Mimi Cramer
asked
Jennifer McMahon:
Jennifer, Just found you by reading The Drowning Kind, which I loved. It's now sent me on a spree to read your other books. Were you always drawn to suspense and ghostly ideas to start writing your books? I'm really enjoying the weaving of the past and present you do.
Jennifer McMahon
Hi Mimi, my very first short story, written in third grade, was called "the Haunted Meatball" -- so I guess I've been drawn to writing about ghostly things (even if they're meatballs!) from a young age. I studied poetry in college and grad school, then wrote a couple of unpublished novels that were more character driven literary stories -- I was writing what I thought I should be writing, what I thought people would expect me to write. It was only when I sat down to write the book that became my debut, Promise Not to Tell, that I asked myself the question "What's the story I most want to read?" and the answer came back loud and clear: A ghost story. And I knew I wanted a little girl ghost. And when I asked myself the question, "But how did she die?" I knew I was also writing a murder mystery. I've been following my heart and writing psychological suspense novels, often with a touch of the supernatural, ever since.
More Answered Questions
Lesa Parnham
asked
Jennifer McMahon:
I read The Winter People (excellent!) and that led me to The Drowning Kind- so scary I woke my husband up at 4:00 a.m. I went to boarding school as a young girl it was a building that had once been a glamorous hotel. Everyone said it was haunted. A few years after I graduated it burned to the ground. It also had a wooden pool! So I related on a whole new level. can u tell me the next book of yours I should read?
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more





Feb 25, 2025 11:10AM