Ask the Author: Jennifer Priester
Answered Questions (10)
Jennifer Priester
As long as I could be transformed into a cat to fit into the world, I would want to be in the world of Erin Hunter’s Warriors series. I would probably want to go during a time when Firestar is leader because I think I would enjoy being part of ThunderClan during this time. I would definitely want to train to be a warrior because I prefer to stay active and I think I would enjoy the challenge of hunting for the clan. I think if I were to ever return to my own world learning to hunt might help with the skills needed to get closer to nature for better shots while doing photography. I love that when you are part of a clan, you’re never really alone. I feel like Firestar was a cat who was always willing to listen to and help his clan mates no matter what and always saw every member of his clan as valuable so I definitely feel like I could easily feel proud to be a warrior of ThunderClan.
Jennifer Priester
She emptied the recycle bin on her computer, then sat back and relaxed. Only then did she realize she had been so exhausted after working all night that she accidentally got rid of the wrong files.
I’m not good at horror stories, but when something like this actually happened it certainly felt like one to me. My computer was freezing often due to having too much on it. I do writing, publishing, photography, and art, and I also enjoy playing games so all my files and the programs I needed were taking up a lot of space. I planned on moving everything off the hard drive onto storage disks. I deleted everything off my hard drive after going through every file deciding what I needed to keep, then after spending all night doing this, I decided to get some work done. I saw the folder with my photography and don’t know why I thought it was an extra backup, but that’s what I thought it was so I deleted it. The moment I realized I had just managed to delete all my photography off my hard drive and the storage disk, was a moment the world completely stopped for me as the horror of what I did sank it. I had spent a year working on my photography, going through every photo keeping what I thought I could sell as a photographer and deleting what I couldn’t and as I had recently been diagnosed with mast cell disease at the time I had been pushing myself and making myself sick to complete this goal so in the moment I felt like everything I did had been for nothing. Luckily I had a previous backup of my hard drive on the disk so I was at least able to recover most of my photos, so in the end I only maybe lost a month of photos and the last year of work I had done, but it has remained a nightmare experience in my memories. The good news is that as I began going through my photos all over again, I began seeing some of them in new ways and started trying out creative photography as a result so while I hope to never do anything like that again, some good did come from it.
I’m not good at horror stories, but when something like this actually happened it certainly felt like one to me. My computer was freezing often due to having too much on it. I do writing, publishing, photography, and art, and I also enjoy playing games so all my files and the programs I needed were taking up a lot of space. I planned on moving everything off the hard drive onto storage disks. I deleted everything off my hard drive after going through every file deciding what I needed to keep, then after spending all night doing this, I decided to get some work done. I saw the folder with my photography and don’t know why I thought it was an extra backup, but that’s what I thought it was so I deleted it. The moment I realized I had just managed to delete all my photography off my hard drive and the storage disk, was a moment the world completely stopped for me as the horror of what I did sank it. I had spent a year working on my photography, going through every photo keeping what I thought I could sell as a photographer and deleting what I couldn’t and as I had recently been diagnosed with mast cell disease at the time I had been pushing myself and making myself sick to complete this goal so in the moment I felt like everything I did had been for nothing. Luckily I had a previous backup of my hard drive on the disk so I was at least able to recover most of my photos, so in the end I only maybe lost a month of photos and the last year of work I had done, but it has remained a nightmare experience in my memories. The good news is that as I began going through my photos all over again, I began seeing some of them in new ways and started trying out creative photography as a result so while I hope to never do anything like that again, some good did come from it.
Jennifer Priester
The answer is the same every year. I don’t do summer reading lists. I read the same way in summer that I do throughout the year. For me, it’s all random. Nothing is planned. It’s just find some books I feel like reading either on my bookshelves at home, on my Kindle, or books I find while browsing the collection of my local library, reading them and starting the process over again. I probably wouldn’t end up getting any reading done if I made a list every year because I would be able to decide which ones should be on it and probably wouldn’t stick to the list anyway.
Jennifer Priester
Sorry I'm so late answering your question. If you still want to know, my covers are a bit of a process. I start out with a sketchbook and colored pencils to create the basic look and colors, then put the drawings into Photoshop to smooth out the colors and digitize everything. Then I give them to my artistic support person who uses a different program to add details to the drawings. I'm not completely sure what program she uses. Originally, for my first and second books she used Photoshop. For the next ones she started using something different-a sketching program of some kind that she got for her iPad. After she is done with my drawings, I add the font in Indesign.
Jennifer Priester
It's hard to say for sure. I have always written stories from the time I first learned how to print, but throughout all of my grade school years I thought I was going to be a vet. I never even considered the possibility of becoming a writer even though I loved to write. I guess becoming a writer and not just someone who wrote stories, all began with my high school tutor who was one of the first people outside of my family to see any of my writing. It was her that suggested that I publish some of my stories. I did have a few stories that she read and didn't like so knowing that she wanted me to publish them because she honestly believed I was a good writer is where that first thought of being a writer really crossed my mind. Then when she asked if I would be willing to do an interview with the local newspaper about my writing in hopes I would find a publisher and I said I would, I think this is where the official decision was made. However, how I got published is another story!
Jennifer Priester
With so many projects going at once I don't really get writer's block in the typical sense. I often get ideas for something other than what I am supposed to be putting most of my focus into but usually if I'm not coming up with ideas for one particular book or story I will just move on to another one.
Jennifer Priester
It's a combination of getting to dream all day and night without getting in trouble for it, and writing stories that are exactly the kind of stories I like to read.
Jennifer Priester
I am currently working on many things including books 4, 5, 6, the second companion, and a guidebook for my Mortal Realm Witch Series, a graphic novel, two chapter books, three nonfiction books, several short story collections, a few short story novels, a crossover novel, an anthology, and a comic book video. Any time you want to know what I am currently working on just visit the In the Works section of www.jenniferpriester.com.
Jennifer Priester
I pretty much get inspiration from everywhere whether I want it or not though I get the most inspired when I am either spending lots of time around animals, watching TV or movies, or playing video games.
Jennifer Priester
My most recent published book, Mortal Realm Witch: Realms Unite? was inspired by the live action and animated series of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the Sabrina the Teenage Witch book series, and the movie Halloweentown High.
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