interviewed by : Lori Soard
Date: 02/23/00

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WM: Tell us a little about "Beetle Bug Adventures"

Jennifer: It's a children's chapter book about two beetle bug boys named, Poppy and Hue who love to explore. They live in a town called, Gardenville with many other bug families. In this particular adventure they leave Gardenville gates to explore the big yard in which Gardenville resides. Poppy and Hue end up lost and scared and in their exploration to get home, they meet new friends.

WM: Tell us about your basket making business Jennifer: Well, I've always given gift baskets filled with everyday items such as trinkets, candles, sachets and such instead of the "typical" gift basket of food, as gifts at weddings we attended, birthdays and on holidays. I've received so many compliments on my baskets that a friend told me that I should turn it into a business. So I did! I also make the country crafts that are available on my web sight myself. My intention is to make it easy for individuals to purchase and give the perfect gift to whom they are shopping for, as well as fun baskets filled with items that their receivers can cherish everyday.

WM: What place do you call home? How has that setting influenced your writing?

Jennifer: I reside in Hagerstown, Maryland with my three beautiful children, Nicholas, Cameron and Jordan and with my wonderful husband of 10 years, Thom. I'm the kind of person that can make myself feel comfortable in almost any setting and as I love my house and my writing room, it is not what influences my writing. My family does! I am well loved, and I'm a very happy and determined person...this is what excites me to get up and write everyday.

WM: Who has had the biggest influence on your writing?

Jennifer: Basically everyone that I meet. Everyone has a story and I search to find it. My family and my friends have a huge impact on me and my writing.

WM: Who are you favorite authors and why?

Jennifer: Edgar Allen Poe is one, he is phenomenal. I admire his writing because he is a man who wrote wonderful literature before his time and his readers time. V.C. Andrews is another. She really knew how to make her readers feel that they were living the characters lives in her books.

WM: Who was your favorite teacher in school and what lesson did s/he teach that has helped with your writing?

Jennifer: I laugh because I honestly did not like school. The only thing that I remember having a big impact on me was from a psychology/sociology class that I had during my junior and senior year in high school with a teacher named, Mr. Pedicord. He knew how to get you thinking.

I have been writing short stories since I was ten years old, and I've always been fortunate to have kept that "child" in me. I say this because, right from ten years of age until now, I have no problem coming up with stories.

WM: What inspires you while writing? Do you listen to music? Light candles?

Jennifer: My kids. While writing, I listen to them play and laugh and that helps me make my stories fun and childlike.

WM: What projects are you currently working on? What releases can we look for soon?

Jennifer: Everyday I have a new story idea. Actually I have to keep the ideas written down so I can finish one story at a time. I have over 100 stories that I have just "ideas" for and have not been able to get to them yet.

As for a project that I am working on now...it's a romance novel titled, "Swept Away," as well as reworking a few of my children's stories in hopes of sending them to publishers soon. One of those is a second "Beetle Bug Adventures" book titled, "Beetle Bug Adventures, Into the Spider Cave."

WM: What molds in your genre would you like to break? What trends would you consider setting?

Jennifer: I've never really thought of that to tell you the truth. I just write and hope that I have broken a mold of some kind. As for setting trends...I would just like to be an admired author whose readers anxiously await for my newest book.

WM: Where do you see the publishing industry headed in the next five years?

Jennifer: I see most publishers going to publishing electronic books. There are so many advantages to having and purchasing a book over the computer. One example...you get it immediately and another is that you can still have a copy of the book to take to the bathroom.

WM: What is your greatest accomplishment?

Jennifer: Wow that's a question that can take on many forms. First, I would have to say my children, my marriage, and my relationships with other family members and friends. Second, I would have to say ALL my publishings. I've been published numerous times since my first publishing, which took place at the end of October of 1999. It was an article of ways to indulge yourself and was published in "The Florida Villager." And last, would be my businesses. On top of my gift basket and craft business online, I also am a full time Licensed Childcare Provider from my home...I'm one busy person, and I like it that way.

WM: Where are your strengths as a writer? Weaknesses?

Jennifer: My strengths are coming up with fun, creative and imaginative story lines. My weaknesses are being too wordy.

WM: What is the biggest mistake you think beginning writers make?

Jennifer: Actually I still think of myself as a beginning writer, so WE make mistakes by not completely reading publishers guidelines, thoroughly researching that publisher you are interested in and rushing to get that story to a particular publisher.

WM: What is it that makes a writer a great stylist?

Jennifer: I think by writing what you know and by using your own voice, your own ideas, and putting yourself into your characters.

WM: How can a writer develop his/her voice?

Jennifer: Well I think to be outrageous and to experiment. I believe that the more freedom you feel with your writing then the more willing you will be to release your own voice.

WM: What is your favorite writing exercise?

Jennifer: I consider writing outdoors a wonderful exercise for me. I sit and make a list of characters, defining who they are in the story, what they like, what they look like, things of that nature. Or sometimes I just write a story flat out and make it work from there.

WM: What do you do when you get writer's block? How do you break out of the funk?

Jennifer: I haven't had writer's block as of yet and I hope that I never do.

WM: What writing goals do you set for yourself? Do you write a set number of pages or hours per day?

Jennifer: To write at least for a full half hour every day, but usually it ends up being way more than that.

WM: How can the Internet help writers?

Jennifer: It's helped me a lot by using it to research for my multicultural children's stories, finding publishers and their guidelines as well as interacting with other writers. The possibilities for a writer on the Internet are endless.

WM: What are the advantages of being a writer in the new Millenium? What are the disadvantages?

Jennifer: Well I think with a lot of publishers moving towards the Internet, it will be a lot easier for us writers to find them and what they are looking for. And as a disadvantage, it may be just a little too easy.

A few words of inspiration from Jennifer:

Keep writing what you know...and don't get too discouraged when you receive rejections from publishers. Dr. Seuss received over 70 rejections before his first book was published.

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