"When my first wife was diagnosed with ALS, we moved to a small town in Alaska, where we spent the last two years of her life. It was after her death, while I was still living in the far north, that the idea for Hearts Set Free—which opens in the Alaska Territory in 1925—was born. People who know that the novel contains autobiographical elements (and several historical characters) sometimes ask me, 'How much of the story is true?’ And I answer, 'Perhaps twenty percent—and the rest is even more true!' What drives my writing is the desire to convey truths that transform lives. Truths of the heart."
Jess is currently writing The Church on Misfit Row, a Christian-themed novel set in Las Vegas in 1955. He remarried several years ago and lives with his wife and two young sons in the Pacific Northwest. When not writing or chasing after his three-year-old, he's likely playing Chopin and Beethoven on the piano. For more information on Hearts Set Free, and to read Jess' blog posts, visit jesslederman.com.
