Today I am talking to author Jen Naumann who writes in the paranormal genre. She has two published novels and her latest novel, Shymers, a dystopian novel set in the distant future, will be available November 2nd. After talking with Jen, I've found her to be a lovely person who enjoys her life and loves writing. Today we are talking about her, her writing and her latest novel, as well as sharing an excerpt from Shymers. Be sure to follow down to the end to join in on our giveaway!
Tell us a little about yourself
I was born and raised in southern Minnesota
Briefly describe your latest novel Shymers.
This book started with a friend asking me if I thought it
would be nice to know how much longer we had to live. The more I thought about
it, the more I decided it would be a terrible idea. Before long this dystopian
world was born in which everyone is told their date of death (or DOD as they
call it in the book). Olive, the 16-year-old heroine in the story, is raised
outside of the Society where people are told the date they will die and is
oblivious to their way of life. Quite unexpectedly, she is thrown into Society
and forced to deal with the discrimination of people based on nothing more than
how much longer they have to live.
What inspired you to write in the science
fiction/paranormal and dystopian genres?
Honestly, I grow bored with real life and stories of things
that could actually happen. I’m always telling my children we were given
imaginations for good reason and we should use them as much as possible. My
favorite movies and television shows are almost all paranormal in nature, so I
guess I’m drawn to that genre. Whenever a new story idea comes to me, it always
has a paranormal twist. There’s just something exciting about the unknown that
I am drawn to.
Have you always wanted to be an author?
Yes! In third grade I wrote a story about My Little Pony
and was so pleased with myself that I decided I wanted to write stories for the
rest of my life. I wrote dozens of large novels in my teens, but lost focus
after going off to college and starting a family. In my heart I always knew I
would one day be an author. Recently, a close family member battled some
serious health complications and I was given a wake up call, realizing that
none of us are guaranteed a certain amount of time. I didn’t want to die one
day regretting that I didn’t go after the one thing I have always wanted to do.
It’s so crazy that after all this time, I’m actually making my dream a reality!
What made you choose to self-publish instead of go the
traditional route?
So many reasons were behind this. I don’t have the patience
it takes for publishing companies to review queries, and the trend is shifting
away from traditional print anyway. With the digital age we are living in, it
is so easy to do it yourself. There are thousands of resources available like
editors and websites for advertising. Why give someone else a share of the
money for your hard work? Also, I am a semi-professional photographer and I
took courses in graphic design, so I wanted total control of my covers. Really,
I am an extremely independent person and don’t like people telling me what to
do (this is why I made a terrible secretary).
How much does your upbringing and/or lifestyle today
influence your writing?
Fortunately, I was raised by very loving parents with solid,
moral beliefs. I think that gave me the ability to balance right and wrong for
my characters and write books for young adults that I can be proud of. Now that
I have two children on the verge of entering their teen years, I am especially
conscious of the underlying message that I will pass on to them with my
writing.
How long does it usually take you to write a novel?
The first draft is usually done in a month or two if I go at
it hard every day. The re-writing process can take just as long, or even
longer. The three I have published started with a word count around 50,000 in
first draft, and grew to 75,000-95,000 by the time they were finished.
Do you schedule your writing time or write at random
times?
I try to make it a daily habit to write 3-4 hours per day,
usually from late morning to early afternoon. This doesn’t always happen on the
weekends, however, since my children keep me so busy. There are times when I’m
so heavily into a rewrite that I only stop to sleep and eat.
Are you working on anything right now and can you share
it with us?
Actually, I am trying my first middle school book for my
10-year-old son and loving every minute of it! I wasn’t going to touch the
vampire genre in my YA novels since it is so overdone, but decided it would be
fun to write a Goonies-esque adventure of a boy and his friends who try
to save his older (and quite annoying) sister from vampires posing as a rock
band. He doesn’t know I’m writing it yet, or that I’m going to have him pose on
the cover with his friends. My daughter posed for my first book, and he’s been
bugging me to be on a cover ever since. He’s going to flip.
Are there any self-published authors whose books you
enjoy reading?
I honestly don’t pay any attention to whether books are
self-published or not anymore. When I first read Amanda Hocking a few years
ago, I had no idea she was self-published (or that she only lives an hour away
from me)! After checking my Goodreads list, I can tell you that I really enjoy
Lauryn April, Chanda Hahn, Maria Monteiro, G.P. Ching and Elizabeth Reyes, just
to name a few (and I hope I’m correct that they all are indie writers)! There
are so many talented authors out there without the backing of a publishing
house.
Please share a little about each of the other novels you
have written.
My first novel, What I’ve Done, is a coming of age
story of a young girl who has lived a tragic life and stumbles across two
handsome strangers with a paranormal secret. The book is quite moving, so you
will want to read it with a box of tissues.
My second novel, The Day Zombies
Ruined My Perfectly Boring Life, is the tale of a girl living in a boring
small Minnesota
Shymers Book Description:
In a distant future, Olive Mensing is raised in the solitude of the forest by her parents, away from Society. For a time she is happy and content, trusting in everything her parents tell her, and thinking she has the rest of her life ahead of her. But not long after her father’s mysterious death, Olive and her mother are torn from their home and thrown into the very place Olive was raised to fear. There she will discover the brutal truths her parents had tried to keep from her - a Society divided by two classes (Shymers and Futures) based on how many days people have to live, and a government that locks people away for rebellious behaviors.
Although everything seems backwards and hopeless in this new world, Olive makes a few new friends and develops her first crush on a handsome boy. But even then, things aren’t as easy as they should be. She finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of hatred, sadness and lies that spins out of control, forcing her to choose between what her heart wants and what she knows is right.
Add Shymers to your "to read" list on Goodreads.
Although everything seems backwards and hopeless in this new world, Olive makes a few new friends and develops her first crush on a handsome boy. But even then, things aren’t as easy as they should be. She finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of hatred, sadness and lies that spins out of control, forcing her to choose between what her heart wants and what she knows is right.
Add Shymers to your "to read" list on Goodreads.
Trailer for Shymers:
Excerpt from Shymers
Frigid
air blasts down on me each time I pass under little metal slots in the ceiling,
and an overwhelming smell of something vile fills my nostrils, making me want
to hold my nose.
The
soldiers shoved a lightweight electronic square into my hands before sending me
inside the office to register. I look down at the object, smooth and light in
my hands. It is unlike anything you would find in the forest. How could
something like this actually be made by people? No one told me what I am to do
with it.
Flurries
of whispers float around me, just loud enough so I can catch some of the words
being said, none of which are kind and none of which I can truly understand the
actual purpose of. I continue to walk straight ahead, avoiding eye contact and
only looking to the classroom doors for the number 230, where I was told my
first lesson will be.
I
know of schools like this where boys and girls of all ages attend different
lessons in the same building, separated into groups based on their maturity
level. My parents went to one when they were young. Once it had even been a
dream of mine to go to one. But now that I feel the unwelcome stares and hear
their hurtful words, I wish I was anywhere else but here. I didn’t expect so
many people. I didn’t expect to be treated like an outsider.
Although
I haven’t been here long, I think I may finally understand somewhat why my
parents tried so hard to keep me away from this cruel reality, these judging
eyes and whispers. Everyone here is a stranger to me. How could they dislike me
when they don’t even know me? Something about this place feels jaded and
twisted, more like one of the scary fairy tales my father would tell me as a
little girl.
All
at once, a hand tugs at the back of my shirt. I turn on my heels with my arm
out, expecting some kind of physical strike or insult to be thrown in my face.
Instead, I am greeted with a pair of warm brown eyes.
“You
must be the new Shymer everyone is talking about,” a girl in a plain gray frock
says to me. Auburn hair hangs in waves around her smooth, light-brown face, and
two little wisps at her temple are held back with a bright pink ribbon. Her
flawless cheekbones are high, and her big eyes look back at me from underneath
dark, well-sculpted eyebrows. A sliver of white teeth is visible behind her
heart-shaped lips as she smiles up at me. From her small size I would guess her
to be fourteen, possibly fifteen. She is striking, but not in a way that makes
you gasp at first sight.
Lowering
my arm, I open my mouth to answer before shutting it again. The truth is, I
don’t really know what I am. Not in this world, anyway. I don’t even
know what a Shymer is. Do I ask this girl what she is talking about? My
stomach drops with the uncertainty.
“It’s
okay,” she says with a shrug. “I am, too. Most of the kids here are Futures,
but there are other Shymers. I can introduce you to them later.”
My
eyes sweep the hallway to find a group of older girls gathered next to door
number 230—exactly where I need to be. I had been so consumed with the whispers
and stares that I had walked right past it. Collectively, the girls are
gorgeous, a sea of flowing blond hair and bright blue eyes surrounded by some kind
of heavy coloring on their eyelids. Each of them wears a colorful top that dips
low at the neckline to reveal a hint of their large, well-tanned chests, paired
with a vibrant skirt that falls just short of their knees. They stare back at
me with cruel eyes, their lips tightly curled into mocking smiles.
“I
take it Shymers aren’t welcome here?” I say to the girl.
Her
eyes open even wider. “You mean you really don’t know? Haven’t you ever been in
Society before?”
“Not
since I was little,” I mumble in response.
I
catch her gaze first questioning my hair, then my choice of clothing. I am
dressed in the pink top my mother gave me for my sixteenth birthday and a pair
of faded denim shorts. Just before entering the hallway, I had gathered my wild
blond hair into a cluster behind my head to stay cool. Do I look unusual to
her? Is that why everyone is watching me and whispering behind my back?
Author Bio:
I first remember wanting to be a writer as early as the third grade. I began writing long novels through high school, spending many hours at my green-screened Apple computer while other kids were hanging outside.
After meeting my husband right out of high school, I helped to raise his two beautiful little girls in our rural Minnesota home while attending college. I gave birth to our next daughter after we were married, and two years later, our son. For too many years I lost my way in life, and was stuck in offices doing mundane things. Recently, however, an earth-shattering event came along that reminded me every moment is precious, and we are only given one chance to live how we want. That's when I decided to do the one thing I have always been passionate about.
My novels always have a paranormal/science fiction flare as I find regular life too boring, and I enjoy using the darkest corners of my imagination. I am super passionate about movies, music, books and especially anything that makes me laugh. When not trying to follow the madness of my children's busy lives, I can be found at concerts, taking pictures, relaxing at our lake home, or on the back of my husband's Harley.
Where you can connect with Jen:
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I hope you will all check out Jen's books, especially her newest book, Shymers.
Cheers,
Deanna
Congrats on the release..
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the post :)
The book sounds interesting looks like a good read...
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