50 & Thriving: How Jen Davis Published Two Novels by Her Milestone Birthday

In this premiere episode of Potential and Possibilities, host Amanda Adams chats with author Jen Davis, who just celebrated a major milestone: releasing her second novel, Doll Parts, only days before her 50th birthday.

Jen shares how she set a bold goal to publish two novels by 50 — and made it happen. Together, Amanda and Jen dive into the creative process, the challenges of chasing big dreams, and how the same focus and perseverance that fuel a writer’s journey can inspire all of us to step into our own potential and possibilities.

✨ Get ready to be inspired to write your own next chapter — whatever it may be.

Grab Jen’s books and learn more at: www.authorjendavis.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome back to the show. I'm Amanda Adams, and this is no longer the Ambition Society podcast. I have rebranded, and so welcome to our new show. It is now officially potential and possibilities. And why am I doing a rebrand after just three episodes? Well, it's kind of like this. I started the Ambition Society in 2024 to really bring people along on my own journey of chasing ambition and my wildest dreams. And I still think that's really important. But what I have learned in the past few weeks of talking to other people and having guests on the show is that 2025 is heavy and there is a lot going on in the world. So I think sometimes the word ambition is just a little too ambitious. So I started thinking about what I really wanted to do and what the purpose was of even starting this podcast. And what I realized is that even for me right now in 2025, there are days where I outrun this world with my own ambition. And there are days where I curl up with a good book and turn the world off. So instead of chasing ambition, we're going to explore potential and possibilities, which are two of my favorite words. And what I mean by this is potential is something that we all have. I believe in potential. I am an eternal optimist, and I see the potential all around us. I see potential for more love, more happiness, more abundance, more joy, more peace. I see all of that every day. And so I want to bring that to life in these conversations. And then finally, possibilities. We all have possibilities in our own lives to grow, but some days that growth might just be getting out of bed and washing your hair instead of using dry shampoo. Some days, possibilities are writing a novel and taking your new ideas into the world, like our very first guest on this first episode of the rebranded show. So I'm so happy you're here. Let me welcome Jen Davis to the show. I'm so happy to have you as my very first guest on the new branded show. Very honored, very excited. Thank you so much. Thanks. I feel like you embody potential impossibilities because I'll give a little bit of a preview here of what we'll talk about. Yeah. You started writing your first book in 2020. Is that right?

SPEAKER_02: 2:32

That's right. Yeah. COVID when everybody was their creativity. Not everybody. It's just me and some other folks.

SPEAKER_00: 2:41

I mean, I actually think it's really something now that we think back on. And I remember people at the time talking about it in 2020. Yeah. You're going to look back and like, what did you do at that time? And I think it's really impressive that you did what a lot of people probably look back and go, oh, I meant to do that. And you started your first novel, which was published last year. So for Eva came out in 2024. Yes. Quickly became one of my top five favorite books of all time.

unknown: 3:09

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00: 3:10

I reread it before our conversation. And I'm telling you, Jen, it was better the second time. Really? I love it so much. Really?

SPEAKER_02: 3:18

I've had a couple people reread it before this one comes out. Um, and yeah, people still still seem to like it. So I'm just, I'm thrilled. It's just such it's an honor to have people tell you those things. It's just, I can't even explain how it feels.

SPEAKER_00: 3:34

It's just it's great. I can't imagine. But I do think it's phenomenal that not only did you finish your first novel, but this week you are you're bringing dollparts. Yes. And Doll Parts is your second novel. Yes. And tell me a little bit, because I like how you said this. It's not the second in a series. Right. So tell me a little bit about this.

SPEAKER_02: 4:01

So technically, it is what is called an interconnected standalone novel. I like to say companion novel, which I don't know if it's exactly the correct terminology, but it's just a little easier to say and it sounds a little more zippy, you know, rather than interconnected standalone, you know. Um so it is a novel that takes place sort of in the same universe, um, meaning that a character from the first book for Eva is the focus of doll parts. So she was the best friend of Eva in that book. And as I started writing her back in 2020 as Eva's best friend, I thought this girl has to have a book. Like she has to have a story. And I didn't know exactly what it was, but I knew it was something. So yeah, uh, it's you can read it separate from Eva. That's the standalone part of it. Um, it might be, it might enhance the experience to read Eva first, um, but you certainly don't have to. So, and and I like that. Like I like that you can read them separately. Um, because somebody may be, you know, just wanting to dive into dull parts. They don't have to go back and read Eva first, you know?

SPEAKER_00: 5:21

I love that. It was really interesting when you when you told me, I think you used the word companion, and I love that. I actually like that. I don't know the thing either, but let's keep it.

SPEAKER_02: 5:29

I like that word. Let's just use it. Even if it's not exactly correct, I don't even know.

SPEAKER_00: 5:32

Yeah. I think it's fine. Perfect. Yeah. And what I love is so I did go back and read for Eva, mostly because I just loved it so much the first time. And so I read it, and then I read Doll Parts and within a few days of each other. Yeah. And I actually lummed that you really could have, you could have read it or not read it, but they they work together, but they definitely stand alone. Yeah. And I think that's so fun because a lot of times it I I love a good series, but you don't always know where to start. So if you're in an airport and you see doll parts and you didn't know that it had for Eva, it'd be fine. You would be completely fine. So I just I think that these characters are so incredible on their own. But I think for me, that was something that reading them back to back was oh, so okay, so I have to tell you, I in doll parts, I there were many moments where I was like, you cannot sob on an airplane. You cannot sob on an airplane. Because I think that they're very emotional characters. And one of the things that I wanted to talk with you about is how you you have not always been a writer. I mean, I guess at some level you've always been a writer because you were a writer your whole life, but you really took this to a professional level in 2020. And how did you start with the character development of these characters that are these strong badass women?

SPEAKER_02: 6:59

You know, it didn't even start with the women necessarily. Um I will tell you, when I was young, I was really, well, I still am really into music, but like if anyone grew up in the late 80s, like, you know, that MTV was the thing, and like Guns N' Roses and all the hairbands and all the whole, like that whole 80s rock. I I don't really want to call it metal because it wasn't like, you know, thrash metal, but like hair metal, right? Like poppy metal. Um, it was just all the rage. And so I would just like make up stories. Like I was writing little fan fictions, you know, when I was like 13 years old, 12, 13 years old, and not really even knowing what I what fan fiction was, right? Yeah. So um it, so it didn't start out with that, like the the women. But when I picked, when I decided I wanted to kind of write again, like that's where my heart and my mind went back to, like that time period, because it's just so nostalgic and so close to me. And I just love it so much, the memories from there. And I remember wanting to live in that time, like be a part of that scene. And I started to wonder, well, what would it have been like? I mean, I could my mom wouldn't let me go to LA, right? I was 13. So like, but I was like, what if I'd been like 21, 22, like and part of that scene? Like, what would it have been like? And it was really just started out as it's fun for me to write this because wow, I get to imagine myself there. But then all the experiences of my past from since I've grown up, you know. I mean, I I'm I'll be 50 this this Friday. So, you know, I've had a lot of different experiences, and then these women just started coming out. Yeah. You know, and it wasn't necessarily, I mean, there's stuff, you know, especially in Eva, like how she relates to a band, how she works for a band, how she interacts with them. Um, and you see a lot of dynamics between men and women and the music industry and and stuff like that. So, um, but yeah, I just had so many more experiences beyond like, oh, I just want to be this guy's girlfriend, you know, like I did when I was 13. And so these stronger women just kind of came out of me. And the books became about them, not the band.

SPEAKER_00: 9:20

Yeah, and I like that because I feel like you did such a good job of really making it about their stories. I will say I I would have put money on it that you actually grew up on a tour bus. I mean, you nailed it. Um I did a lot of studying in my youth.

SPEAKER_02: 9:35

And I just, yeah, I don't know what I didn't know, I made up and it sounded right. Yeah. I'm like, did your mom know what you were doing? Because it worked out.

SPEAKER_00: 9:47

But I really I think that's really impressive that you were able to pull from such, you know, deep-rooted memories and the nostalgia of that. Because I think even if you're not into 80s music, it's like for me, you know, my sister and I, that was the in the 90s pop bands, you know. That we everyone has it. And so that's what it's so relatable. Yes. But it becomes the backdrop for their stories in such a really cool way that it's like the the music is to me the theme throughout this entire through both books, but it it's not the the depth, like the depth comes from building these women and you got it. Oh man, and I loved them. I think they're they're so relatable in every way. So I I have to like go back then to what how did you weave personal experiences into this? Because I feel like that's pretty raw to say, okay, I'm gonna put this out there, because I think we all we read fiction and we think, well, this came from somewhere, right? Yeah, so how did you do that?

SPEAKER_02: 10:49

You know, it's funny, like um Eva's experiences weren't necessarily my experiences, but I just like I put a lot of my personality into her. So when I have friends who read the book, they're like, oh my god, I could hear you say, like, can I say the F word on here? You can say this aloud. Yeah. Like, there's a line in there that says, you know, what the fuck did you expect me to go to Kroger in a fucking ball gown? Right. And they were like, literally, I could hear you saying that to somebody. Me too. So a lot of my like personality came out in her. Um, and you know, she does go through a divorce. That's not a spoiler or anything in the book. Um, and I did, um, younger than her and didn't have kids, but I think some of that was woven in, like that kind of hurt. And what did I do wrong? Like, kind of lost myself. I wasn't sure who I was. Like, so I did I that some of that definitely did come through. Um I think Denise, I didn't think that you know, I always thought, oh, I'm I'm Eva, I'm Eva. But the more I wrote Denise, it was a lot of self-doubt and insecurities masked behind a person who, if you don't know me, I mean, I this is not a this is not a brag, this is not even a humble brag, but like I kind of look like I have my shit together for the most part. And I don't, and I never feel like I do. And I'm always doubting myself, and I'm always thinking I'm not, oh I'm not good enough to do this. Like, even, you know, oh my gosh, should I even be at this podcast? Like what, you know, like oh, I must have fooled Amanda, you know, that type of thing. And that's you know, that's Denise's whole that's that's that's what consumes her. And so the thoughts that she has, and you just you watch this girl, just your heart breaks for her. But I think so many people are gonna be like, oh my god, I think the same things about myself, even if you didn't maybe realize it before. Like I've had early readers go, Wow, like I could so relate to that. So, you know, a character that was just an important character beside character and Eva has become this like I think she's an extremely powerful character. Um, that it's a you know, Doll Parts is a heavier book. It turned out to be a heavier book. Um but yeah, I think it's I think it's important. I think so many people will relate to her struggles, her internal struggles. Show like keeping it all together on the outside, but you are just dying on the inside, you know?

SPEAKER_00: 13:35

Yes. I I think that's why in reading it because it's funny, it it is heavier, but yeah, it's so light. Like I didn't I didn't want to put it down. I didn't like I wanted, I mean, I texted you when I finished it, and I said, I'm so mad at you. It's yeah, it's over. Like what? I needed at least 200 more pages. So I needed more of this story. I know. But I think it was also that in, and this was what was I think phenomenal in your writing is that in the way that you worked through her issues of the self-doubt and the um feeling unworthy and all of the things that we we hide with makeup and clothes and you know, a vibrant personality, right? Like we've all done it. And sometimes you do it several times a day where it's just you you put on the face and make it real. But you uncovered in her story so many things that I I felt like I was reading this beautiful novel of someone else's world, but also at the same time, it was therapy. And yeah, that was a really interesting piece to me that you were able to just weave in actual therapy into this novel. So thanks for that.

SPEAKER_02: 14:51

I've done a lot of therapy. I thought in my acknowledgments, I was like, damn it, I miss my therapist. But um, I'll thank her privately. She knows, she knows. Um yeah, and and I found it interesting that you said you made a good point. You said it's heavy, but it's light. So there's definitely some heavy topics, and you'll feel your heart will hurt and your stomach will hurt. At least mine did when I was writing it. There were times where I'm like, oof, this is tough. This is really tough. But it's also, I think, and I I thought this as I was writing it, and then I've heard the same, I've heard from people reading it, like, I don't want to put this down. Like, it wasn't like I have to put this down and come back. Like, you know, maybe for some people who've maybe experienced some some heavy stuff that might be for them, but it's a it's a page turner. It's still, it's a heavy, it's a heavy book, but it's a page turner. And I think that's sort of the what you mean by the it's heavy, but it's light.

SPEAKER_00: 15:47

Yeah. Like I couldn't put it down. And also, I was reading it on a plane um back from London, and inevitably, I mean, I my friends will tell you, like, I'm I'm basically a narcoleptic person on an airplane because it's the movement of it, and I, you know, within three minutes, I'm asleep. Wow, I don't sleep at all. I'm jealous. It's it's really magic. If I could do that every night, it'd be a different game changer. But um, but I could not put this down. So I I read the entire flight and just loved every minute of it. And so I I love when a story can just absolutely transport you to a different time. Consume you, right? Totally consume you. Yeah. Yeah. And I think I love that too. And when I read, I love that. So and what's really so fascinating to me is that I think a lot of people, me included, I mean, I joke in like last year, you know, I wrote a booklet. I call it my booklets. You did and I have it and proud of it. You're so sweet. But um, very different, right? Because I spent some time telling my story instead of putting all of this together into the character development and everything that goes into writing a fiction novel. And what I would love to learn from you, and I think other people will be interested in this too, is how did you take that from I'd like to write a novel to I am writing a novel?

SPEAKER_02: 17:08

Yeah. That's a good question. Um, it I really didn't know what I was doing when I first sat down, which makes sense because I have never done it before. And I'm not one to do a lot of research before I do something. I'm just not, I just jump in, I don't read instructions before I put things together, and then I end up, you know, in trouble. But it's fine. Like I was like, you know, I'm just gonna start writing. And then at some point you're like, wait, where is this going? Yeah, this was super fun to write this chapter, but what does it mean and how is it going to progress? And so at some point, you know, I I I stopped and I said, Okay, whoa. Like, this is not, and I mean, this was over like a year or so, like a couple years maybe, where I was just like writing, putting it down, writing, writing a chapter, writing, writing out of order. Like, I think I want this to happen later on. And some people do that and they're fine with it. It just doesn't work for me, I've learned. Um, so I have a friend who's an author, and I went to her and I was like, you told me about things called beats. Like you should hit certain beats in a book. Like the human mind like wants certain things to happen at certain points in books, like by 25%, by 50%, by 75%, and this this whole formula. And I wish I could remember where it came from, but I can't. So um, and she's like, okay, let me try to like figure this out and like figure out where you need to hit beats, and then let's kind of let's plot this. Like, start plotting it. Like, what do you want to happen? Like, and and do you have enough pages for that to happen? Or, you know, this book can't, you know, it's not can't be a 200,000 page book, you know what I mean? Like, so like rein it in, you know, because I want to tell the whole life story, every single detail. Um, so that's how it kind of all got condensed and into a uh readable story, you know, something that's not here, there, all over the place. And kind of started to make sense. So yeah, I had the help of a very, very kind author friend, Melissa Grace, and uh she kind of helped me put it all together, really. And she taught me how to do it for the second one. So the second one, she we're still critique partners. She will read, I read for her as she writes, she reads for me as I write, before we get to beta readers and arc readers and the whole thing. Um, but you know, now I'm kind of plotting my own stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 19:56

Well, and you took what you said was four years. So in for Eva, you started in 2020, published in 2024. Yeah. And then with doll parts, you here we are in 2025 and you've published it. So was there overlap in that writing period? Were there things that you used, or were you really able to just take that process and refine it so much in the second round?

SPEAKER_02: 20:19

You know, I think there was some overlap because I finished Eva in 2023, but it just didn't get published until 2024. So it was pretty much done. Um, there wasn't a ton of time between it, but there was, you know, definitely some time. So I was like, well, okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna write Denise's story now. And I had made sure to include certain little things that I knew I wanted to happen in Denise's story. I didn't want to include too much because I didn't want to get myself in trouble, right? And be like, wait, I didn't want that to happen. Just kidding. Oh shit, it happened. So I have to deal with it in her book. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Um, so I made some very specific things happen to her. And it doesn't go into detail in it in Eva, but it's mentioned. And so kind of setting up her story. Uh so yeah, I mean, in my head, I was kind of writing, writing Denise's story um while I was finishing up Eva's, and then I just started, I honestly just kind of wrote a first chapter um that turned out to not be a first chapter, but I kept the idea of it for a later chapter. I mean, there really wasn't, yeah, there wasn't a ton of rhyme or reason as far as starting it. I I literally just I started out again like I did Eva and didn't learn a lesson, I guess, but quickly was like, okay, no wait, we don't do this. Let's plot this out.

SPEAKER_00: 21:56

Yeah. So well, I think there are a lot of lessons in here that can be applied to anything you're doing in life. Like what I just took from what you said is stop throwing your work away.

SPEAKER_02: 22:06

Because Oh, I never, if I cut a scene or a chapter, yeah, I don't delete it. It goes in the like Eva Cutz or Denise Cutz file. I because you never know when you're gonna come back to that and and be like, you know what, I can use this now. Yeah.

unknown: 22:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 22:24

And I think that's for anyone that's creating anything, whether your goal is to write a book, which I think a lot of people do have that aspiration. I think so. Yeah. But I think also if you're if you're simply creating for fun and you really, you know, find that writing is therapeutic, like I do, I I think a lot of times it's really easy to just delete something and say, no, no, no, I just kidding. I don't want to put that in the universe. And I think I love what you said that you know, put it, put it away. You don't have to throw it away. Put put pause on that. Yeah. And it might be valuable later. Definitely.

SPEAKER_02: 22:58

I definitely plucked stuff from the deleted scenes, if you will.

SPEAKER_00: 23:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 23:03

And put it back in.

SPEAKER_00: 23:04

So I think just the thing that I love to see if you can help us kind of wrap up for our audience here, is what's your biggest takeaway as somebody who has finally, you know, you're almost on your 50th birthday here, and you'll have to check the box for two novels. Amazing. If someone is sitting there and they're thinking, I want to do something, but I don't, I don't know what I'm gonna do and I don't know where to start. What's your what's your advice or your words of encouragement for them?

SPEAKER_02: 23:35

Well, first off, very broadly, I will say you can either do it now or do it later, but you're gonna do it because it's going to find you.

SPEAKER_00: 23:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 23:45

Like you can say, well, I'm not doing that now and put it aside. But trust me, like 10, 15, 5 years down the road, whatever, it's never gonna go away. If it's something that you really love and it's meant to happen, like you're not, you're not gonna outrun it. You're not gonna escape it. It's going to be there all the time. You're gonna be thinking about it. Even if it's not at the forefront, it's back here. Um, so I would say, you know, I but I I don't think that I necessarily did anything wrong in starting out Eva. In fact, I think it sort of fueled the creativity. Like, just started writing. Like, who do I want my characters to be? What what's the what am I trying to accomplish by writing this? Is it just for fun? Do I want some sort of message to my readers? Do I want them to feel my characters to feel relatable? Do I want people to relate to them? Do I want them to feel hope? Like, just start thinking about that. And then I think once you get to the point where you're like, wow, I might have a story here, then you can start kind of there's there's books out there. Um, I think I feel like it's like save the cat. Does that sound familiar? Does that sound crazy? I mean, it sounds great, but I don't know about it. I sound like a lunatic. Um it's like something about saving a cat. It tells you how to write a novel. Oh. I love it. And it talks about beats, like hitting certain beats, like I was talking about. And so I'd invest in that. Or if you know somebody who writes, most authors are more than happy to chat. Like it's not there's so many ideas and there's so many readers. It's kind of silly to get protective about stuff. So most people are very willing to share in the community.

SPEAKER_00: 25:27

Yeah. Um I think that's that's so true in life. We're scared to ask. Yeah, but putting yourself out there and finding a thought partner and like you found a critique partner in Melissa, it really did make your journey full.

SPEAKER_02: 25:45

Oh, absolutely. And also you're not, you know, we always say this like you can't write on an island. Yeah. Like you just can't just sit down and I'm writing, don't look. Like people are gonna read it in the end anyway. Like, you want people, you want to get it in front of people, you want others' ideas. Um one, because at some point, you know, you're like, you're way too close to it, and you need somebody on the outside to look at it. And it's just um, I don't know. I think it's great when humans come together and create together. And, you know, it's your book, of course, but so many people went into helping you write it and it and even shaped your experiences that you're that you know you're putting into it.

SPEAKER_00: 26:33

So yeah, yeah. Well, I am so happy for you. Thank you for sharing your time and your story with me today. So tell people where they can find Dollparts and where they can follow you online.

SPEAKER_02: 26:47

So um you can follow me online on Instagram at authorjen Davis. And um you can find Dollparts. Um, I believe if you're I'm in Nashville. So if you're local to Nashville, you can find it at Parnassus Books. Uh, Reading Rock Books out in Dixon if you're out there. Um Taylor Art Street, Taylor Street Art and Books. Um, although they have been displaced for the moment because of the building. Their building has to have maintenance, but I'm still gonna try to get them some copies because they're going to like breweries and pop-ups and stuff like that. I love it. Um, they all they've carried Eva as well. Um, you can always go online to online retailers and find it. It's available in ebook and paperback. And if you want a signed copy, you can always find me on Instagram and get one via my website. So yes, and what's your website? Authorjendavis.com. Okay. It's pretty easy.

SPEAKER_00: 27:46

I I mean, listen, I shop wherever you feel like shopping. Absolutely. At the end of the day, hint hint, authorjendavis.com for your signed copy that supports the author the most. So thank you for being here. And I'm so excited for the next one. Get to writing.

SPEAKER_01: 28:04

Oh my gosh. I'll get on it. Thank you, Amanda. We appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00: 28:09

Sometimes a girl's gotta find her way on a room, read a room, we make mistakes.