When Jennifer Brown-Thomas ’11 surprises readers, she happily experiences the shock, too.

Brown-Thomas, author of Blissful Lies, finds her most productive writing hours are at night. It comes with having a packed work schedule and being the mother of a 2-year-old.

“I tend to just sit down and write between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.,” she says. “I think about it before I get started. I don’t have an outline. When people say, ‘I didn’t see that coming’ or ‘I didn’t know that was going to happen,’ … I didn’t either.”

Brown-Thomas, who has a degree in strategic communications, first put her thoughts down when she penned a handwritten screenplay in the fifth grade. She originally wrote Blissful Lies as a screenplay in 2010 before her manager suggested making it a novel would be beneficial. Brown-Thomas did an independent film version that was filmed in 17 days in 2010. The DVD release is set for April 9.

Both the writing and filming process provided learning experiences.

“With (first-time) novel publication, you are not familiar with the best ways to market and promote,” she says. “Marketing and distribution have been the biggest obstacles. You have to stand out and get noticed. It is all about getting past the first one.”

Brown-Thomas has also teamed up with Runway Ready owner Fanitsa Limberis to form Limberis Brown Thomas (LBT). The lifestyle brand is working on a clothing line (Kinsley Kouture) named after Brown-Thomas’ daughter. Brown-Thomas is also working on moving her second novel, Vindictive Grounds, through the publishing process.