because it's something that you wake up and want to go to the keyboard and want to write every single day. It's a story meant to be told, meant to be shared, meant to have a chance of landing someplace. And then I will just say that there were so many times that I thought about giving up and I really leaned into the emotions.

[00:19:59] Jennifer O'Brien: Of the sadness and the heartbreak, but what I will say is for anybody who's thinking about giving up, the fact that I didn't give up is the only reason I'm talking to you. It just wasn't in my DNA and I don't know. I do know what the driver is. If you tell me I can't do something, I will work that much harder to do it.

[00:20:17] Jennifer O'Brien: But I will say, let your disappointment be your driver and your fuel and just don't give up. If it's something you really want, don't give up. I mean, if I can do it, you can do it seriously. 

[00:20:29] Nicole Meier: I love that message and I am a big advocate for tenacity. Tenacity, tenacity. I mean, really. Of course you need to learn the craft of storytelling.

[00:20:38] Nicole Meier: Like you said, you need to make sure you have story structures, right? So many people have amazing premises, but they need to learn how to structure story and then get feedback and get support. But tenacity at the end of the day is what wins. And I can't tell you how many writers I see that. Maybe their manuscript was a mess in the beginning, but they really had that drive and they kept going.

[00:21:00] Nicole Meier: Those are the ones that see it through. Those are the ones that get the publishing deals. Those are the ones that follow their dreams. 

[00:21:05] Jennifer O'Brien: Yeah, it's true. It's true. I mean, if I would've just given up two years ago, three years ago, I wouldn't be here. 

[00:21:12] Nicole Meier: Yeah. 

[00:21:13] Jennifer O'Brien: Amazing. I'm so thrilled for 

[00:21:14] Nicole Meier: you. Thank you. Oh my gosh.

[00:21:18] Nicole Meier: Okay, so you have multiple stories in you. This one's coming out in 2026. Yes. Are you in the state of, 'cause I know listeners like to know like what's it like to be in this phase, this specific phase? Are you in the state of, I wanna think about my book launch, or are you in the state of, I'm gonna write my next book even though the first one's not out.

[00:21:35] Nicole Meier: Where are you in the writing world right now? 

[00:21:37] Jennifer O'Brien: Yeah, so I am going back to my first book and I started revisions about four months ago. So I'm doing that. I'm also working on things having to do with design of my business. I've got clients with that. My brain at night is in marketing. I am thinking how best to market this book and get it into as many hands as possible.

[00:22:01] Jennifer O'Brien: And that's, believe it or not, the marketing side. Even though I've had my brand for the last 14 years, I. When it comes to book marketing, there's so many different nuances to it that I still don't even know. So I'm in the research phase of that, so I'm kind of ping ponging between all three things right now, but it's good.

[00:22:20] Jennifer O'Brien: I'm staying busy and I just love learning. I really love learning about publishing and the industry. But this is a side that every author has to learn, and yeah, I'm trying my best. 

[00:22:32] Nicole Meier: You're doing a great job of it. But that actually brings up a really good question. So you love to learn. You're doing a lot of research, which I, I wish everybody would do that because it's so important to know, because I think everything with publishing and marketing is changing like every six months, honestly.

[00:22:46] Nicole Meier: It's an ever evolving thing. But my question to you is about the learning. What's something surprising that you've learned about this whole process that you thought you knew when you first started writing stories that you really know now? 

[00:23:00] Jennifer O'Brien: Oh gosh. I mean, really we've covered it, but I mean, really the odds.

[00:23:07] Jennifer O'Brien: The odds and how long it really takes for a debut author to, but it was better that I didn't know. I think not knowing was better for. My ego maybe. Yeah. So that the naiveness of it all, it kept me hopeful. Yes. And I guess just the length of time it takes to publish. I mean, how many people are asking me, is your book out yet?

[00:23:33] Jennifer O'Brien: Is your book out yet? And I'm saying, no, another year. Well now I'm kind of at that point where I can say, not year at this time. Yeah, share at this time. But yeah, how long it takes, you know, it publishing takes just such a long time. But at the end of the day, I'm not in rush. 'cause I enjoy it so much. 

[00:23:50] Nicole Meier: Yeah, yeah.

[00:23:51] Nicole Meier: All said, I love it. Well, I love your stories and I would love for you to share with listeners where they can find you, where they can keep an eye on both your city farmhouse brand, but also your books that are coming out. 

[00:24:05] Jennifer O'Brien: Yes. So my website is city farmhouse.com. Instagram on city farmhouse one. I'm City Farmhouse, also Jennifer O'Brien, author and.

[00:24:17] Jennifer O'Brien: I'm on threads as well, city Farmhouse one, and I really love threads lately, so I love it. Yeah. Well, I 

[00:24:23] Nicole Meier: love that you shared this part of your journey. I think that it'll resonate with so many listeners out there and writers. I really encourage you to reach out to Jennifer. She just gave you a plethora of ways to connect with her.

[00:24:35] Nicole Meier: Let her know you heard this episode. Ask her your questions. She is just as warm and lovely as you think because I've known her for a while now and I'm so thrilled for you. Thank you for being on this. Thank, thank you. Thank you so much 

[00:24:47] Jennifer O'Brien: for having me. And I love the interaction with people who follow my blog or writers, and I'm always there to lend help in any way I can, so definitely reach out.

[00:24:56] Jennifer O'Brien: Great. Thanks for being on Jen. We loved having you. Thanks, 

[00:24:59] Nicole Meier: Nicole.

[00:25:05] Nicole Meier: If you want to check out my coaching programs for fiction writers, visit nicole meier.com. That's M-E-I-E-R. And if you like this episode, I'd love you to take a minute to leave a rating and review for this podcast. This will help more writers like you to discover the show and to get going on their writing journey.

[00:25:25] Nicole Meier: Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, happy writing everyone.

[00:25:36] I.