Author Crush Friday: Jennifer Jenkins

GLITTER: For those who haven’t read your work yet, how would you describe your writing style?  

JENNIFER: I would say my writing style tends to vary a little project to project. While writing in the intense world of NAMELESS, I find myself using more deliberate language, more fragments, and shorter sentences to support the action. Both Zo and Gryphon are very no-nonsense characters that lack the whimsy of other characters I’ve written. They don’t have time to stop and smell the roses, if you catch my drift.

GLITTER: What is the main plot of Nameless?

JENNIFER: Four clans have been at war for centuries: the Kodiak, the Raven, the Wolf and the Ram. Through brutal war tactics, the Ram have dominated the region, inflicting death and destruction on their neighbors. Seventeen-year-old Zo is a Wolf and a Healer who volunteers to infiltrate the Ram as a spy on behalf of the allied clans. She offers herself as a Ram slave, joining the people who are called the “nameless”. Hers is a suicide mission – Zo’s despair after losing her parents in a Ram raid has left her seeking both revenge and an end to her own misery. But after her younger sister follows her into Rams Gate, Zo must find a way to survive her dangerous mission and keep her sister safe.

What she doesn’t expect to find is the friendship of a young Ram whose life she saves, the confusing feelings she develops for a Ram soldier, and an underground nameless insurrection. Zo learns that revenge, loyalty and love are more complicated than she ever imagined in the first installment of this three-book series.

GLITTER: How would you describe your characters in Nameless? Who is your favorite character and why?

JENNIFER: Most of the characters in Nameless all have at least one major crisis happening in their lives—something they’re desperate to fix. They’re all imperfect and they all have some pretty heavy baggage, which influences the tough decisions they face throughout the book.

Choosing a favorite? That’s like asking me to choose my favorite child. Hmmmm. Gryphon is probably my favorite character, mostly because I identify with him in so many ways. He seems to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and feels responsible for both his mother’s happiness and his father’s failings. He’s incredibly driven to be the best at what he loves, but when faced with a moral dilemma, he’s willing to sacrifice everything simply because it’s the honorable thing to do.

GLITTER: Is Nameless optioned for a film yet? We’d love to see it on the big screen!

JENNIFER: I’m thrilled to report that Nameless is option for film by the same company who produced I am Number Four and is developing The Red Queen for film!

GLITTER: Who was your first book boyfriend?

JENNIFER: I think my first book boyfriend was Kartik from Libba Bray’s The Great and Terrible Beauty. He was so dark and brooding and there was always this fantastic romantic tension between he and Gemma Doyle  us.

GLITTER: What genre do you prefer writing?

JENNIFER: I loved to write books with a hint of fantasy set in a world of my own creation. I enjoy writing for teens because I feel like there is no more exciting, tumultuous time in life—so many big decisions and so much inherent conflict with which to play.

GLITTER: What one piece of advice could you give any teen going through difficult times now?

JENNIFER: I think teens today have it harder than any other generation in modern history. With social media, a girl can post of picture and literally measure how well she is accepted among her peers by the number of “likes” or views she receives. My biggest advice to teens going through a difficult time is simply stated but (admittedly) hard to execute. It is to not let others determine your self worth. Be proud of who you are: of your differences, your extra five pounds, your skin color, your religion, your background… all of it.

GLITTER: Do you know why people fall in love with characters in books?

JENNIFER: Because they’re imperfect, and yet still manage to do amazing things. Embrace your awesome, and don’t sweat the rest. Heroes are born out of conflict and kick trash because they believe in themselves when no one else does.

GLITTER: What are you currently working on?

JENNIFER: Right now I’m working on the third and final book in the Nameless series. I’m so happy with the way it’s all coming together and hope it will be a satisfying conclusion for my readers.

About Jennifer:

With her degree in History and Secondary Education, Jennifer had every intention of teaching teens to love George Washington and appreciate the finer points of ancient battle stratagem. (Seriously, she’s obsessed with ancient warfare.) However, life had different plans in store when the writing began. As a proud member of Writers Cubed, and a co-founder of the Teen Author Boot Camp, she feels blessed to be able to fulfill both her ambition to work with teens as well as write Young Adult fiction.

Jennifer has three children who are experts at naming her characters, one loving, supportive husband, a dog with little-man syndrome, and three chickens (of whom she is secretly afraid).

Visit her online at jajenkins.com

Connect with the Author:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest |Instagram

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