Many moves (19 and counting...) in conjunction with her husband’s service in the U.S. Navy did not accommodate Jayne’s blossoming career as a CIA (not the sexy “secret agent” kind, but a Certified Internal Auditor), so she needed something more transportable.  Thus, Jayne began her new writing career penning romance novels.  But she soon learned attempting to keep two desperately in love people at odds with each other for 300 pages was harder
than it looked, and the experience caused her to overdose on chocolate.  But to her credit, three adverb-heavy romance novels lay tucked in a dark closet, hauled through all those moves in the anticipation of a blizzard-y day when she will need to build a fire to keep from freezing to death.

                Through the years, Jayne kept tapping away at the keyboard.  When her romantic heroine

stumbled across a dead body, Jayne discovered the secret to creating instant conflict.  When her

amateur sleuth skidded behind two large dogs in pursuit of a tabby, Jayne realized her portfolio of

crazy life experiences could be drawn on to create characters with whom readers can relate.  When

her merciless killer pulled a Glock, Jayne learned facing a fictional gun can be just as terrifying as 

staring up the nozzles of a real one. Armed with the building blocks of conflict, character and

tension, Jayne developed the mismatched duo of Ellery Tindsdale (a not-so-gracefully-aging school

teacher) and Samantha Greene (Ellery’s high-energy, haute-couture neighbor). Their first adventure

is told in The Blond Leading the Blond, available in trade paperback or e-book version from Amazon. 

The duo rides again in the wildly successful sequel, Blond Faith. Jayne is hard at work editing the Third book in the series, Blond Justice, and has hopes of continuing with an entire Blonds at the Beach series. She's also developed a passion for writing short mysteries and the occaisional novella. A complete list of her publication credits can be found on the JAYNE'S BOOKS tab of this website.

The Nom de Plume (name of the pen)...

                Jayne Ormerod is not the author’s real name, but there a real person behind the nom de plume.  Many (okay, all) people who know her ask “Why do you write under another name.”  Here is her story:

Picture this: A family dinner with my active-duty-military husband and twelve-year-old son, sitting on the

back deck enjoying the gentle summer breeze. I’d prepared a meal of spicy shrimp scampi 

and Italian bread smothered with melted cheese, green onions and poppy seeds. After a glass (or three)

of a spunky Piniot Grigio, I worked up enough courage to confess my lifelong secret.

The conversation went something like this:

     Me: “I want to be a writer.”

     Them: “That’s great.”

     Me: “Actually, I’ve been writing for a few years now.”

     Them: Gentle murmurings of encouragement.

     Me: “My first short story will be published next month.”

    They offer a celebratory toast.

     Husband: “What’s the story about?”

     Me: “It’s a romance called ‘Three Little Words’.”

     Silence. Stillness. Even the no-see-ums stopped humming.

     Son (aghast): “You write porn?”

     Husband: “It wouldn’t be good for my career to be married to someone who writes porn.”

     Me: “For gawd’s sake, people. Romance is about two people falling in love, not what happens between the sheets.”

     Husband: “Don’t embarrass me.”

     Freaked-out son: “Will we be moving anytime soon? Maybe Andrew’s family can adopt me…”    

I sipped my wine while they worked out how to disassociate themselves from me.

It soon became apparent the best solution for all concerned would be for me to choose a nom de plume.

Some interesting tidbits about Jayne: 

​

• Jayne Ormerod is the writer’s mother’s name. She died at age 52 of pancreatic cancer.
  
• 
  
• Jayne lived in the same house her entire childhood, but has lived in 19 different homes as an adult. (No, she is not
  
• trying to keep one step ahead of the law. She is married to a military officer and the job requires frequent moves.)
• 
  
• Jayne has amassed an impressive list of Board credits, having served on HOAs, PTAs, Soccer Leagues, Booster Clubs, Wive’s Clubs, Alumni Organizations and too many writers’ groups to count.
• 
  
• Jayne loves playing games and never misses an opportunity to play BUNCO or Mahjongg (the real Chinese tile game, not the computer version).
• 
  
• When Jayne isn’t plotting her next fictional murder, she’s a real estate agent, where she has found enough mystery and intrigue for an entire series of books.