Ask Jen: Answers!

First of all thank you to everyone who asked a question! Your thoughts often make me think about things I really hadn't before (which character would I eat lunch with??) and I seriously love it!!

So, here we go! ANSWERS:

1. Do you think of the story all at once or does it come slowly as you write?

A. Definitely slowly! When I come up with an idea for a book it's usually stems around a character or a situation or a main theme my mind has mulled over. I often have ideas for the end and one or two for the middle... but getting there is like taking the unknown path and often changes the direction of the book. Sometimes my "planned" middle looks very different than I originally thought it would or it may not happen at all.

2. What has helped you grow the most as an author?

A. Learning to love critiques. Someone criticizing something you've worked so hard on can be really difficult. Years ago when I was in a critique group I would find some things helpful, but most things not. It always pricked a bit at my pride. And now, I love being critiqued. I let go of my pride. Every edit helps and I now realize that. From the very professional to the average reader giving you thoughts--it helps. I am so grateful when someone takes the time to offer me edits and thoughts and even if I don't make changes how they have suggested I am rethinking and making the book better.

3. How do you choose names for your characters?

A. I love this question! Mostly because of my latest work--which I will get to. Choosing a name can be so very easy or extremely difficult. As cheesy as it sounds sometimes a name just comes to you. Natalie from LIKE HOME just came. I could hear her brother calling her "Nat". Kyle from LIKE HOME on the other hand had several names before I settled on Kyle. Nothing felt right for him! My husband coached a "Kyle" at the time and he talked about him all the time... so one day I plugged it in and it stuck. The characters in my young adult series that I am working on have a more unique way of getting their names--one I have never used before. A few years ago I delved into family history work and really loved it. So all of the main characters in my UNTCOUHED series have gotten their names from my family history. The main character is named "Thankful", her love interest is named "Liam", but it's his last name I took from my family history: "Gregor". It's been so much fun naming these guys!! Mostly, a name has to "feel" right... as weird as that sounds, it's the truth.

4. What inspired the story for LIKE HOME?

A. I have a much better answer for what inspired the story of Knowing Amelia. Haha! But that isn't the question. :) I wrote LIKE HOME right after finishing my first attempt at writing a full length novel, Am I 30 Yet?, rather than children's' stories. I was excited to start up again. I wanted to do something new, something different. And I finally had the confidence I could finish writing a novel! One day to took my young sons to the store and there was a fire truck sitting outside our local Wal-mart. The fireman were outside talking to those who passed by.... That's it. That inspired the scene from Chapter 3 in LIKE HOME. I knew I wanted to write differently than I had in my comedic Am I 30 Yet?, so I made the plot and theme more serious. I wrote in 3rd person, I had two POV's, and I wanted women with serious issues. It was like building a Lego set. I had all these pieces that I decided I wanted to use and then I figured out how to put them all together.

P.S. Am I 30 Yet? will finally come out this fall under a new title: Roses Don't Have to be Red. :)

5. Who is your favorite author?

and

Who are the authors that have really inspired you?

A. I have a couple. :) And really they are my fav because what they do inspires me! I love Jane Austen. She is seriously amazing. She was so forward thinking about women and about love. Her books have truth and tragedy, but a happy ending too. :) I am also a huge Katherine Reay fan! Reay's books are so well written. Her characters are complex and I believe her! She is also a clean writer and I so appreciate that! Check her out! Dear Mr. Knightly is my fav!

6. If you could have lunch with any one of your characters which one would you choose? What would you talk about?

*Knowing Amelia spoiler... if you haven't read the book yet, you may not want to read this answer. ;)

A. What a creative question! I love it. And it's really made me think... it's a hard one! I've decided on Seth, from Knowing Amelia. Seth has a story. That's what we'd talk about... his love for Amelia, his grief when he lost her, how he learned to love again and his life with Grace. I love Seth. And I would love to give him a great big hug.

7. Do you have a special place you go and just write, somewhere you find inspiration?

A. I have a desk in my kitchen and that is where 98% of my writing happens... although this question totally makes me want a special inspirational place!! I often wear this University of Wyoming cardigan when I write... I've called it my inspirational writing sweater before. haha!... not a place, but a thing. :)

8. What inspires you?

and

I want to know where you get your ideas. Any real life things?

A. One time I read that real writers don't need others books or songs or TV shows to inspire them, that they have true inspirational that's all their own. I personally think that's a bunch of malarkey!! I find inspiration in so many different ways and still manage to make something original and new. I think it's right and good and normal to find inspiration in others! I have been inspired by true events in my life, when I was pregnant with my oldest child I saw a foal be born, I was right up close and it was amazing. That absolutely inspired Ginny from LIKE HOME being pregnant and knowing I'd write a birthing scene. I didn't know when I began how that scene would end though that inspiration came one summer while I read the works of others. Another real life inspiration is my 10 year old memory of the town Meeteetse Wyoming. My brother lived there for a year and I just loved the place, Rendezvous from Knowing Amelia is based off of Meeteetse. :) My children are very inspiring as well. Jason from LIKE HOME is very similar to my #1. But also, the journey of motherhood and the truth of the good and the bad inspire me. I get inspired when I learn too. Spiritual lessons from my church or scholastic lessons from my schooling--there is so much inspiration in learning! Music often gets my creative juices flowing! A good Taylor Swift song always makes me want to write a sweet love story. ;)

9. Why do you eat chocolate when you write and how much chocolate do you think you eat in a week of writing?

A. LOL. Oh, thank you Fara for making me confess up to my chocolate consumption! It's true... I really believe chocolate helps me when I write... I'm not sure why exactly, but there is something about it that makes me happy and spurs the writing juices! I keep a stock of truffles in my cupboard... my non-child friendly cupboard and I usually eat one truffle halfway through a writing session. So, maybe 5 a week? ...which is also why I am failing at my -be healthy, weight loss challenge. :)

10. Do you always start at the beginning of the book and write it in order or do you sometimes skip around?

A. I totally skip around! Most is written in chronological order. But after years of writing I have learned that if I have a good idea and I don't write it down it will disappear... probably into a land where they have no chocolate and nothing will ever become of it. So! Because of that, I have written anything from a quote to a full chapter that is completely out of order, at times hundreds of pages away!

11. I want to know Seth's side of the story. Why did the Sanders want Olivia's house so badly? Were they somehow related to Seth?

A. Seth's side of the story would turn this blog post into a novel. :) But I want to tell it. One day I hope too! In my mind the Sanders wanted Olivia's house so badly because they had two choices of real-estate in the small town of Rendezvous and Olivia's best fit their needs. They learned about it previously being for sale (when O's dad tried to sell it out from under her) from their realtor Janie Forester. I hadn't thought of them being a relative... which would be interesting! Though they would probably be Burt's relative since it was Burt's home to begin with.

12. What are some of your current favorite books?

A. I love a good YA dystopian. Last year I read The Girl of Fire and Thorns series and I still think about those books at times. I am a huge fan of all of Katherine Reay's books, but Dear Mr. Knightly is my fav. Another of my all time favorites is A Monster Calls, it's the most powerful book I've ever read.

13. Who is the favorite character that you have ever written?

A. This is a really difficult one! I don't know if I can answer just one...

Okay, I've given it a day and I don't know that she is my very all time favorite ever (I don't know who is!!) but she is one of my favorites. Phoebe Morgan from my new YA series Untouched (hopefully coming out next year) is a lot of fun to write. She is sassy and confident and strong. She isn't afraid of anyone--or at least doesn't appear to be. She loves her family almost to a fault and she has secrets... lots of them!

Thanks again everyone! That was a blast. :)

More questions? Keep em' coming! You can comment on Facebook, Instagram, email (info on site), or PM me!

#AskJen