Jennifer (she/they) earned her minor in creative writing from Alfred University in 2016. As a pansexual genderflux individual and a trauma-informed mental health counselor, they’re passionate about representation in fiction. They were courteous enough to spare us a moment to talk about their debut novel Getting to Know You and writing in general.
Q) Can you give our readers the skinny on your novel Getting to Know You?
“Getting to Know You” is a contemporary sapphic novel about Maggie Fromm, a nineteen-year-old looking for a fresh start after breaking up with her high school sweetheart in the big city of LA. When she lands a speaking role for an independent play, she and the director, Gwen Knowles, find themselves growing closer as they work together. Through found family hijinks, a Thanksgiving road trip, and a stalker ex, Maggie and Gwen face the opportunity to discover new love together.
Q) I saw that you had written the book based on a discussion you had with a friend in high school. What was the promise you made and what made you decide to bring it to page now?
I was part of my high school’s creative writing club, and one of my friends asked me to write “a lesbian love story where no one dies at the end.” (This was 2010, and the ‘bury your gays’ trope was thriving.) To give teen me some credit, I did try to write it at the time. But I looked over my first draft and realized I didn’t know anything about how to make love itself a story. I shelved the project, and in the decade or so that happened between then and publication, I earned a lot of life experience. Some of it wonderful – discovering my own pansexuality, for example – and some of it difficult to bear. In 2019, when I got sick and tired of hearing about books like “After” and “50 Shades of Grey” making waves by romanticizing domestic violence, I decided it was time to try again. This time I had my own understanding of love, loss, and healing.
Q) You have a day job as a trauma-informed mental health counselor, how does that affect you when writing your fiction?
The biggest impact it’s had is that it’s changed what genre I write. Growing up (and even in my writing minor in college) I always preferred to write fantasy or sci fi. Fantasy in particular was my genre of escape, bringing me to worlds where you always know who the good guys are and they always win in the end. Contemporary novels, in contrast, often stressed me as a teen, and romance novels fueled my insecurity. But in my work as a therapist, I’ve developed watched true heroes fight more foul villains than any fantasy novel could ever produce, and grow into their healing with the kind of strength fantasy protagonists could only dream of. I don’t need to escape from stories about growth and change and pain anymore – in fact, I want to honor them, and face my own.
Q) Your book deals a lot with nonconformity and healing, what drew you to these themes?
~Trauma~
In all seriousness, these are the themes that are the most consistent both in my life and in my career. I don’t think I need to explain too deeply how they relate to my work as a therapist; nonconformity and healing is kind of the whole point of therapy. In my own life, these are the themes that I needed the most support in growing up, and there wasn’t always the language to explain what I was looking for or hurting from. I’m forever grateful for the family and friends who have been there for me in the stumbling journey from probably-undiagnosed-neurodivergent-child to queer and proudly weird adult.
Q) Which authors are on your prized bookshelf?
My fantasy preference still shows pretty strongly here. My most prominently displayed authors are Brian Jacques, Henry H. Neff, Tamora Pierce, and Gerald Morris. But I’ve been making a concerted effort to broaden my reading in recent years, and right now I’m excitedly devouring books by Raquel Vasquez Gilliand, Eule Grey, Natasha Bowen, and Rochelle Wolf. And there are so many more!
Q) Do you ever experience self-doubt during the writing process? How do you overcome it?
Yes, and I don’t think I do, to be honest. I think I’m just as stubborn as the self-doubt is and we’re going to be in a wrestling match for the rest of my life. I have to give my spouse a lot of credit for helping me keep from losing completely.
Q) Do you revise your work extensively, or do you prefer to write a first draft and then go back to edit?
I definitely edit as I go. It’s not intentional – I wish I would stop, to be honest. It would take a lot less time to get a draft completed. But I can’t help myself when a thought for improvement strikes me, and here I am deleting everything I just wrote to use better words…
Q) what is your next project you are working on?
I’m in the middle of the first book of a five-book series! This series will feature a family of witchcraft practitioners, with each book focusing on a different family member working through a different life milestone. This first book, working title “On Arcane Shores,” is about Morgan Beckett. She was raised by her grandmother on an island as the local sea witch, and the book begins when Morgan re-opens their metaphysical shop about six months after her grandmother passed away. While finishing little witchy jobs for the people of her tiny town, she befriends a traveling agender practitioner, Zephyr, whose lifestyle makes her confront the loneliness and isolation she has been dealing with her whole life.
Q) If people want more information about your or your projects, where should they go?
Follow @jenivere_the_wit on Threads for consistent updates and musings! You should also follow NineStar Press on all socials (particularly IG and Threads). NineStar Press is the publisher who took a chance on “Getting to Know You.” They’re an indie press for LGBT+ authors and their stories, and if you follow them you’ll always have the latest news on upcoming queer fiction!
Final four questions –we ask everybody.
Q) When the zombies take over the world where will you be?
Trying to make my way down to the equator. I’m not staying in New York when the power goes out and I have no heat for the winter.
Q ) What is your favorite Fandom (could be sports, pop culture, favorite director or author)
This has changed so many times in my life… Currently the fandom work I’m engaged with the most is either StarKid Productions (comedy musicals) or the Epic musical. I’ve been humming “If I Loved You” from “Nerdy Dudes Must Die” and “Dangerous” from “Epic” for months. No matter which fandom I find myself in, I know I’m falling hard for it when I find myself tracking down animatics or edit AMVs on YouTube!
Q) What piece of art, be it in the form of music, a book, a film or picture, do you think people must experience before they die?
I don’t have one specific one in mind. But what I do believe is that before they die, everyone must experience a form of art that uniquely belongs to a culture other than their own or that they are familiar with. Art is meant to challenge us, reflect us, broaden our worldview – how can you truly do that if you only experience art made by people who resemble you? And don’t just passively view it, either – learn about its creative process. Learn about the history that led to certain techniques being associated with the art form. Learn about at least one specific artist’s life and how their circumstances informed their art. Get curious!
Q) Give one fact that most people would not believe about you?
I’m a heavy metal fan! My love for the genre started with Blind Guardian’s album “A Twist in the Myth.” My favorite track from that album in particular is “Fly,” but don’t ask me to pick a favorite song of theirs of all time.
Paper Phoenix ink 