The Roanoker - March/April 2021 - 41

They Finish
Each Other's
Sentences
Jane and Emma Fenton began making
up stories as a game they played to
entertain themselves. Then, they found
they didn't want to stop.
Jane, 54, and Emma, 24, have always
been close. The Fentons moved from
Maryland to 10 acres of woods outside
tiny Ferrum in Franklin County when
Emma was seven. Jane raised her two kids
(her husband commuted to the D.C area
four days each week) amid chickens and
horses and gravel paths and front porch
swings.
By 2013, Jane was itching to uncover
a dream she'd long-ago tucked away. She
convinced her book-loving daughter to
join her in a weekend writing contest. For
48 hours, they developed characters and
ran with outlandish plots. By the end, Jane
was ready to pen her first novel. Emma
knew she'd be majoring in creative writing
when she entered Roanoke College.
Five years later, Jane founded Blue
Morpho Books, a business to self-publish
her writing. Emma helped her by reading,
editing, and designing the book's cover. In
March 2018, Jane's debut mystery, Repo
Girl, was born. By December, Emma's
own young adult fantasy novel, Throne of
Shadows, had been printed. The mother/
daughter team produced a book of poetry
for an uncle in North Carolina, as well.
As Emma's college graduation neared,
Jane asked: Would you want to come work
for Blue Morpho Books?
" You don't have to wait until you're 50, "
Jane recalls telling Emma. " You can follow
that dream now and I get to do it too and
it will be even more special because we'll
do it together. "
These days, the two women live and
work in the farmhouse where Emma grew

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up. They start their mornings checking
emails, looking at sales numbers, posting
on social media. Then they head to
separate rooms to " write as much as I
physically can, " says Emma.
Between them, they've written and
published four books. Two more are on
the way. They credit their success to smart
marketing, dedicated writing and the
ability to buoy each other.
" It's so much fun every time we sit
down to brainstorm together. It sort of
builds excitement, " Jane says.
Says Emma: " I don't see this stopping
even if I move onto other things. "
Collaborating with family is not always
easy, Emma warns: " You have to have open
communication, completely, in both your
personal and professional lives. "

" You can follow that
dream now and I get
to do it too and it will
be even more special
because we'll do it
together. "
-Jane Fenton's advice to daughter Emma
" That's the key, " says Jane. " You have to
start with a really strong relationship. "
But no one is more bought in to
your happiness than your mom, Emma
says. When you're in business with your
mother, " You know someone really cares
about your work. "

Jane (left) and Emma Fenton
write and self-publish in
separate offices. Jane has
published three novels, Emma
one, and they produced a book
of poetry for an uncle.

MARCH/APRIL 2021 41
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The Roanoker - March/April 2021

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