Jenny S., can you believe you’ve been reading and writing reviews for 10 years as part of Cannonball Read? Thank you for your dedication! Do you remember how you found your way to the Cannonball Read community?
Yikes! Has it really been that long? My sister, Sara, was (and still is) a reader of Pajiba and she sent me the call for CBR in January of 2014. I had been writing reviews on Goodreads since 2007, but I thought, “Hey! F*** Cancer.” The rest is history.
Your bio says you run a writing center at a community college, and you have a very eclectic selection of books reviewed. Do you have a genre in which you prefer to read/write, and is it the same for both reading and writing? What makes it your favorite?
These days, I’m mostly a writing teacher (who teaches Comp 1) but a small part of my full-time load is helping to coordinate the writing center, along with a full-time staff member. I “coach” writing tutors, teach a tutor development class for new tutors each fall, and work to help faculty understand what we do and how we can support them and their students.
All this is to say that these days, my main genre of writing is academic. I write a lot every single day—from very diplomatic emails to demanding faculty members to detailed recommendation letters for my peer writing tutors to tons and tons of feedback to students on their writing. And that’s just by noon. ☺ This doesn’t leave much time for personal writing in any form, which is rather ironic, and has a lot to do with my spotty reviewing these last couple of years.
Except for the reading I do in my field, there’s very little overlap between the genres I write and read in. I don’t have a favorite reading genre because I am all over the place. I love mysteries, especially ones with a strong sense of place, but I also enjoy science fiction and fantasy. Young adult novels in almost any form are my comfort food. I also like novels that take me to places I haven’t been—both in terms of location and/or culture. I’ll read almost anything that sounds interesting or has a pretty cover. The only genre I tend to avoid is True Crime and that’s because I was traumatized by reading Helter Skelter at a young age.
What is the best piece of advice you have to offer to writers working on their craft?
Can I give two pieces of advice?
One is “shitty first drafts.” This comes from Anne LaMott’s book, Bird by Bird, and it has helped me and my students too. Just get stuff out of your head and down on paper (or in my case, in the Word document), no matter how awful and worry about everything else later. The best essays often start out as the messiest.
The other is the power of taking a break. I learned this while writing my dissertation, an experience that was both amazing and horrible. I would be writing late at night and absolutely losing it because I couldn’t get from point A to point B in my chapter. Finally, full of negative self-talk, I’d quit for the evening and go to bed, convinced that I would never finish, and my advisor would hate me, and I would have to pay back student loans for a degree I didn’t earn, etc.
The next morning, I’d get up, turn on the computer, and suddenly I would see how easy it was to solve the problem I’d been having. It took me way too long to figure out that if I was stuck or had writer’s block, the best thing to do was to step away—take a walk, take a nap, or simply do something different. My brain would continue to work on things behind the scenes.
You’re stranded on a desert island. You have only the five books that were packed in your waterproof carry-on bag of personal items. What five books would you want them to be? (No cheating and including a series as one entry!)
Ugh. I hate this. These are my choices today. Tomorrow they could be different.
Susan Cooper – The Dark is Rising
Jane Austen – Persuasion
Craig Johnson – The Cold Dish
Emma Bull – War for the Oaks
Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger
These days people consume books in a wide variety of ways. What is your preferred method of book consumption? What makes it work for you?
I love my Kindle because I can have a slew of books at my fingertips. Also, I can read in bed with the lights off. When I go on vacation, my Kindle goes with me. However, I love reading physical books even more. There’s something about the weight and how the pages feel and the fact that I can see how far I am in the story. These days, I’m often reading two books at once—one physical and one digital. The only medium I don’t like is audio books. I just can’t stay focused.
Do you have a review that you’ve written that you are most excited about? Please share the link and why you are excited about this review.
This question led me down a rabbit hole of old reviews and as I was scrolling, I found this one.
It’s a 2015 review of David Mitchell’s novel, The Bone Clocks, which I barely remember reading. However, what grabbed me about the review was the opening, where I talk about my love for The Dark is Rising series, and how “I’ve always been a fan of novels that begin firmly rooted in the reality we know but then veer off into strange territory—secret forces, hidden worlds, etc.” The review reminded me of my childhood and my grandmother, who I wish was still around so we could talk about books. It also made me think it’s time to re-read Susan Cooper’s series.
Finally, we’re going to play Kiss Marry Kill with the cast of The Princess Bride. Whom would you choose for which and why?
The Princess Bride is fresh in my mind because I just rewatched it at Ravinia a few weeks ago (with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing the movie score.). I’m answering this with the characters (and not the actors) in mind. So, here goes. Kiss – Inigo Montoya because I’m attracted to dark and tortured. Marry – Fezzik because he’s kind and will entertain me with rhyming games. Kill – Though Prince Humperdinck is annoying, I’d have to take out the Six-Fingered Man because he’s annoying and evil.
Now that you’ve learned all about Jenny S, head over and see what else she’s been reading. Or meet other Cannonballers we’ve interviewed recently.