Interview with JL Burrows 2025

Hi Jennifer! Congratulations on the January release of your Christian Futuristic novel FreeFalling, a roller-coaster of story that kicks off your series Reconditioned. I have so many questions about this thought-provoking book and your author life, so let’s jump right in!

FreeFalling is set 180 years in the future under a Dome where the government enforces peace through control. How did you approach world-building to create this futuristic society, and what message do you hope readers take away from it?


FreeFalling’s world is a projection of today’s societal trends, events, and choices magnified 180 years into the future. Of course, more than one thing inspires the direction of a book’s world-building, and when I was first dreaming up FreeFalling, the news, social media, and my experiences in the classroom deeply impacted my choices.

Often, in class, students will complain about their hardest classes, bemoaning the unnecessary lengths they must go to in order to pass difficult classes. Then there’s the penumbra created by the current lack of teachers, an abundance of unconnected directives by politicians, and society’s skewed perspectives born out of biased news media. It’s enough to create a disaster, but if it were paired with a society misinformed by a biased news media (a real potential in social media), a government could easily create Serenity Knowles’s experience under the dome.

This led to the key questions that drove a lot of the world-building:
❖ What if we did away with harder subjects because only a select few students really need those courses?
❖ What if the government were only responsible for teaching students the basics, focused on forming successful citizens, and allowed their future jobs to complete their higher education?
❖ What if there was such a terrible teacher shortage that communities had to find a creative way to care for and educate students?
❖ What if AI and technology were developed to sustain and maintain a huge component of the education solution?

The biggest “what if” question is born out of the concept that truth is not true for everyone. That we each have an innate ability to define and develop what is truth, undermining a sense of security and understanding of what God established in the Bible. It’s in the news, in our jobs, in our classrooms.

“What if we were forced to accept everyone’s individual truth instead of knowing and experiencing the freedom and power of God’s Truth?” A truly terrifying question.

As I explored these questions, the deep power of God’s Truth became a treasured and essential experience for Serenity. At night before bedtime, when no one was listening, Serenity’s grandfather whispered the sweet truth, defying the law, clinging to what was important. He taught her that God exists and loves her more than she’d ever understand. Throughout the story, Serenity experiences God’s sweet pursuit, His unending care for her, even when she was completely unaware of who He is. He speaks to her heart and reminds her of the things she learned with her grandfather when she was so young, and He inspires her to do what is right even when it might cost her everything: her future, her security, her own sense of self.

Alongside her, I pray readers discover the power of our Almighty God who loves us more than we’ll ever understand and cares for the details we don’t even know to be worried about.

Often Serenity doesn’t know what to do in the face of forging her path that is so different from the paths of the surrounding people. I pray her story of courage and seeking the truth encourages readers to embrace their journey on the path less traveled, the Truth that will set them free, and a courage to grow into the places God calls each of them to stand firm. There are people in our lives who need for us to make a way, to be the change, and to stand out when everyone else is falling in line.

The concept of “reconditioning” plays a significant role in FreeFalling. How did you develop this idea, and what real-world parallels do you see in today’s society?

Reconditioning is the imagined future practice of chemically altering one’s mind to make citizens comply with government and societal mandates. It is completely socially acceptable under the Dome in Providence Providential, and citizens of all ages often report one another for unacceptance or judgement.

I remember being a child with nothing better to do than lay a blanket on the grass and stare up at the clouds narrating the wild fluffy creatures that embarked in a vast, blue journey across the sky. When boredom gave birth to dreams, extra time turned into skill through practice, and freedom developed confidence and direction in my life.

Children today are bound by addiction to devices that tell them what to look like, how to show themselves to the world, and what is right and wrong. As a teacher, I see the impact of devices on student’s mental health, on their perception of self and world, and their sense of values. It’s easy to imagine how these individuals might be manipulated through intentional, directed media in the future.

If the government were to take over social media and if their influence became a consistent sway in the news, then the experience would be similar to a reconditioning. It was only a few steps further to imagine a world where that reconditioning was sped up through the use of technology and medicine.

Your protagonist, Serenity, undergoes a profound transformation from a teacher to a rebel leader. How does her journey reflect your own experiences of stepping out in faith during challenging times?

Serenity’s transformation is one of my favorites because she doesn’t really want to go on a transformational journey. She simply wants to protect those she loves. When my husband was diagnosed with brain cancer, I stepped into the role of caregiver. I’ve never been good with blood and had no desire to nurse. Add in the absolute terror of potentially losing my husband, the father to my then 8- and 3-year-old children, I was firmly stepping out in faith. Though exaggerated through fiction, I believe Serenity’s journey reflects the faith walk we must each travel with Jesus. When He sends us into our purpose, we must also pass through the refiner’s fire. Fire burns. Being refined is cutting away the parts that aren’t good. But today, I stand in a courage and a faith I would not have if I hadn’t walked through the Refiner’s Fire.

The title FreeFalling suggests both a literal and emotional plunge—was there a moment in your own life that mirrored this kind of surrender or risk-taking?

I am known for my on-a-whim risk-taking. I’ve learned to follow Jesus with a wild abandon, desperate to know Him more. The summer after college, I was invited, after leading several short-term mission trips, to teach music to children on the mission field long-term. I had only two weeks’ notice, and I sold/gave away everything I owned, moved countries, and started work only a few days later. I did not have a place to live and stayed in an abandoned parish. No car. No phone. I don’t know how my parents survived my twenties. This surrender to follow with abandon taught me more about myself and God than I’d ever imagined.

In writing this book, did any scripture or spiritual truth come alive for you in a new way?

John 14:6 says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” I have often contemplated Jesus as the way. Jesus as the life. But this idea of the Truth has never been more relevant than today. Considering Jesus as the Truth revealed and developed in me such a calm, a new, deeper peace.

Since FreeFalling is based on the concept of God’s truth, I did research into verses about God’s truth. As I dove deeper into the thematic message of this story, I discovered a need to include and address fear, as it often is the reason we do not do the very thing we need to do.

Out of that research came the following three thematically related verses that came to be the spine of the story:

“When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” John 16:13.

“Do not be afraid; stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.”—Exodus 14:13 (NIV)

“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”—John 8:32 (NIV)

Because Serenity isn’t a Christian, and religions do not exist as a part of the culture in this book, weaving in these scriptures as the backbone had to be done carefully through a still small whisper that speaks directly to Serenity, guiding and teaching her.

What type of reader will like your book?

Reviewers have said that readers who “love a fast-paced story that will keep your attention,” “finding (themselves) in … a world (they) had never imagined before,” will love FreeFalling. Another reviewer said, “This story leaves you breathless, angry at the bad guys, rooting for the good guys, and, most-importantly, full of hope.” If a reader enjoys a love story born out of a heart-pounding experience that will drive them deeper into their own faith and question the world around them, then they will love FreeFalling.

Looking ahead, you’re working on Awakening, the second book in The Reconditioned Series. Can you give us a glimpse into what challenges and developments await Serenity in the next installment?


Ooh! I love what happens next. Readers will get to know Mack on a much deeper level. The hints and moments of romance in book one will become a well-developed thread in book two. The harrowing journey for the Truth continues in a wild world outside the Dome against rogue enemies that attack from all directions. Serenity is no longer a teacher trying to become a citizen but a radical rookie, unsure of her next steps. And Mack has turned away from his job as an enforcer and is now a powerless protector who must save the woman he loves.

What was the most challenging aspect of writing the Reconditioned books, whether in terms of research, character arcs, or weaving together the themes?


When I first wrote this series, it was one book with three worlds. I was new as an author and excited about what I’d created in this story. It took an editor’s eye to help me see I had too much story for one book, and that I’d need to divide the three worlds within The Reconditioned into three separate novels. What a blessing, though! I had the series arch from the beginning.

What advice would you give new authors?

My main piece of advice for budding creatives is to learn to take one step at a time and build consistency and discipline. However, as a teacher, I love to give advice to new writers. So here’s a list.

1. It’s a lifestyle, not a destination vacation. If you think you are writing to finish the book, you’ll find that there’s just another book, another revision, another edit, another something that you have to do for your book. Writing the book is simply the first step in a journey of steps. When I was younger and dieting, I used to hear all over the place. I’m changing my lifestyle–not dieting. Writing a book is much the same way. It’s a lifestyle, so create systems that support your writing consistently.

2. One step has more power than huge chunks. When my husband was going through brain cancer—an entire story in itself—I learned I had to just make the next step through life. I couldn’t think about the big picture or the end results. I put on blinders and forced myself to take the next step, no matter how much it scared me. In that, I found the journey went more quickly, each step grew a touch easier, and I could accomplish incredible things in brief periods of time.

3. Work with yourself, not against yourself. If you are a morning person, write in the morning. But if you are a night person, write in the night. Don’t try to be something you weren’t created to be. God made you on purpose the way you are. There’s enough in this world to fight against. Don’t let your war be against yourself.

4. Learn! Learn! Learn! The minute you think you’ve arrived, you will grow stale. In my writer’s group, we try to study a book a year. This year’s book is Susan May Warren’s The Story Equation. Other books I’ve learned from and loved are Hawker’s 17 step method, unfortunately named “Take off your Pants” referring to pantsers learning to plan; Story Genius by Larry Brooks; John Truby’s “The Anatomy of Story”; “Break into Fiction” by Mary Buckham and Dianna Love; “The Emotional Wound Thesaurus and that entire series by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi. And I have at least fifty more on my TBR that I can’t wait to dig into.

5. Work to the end. So many newer authors get lost in the spiral of starting a book, writing to chapter four or five, then having a new idea or learning something or any other distraction, and then they go back to the beginning and revise, cut, edit, get to chapter four or five, then have a … You get the idea. It’s essential to learn to persevere to the end of each phase of writing.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I love to garden for my hummingbirds and have several small flower gardens designed to attract and feed my hummers. I enjoy sitting with family and observing their visits from late March through October with a cup of coffee or tea, and I never cease to be amazed by their slight size and ferocity. God is the ultimate, awe-inspiring creator!

If you could only read one work of fiction one more time, what would it be?

As a reviewer, columnist, editor, author, teacher, mother, and diehard reader, this question is hard for me. I tend not to reread, but to read new books as much as possible. Right now, I’m in a romantic suspense focus as I’m writing in that genre as well. I guess if the question were, If I could only read one author one more time, who would it be? (Oh, that’s still hard.) But, right now, it would be Susan May Warren or Ronie Kendig. These women weave such impactful Godly tales with such powerful fast-paced drama that I am always awed by God’s gift in them.


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At the age of thirteen, Kimberly Keagan discovered romance novels. Whenever possible, she ignored her chores in favor of a book she couldn't put down. In time, she earned a degree in accounting and enjoyed a brief career in investor relations, writing financial reports and press releases—terrific jobs, but not very romantic. By God's grace, she married her own handsome hero and raised two wonderful children, whom they homeschooled. Now, she is following her long-held dream of penning historical romance. Her debut novel releases in 2025.