Joi's desire to write began like many
others, at an early age. She loved writing short stories as early as fourth
grade. During her college years, she wrote stories that depicted where she was
on her journey with Jesus. In 1999, she married her best friend, Chris, and put
writing aside to focus on building her family. Her three boys kept her busy for
many years. After moving to Colorado in 2008, Joi was encouraged by her sister,
brother--in-law, and husband to pick up her writing once again.
Not long after that, her first novel, Hope for Tomorrow, published by
Comfort Publishing, was released, followed by Hope for Journey. The third and final book in this trilogy, Hope from the Past was published and
released in June, 2013. She's written two novellas, Christmas Rayne and Sheriff
Bride, Rob's Story. Her short book, Letters
of Love, hit closer to home for her than any other she'd written so far.
Actual letters from her grandfather to her grandmother while he was stationed
in China during WWII became the center of this fictional novel.
Joi continues to write. Her love for
stories allows her to come up with many different themes. Though, hope and
forgiveness seem to be one of the constant themes in her writing.
Joi makes her home in Denver,
Colorado, with her husband and three boys. On occasion, you can find her
sitting at Starbucks with her laptop working, or enjoying coffee with a friend.
She not only writes, but is currently employed with Executive Scheduling
Associates where she spends much of her time filling up calendars.
The most important decision of her life happened March 18, 1990, when she accepted Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior. Following Him has been a journey, and not always an easy one, but she's never regretted it. She feels like the disciples when Jesus asked if they were going to turn away also. Their response, like hers, was this, "Where would we go?" That's exactly how she feels. Jesus has been her life for over twenty years, and will continue to be so as long as she lives.
Her prayer is through her writing, you
will come closer to Him as she has through so many Christian authors.
One huge recent development this year was
God's calling for Joi and her family to move to Ireland to church plant. It's
an exciting time in her life, and she prays she will continue to write once
overseas. Those stories will be focused on redemption and hope to a society
that has lost its hope. Joi and her family will be church planting in Ireland,
building disciples for Christ, and raising ambassadors to the nations.
For more information on that or on any of
Joi’s books, contact her at booksbyjoi@copelandclan.com.
Visit her on Facebook or her author page