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
falls
You can have the greatest characters in the world and write beautifully, but if nothing's happening, the story falls on its face pretty quickly.
best bloody children haunted house love mary pants pretending rather reading running scare woods
In all honesty, I didn't love reading when I was a kid. I'd rather be running around in the woods or doing my best to scare the pants off all the children in the neighborhood by pretending my house was haunted or making them play Bloody Mary in the bathroom.
conflict external forever good leaving problem remember shape whether
At the heart of every story is conflict - whether external or internal, make it a good one, and remember that this problem is going to shape your character, leaving her forever changed.
fairy meant secret
Some things, I think, like fairy books and secret doors, are only meant to be found by children.
sequel stories
I've never done a sequel - so far, there have been too many new stories and characters calling my name.
people
Some people say, 'Write what you know.' My thing is, 'Write what scares you.'
graduated poetry program studied vermont
I graduated with a B.A. from Goddard College in 1991 and then studied poetry for a year in the M.F.A. in Writing Program at Vermont College.
ask exercise pen sit
One exercise I always do when I'm getting to know a character is ask her to tell me her secrets. Sit down with a pen and paper, and start with, 'I never told anybody...' and go from there, writing in the voice of your character.
came deal great poetry taught
Poetry taught me a great deal about language and images, but when it came to plotting, I was stumped. It's been very much a learn-by-doing thing for me.
bad books calls friend ideas nightmares notebook queen side wake
I have a friend who calls me the queen of the nightmares because I've always had really bad nightmares. I keep a notebook by the side of my bed, so I'll wake up in the night from a bad dream, and my heart's pounding, and I'm really scared, but I write it down, and sometimes I get ideas for books that way.
believe meets mind open stuff
I have a pretty open mind about supernatural stuff - I do believe that there's more to this world than what meets the eye.
noises possibly ultimate
My grandmother was a psychiatrist and possibly the ultimate of all skeptics. But even she couldn't explain the strange noises we so often heard in the attic.
constantly fascinated full illnesses medical shelves
My grandmother was a psychiatrist and had shelves full of medical books - I was constantly sneaking looks at some of those. I was fascinated by the descriptions of illnesses and diseases.
help illness life mental mystery rough save struggled work
All my life, I had this idea that if I could unravel the mystery that was my mother, then I could help save her. But it didn't really work. We were close, but she struggled with mental illness and alcoholism, and it was rough at times.