Author Interview: 10 Questions With Jen Gentry

Our Interview today is with Jen Gentry. Thanks Jen for being here and for agreeing to do this interview.

Question: What do you think prepared you or qualifies you to write in your chosen genre?

Answer: I am first and foremost a Christian as well as an avid reader. I love to read the bible and I use scripture in all my books. But I am fascinated with historical events and could read about cultures and foreign places all day (and night) long. I firmly believe that a truly great writer is always a dedicated reader.

Question: Tell us a little about your real (Non-writing) life? family, job, church life. Does it give you inspiration for your writing? Does it get in the way of your writing, or are there times when you get help, from people or circumstances?

Answer: I am a working mom. I work almost all of the time. Either at nursing or writing or promoting my writing. I have a very large family and any free time I have is spent with them. We love to play cards, cookout and just enjoy being together. My family loves to laugh and we laugh LOUD.

Question: Tell us about working with any people who help you create your books ? Do you use Beta readers? Hire an editor or proofreader? How do you get your covers?

Answer: I always hire professionals for editing and book covers. My books are my blood, sweat, and tears. It is so very important to me that they are professional in appearance and presentation.

Question: Since you have several books out, tell us what you think works for promotion. What are your thoughts on ebooks versus print books and different ways to let people know about you and your books?

Answer: Honestly I don’t sell a lot of print books. E-books are the thing. I make more money off my Kindle sales by far more than anything else. I use Facebook and Twitter to connect with my readers and make sales. I have also found that having my own web/blog page tends to bring more readers my way.

Question: Have you done anything writing-related, but besides your books, that seemed to get a lot of positive response? Something that encouraged you?

Answer: I have written several free style rant type poems that seem to resonate with young college age adults. I think my poetry is raw and edgy and exposes deep human emotions and people seem to connect to that.

Question: Tell us about your newest book. Make us want to read it.

Answer: I actually have three projects I am currently working on. One is a BIG secret that I can’t talk about just yet and the other two are sequels to my Gifts series. The Story of Liam is about my main angel character. The story covers his life from his creation to the creation of earth and through the fall of Lucifer and then through the age of man. It is an action packed adventure through space and time seen through the eyes of an angel as he battles his way to modern times and faces the end of an earth he has come to know and love.

Question: What is the message of your writing? (For example, is your purpose to encourage old-fashioned values, encourage romance, or do you have different purposes in different books?)

Answer: The message in all of my works are always very clear. “COME TO JESUS.”

Question: Tell us one place you visited or person you met, that made a big impression on you, and why.

Answer: My family and I have a favorite spot we like to go to for a day hike. The Heavner Runestone Park. It is a short hike through the most lovely forest into a gorgeous valley that overlooks Poteau Mountain near Poteau Oklahoma. The runestone has actual Viking runes on it and is a site to behold. I have written a short Viking piece based on the mystery surrounding the runestone.

Question: What is the worst trouble you ever had with getting a book written (plots, finding needed information, getting a cover done)?

Answer: The most difficult thing for me about writing is finding the time to write. I work full time as a nurse and I have a growing family that keeps me busy. My dream is to one day soon be able to retire from nursing and write full time. I have been truly blessed my books are doing very well and I can see my dream becoming a reality very soon.

Question: Are their characters/stories/scenes/etc based on anything in real life?

Answer: In my first book The Gift of Light I used my own personal experience with the filling of the Holy Spirit in my MC Emily’s Bell’s experience with it.

Question: What is your favorite book/character?

Answer: My favorite all time books are This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness by Frank Peretti. Those books completely changed my life and my perspective on the spiritual realm.

Question: What is your writing style?

Answer: I think that word “style” is open for interpretation. LOL. My style is always evolving with every book I write, but I generally write in third person past tense point of views, I am however working on first person past and present tense with The Story of Liam.

Jens Bio

Jen is a bestselling Christian writer of fiction and non-fiction works. She writes to entertain and inspire as well as to bring glory to her own personal savior, Jesus Christ. She is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and a Registered Nurse. Her life journey has not been an easy one. She knows what it means to walk through the fires of faith, as she knows the pain and the joys of life.

She has a strange fascination with hummingbirds as one has always showed up in times of difficulty in her life, either a real one or an image of one. She loves things like old tea-pots and mopar-muscle cars from the seventies. She thinks of herself as kind of a redneck chick-slash-southern belle, as she loves to dress up fancy, but spends most of her time in jersey tee-shirts and jeans, with her hair up in a ponytail.When she is not writing or spending time with her family, you can find her with her nose stuck in a book.She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached by email at jen@jengentrysbooks.com.

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