Ask the Author: Kay Jennings
Answered Questions (12)
Kay Jennings
Thank you, Cathy. Yes! I'm currently working on book 7, and I expect to have a first draft finished by January, 2024. I'm taking my time on this one, as it's a complicated story. I already have a good idea in mind for book 8 as well, and I will keep writing this series as long as readers keep reading!
Kay Jennings
Unfortunately, for my chosen profession as a mystery author, my own life has been fairly vanilla and without much mystery. There are two instances of death which have caused me to stop and consider what really happened, but I'm not prepared to talk about them here. Fortunately, I have a vivid - some might say wild - imagination that comes in handy when I'm crafting a new story.
Kay Jennings
Thanks for your interest, Ann. Book 3 in my Port Stirling Mystery series, titled Code: Tsunami, will be published in late May, 2021. I'm not sure of the exact launch date yet, but I will know that soon. I really like this third book! It's a more complicated story, and includes a major natural disaster, a decades-old mysterious murder, and the Matt Horning/Fern Byrne relationship. I hope you'll think it's worth the wait.
Kay Jennings
She fell off the short dock into the mysterious pond. Her foot touched the murky bottom, and she disappeared.
Kay Jennings
Well, this one's easy: Ann Cleeves' Shetland Islands. In fact, I am planning a trip there soon to visit Jimmy Perez and his haunts. :) And I will hike all over the place.
Kay Jennings
I have two remaining unread books in Louise Penny's Armand Gamache series, so those are first. I've also got Sally Rooney's Normal People on my nightstand currently. And, I'm probably the last person in the world who hasn't read A Gentleman in Moscow, so that's on the nightstand, too. Plus, I'm constantly reading books about the publishing industry, and marketing to stay up-to-date. We just moved to the country and have a big pond and a creek, so I'm also reading water landscaping books.
Kay Jennings
I've always thought the beach at Bandon, Oregon, near where I grew up, has a "spooky" factor. Bandon is "Port Stirling" in Shallow Waters, making the setting easy for me to render. For years, I've walked by a tunnel in a sea stack on Bandon beach, and my over-active imagination just kicked in one day.
Kay Jennings
I don't have to be inspired - I love to write, and always seem to have something to say.
Kay Jennings
Shallow Waters, while a stand-alone novel, is the first in my Port Stirling Mystery series. Book number two in the series, tentatively titled "The Night Beach" is underway. This story is inspired by a real-life international drug smuggling operation that took place near my hometown in 1977, and I'm currently researching it. While I started my fiction writing as a "pantser", I'm now firmly into the "planner" category, and I'm outlining The Night Beach scene by scene. The tricky balance is to dedicate writing time while I'm also marketing Shallow Waters.
Kay Jennings
Designate a room with a door, and set a schedule for your writing. I'm a morning writer, but you may find you're more creative in the afternoon or at night. Some authors say find an hour whenever possible and write, but I can't work that way - I need a dedicated period of time, several hours, to make progress. If you're new at fiction writing as I was, get advice from the pros. Stephen King and Elizabeth George have excellent books on writing that really helped me get started. There is also great advice from agents if your intention is to be traditionally published; Donald Maass, in particular, has some terrific books.
Kay Jennings
After 30 years in the corporate world, I love working from home. I'm also a gardener, and writing in the morning and gardening in the afternoon is a pretty good lifestyle. The best thing is the freedom and flexibility to live your life on your terms.
Kay Jennings
So far, I haven't experienced writer's block. I'm very disciplined, and go to my writing room and work until I've hit my daily words goal. If I'm stuck at what scenes come next, I will often take a break and go for a walk, or fold laundry, or some other activity that will allow my mind to wander. That always gets the juices flowing again.
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