Ask the Author: Jennifer Crosswhite
Answered Questions (10)
Jennifer Crosswhite
I’m always looking for reviewers! If you sign up for my Insider Updates, you’ll see when I post requests for ARC readers. You can go to jlcrosswhite.com/promise to get a free prequel novella and get signed up!
Jennifer Crosswhite
As a little girl, I always wanted to go back and visit Laura Ingalls Wilder. I thought it would be so much fun! Of course now I realize how much work it took just to keep body and soul together back then, so I'm not quite so eager to live there permanently, but I would love to visit for a short while. I think I would appreciate modern life a lot more!
Jennifer Crosswhite
That's a great question! I don't know the answer yet because until my daughter's graduation party, I won't be able to mentally shift into summer mode. However, I recently subscribed to Kindle Unlimited and I plan to scroll through and find books from my favorite authors that I haven't gotten to yet like Susan May Warren, Lynette Eason, Dani Pettrey, Jenny B. Jones, Tamara Alexander, Elizabeth Camden, Laura Franz, Diana Brandmeyer, Liz Tolsma, and Angela Breidenbach. Whew! And that's just off the top of my head.
What books are on your summer lists?
What books are on your summer lists?
Jennifer Crosswhite
I'm of the same mind as the famous author who said they wrote when they were inspired and they were inspired every morning at 9 AM. Other authors have talked about inspiration being a by-product of discipline. I believe that. I make writing one of the "big rocks" that goes on my schedule first. When I'm regularly at the computer, I find that I'm constantly working on the story in the back of my mind, even when I'm not actively writing. All of that contributes to inspiration.
Jennifer Crosswhite
I think the mysteries in my life are pretty mundane like, where do those socks go in the dryer? Or, how can my teenaged sons eat so much and not gain any weight? Some are much sadder like, how can people be so mean to each other? Mostly, I'm grateful that my life tends to run on the boring side, which leaves me plenty of energy to put my characters through the wringer!
Jennifer Crosswhite
Write a lot. Much about the craft is just learned by doing it.
Join a good writer's group where you can learn craft and get your work critiqued. It also should serve as a good support group for the crazy life of writing.
Read good books. Books on craft and books in the genre in which you write. Both will make you a better writer.
Write a lot. :)
Join a good writer's group where you can learn craft and get your work critiqued. It also should serve as a good support group for the crazy life of writing.
Read good books. Books on craft and books in the genre in which you write. Both will make you a better writer.
Write a lot. :)
Jennifer Crosswhite
I get to give life to all those crazy characters running around in my head!
Jennifer Crosswhite
I'm currently working on the Road Home, the sequel to Coming Home. I hope to release it in May 2017.
Jennifer Crosswhite
The 1880s was a fascinating time in American history. The country was recovering from its greatest wounding, the Civil War. People were moving West to make new lives for themselves. Progress, in the form of trains, telegraphs, gas, and electricity were making life easier, and new inventions were just around the corner. Out West in particular, women were becoming more independent and taking charge of their own lives, including careers and schooling.
I chose to set my stories in Oregon because I visited there on a trip in high school and fell in love with its beauty. The very kernel of this story started as an AP English project that year. The characters never left me alone and over the years the story grew, morphed, and changed as my writing skills developed.
Reedsville is inspired by the real town of Molalla, Oregon, which was the end of the trail and the beginning of a new life for many pioneers of the time.
I chose to set my stories in Oregon because I visited there on a trip in high school and fell in love with its beauty. The very kernel of this story started as an AP English project that year. The characters never left me alone and over the years the story grew, morphed, and changed as my writing skills developed.
Reedsville is inspired by the real town of Molalla, Oregon, which was the end of the trail and the beginning of a new life for many pioneers of the time.
Jennifer Crosswhite
There's a couple of things you can do. One, just take a step back. Go find something else to do and let your mind take a break.
Two, make sure that you are separating your editing brain and your creative brain. The creative brain will go on strike if the editing brain butts in too much. So do a bit of pre-writing planning of your scene so your editing brain is happy. Then tell it to shut up and let creative brain take over.
Hope that helps!
Two, make sure that you are separating your editing brain and your creative brain. The creative brain will go on strike if the editing brain butts in too much. So do a bit of pre-writing planning of your scene so your editing brain is happy. Then tell it to shut up and let creative brain take over.
Hope that helps!
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