Ever since Jenni was a young child, the one thing she loved more than just about anything else was writing. When other kids were groaning about writing assignments in school, she was excited. A five page paper? No problem. And if it was a group assignment, everyone wanted to be on her team.
In intermediate school and again in high school, she joined the yearbook team, as it was the closest thing they had to a journalism class. Even though she could only take the class her freshman and sophomore years, she continued to help out with the yearbook through the rest of her time in high school.
Her senior year, she was lucky enough to pick up a part-time job as a reporter at a local paper. Before long, she was the managing editor. After some time there, she moved on to a larger paper where she served as the lone reporter and editor for one of the three papers. While there, both Jenni and the newspaper won several writing awards for the Houston area and the state of Texas.
But her love has always been in fiction writing. And after decades of writing in notebooks, she decided it was time to stop hiding them on a bookshelf and share them with the world.
She released her debut novel, Where the Heart Is, in December, 2024, and has released three additional novels and two anthology short stories since.
Jenni lives in Oregon with her husband, son, and sister. She has two dogs, a yorkipoo named Midnight and a GSD/Golden named Jakey, two finches named Houdini and Doyle, and a leopard gecko named Nugget.
A little Q&A for Jenni
What's your favorite trope(s)?
I absolutely love a good friends-to-lovers story. Probably because it's the story of my husband and I.
Other favorites include:
- Grumpy-sunshine: I love reading this, but can't seem to write a story that includes it.
- One bed: who doesn't love a little forced proximity?
- Why choose: I hate it when the MC has to choose between love interests. Why can't they have them all?
What is the first book you can remember?
This is the House Where Jack Lives. We bought it at a little thrift store and I just loved the book. I made my older sister read it to me over and over, which drove her nuts. When I couldn't get enough reads out of her, I taught myself how to read it instead.
How long have you been writing stories?
Since I was about ten. I have a big stack of notebooks just filled with stories I've written over the years, not to mention plot ideas for dozens more. My brain never seems to shut up when it comes to giving me ideas.
What's your favorite animal?
Ever since I was little, I have loved marine animals. In fact, for some time, I wanted to be a marine biologist. That is, until I found out that I get extremely ill when around chemicals like formaldehyde. Kind of makes it hard to do your coursework when you can't dissect an animal.
My favorites are penguins, dolphins, and narwhals. While living in Texas, I had the opportunity to spend time with penguins, even hugging one (it feels like hugging a big duck).
Where's your favorite place to visit in Oregon?
That has to be the coast. It never ceases to amaze me that you have to drive over the mountains to get to the beach. Back home, it was a quick drive down the freeway and across the causeway. Now, it's a scenic drive through a rain forest and mountain passes at 1,500'.
The beach here is so different than in Galveston. No warm water is probably the biggest one. I don't think I've ever visited when the water wasn't chilly. But there's also all these huge rock formations out in the water, ranging from ones the size of a car to the Haystack Rock (which is huge).
Artificial Intelligence
Jenni is 100% against generative AI. She does not use it in any form in her writing or editing, and checks with all service providers (artists, editor, etc) to make certain they do not use it, either.