July 22, 2008
Interview with YA author, Jenny B. Jones
by Maddee Schrader, RT Staff Writer
Maddee: When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
Jenny: I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I used to write plays in elementary school and force my classmates to watch my one woman show. (Reasons not to go to the reunion…) The stuff I wrote in school was REALLY bad though, so take heart if you’re age 5-18, and you haven’t cranked out anything fabulous yet.
Maddee: That’s definitely encouraging – I know a lot of writers that age, including myself. I know you’re a teacher - how did this play into the Katie Parker books?
Jenny: I was blessed with the opportunity to start a drama program at a small school some time ago. We saw kids coming into their own, using talents they didn’t know they had and just many a-ha! moments. I had a student who found her place through drama—something she discovered she totally rocked at. But then I also had a student, “Maggie,” who came from a horrible home life and got “stuck” in the class. Though she did her best, it wasn’t her cup of tea. I will never forget the night of the play for the community. The kids got a standing ovation, but “Maggie’s” family didn’t show.
I remember thinking, much like if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear…if a kid gets a standing ovation and no one is there to see her… Anyway, that has always stuck with me. “Maggie” was later taken out of her home and placed with a friend’s family, where she was thoroughly loved and cared for and received the attention that she had never had before. She became a new person.
My character Katie is a combination of both those students I mentioned. Their stories are etched on my heart.
Maddee: I was going to ask if any characters were based on real people, so thanks for answering that for me. How do you write - organized and outlined, or more free-flowing?
Jenny: Oh, to be organized and an outliner!!! It’s my dream. (Right after winning the lottery and meeting Chris Tomlin.) I’m a total write by the seat of the pants girl. Like right now, I am days away from finishing a book in my upcoming series, and I have NO idea how it’s going to end. This is NOT a good feeling. : ) In fact I just returned from a milkshake run to deal with the stress.
When I start I can sum up what I know about a book in a couple of paragraphs. Along the way I make note cards of ideas, lines, character details that I might need. As I move along, I TRY to remember to refer to them. As I mentioned on my blog (http://jennybjones.com) JUST this week, sometimes I’ll go back months later and look at a card and I’ll be like, “Aliens crash into the planet and steal all the Snickers bars?” So some ideas never get used. Now that I’m at the end of a book, I have fewer cards. And most of them even make sense.
Maddee: I’ve seen a recurring theme with the Chris Tomlin obsession, so I hope you’re fairly short - when you meet him you’ll see he tops out at 5’7”. What books inspire you?
Jenny:Oh, gosh. I LOVE books. Love to read and love, love, love to talk books. I could go on all day about this. I really enjoyed Twilight. I liked how the two characters were very PG with each other, but yet there was still this romantic tension. I love anything funny and fast paced.
So I’m a Meg Cabot fan. One of my favorite YA books (if not THE favorite) is A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck. It is amazing. A short book and a quick read. And laugh out loud funny. And touching. I like Sarah Mlynowski’s YA books. And I’m just starting Uglies by Scott Westerfield. I’ve had that on my “to be read” list for a couple of years. (But I don’t think it’s funny, so I’ve been a little slow on the draw.) I like Kristin Billerbeck’s books, especially her Ashley Stockingdale series. And I read my Bible, pretty cool too.
Maddee: Alright! I have a lot to add to my library list now. Why do you love writing?
Jenny: Because I get to check my email a lot.
Wow, Maddee, nobody’s ever asked me that. First of all, God gives us all talents. And so when you realize what yours is and then get the privilege of using it for him, it’s an amazing thing. It humbles me daily. (But it also gives me writer’s butt, but whatever.) I think I love writing because I love making people laugh. It’s my favorite thing in the world. So to bring some joy to someone is a gift to me. I love creating characters and crazy situations. And emails from readers are the best!
Maddee: No one’s asked you that question? Wow. I’m glad to be the first. If you could meet three literary characters, who would they be?
Jenny: Another super question! (I need to stop and take a drink of shake to think about this…okay, brain just met chocolate. I can continue.) Um…this will probably resonate with no one, but there’s an old, dusty Shakespearean play called Much Ado About Nothing, and I would like to meet Beatrice. She’s a single lady living with her cousin’s family, and unlike most ladies of the time, she is very outspoken, very sarcastic, and very lippy. I think we’d have a lot in common. Except I rarely say thee and thou.
I’d also like to meet Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables. Wouldn’t she be fun? I have to confess I never read the books, but I loved the movies on TV. Who else…?
I’d like to sit down and have some tea with Mia from Princess Diaries so we could swap notes on being princesses. Okay, I’m not actually one. But I could be. I totally could be.
Maddee: Ah, Shakespeare. I’d have to opt to meet Hamlet, when he was sane. What advice do you have for writers?
Jenny: Never give up as long as that dream burns in your hard and God is still the one stoking it. I held onto this dream for a long time before finally surrendering it to God and saying, “I want to be a writer. But I’ll do whatever you want with it.” It was when I did that, that the ball really starting rolling. And fast. And practically speaking, read a lot! I know I should be reading all these books on writing, but I learn the most from reading other people’s novels. And get support. You have to have friends around you that support your dream and maybe a few who like to write also.
Maddee: Great advice – especially the ‘read a lot’ for us bibliophiles! If you could travel anywhere for one month to write, where would it be?
Jenny: I love to travel! My next destination is Ireland and Scotland, though I don’t think I’ll do much writing there. A spot just to write would have to be different than a spot for fun. I think it would involve a simple beach house overlooking the sea. The sound of the waves crashing, the smell of saltwater, sea birds that poop on your deck. And there would be a butler there, right? Who’d bring me unlimited bottles of Dasani and all the cheese puffs I could ask for?
Maddee: The Katie Parker series is set in Texas - why did you choose that state? I confess a personal stake – I live in Houston.
Jenny: I love the South, and that’s what I’m most familiar with. My next series, The Charmed Life, takes place in Manhattan and Oklahoma. I’m from Arkansas, so writing in the Southern setting is just very familiar to me. But I’m branching out!
Maddee: Ooh, East Coast and High Plains. I can’t wait. Anything else you want to share?
Jenny: We have a great time on my blog at http://jennybjones.com, so please stop by! And I love emails. Email me at jen@jennybjones.com. AND…you can catch Katie Parker and Maxine in their own short story in Brio magazine this winter. AND…be on the lookout for my next book So Not Happening, which debuts in spring ’09. And speaking of that, I need to go finish the second book! Thanks so much for letting me stop by. You’re a GREAT interviewer, Ms. Schrader!
Maddee: Again, thanks so much for your time! For those of you who haven’t read The Katie Parker Series, why are you still here? Get to Amazon!
Debbie says:
LOL. I love this interview, Maddee!
Jenny B. Jones says:
Thanks Maddee! That was so much fun!