Interview with Jennifer Thompson

1.  What inspired your book?  I read Bram Stoker's Dracula in high school and was hooked from that moment with the paranormal, vampire element. My first year of college, every Friday night I would race to the common room of my dormitory to get to the TV remote first to watch Dark Shadows (the early 1990s version with Ben Cross--yes, I know, this dates me). :-P I fell in love with Ben Cross' character, Barnabas Collins. He had been turned into a vampire against his will and wanted to find a way to change back. In essence, he wanted to live a better life---better himself. I love that theme in general: we all make mistakes, but it's how we choose to react to them, that makes us who we are.

2.  What inspired your characters? Were they based of off anything in real life? These characters (my main ones especially) had been formulating in my mind for about fifteen years before I wrote my first word. But, I would say Barnabas Collins inspired Marek a bit. In fact, when I first started writing Marek's character, he was supposed to be much darker, but his voice refused to come out as dark as I had planned, was such an interesting experience. I have always been a sucker for the whole damsel in distress theme, as long as the damsel is a strong character. And I don't like mean people, so I guess when I started writing Lilliah she just came out as a "good" girl, with issues. But to say they were based off anything real, I would have to say no. Although, Marek does have a few of my husband's characteristics. ;-)

3.  What other books have you written? None. This is it, my big debut! (I have almost finished the off-shoot to The Scent of a Soul, entiled The Sound of a Silent Heart, though.)

4.  If you could only keep 5 books because of some world ending event, which would you keep? The Bible, The Book of Mormon, Gone With the Wind, The Lord of the Rings (I have the version where all three are encompassed as one) :-) and Pride and Prejudice.

5.  What is your favorite food? Hands down, my mother's enchiladas. She was raised in Douglas, Arizona, a border town, and learned how to make her own sauce. She stacks her enchiladas Sonoran style, and they are divine! (Just thinking about them is making me hungry.)

6. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Sorry, if this sounds like a generic cop-out, but I'd have to say the good ol' U.S. of A. I have lived in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and whereas I loved those countries, I wouldn't want to stay forever. It's true what they say, "There's no place like home," for me, anyway. (Although, I wouldn't mind a nice long stint in Scotland--and the UK in general, with a little Ireland thrown in.)

7.  What are your favorite genres?  Clean romance and anything YA.

8.  What advice would you give to aspiring writers? Write...then rewrite! Always give your story time to marinate, then go back and tweak it. Almost always, you'll be able to make it better, stronger.       

9.  What is the best advice you have every gotten? Someone that I think very highly of, once said to me, and all my peers, "Whether you think you can or can't, you're right."

While her book, "The Scent of a Soul" is still in ARC stage. I decided to go ahead, and conduct an interview with her. Make sure you put this book on your to-read list. There is no set publication date, because of cover reasons. It should be out as soon as possible, and I will definitely let you guys know when that is. I have an ARC of it, and definitely plan to get to it soon!

Follow her blog her: http://jenniferthompsonbooks.blogspot.com