Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Define “written”. I have one book that I think is publishable but I have four or five completed first drafts (I do NaNoWriMo and win every year). They have potential (there’s a lot of stuff in there I love) but still need a lot of work to strengthen/straighten out the plots. Most are sci-fi/space opera. I’m an accountant by day and a wife and mother by night, although my babies are legal adults now.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Whispers in the Dark. I usually don’t reveal my inspiration, but this seems like a friendly place… So. Did you ever see the movie Warm Bodies? It’s a zombie romance. I saw it three years ago, then promptly saw it again. It was a really stressful time in my life and that movie was my happy place. I loved the rescue/kidnap trope, the humor kept me laughing every time, the music was done really well, and Nicholas Hoult was amazing as R, Julie thought he was going to kill her and it took a while for her to accept that he wouldn’t, so the power dynamic was pretty charged. I wrote some fanfic for the movie and immersed myself in it, and then started playing the “what if” game. What if the girl was not being held captive by the guy? How could I get anyone to believe she’d even talk to let alone fall in love with this monster? Could I write something that makes me feel the same things? I wanted write a better love story than the movie – I mean, c’mon, she ran away from him three times, and really, objectively, why would she fall in love with this guy? We don’t get to see the process. I wanted my love story to make sense. As much as love stories ever do, anyway…
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I create playlists for my novels. Songs that resonate with the various parts of the story, emotionally. I’ve used pop, country, contemporary, eighties, rock… but my favorite band is Skillet so they creep in there a lot. I’ll create CDs to play in the car, and program playlists on my music player for use with earbuds, when there’s distraction I need to drown out.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Isaac Asimov (sci-fi). Anne McCafferey (fantasy). Georgette Heyer (witty romance). So many others; I read voraciously when I was a teenager. My two enduring favorites are Lois McMaster Bujuld (sci-fi/fantasy with occasional romance – so amazingly well written) and Jayne Ann Kretnz (romance with occasional sci-fi/fantasy)
What are you working on now?
Launching Whispers in the Dark. Self-publishing and promoting books is so different than writing them, but I have good friends and resources.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I don’t know yet! I enjoy playing with quotes on pretty backgrounds, and try to intrigue people.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Sometimes your writing will suck – and that’s okay. Read lots of “how to write” books but remember not everything in them will be useful for you, so ignore when needed. Get connected with other authors, online or locally. Are you involved in popular culture at all? Consider practicing your craft by writing fanfic – it’s free to get your work in front of people who are inclined to like it, and you can gain valuable feedback.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
It is the job of a writer to get two interesting people in a room together, and write down what they say.
What are you reading now?
Ashen City, by Sara Baysinger. It’s like the Hunger Games, but with better world-building and less child-murder.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’ll polish up my sci-fi series to make those readable. These are adventures in a framework (space colony) that I first created as a teenager. Back then I planned a lot but didn’t write much. It’s such a trip to be writing there now.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Bible. Does the Lord of the Rings count as one book or three? Penric’s Demon by Bujold and Absolutely, Positively by Krentz. Also a manual on how to hook up to the wi-fi…
Author Websites and Profiles
Pam Jernigan Website
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