Interview With Author Jenny Peterson – Creature Discomforts
Creature Discomforts by Jenny Peterson
This week I interviewed Jenny Peterson, a fun YA author you won’t want to miss!
Cara: Tell me about your most recent title, Jenny.
Jenny: CREATURE DISCOMFORTS is the first installment of an e-novella trilogy that actually grew out of short stories I wrote for Buzz Books. Which means you have two (two!) short stories you can enjoy before the novella release. (Cue movie announcer voice) In CREATURE DISCOMFORTS, best friends and college freshman Rachel and Kendra are well past ready for things to go back to normal … or as normal as it can get for a demon hunter and a half-mermaid. But when girls on campus start disappearing, Rachel, Kendra and fellow demon hunter/annoyance extraordinaire Sid begin investigating. The closer they get to the truth, the more they realize there’s something hiding in the Georgia mountains that is much older and deadlier than your everyday demon. Forget studying for finals, these three will need to fight just to survive. (Aaaand, scene) You can read more about the novella and the world of the Descendants on the series website.
Cara: With that one out the door, what project are you working on now?
Jenny: I’m working on the sequel to the demon exploits of Rachel, Kendra and Sid, called EAT YOUR HEART OUT. It’s slated to launch in spring 2014. In the meantime, I’ve gone old school and am releasing a serialized novel (like Dickens! Except with alternate realities and, you know, less classic talent). THE INBETWEEN is a reality-hopping sci-fi adventure being released one installment at a time through JukePop Serials. It’s got surly redheads and guys with tattoos and some fairly epic fight scenes.
Cara: JukePop is new to me, but if it has adventure with tattoos, fights, guys… I can’t wait to check this out! Now, I love to hide names, dates, and treasure hunt ideas in books. What is your favorite thing you’ve hidden in a book?
Jenny: Water! I tend to put water scenes in everything I write. I grew up on lakes—and in the Great Lakes—so I’m a water girl. I’m a lot like free-diving, half-mermaid Kendra in that way, except without the fabulous hair or gills. I’ve also planted two small things about Sid as an homage to a couple of my favorite things. Sid uses a bow and arrow as his weapon of choice, which is a nod to my very favorite noble-hearted, anthropomorphic fox, Robin Hood. Sid also wears bow ties just like one of my favorite sci-fi characters. Bow ties are cool. (Bonus points if you know what that references!)
Cara: What is the first book you remember reading or wanting to read?
Jenny: My Papa read these early 1900s children’s books to me called Old Mother Westwind by Thornton Burgess. He had read them as a child then read them to my mom before reading them to me. There were dozens of them, all about animals in the forest and the little adventures they went on; there was Grandfather Frog, Jenny Wren (which became my nickname), Bobby Coon (we shared a last name! Jenny Coon Peterson). I loved the playful imagination in these stories and how much they reminded me of my nature-loving, storytelling Papa. Today, I actually collect Thornton Burgess books, adding to the collection I got from my Papa.
Cara: Okay, just added Burgess to the list of books I NEED! Who is the first author you remember being aware of?
Jenny: That’d have to be Laura Ingalls Wilder. I had the complete series and read it repeatedly, especially FARMER BOY. I loved the way she mixed real history into her storytelling and could lose myself in those books and the time period about which they talked. Oddly enough, I never watched the television show. Now a program I did watch to go along with the books was ANNE OF GREEN GABLES. I was absolutely in love with author Lucy Maud Montgomery and the adorable Gilbert Blythe. Okay, mostly Gilbert Blythe. He was my first book crush, and LMM was my first writer crush.
Cara: Thanks so much, Jenny! I can’t wait to read what you’re up to next.
Jenny Peterson’s BIO
I’m a writer and editor based in Denver, CO. Reading and writing YA and new adult is my first love, and I spend an inordinate amount of time dreaming up fantastical worlds for kick-ass heroines. I also split my time as an assistant editor for a YA publisher. The Descendants Series, my e-novella trilogy, is being released by indie publisher Buzz Books USA.
When not writing or editing, I enjoy exploring the mountains and lakes of Colorado, shopping local, dominating at trivia and traveling. I live in an old Victorian house with my husband and two lazy tabbies named after Harry Potter characters.
Learn more about me, my writing and my travels at http://jennycoonpeterson.com/. Or, you can follow me on Twitter @JenC_P, Facebook, Goodreads, or even Pinterest. Happy reading!
Jenny Coon Peterson
