— Hello, Jennifer! Russian readers know you by One True Queen diology, but we know very little about you. Tell us a bit about yourselves, please. Where did you study? How long have you known each other?
— Hello Maya, hello Russia! I was born in 1980, a normal girl, who loved horses, adventures, car racing and science fiction. I was a wild child, going to school was like a nightmare for me. ;) After school I worked in a videogame sales department, in an animal shelter and in a special plus size clothing store. At the age of 17 I met my husband, we married four years later, got a cat and a tiny department and started a family.
I have been working as an author for ten years and in that time I've written more than twenty books.
— Do you remember your very first story? Was it published?
— I will never forget. My first story was about a girl, who wanted to win a horseshow with an ugly old pony. It ended up with gangsters and a gunfight and she had to rescue the gangster's handsome son. It was not published. Thankfully!
— Did you study creative writing or did you improve your writing skills by learning from your own mistakes?
— When I was younger there was no way to study Creative Writing in Germany. You could study Literature, but it's not the same. So I tried to learn everything about Creative Writing that I could find from the US and UK and learned by reading and trial and error. It’s kind of learning that never ends, with every book I get some new insights.
— Could you please tell how did the idea of One True Queen diology come to you? You can really feel that special Irish atmosphere there, and as a huge fan of England I truly enjoyed it. Do you love England too? Did you travel there?
— Unfortunately, my trips to the UK were a long time ago and I've never been in Ireland. But yes, I love it and I want to travel to England and Ireland soon.
The first idea of One True Queen was a question in my head: Peter Pan cannot grow up. But if he could - what would he look like? That's how it started.
— What were your sources of inspiration when you were writing One True Queen diology?
— It doesn't sound romantic, but my inspiration comes from thinking, planning, discarding ideas and creating new ones. My editor also came up with a lot of good ideas. I owe her a lot.
— I am always very curious about how writers name their characters. Was it difficult to come up with the names for Maylin, Liam, Nathaniel? Were there any other names on the table, or perhaps a different name for the book?
— Yes, Mailin's name was Molly in the first version, but my publisher didn't like the name.
After 20 books finding a beautiful name is no longer easy. Now I even use my children's names. My kind of recycling ;) My oldest sons name is Liam, too.
With some figures it is immediately clear what their names should be. They appear in my mind and bear their names. About others I think and search for a very, very long time. I keep getting advertisements for vitamins for pregnant women or baby equipment on the internet, because I google baby names all the time
— The covers of the book are beautiful. Can you tell more about the history of their creation?
— Honestly? My first impression was: "Oh no, I didn't want a face on the cover!" Maybe it's a little German quirk: we claim not to like covers with faces, but we prefer to buy those books.
I quickly made friends with it. I immediately loved the colors.
— What do we not know about the characters One True Queen diology? Could you share a couple of secret facts?
— It's not a real secret, but many readers have not seen the little, sad lovestory between Nathaniel and Liam, that was written between the lines. This explains the attraction Mailin had on Nathaniel: Nathaniel was never in love with her, but felt that she was soulmate of Liam. He fell in love with the part of her soul, which was connected to Liam. Personally I don't think in a romantic way about this congeniality of souls, it's rather a kind of tragic in the story for me.
— I know you have another book, Her Wish So Dark. Can you tell a bit more about it?
— "Her Wish so Dark" tells about Laire, who goes on a dangerous adventure to save her fiancé Desmond, because he has been cursed. For this she needs support from Alaric, who betrayed her years ago and destroyed her whole life. But not everything is what it seems ...
It's a story about guilt, fate and the strength to make your own decisions, even if they have dire consequences.
It is set in the same world as One True Queen, but in a different country a few years later.
I'm so sorry I can't say yet whether there will be a translation into Russian.
— Can you tell a little bit about your other books? They are not translated in Russian yet, so it is very interesting to learn a bit more about them.
— Yes, sure.
My new adult romance books "A Reason To Stay" and "A Reason to Hope" are set in Liverpool. The books are about mental health, depression, anxiety and mean a lot to me, because these topics are part of my life.
Currently I'm writing the third dilogy from the world of "One True Queen". It's like coming home and at the same time it's so exciting to discover new cultures and types of magic in my own world.
— Usually, we only see one side of an author’s story: it’s a success, published book, beautiful covers, translation and film adaptations. But this success does not always come right away. Could you tell what difficulties and challenges you had to face before your books started to get published?
— Of course it's not always easy, to reach the position, you are allowed to give interviews for readers in the whole world. This is amazing, isn't it? But it's a hart journey, full of disappointments and setbacks – and that's not over yet. No matter how successful you are, you always fight against doubts, ask yourself, if you are good enough (or you're sure, you're not) and you often fail of high expectations.
Sometimes it hurts, that people rate and judge your storys, you wrote for good reasons in that special way, they scathe. To be an author is a privilege and great happiness for me, but not only. It's hard work, too.
— In Russia, published writers collaborate with publishers and usually are quite involved in advertising their own books. Could you tell how are these things like in Germany? For example, when creating covers, does your opinion matter?
— It is different in every German publishing house: Some involve their authors in everything. Fortunately, that's the case with Ravensburger and me. I can speak my mind and we talk about. But there are still publishers who are hardly interested in the views of their authors.
— On the cover of Russian edition it says that you own your own publishing Ink Rebels where you publish new authors. Could you please tell how did you get an idea to do that? How difficult was it? How do you select the authors for publishing?
— Ink Rebels is not a publisher for new authors. It is an association of five authors, women and friends, to write, edit and publish our special books, if the target group is too small or the topic too special for our big publishers.
Kira Mohn is part of Ink Rebels too, her new adult romance books are also available in Russia.
— There is also an information out there that you have a horse Skayla. How did horses make it into your life?
— That’s simple, I am the type of person who cannot live well without horses in our life.
Skyla is my best friend, my inspiration and my therapist ;) I ponder over my scenes while shoveling her horse dung.
— I know you have three kids. How do you manage to handle both writing and family?
— There are even four kids ;) But my oldest daughter is grown up and lives in her own apartment. Three kids are still at home.
As an author, I am in the privileged situation of being able to write anywhere, anytime. Even at night, when everyone is asleep. (When the kids were little, all all of them often slept in my bed and I couldn't find room for myself there anyway).
So my job is much easier to combine with family than that of many other women. I am very grateful for that and admire families where both parents work outside the home.
Also, my husband and I split the housework and childcare fairly, so we both have enough time for the kids, work, and our hobbies. I'm glad he's a feminist like me. <3
— What are your hobbies besides writing?
— I like horse riding, walking the dogs, hiking, reading and I love to watch series with a glass of wine in the evening.
— You live in Germany, and as a foreigner, I am very curious to know about your favorites places in your city and in the country. What are tourist must-sees in Germany?
— If you ask ten Germans they will give you ten different answers. I love the diverse, multicultural life in our big cities like München, Köln and Hamburg, and I visit Berlin every year to enjoy the museums, the music scene and the monuments of history. But I also love the beautiful nature: the mountains, the forests and the lakes in rural areas.
Unfortunately, my small hometown is a little boring, without must-sees and without any tourists. But there are a couple of good restaurants and we have a cinema. (Wow, we have a cinema ;) )
— Your favorite German food?
— I like German bread. Otherwise my family prefers international food. (I make good Blinis and Pelmeni, by the way J )Typical German food is often a little boring, because we know it all our lives.
— Your favorite movies?
— Hm … Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher
My favorite series is Casa del papel.
— Your favorite bands?
— Linkin Park, P!ink, Hoobastank and Breaking Benjamin.
— How do you feel about bloggers who are telling about your books and tag you in their reviews?
— I love the feedback when readers like my books. Of course I do J
If that’s not the case, it's okay. No book can please everyone. Readers are no blank sheet of paper either, and all of their experiences and feelings help determine whether a story is dear to their hearts or not.
But I feel a little at a loss what to say when bloggers tag me on scathing critique. What can I say? Pity? Sorry? I don’t know.
I noticed that young Russian readers are particularly creative in creating video clips, Instagram reels or designing beautiful book photos. I am especially touched to see them inspired by my stories and putting so much effort into showing it and making their own kind of art from it. I'm impressed and very thankful about that.
— What do you think about a competitiveness in the writing world? Do you have friends among other writers?
— Yes many. I don't see much competition between German authors. Most of us are in warm contact with others or become friends. We work together, motivate each other, organize meetings and share experiences. This is very valuable.
— Would you like to visit Russia?
— Yes! I've been dreaming of a trip to Moscow since a friend was there and told me so much. Maybe in a few years, I'll come to Moscow. I'd love to see the famous metro stations one day, and I've dreamed of watching a ballet at the Bolshoi Theater since I was a little girl and allowed to train with a ballet mistress who was a ballerina there herself. (Oh, that was a long time ago.)
— How do your friends and family feel about your writing? Do they read your books? May be even give you some advice when you need it?
— I have dearly friends who are authors themselves and always help me with tips, motivation, truely critique and their kindness.
My family thinks my job is boring. They say I'm always just sitting at the computer. (They have no idea.)
— Do you have people who inspire you or whose life and creative works you admire?
— Yes, very different ones. I'm just trying to learn every day something about another woman that I can learn from. That's my summer project.
The next book I want to read is a biography of Clementine Churchill. I am deeply impressed by Malala Yousafzai, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and P!nk.
— Finally, can you give an advice to aspiring writers?
— Don't let failures demotivate you. Success does not come to those who write the best book. It is usually the result of a long road of defeats. Go on, learn more and more. Read, write and fantasize.
Tell your storys, the storys you want to read. No one else can.
It is worth it, no matter what happens in the end.
Warm greetings and best wishes to all the readers in Russia.