Jennifer McMahon
Jennifer McMahon
Jennifer McMahonis a novelist who formerly resided in Barre, Vermont and now lives in Montpelier, Vermont. She has a civil union with her partner Drea, and one child, daughter Zella. She is a graduate of Goddard College, and studied poetry at Vermont College...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
CountryUnited States of America
almost although both certainly extremes identify intensity level life longing loss love mother reached scared winter
Although in my life the level of loss has never reached the extremes it does in 'The Winter People,' I certainly can identify with being both a daughter longing for her mother and being a mother who is almost scared by the intensity of her love for her daughter.
best hope love readers
I just try to write the best story I can, a story I would love to read, and hope that readers feel the same.
ate avoiding family feathers lived pretending sticks wild woods
I practically lived in the woods when I was a kid, avoiding grown-ups and my dysfunctional family, pretending I was half-wolf, a feral child who napped in nests made out of ferns, ate wild blueberries, and wove sticks and feathers into her hair.
bring close consequences course logical lose matter might mind truth
If there was a way to bring someone back, would you do it, no matter what the consequences might be? I know that for me, my logical mind says, 'Of course not!' But the truth is, when you lose someone who is so close to you, it's as if they are a part of you; there's always one more thing to say, one more moment you wish you'd had.
almost amazed anyone anytime force hard magical tap
Honestly, I feel pretty awed anytime I meet just about any writer. I get how hard it is to write and make a living from it, but there's also this almost magical force you need to tap into, and I'm amazed by anyone who can do it.
counselor delivery easter farm house illness job kids last mental pizza quit shelter staff work
Over the years, I have been a house painter, farm worker, paste-up artist, Easter Bunny, pizza delivery person, homeless shelter staff member, and counselor for adults and kids with mental illness - I quit my last real job in 2000 to work on writing full-time.
again characters drawn keeps life shape
I think we all have a kind of dark side, and that's what keeps life - and characters - interesting. That's one of the things that I'm drawn to write about again and again, the secrets we keep and how they shape us.
wrote
I wrote my first short story in third grade.
absolutely bump exercise love perhaps quite scare trying
I absolutely love writing about the things that scare me, the things that keep me up at night. I don't quite know why. Perhaps because so many things do scare me, and this is my subconscious way of trying to exercise some control over things that go bump in the night!
particular people picking
People often ask if my books should be read in any particular order, but they're all standalone novels, so picking up any one of them would be fine.
cellar dead eating empty found frying looked orange pebbles railroad shotgun skull stone treasures walls
I found many treasures in the woods over the years: shotgun shells, empty Colt 45 bottles, old railroad spikes, orange and black beetles eating a dead mouse, pebbles that looked just like teeth, old stone walls and cellar holes, a rusted out frying pan, the skull of a cat.
believe taught
My mother taught me to believe in ghosts: to use a Ouija board, have seances, and leave little offerings out for those who have passed.
almost aware characters create creating creepy details ghost good help itself landscape rides setting success ways
I think of setting as almost a character of its own, influencing the other characters in ways they're not even aware of. So much of the success of a good ghost story rides on creating a creepy atmosphere; details of the landscape itself can help create a sense of dread.
college poems poetry studied time trying year
I studied poetry in college and for a year in an MFA program. As time went on, my poems got more and more complicated. What I was really trying to do was tell stories.