'Stone Fruit Summer' with Jheanell Westonberry

I would like to welcome romance author Janelle Westenberry. Janelle, how are you? I'm amazing. How are you? I'm doing pretty good. So before we kind of take a look at your book, Stone Fruit Summer, tell us a little bit about you, where you're from, and what really sparked your interest into becoming an author, specifically a romance author? Well, okay. So I guess it would all... Start back to being an early reader. My mom had me reading as a toddler, and then I just, I never stopped. So I've had a lifelong love of story. And by the fourth grade, I decided I wanted to be a writer and wrote that in my diary. Um When I got to like fifth or sixth grade, I started falling in love with poetry, mainly Mainly because I was like really into like. sorry. or finding out about hip-hop a lot at that time. I'm from Jamaica originally so you know I didn't necessarily hear a lot of that in like my younger kid days but like once I moved to New York I was like oh what's this and then so I fell in love with that and then realized it was really poetry But to songs. Um, and so I ended up, um, actually getting published for the first time, um, around that time as a kid, as like one of like the best kid poets in my state, um, along with some other kids. So I've really been writing my entire life, reading my entire life. And then by the time I was like 13, I started sneaking in my mom's romance collections. Um, and there were like a lot of books being passed around school at that time, Coldest Winter Ever, Fly Girl, things like that. And I... I was like, oh, these are the kinds of stories that I really want to write. You know, I don't know anything about love for real at that time, but like, I just, I just really enjoyed the emotions that it. brought up in me and I was like this is what I want to write and so I started writing romance in like eighth grade and I still have those little short stories and books that I started that are really terrible and I just never stopped and you know it took me a long time to actually start publishing but this has really been a lifelong love for me. Yeah. And I happened to just read Stone Fruit Summer. And let me tell you. You had me from, like, the first, like, the prologue and everything in between, like, the action, the character development, the little bit of drama. Like, I didn't want to put the book down because I just kept turning, like, waiting to see what's happened. I'm going to bed, thinking about it, waking up, thinking about it. And so it's a friends-to-lovers story, and it follows Dillian and Aurelia, and it's their relationship as best friends for seven years. He's secretly in love with her. It's just a whole spiel. So tell readers a little bit about what was the motivation behind this storyline. So funny enough, it actually started as a short story on my Substack called the Westonbury Times. I published it Valentine's weekend, 2025, and it had a totally different ending. It was dual POV. And this year I decided I had wanted to do a short story collection. So I was kind of like going through work that I had and I was like, I really like this story. But what I really like is that first part when, you know, all the things happen at the restaurant. So I shortened the story even more. And I was like, let me just like punch it up more. And when I published it in the short story collection, people were like, well, what happens next with these two? And so I essentially then use that short story as the prologue. And then from there, I was just like, well, how can I just stress people out more? Because there was just so much drama there already. But to be honest with you, it really just came from a conversation with my husband and And I was just being very like. uh bratty in the conversation and I was like do you not want me to be happy and then like literally it just like you know which my husband is like he's a sweetheart and he adores me so it's always funny when I tell people that when they actually know him because they're like what but yeah that's how your mind works as a writer you create Scenarios and stories and you take things to a level that they don't need to be, you know, thankfully, we have writing as an outlet, you know, doing things to people in real life, but it really just sparked from like a conversation and just snowballed into these characters that then showed up and started telling me their story. And I just I had so much fun building it out. I wasn't even supposed to put this book out this year, I was taking a break from another story. And I thought, Oh, let me kind of see what these two have going on. And I'll just work on this for like two weeks and go back to the other story. And it just poured out of me, I never got back to the other story. And then it ended up being my most successful release so far. Wow. And like I said, I absolutely loved it. Like, I loved how Dillian, you know, he stood 10 toes down behind her, like, in protective mode, always there for her, no matter what, you know. And I love how she eventually admitted, you know, how she felt things that she was going through at that time, you know, after everything took place. And Madeline, she got on my nerve. I'm sorry. I was like, you gonna have to, you messing up the plan here. Please leave. So Madeline actually was not even in that first iteration of the story, but I just thought that it would just take readers for such a loop if after all that drama in the prologue, here's someone else. I knew everyone would be like, who is this and why is she here? I'm And I knew, you know, some other things in the story, starting it was gonna either be a story that people loved or hated. But yeah, I just I don't know, I just I just felt like we needed a really fun and to messy story to end the summer. And I don't know, they seem like the right characters to do it. speak They were, and I loved, there was a scene, without giving too much away, and, you know, on the island, and even now. though he was so pissed at her, he didn't even, I don't even know if he realized, and I'm talking about, like, he's a real person, but I don't even know if, like, he, if he realized, you know, like, what he was saying, like, you don't ever do that, you know this, this is our plan, this is what we do, and I'm just sitting there, like. You do realize you're just, like, so upset that you're just so caught in this loop of what your routine usually is. I'm like, you do know you're still mad at her, right? I know we all are. Yeah. And, you know, with that, like, one of the things that I really wanted to show was how much, like, all of the characters were lying to themselves in some kind of way. Yes. And so for him, you know, he's working so hard. To get over this rejection, not realizing he's very much still in it. So, you know, I can't give all the things away, but the way how it played out, it was just bound to happen because at the end of the day. We have to be honest with ourselves. There were things that he wasn't honest about with himself, things Aurelia wasn't honest about with herself, and also Madeline. She's definitely a toss-up between readers. There's a justice for Madeline thing happening right now. There's also the people who are like, oh my god, was she blind? Um, so... Yeah, but everyone was lying to themselves about something and so one of the messages that I wanted to get across in that book was for us to be honest with ourselves so that we can be honest with other people otherwise you know we end up creating a mess and playing a role in our own suffering so although it's romance, the life coaching in me is like always wanting to like teach some kind of lesson or something um and so that was part of what I was hoping to convey through you know through these these three characters. And so what's next for you, you know, in this literary journey? Is there going to be hopefully a book two? Is their story going to continue? Are you going to venture off back to that other story you were working on? So no, the other story, it just, it has been a mess. Um, so I'm actually working on a... spinoff of Stone Fruit Summer. Oh So I will say that the characters in that are people that met in Stone Fruit Summer, I won't tell you who yet but you will see um Dillian and Aurelia some more because they're connected so you'll see them so all of my books are interconnected because it's all in the same county um but these characters they're all locked in together so we'll you'll get to see like a little bit of their like life after Stone Fruit Summer okay and yes it's gonna be a lot of fun I can't wait to add that one to my TBR so I can, you know, add that one to my list. And so, you know, before I let you go, is there anything else that you would like to say to fellow book lovers out there? To fellow book lovers, I just want to invite you on down to Rowena County, this place that I have created that was born from being roommates with my granny and watching soap operas and Westerns all day. And then, you know, now being in America and living in a small town, it's like, you know, this county that I created, it's like a mashup of like. different places that I have lived. And it's a really beautiful blend of being in the Black American South, but also lots of Caribbean flavor. So no matter who you are, there's somebody that looks like you, talks like you in there. And it's just a real feel-good place where, you know, You know, Black women are celebrated and where even the woman who feels The most complicated in the world will be loved too. That's me. Yeah, you know, I... I do get like a lot of like, oh, Aurelia got on my nerves or like my, you know, other FMCs or whatever. And I just, I like writing those characters because I do feel like there are a lot of women who feel like they're too much and they have too much going on to be loved and they're too complicated and too this. And so I really enjoy writing women that do have a lot going on and showing like, hey, There's someone who will be able to. I don't want to say handle you, but who can love you through whatever it is that you're going through and help you to grow in that process. You know, I'm really dedicated to that. And you're doing great. And, you know, I also loved how, you know, like when you mentioned your grandmother, how. Dillion, he was close with his and how, you know, like after she passed, he had a tattoo and he was like, you know, I'll put her somewhere, you know, where I can always get to her and find her. And like, I did the same thing when my grandma passed, I got her, you know, like right here on my wrist. And so there were so many different moments in that book. You know, like you said, like Aurelia, she felt like I got to get myself together, you know, before I could be loved, right. But technically she was loved even when she was going through all of that. And so I think a lot of your, you had a lot of different messages in the book while keeping it entertaining while telling the story but there were a lot of highlighting parts that I think a lot of people can take and resonate with as well which I think is why your book is so well received. Thank you. I really do enjoy, besides the romance, of course, which is really important, just showing how important all the people in our lives are, you know, the folk, the community, the family, and all of that, so that you can get to know these characters as full people, not just as the love interest to, you know, whoever they're with in the book. And so, again, I think that's part of what helps us all to see parts of ourselves. In the stories, beyond just like, oh, they like each other. This is so cute. You know, it feels like a real place and they feel like real people. Yeah. Well, you know, thank you so much for writing this story. I can't wait to see more. And thank you for taking the time to come and chat with me and fellow book lovers out there. We greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me. This was an absolute honor. And I hope that everyone will. Jump into these Rowena County books and, you know, come get some love down here too.