A Matter of Persuasion

 

It is with great excitement that we announce the publication of DJ Anderson’s second romance novel, A Matter of Persuasion. To purchase, visit Amazon.com.

PLOT

Laura is a brilliant cellist about to graduate from a prestigious New England boarding school and head off to one of the top music schools in the country. Jonathan is a formidable soccer player with dreams of completing his private school and university education before getting recruited to a professional team. Neither were expecting to fall so deeply in love and wish so fervently to start down their career paths together. Thinking that they have succeeded in arranging to attend the same college, they begin to make plans for their shared life together. But Jonathan’s family, furious that their son is not following their plan, intervenes.

Persuaded to separate from Laura or lose all financial support, Jonathan makes the painful decision to leave her to pursue his dream. In the wake of his departure, Laura finds that she is pregnant with his child. Upon deciding to go through with the pregnancy, her fears of what his wealthy and influential family might do to further exert their influence lead her and her family to make an uncomfortable pact. They decide to keep the child’s existence a secret from Jonathan.

Throughout the years that follow, and try as they might, neither Jonathan nor Laura can erase the love they have for one another. The pull to find each other again is strong and undeniable. As they both pursue their original career goals, they also make decisions that put their individual paths on a collision course with one another.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DJ Anderson was born in Wisconsin but has also lived in Indiana, Florida, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Tennessee. During her 23 years in New England, she lived and worked on the campuses of private boarding schools. It is from these experiences she draws to achieve credibility vis-a-vis the location and settings for A Matter of Persuasion.

In 2020, during the height of Covid and before vaccines were available, Anderson flew with her outline for the book to Massachusetts to isolate for two weeks prior to the arrival of her first grandchild. She spent the time in a lovely AirBNB garret apartment overlooking the Charles River while she began writing the novel. Swan House and its beautiful grounds became the inspiration for the home of one of her characters. After completing the first very rough draft, she moved over to her daughter’s house to meet her new grandchild. The next six weeks were spent in writing additional plot and character development for the novel while also doing laundry and taking care of the new parents. At least a dozen drafts and three years later, A Matter of Persuasion was published. 

A graduate of Stetson University and Wesleyan University, DJ earned a master’s degree with her thesis in art, “Behind the Façade,” an exploration of what is known and unknown about the individuals in our lives. As with her first novel, Mercy of the Fallen, A Matter of Persuasion explores this same theme. DJ is a noted storyteller and amateur psychoanalyst with a talent for detail. She approaches her writing just as she approaches the world—with compassion and matter-of-fact wisdom.

DJ currently lives in Bradenton, Florida, where she is an avid runner, bird watcher, and the director of her own communications business.