Writer Interview: Maren Jenner
Hello readers!
I’m here with our first interview, Maren Jenner! She’s of the author variety, and I had so much fun talking with her about her books, the industry, and all manner of bookish things.
If you or someone you know would be a good fit for an interview with me, please point them to the sign-up post!
With that, let’s go!
Happy reading!
E
E: Hello, Maren!
It's so lovely to virtually meet you!
Obviously, I'm Eliza, a fellow author and the Chronicler of those in Alku. Thank you for sitting down with me over the next few weeks to talk about your books and words in general. Let's get into it!
Every book has a beginning, and every writer does as well. What was your personal beginning with books, Maren?
MJ: I’ve always been a reader and collector of stories, written or on screen. In elementary school, we were all given blank picture books and told to write a story. We illustrated it as well. Then, a group of actors would come and act out a select few from each grade. One year, mine was chosen, and watching people enjoy my story was and still is the best thing ever!
E: Wow, that's an incredible memory and opportunity to foster a young one's creativity and confidence. You were a lucky kid!
Did you continue to write after that first storybook, or did you stay in the realm of a reader until later in life? What was the eventual nudge that shifted you into writing more seriously as an adult?
MJ: I wrote all through high school and went to college for two years to study creative writing. Got married and did a through the mail class. But then life happened, and I took a break. Had a kid, worked, and just put the writing thing on the back burner until 2018.
Our kid was old enough to be in school full time, and I dropped to more part-time work. I’d always known I’d come back to writing. It has always been a dream of mine.
And I wrote a novel. Even pitched it to some agents at a conference and they were interested but my writing wasn’t up to snuff. I wrote another novel, figured out what beta readers were and continued to grow.
The Cupcake Standard was my debut. I think it was the fifth story I wrote but I knew when I wrote it that this was the one I wanted to publish. I wrote it in 3 weeks, wrote the next two of the trilogy in the following 3 months and connected with a small press by the end of the year in 2022. And it published in August of 2023!
E: I have so much respect for the path you followed on your writing journey so far. It's completely the antithesis of my own, and I find that fascinating! Congratulations on finding that perfect debut book and getting it out there!
By the way, don't think I'm done talking about The Cupcake Standard. I am SO circling back to that because it is one hell of a good title, and I am dying to know more.
Can you tell us more about the publisher you connected with? How did you find them? What did you see in them that made you want to trust your book-babies to them? What were some of the struggles and even instances that you are grateful you had them at your back? Are you still working with them on current and future projects, or did you opt for a change?
MJ: This series and my Sweet Nothings trilogy are both published through Entwined Publishing. As a small press, it’s hard to make big ripples in such a massive pond but they try. They focus solely on romance and have several different branches under that umbrella.
I found them in a pitch event on Savvy Authors (a great writers forum with so many resources). My first editor reached out with an offer, asked to see the entire Sweet Nothings trilogy (which was all written already) and here we are. I’m so grateful to see my books come out and have the input on the covers to make my visions come to life.
I’m so glad you love the title for The Cupcake Standard! I adore those characters and that whole trilogy. I’ll post all the links below. The Wrong Idea will be by fifth book through this pub and I published a short one of my own through Amazon last month.
My pub doesn’t do trigger warnings so you can find those at http://www.marenjennerbooks.com/trigger-warnings/
The Cupcake Standard (Sweet Nothings Book 1) - https://a.co/d/8cB6uaL
The Jellybean Dilemma (Sweet Nothings Book 2) - https://a.co/d/6Zj5OOM
The Red-Hot Stakes: A Billionaire Enemies to Lovers Romance (Sweet Nothings Book 3) - https://a.co/d/fPSIYJ3
The Wrong Brother: A New Adult College Romance (Wrighting the Wrongs Book 1) - https://a.co/d/2RPHokK
The Wrong Idea (Wrighting the Wrongs Book 2) - https://a.co/d/ix69mR2
Going Up: A short standalone in-elevator romance (The Shafted Series) - https://a.co/d/7fmO8r0
E: I hear you on the big puddle, small splash! I attempted to query when I first started a decade ago, but it wasn't for me, so I switched to self-publishing. It's been a ride!
That's quite a list of books! I stand by my earlier comment—the Sweet Nothings books have adorable titles! You said you love those characters. Can you tell us more about them? What are some of your favorite aspects of them? Was there an inspiration for them? Are there any hidden secrets, inside jokes, or Easter eggs you can share?
MJ: My upcoming book is called The Wrong Idea, book 2 of Wrighting the Wrongs.
Querying was brutal. I received no positive answers from agents so when this small press offered, I was like yep. This is my foot in the door!
I just started self-publishing a series of in-elevator romance novellas last month and have been loving the control I have over all the aspects. As well as the real time data of who’s reading (or not). At least I know.Thank you again about the titles!
The Sweet Nothings trilogy is labeled as billionaire because that was popular at the time and my pub pushed for it. I usually think of billionaire romance to have more of an alpha-hole quality though and this does not have that. It’s sweet and spicy.
Each book in the trilogy is a different couples story but the couple from book one Avery and Derek tie the whole series together with their arc.Avery was my most fun character to date. She is super quirky, blurts out random questions like is a hot dog a sandwich, plus she’s got all the spunk and is content in her plus-sized body. Derek is the cinnamon roll hero I didn’t know I needed lol. He just takes Avery in stride and is her rock, but she also sees him when no one else does.
Avery has a lot of my food preference quirks and my sense of humor. Rhonda, FMC of book two, was probably my hardest to write because I didn’t feel like she had much of me in her at all. But Gina, FMC of book three, has so many of my type A qualities, I really worried that people might dislike her. She’s a hard-nose until you really get to know her and see the fear that lies underneath.Each one of the books has a conversation inspired by me and my best friend and each one was hilarious. I’m not sure if the dimple-licking or the costume for one’s ahem d!ck was my favorite!
Some of the settings or traits are Easter eggs for my life too and my close friends or family have recognized them. We had family who lived in Marquette so I loved writing about that setting in book 2. Many of my family are die-hard Lions fans like Avery. And the fall date scene in book 3 is reminiscent of some of my favorite pumpkin patches!
I had a blast writing each of the books and every character is so unique and different. It was amazing watching their stories come to life and I’m so happy to be able to share them with the world.
E: I hated querying, and it almost put me off writing entirely, so I’m glad it worked out for you. You get to play in the self-publish space, too! I personally love it, though I wish I had the ability to pay a PA. 😆
Oh my gosh, your characters sound wonderful and hilarious. You seem to write similar to how I do—highly impacted by our experiences and those around us.
Your previous books have so much heart to them! What about your upcoming book, The Wrong Idea? I see it’s the second book in the series, does it follow the same characters, and is a story continuation, or is it a different set/story? What’s your favorite aspect of the book: character, plot line, silly scene, etc.?
MJ: I definitely write like that, using experiences and adventures in my own life to help round out the characters.
I'm so glad you didn't give up! I'm definitely loving the self-pub journey so far. And same, a PA would be amazing!!
The Wrighting the Wrongs series follows four brothers, each one getting their own book. I adore found family as a trope and love interconnected series, so I'm loving writing these books! Each brother is so very different and I've enjoyed exploring their different aspects. Sebastian is autistic, my first character that is openly neurospicy, and he's also a type 1 diabetic. He is a complicated character, one of my most complex, but I adore him. He was so much fun to write, especially when he started opening up to the FMC Callie.
I loved writing about Mackinac Island. It's one of my favorite places to visit and I hadn't been in quite a while so my best friend and I took a little day trip to do all the things! We had a wonderful time and I used my own experiences to make the setting and events there that much richer.
E: You're pretty much describing my favorite structure of a book series. At the risk of showing my age...it's very "monster of the week" with an underlying story arc. That's also how I write my books. Huge interconnected worlds are RAD!
I love the inclusion of neurodivergent folks in your books. Most of my books also include a character or two with some form of spiciness, and not always a condition I myself have.
How are you handling the reality of writing characters with real-world conditions/diseases/limitations/etc? For me, I could easily write about narcoleptic characters since I have it, but I had to do a TON of research for my characters that have dissociative identity disorder. Are you speaking with people who have the situation you need, utilizing Reddit forums or others like it, or using sensitivity readers for feedback?
MJ: I love interconnected series and getting to delve into each of the other characters while still having the familiar ones around. It’s the best!! For reading and writing lol
I have both people in my family and good friends who are autistic. Same with diabetes. Sebastian is not based on any of them, but is an amalgam of certain traits. I did quite a bit of research of my own into autism and Type 1 diabetes. Plus, one of my beta readers is in the medical field, so she was able to make sure the situations and reactions in my book are plausible.
The next book in this series has an MMC with ADHD. My husband and daughter have both been diagnosed with ADHD and it’s been fairly recent, like the last five years. So I’ve done a lot of research as we progressed with that process as well.
E: I love that you have a support system to ask honest questions to and that invaluable beta reader! That’s perfect!
Tell me about your cover! What inspired the art? Who was the artist? Do you have a favorite part?
MJ: Well that’s a story 😂 My pub has a marketing and art team who does all the covers. I suggested the concept for book 1, The Wrong Brother - the three Polaroids and some vague ideas of what I wanted in them. Plus I knew that one would be blue.
Side note, all the brothers have a color. I planned to have each book a specific color and knew who was what when I signed this series!
So for book 2, I filled out their form and sent my moodboard and all the things. They came back with a very not cohesive design that fit my suggestions on the surface but was just not at all what I pictured. The couple they chose was all happy and laughing when this book’s couple was more stoic and deep.
After trying (and failing) to get my ideas across, they finally just sent me a link and I picked the photos myself! I love how it turned out, felt really happy to have the right vibe for Sebastian and Callie.
E: I’m excited about your next release on April 15th. Can you give me all the juicy details? For example, the website link, newsletter, purchase links, pre-orders, etc.?
MJ: All my links are here! All the socials, instructions for ordering books directly from me, and pre-orders are up now on Zon.
Use the Linktree link below to get signed paperbacks directly from Maren. All of them come with bookmarks, and if you order more than one book, you’ll get a deal on them! The Wrighting the Wrongs books also come with character art!
