Jennifer worked in the publishing industry for twelve years as a proofreader, copy editor, and freelance writer. In 2010, she accepted the challenge to self-publish her first novel. Upon discovering the possibilities of the expanding ebook market, she created Whiteley Press, LLC, an independent publishing house.
She studied at Mercer University, where she earned a bachelor of arts in Christianity and French, majors that emphasized research, writing, and literature. (And you haven’t lived until you’ve slogged through great French writers in the original language!) Upon graduating summa cum laude, she was the recipient of the J. L. Dagg Research and Writing Award and the L. P. Irvin Foreign Language Award.
In 2000, Jennifer began her own freelance editorial and writing business: Becton Literary Services. She has edited literary novels, short story collections, and various non-fiction works for Mercer University Press and Smyth and Helwys Publishing, both in Macon, Georgia, and her lifestyle and equestrian articles have appeared in Southern Distinction, HorseSouth, and Southern Horse Talk. She has been a member of the Historical Novel Society, the Jane Austen Society, and Sisters in Crime.
Jennifer lives near Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband Bert, a civil engineer, and a cat named Puttytat, who rules the house with an iron claw. She is also an avid equestrienne and owns a horse named Darcy.
Jennifer writes thrillers, the first of which was released in July 2011, under the pseudo-pseudonym J. W. Becton. She coauthored Riding Fear Free, a book on overcoming horseback riding fear with Laura Daley.