Sharing my love of Pulp books and magazines through Art and stories
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Jennifer Rainey interview
1: What is the most
productive time of the day for you to write?
I'm definitely most
productive in the morning and afternoon (which does not always mesh well with
work schedules, I'm afraid). I get too tired at night, and when I try to write
it's less than beautiful work.
2: Do you start your
projects writing with paper and pen or is it all on the computer?
My brain moves too quickly
for me to use paper and pen! I wish I could, because I feel like the cool kids
all write their first drafts by hand, but I lose so many ideas if I can't just
spit them out on the keyboard. I'm a very slow writer.
3: What do you draw
inspiration from?
The most ridiculous
things! Of course I am inspired by other writing, by music and other forms of
art, but sometimes I feel like inspiration just comes out of nowhere. I'll be
cooking grilled cheese or something and all of a sudden, I've got this idea
that snowballs into an entire plotline. Perhaps grilled cheese is inspirational
to me. I mean, the Virgin Mary's face does appear on it every once in a while.
4: Do you set goals for
yourself when you sit down to write such as word count?
I set goals in terms of
scenes. When I sit down, I'll say, "Okay. Just get through this scene
today. No matter how many words it takes, just get through this specific
scene." I find that it works better for me that way than if I actually
take word count into consideration. Then I just get all flustered.
5: Are you a published or
a self published author and how do you come up with your cover art?
I'm a self-published
author who uses Createspace and Amazon KDP/B&N Pubit to publish my work. I
designed my cover; I used to dabble in graphic design back when I wasn't sure
quite what I wanted to do with my life. I use Adobe Photoshop, too, which is so
much fun. I could sit on there for hours!
6: What drives you to
choose the career of being a writer?
I'm a storyteller. I'm not
in this for the money at all. My main drive is to tell stories, to make people
laugh, to make people feel a connection with my characters. These Hellish
Happenings used to be available online for free (back when it had a different
title and it was very, very rough), and people really connected with the story
and the characters. My protagonist even won an award for "Best Main
Character" or something along those lines. So, I knew I wanted to publish
it and get it out there to reach an even wider audience.
7: Do you own an ebook
reading device?
I sure do! I own a Kindle,
and I absolutely love it. I always told myself I was one of those hipsters who
would never buy an ereader... then I published for Kindle and knew I had to get
one and I can't live without it now! It's a modern day love story!
8: Who are some of your
favorite authors and What are you reading now?
I love Terry Pratchett, F.
Scott Fitzgerald, Neil Gaiman, Christopher Moore, Aldous Huxley... I majored in
English, so the list goes on and on. I'm getting ready to read either Fool by
Christopher Moore or An Apple for Zoe by Thomas Amo, and I just finished Hard
Day's Knight by John Hartness.
9: What do you think of
book trailers and do you have any plans to have any?
I was planning on making
one, and then I heard that they weren't terribly effective, so I scrapped the
project. I still have some of the art, though, and I'm trying to find something
to do with it.
10: How did you come up
with the title of your latest book?
Originally the book was
called In a Handbasket: My Misadventures in Hell. I switched it to These
Hellish Happenings about when I completed the first draft. The new title comes
from a line in the book.
11: What are you working
on now that you can talk about?
I'm currently about two-thirds of the way through the first draft of the
second book in the These Hellish Happenings series. It's called When Hell
Freezes Over, and it takes place three years after the first book ends. After I
finish that draft and while I let it sit for a month or so, I'm starting on a
book of thirteen short stories that takes place in the Hell universe I've
created, but is not a part of the series; it's tentatively called The Souls of
Dorian Mitchell.
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