Do you have a nickname?
When I was a kid my parents would call me “Jennifer
Giraffe,” but I don’t want to be called that. Just “Jen” is fine.
What do you like to read?
So many things. This past year, I had a lot of fun
with women-centered utopias (Le Guin, Russ, Tiptree), but also more traditional
short fiction (Alice Munro, Andrea Barrett). I enjoy genre-bending contemporary
stuff; Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is one of my favorites. I also read a
lot of nonfiction: essays, history, popular science.
What kind of stories do you write?
Sometimes
realism and sometimes sci-fi or fabulist fiction. I’m influenced by American
folklore and science history, current technologies and social issues, though my
stories tend to lean more toward the domestic: families and relationships,
social dynamic, characters seeking human connection. Plots are hard.
How would you describe your personality?
Insatiably curious. While I do need my unwind time
to chill and think and write, I love to explore, eat, drink, meet new folks,
and learn new shit.
What would you do this summer if you hadn't been
accepted to Clarion?
Languishing in the Midwest.
Who will miss you most while you're in San Diego
(cats, kids, partner, boss, coworkers)?
MY CAT. Oh, orange fluffball, how I’ll miss you.
Also the fabulous network of girlfriends I have here in Columbia.
Have you participated in an intensive writing
workshop before?
No, but I have been in writing workshops that were
intense!
What scares you most about Clarion?
Oh, what scares me about any workshop. Will my work
be good enough? Will I receive cutting critiques? Will I fit in? Will people
turn on me and riot? The usual. It’s easy for your brain to play to your worst fears.
What do you do to relax or for recreation?
I love watching
movies and TV: cultish stuff, old horror films, kids’ movies, classic noir.
Also, baking, I find baking cookies insanely relaxing.
What 1-2 essential things will you bring to Clarion
besides your laptop, watergun, and espresso maker?
My sketchbook/planner and watercolor pencils.
Sometimes I draw characters to procrastinate about writing them.
What is your ideal career?
Tenure-track writing professor.
What else do you want us to know about you?
I enjoy nerding out about a range of media. I love:
courtroom dramas, period dramas, movies about pulling off elaborate cons, Twin
Peaks, Black Mirror, Harry Potter, that new BBC adaptation of And Then There
Were None, ALSO HAMILTON. YES, I AM DOWN FOR A HAMILTON SING-ALONG AT ANY TIME.
All in all, excited to meet
everyone. Excited to get to work. :)
You must be the friend of my friend, Leanna! She said infuriatingly little about you except that you existed. I'm glad to finally learn more; you sound super lovely.
ReplyDeleteI do exist! And you too sound delightful. We seem to have a lot in common.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHAMILTON!
ReplyDeletePlots are SO hard! I'm still trying to figure them out! *solidarity*
So true! I feel like I fall into such a trap of "two characters go to a place and do a thing and then there are feelings, the end."
DeleteMaybe we could talk plots over baking cookies!
DeleteMy arc tends to be "two characters are having feelings about something and then there's an apocalypse but somehow their feelings don't change much."
DeleteAlso, someone usually calls their mother.
But do they call their mother via broken-down technology to send an URGENT MESSAGE RE: THE APOCALYPSE? I feel that's what might happen to me during an apocalypse.
DeleteHa! Not yet, but I'll add it to my Clarion writing bucket list.
DeleteJennifer Giraffe is a great, great name for a children book character! She has an ever growing neck, the opposite of Pinocchio: every time she tells (what she believes is) the truth her neck grows longer... Sorry, couldn't refrain. I like 'insatiable curiosity' a lot, indeed a great descriptor...
ReplyDeleteHa! I like it. Though I think the name originated somehow from a Raffi song, which is less exciting.
Delete"Languishing in the Midwest. ... here in Columbia." ~Jen
ReplyDeleteColumbia, Missouri, by any chance?
Thanks for the reminder about BBC's And Then There Were None—I need to find and watch that.
Sincerely,
St. Louis
PS. It must be nice to have Clarion on your side. ^_~