First in a little flurry of interviews now, we’re featuring Jennifer Dugan on the blog, whose next adult romance releases tomorrow (you know the drill, still time to preorder, etc and so forth, links here!). Cowgirl romances for the win!
And don’t forget, you can also keep up with Jennifer on instagram.
Have you always known you wanted to be a writer? How old were you when you wrote your first story?
I think a part of me wanted to be a storyteller even before I learned to read and write! When I was very little, I used to sloppily cut up comics out of the newspaper and glue them onto construction paper to make my own picture books. I would then “read” them to my family over and over again. As I got a little older, I started adding speech bubbles and narration, essentially making my own mini graphic novels. I was probably about five when I started actually writing them, but if we count the earlier ones, we have pictures of me doing this at three and four!
What pieces of media would you say were formative for you? Do you see any of their features in your own writing?
The most formative piece of work for me was, oddly enough, Pet Sematary by Stephen King. It was given to me as a gift by my clueless uncle when I was only in third grade! Apparently, he thought that the misspelling of the word cemetery meant that it was a children’s book!
I had never been exposed to anything like that before and quickly become obsessed with the way it toyed with my emotions—it was terrifying, tragic, heart breaking, but also at times managed to be funny and heartwarming. When I finished the book, I knew two things: 1) I was absolutely hooked on Stephen King and 2) I wanted to tell stories that made people feel big emotions. No more cutting up comics for me. I was going to swing for the fences and start writing books!
While there may not be a lot of obvious similarities between Stephen King’s work and mine, I hope that those big emotions still shine through. I write complicated characters who love hard and love messy, like Shani and Molly in The Ride of Her Life, much like the characters I grew up reading and loving in King’s work. (Although with 100% less ghosts, monsters, and general creepiness. It is a contemporary romance after all, ha!)
When you close your eyes and imagine an apple, what do you see? An actual apple, a sketch of one, a blackness? Do you think that impacts your writing process?
I do not see anything! I can’t describe what it’s like inside my head, really. It’s definitely not blackness or nothingness, but I’m just not a visual thinker. I tend to think more in words, ideas and other senses. When I think of an apple, I list out in my head what I know of it—shape, color, general size and weight, but I can also very clearly conjure up the smell of an apple, the slightly juicy crunching sound that comes when you take a bite. It’s much easier for me to read, hear and smell inside my head than it is for me to “see” anything!
This definitely impacts my writing process! I often have to stop and act out different gestures or body language because I’m horrible at visualizing it. I’ve also sometimes had editors come back and ask me to add more personal descriptions of people and what they’re wearing or what they look like. I tend to focus on scents, sounds, and emotions in my writing, because that’s how I process the world around me in real life too!
If you wanted to learn about craft, which three authors would you suggest reading?
That is so tricky! There are so many I could list off. I generally recommend reading very widely, not just in the genre you’re working in. I read and watch a lot of horror, despite almost exclusively writing romance. (While love is my favorite emotion, terror is definitely a close second!)
With that being said, I think on the YA side, Kalynn Bayron is really at the top of the game. We could all learn a lot from how she weaves in romance to high concept plots, and manages to make even her side characters extremely developed. In terms of adult romance specifically, I would say Emily Henry and Ashley Herring Blake are phenomenal. I’m always in awe of their writing when I pick up one of their books.
When you’re building your world, what do you focus on? How do you try to make it come to life?
As I mentioned before, I’m all about sounds, smells, and emotions, so I try to really capture those three things in every setting. I generally start with a small moment or feeling and build out the other senses from there.
I’ll also try to visit places. For The Ride of Her Life, I visited several barns and horse shows to get a feel for what they are like now, because it’s been a decade since I was last on a horse!
What projects are you currently working on? Can you share any details yet?
Most of my upcoming projects are still secret, but I can share that my next adult romance is a second chance romance involving former child stars that I’m absolutely obsessed with. I can’t wait to shout about it from the rooftops!
Three pictures that capture the aesthetic of your book?
Three songs you would put in your book’s soundtrack?
This is so hard because I always make massive playlists for each book! But I think my top three for this book would be: Cowboy Like Me by Taylor Swift, Say Yes to Heaven by Lana Del Rey, and Smaller Acts by Zach Bryan.
What would be your dream project?
Another impossible question! I’ve been lucky enough to make most of my dream projects come to life! I would love to cowrite a book someday, and I do have a few authors in mind I would love to do that with. Writing is such a lonely experience, it must be a blast to have someone to go through it with.
In terms of getting my hands on IP, I would love to turn Scooby Doo into an adult horrormance. I might be the only one who wants that though!
Which of your characters would you most want to fight a zombie apocalypse with?
I think Shani from The Ride of Her Life would be very well equipped to survive. She’s probably the most capable character I’ve ever written and I’d trust her with my life. Possibly also Cherry from The Last Girls Standing, too. I feel like surviving a summer camp attack probably gives you a leg up when it’s time to survive a zombie apocalypse. She at least has some experience in evasion.
You’re stuck on a desert island and you’re allowed only three (LGBT) books. What are you taking?
She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Allyson Derrick, Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake, and Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron.
You can collaborate on anything with anyone in the LGBT community: who would it be and why?
The dream! First up would be Rory Power. I would love to force her to write a demented romcom with me, although she is vehemently opposed. Maybe if we wear her down enough, we can get her to agree someday?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Dugan is a writer, a geek and a romantic, who loves writing stories about messy, complicated women and girls. Her debut novel, Hot Dog Girl, was called a “great fizzy rom-com” by Entertainment Weekly and “one of the best reads of the year, hands down” by Paste Magazine, although she is best known for Some Girls Do, her third young adult novel that took Tiktok by storm. She recently released her adult romance debut, Love at First Set about “the most hilarious disaster bisexuals you’ll ever meet” according to the queen of LGBTQ Reads, Dahlia Adler, for Buzzfeed. Jennifer has also written two graphic novels, Coven and the forthcoming Full Shift with artist Kit Seaton.
She is represented by Sara Crowe at Sara Crowe Literary, with film rights being handled by Mary Pender at United Talent Agency.
Follow on Goodreads | Preorder The Ride of Her Life (US) | Preorder The Ride of Her Life (UK)
