About Jen
Jen Dodrill, retired Navy wife and homeschool mom, is living out her dreams on the pages of her books, bringing readers compelling stories of inspiration and hope for good times and bad.
Her family-focused novels depict her values of cooperation, connection, compassion, and community, demonstrating the importance of helping one another brave the waves of the world together.
As a mother of five, family life and travels have left her with decades of stories to tell, and she cherishes the time she has now to tell them, in between her honored role as Grandma, her passion for reading, and her adoration of all things coffee.
Mission Verse:
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)
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Birds Alive! An Empty-nesters Cozy Mystery, Book #1
Peg—widow, mom blogger, and empty nester—desperate for a new hobby, forms the Empty Nesters Birding Group. On their first outing overlooking beautiful Pensacola Bay, a birder dies from an allergic reaction to peanuts in the birdseed. Seed that should be peanut-free.
Where’s the Quetzal? An Empty-nesters Cozy Mystery, Book #2
Peg Howard has planned the perfect baby shower for her oldest daughter. But the return of Estelle and Roger Keaton disrupts her peace, reigniting old mysteries.
How bad can a birder be?
Keep an eye out for book #3, No Egrets, coming Feb. 24, 2026!
Trinity Sands Beach Club
Trinity Sands Beach Club is out!
What do a widow, a newly divorced woman, and a retired professor of art history have in common? They all came to Trinity Sands Island to find a simple life without any entanglements. But instead, they are each confronted with a mystery and another chance at romance. Will they be brave enough to face the possible dangers of solving a mystery and losing their hearts?
Keep an eye out for Bedlam at Bridal Falls coming Oct. 2026!
Finding Ginny
A mother determined to avoid drama, a daughter who left the same way she returned, and a little girl who binds them together.
Kat Johnson has survived the heartbreak of her daughter’s addiction and resigned herself to eight years of silence. Then, a six-year-old granddaughter she never knew about appears on her doorstep. Now Kat must choose: cling to her quiet, settled life or fight for custody and confront the daughter she still struggles to love.
This hopeful women’s fiction novel celebrates family, resilience, and the courage to face life’s hardest challenges—perfect for readers connected to addiction or anyone ready to step beyond their comfort zone.
Keep your eye out here for updates on a publication date for Finding Ginny!
A human life has seasons much as the earth has seasons, each time with its own particular beauty and power. And gift. By focusing on springtime and summer, we have turned the natural process of life into a process of loss rather than a process of celebration and appreciation. Life is neither linear nor stagnant. It is movement from mystery to mystery. Just as a year includes autumn and winter, life includes death, not as an opposite but as an integral part of the way life is made.
— Rachel Remen
