Interview With Author Jenny Gilliam

Today we have an interview with Author Jenny Gilliam, who has two books coming out this month, The Truth About Roxy, from The Wild Rose Press (this week!! Friday!!) and Under My Skin from Amira Press at the end of the month. Welcome, Jenny, and thank you for being here today. Let's get right to the questions :)

Who are you?
Hmmm. Who is Jenny Gilliam? I suppose I’m a lot of different things, the most important of which is a wife and mother. A writer, of course. And a smart-ass, most definitely. I’m pretty sure I was born with what scientists are calling “the Wise-Acre” gene. So, it’s in my blood.

What type of stories do you like to write and why?
I love to write stories about unrequited love. Probably because nobody wanted to date a 5’11 “big-boned” (big-boned, my patootee, I was a little overweight) Amazon with braces and freckles. Call it therapy, call it cathartic—it works for me. Also, I love reunion stories, or more commonly known as “the one that got away.” Something about re-falling in love with your childhood sweetheart tugs on my heartstrings (Ouch).

What type of stories do you like to read and why?
When do you write (daytime, nighttime, on your lunch hour, before the kids get up, after everyone is asleep? In large chunks of time or stolen snippets?)
I usually write in the morning after I’ve put my daughter on the bus, and my son is playing “let’s destroy the house.” I sit on the couch with my laptop (to ensure the safety of said son and said house) and write to my heart’s content for about 2-3 hours. Then, if I’m feeling particularly ambitious, I bring my laptop to work and write when it’s dead. Oh, crap. I’m gonna get fired now. Thanks, Liana. (YVW. Anytime. ~L)

Where did you get the inspiration for your current book.
The book I’m working on right now is Book One in the Moonlight Bay Witches series. There will be six total. As a witch myself, and having read books where Wicca is grossly misrepresented, I feel it’s my duty to inform the public. Plus, I just like writing about magick. And writing.

Where do you go to think?
I sit out on my back porch and smoke, staring at the mountainous range that is our backyard. I used to read, but I get a lot of good ideas. Like where to bury my father-in-law when he makes me mad. Just kidding. (Not really)

How did you come up with your title and main characters’ names?
My creative writing teacher in college gave me this one. The phone book! There’s TONS of given and surnames in there! Have you checked it out? It’s big, yellow and has lots of numbers. As for my titles, I get the inspiration for those when I’m about halfway through the manuscript.

How long did you write seriously before your first book was published?
Writing is always serious for me. I wrote when I was ten, twelve, twenty—you get the picture. But I really started writing towards publication about 3 years ago. I was lucky enough to be published two years later, and voila! Here I am.

Why do you write?
Because I have to. Plain and simple. I’m pretty sure my head would explode if I didn’t. I have all these characters and story ideas, my head is literally floating five feet from my neck. My husband has to check my pulse regularly.

Jenny began writing at the age of twelve, when she realized the voices talking in her head were characters, not a result of pre-teen induced psychosis. She’s been writing on and off for almost twenty years, but actively pursuing publication for the last three. She lives in Oregon with her husband and two children. She is the author of four novels.

Jenny loves to hear from her readers. You can visit her at http://www.jennygilliam.com/

The Wedding War (Available Now)
Letting Luce (Available Now)
The Truth About Roxy (Available November 7, 2008)
Under My Skin (Available November 28, 2008)