Q A with Jennifer Harlow
This week, we sat down with Jennifer Harlow, whose third Midnight Magic Mystery, Witch Upon a Star, was released earlier this month.
Midnight Ink: How long have you been writing?
Jennifer Harlow: I�ve always been a storyteller in some capacity. When I was a child, I barely left my room because I was always playing with my Barbie dolls. I�d even fake sick far more than I should so I could stay home from school and continue their adventures. When I got too old for that, I moved from pen to paper. Once again school suffered as I�d write my stories in class instead of paying attention. I cut my teeth on screenplays, then when I was nineteen I decided to try writing a book. I haven�t stopped since.
MI: What influence have other authors had on your writing?
JH: Without question I learned from the masters: Janet Evanovitch, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Stan Lee. From Evanovitch I learned how to incorporate humor, mystery, and sexual tension while keeping a quick pace in the story. Hamilton showed the perfect was to combine two genres effectively, thriller and paranormal, and that a heroine doesn�t have to always be a sweet, perfect woman. She can have a hard edge and still be likable. From Stan Lee�s comics, especially X-Men, hidden in the action scenes and love triangles was a parable on prejudice and acceptance of self no matter how different you are from the crowd. I can only pray I do my idols justice with my own work.
MI: If you weren�t a writer, what would you be doing?
JH: Advice columnist. Everyone I know comes to me with their problems, and they all say I help them. It�d be wonderful to get paid for it.
MI: What is/are your favorite thing/s to do when you�re not writing or
working?
JH: In my old age I have basically become a teenage boy. I�ve gotten obsessed with video games. Lately I�ve been addicted to the Dragon Age games. They are like crack.
MI: Who is your favorite mystery sleuth and why?
JH: I can�t decide! That�s like choosing a favorite child. The list includes: Miss Marple, Stephanie Plum, Sydney Rye, Poirot, Harry Bosch, Jaine Austen, okay I�m stopping now. So many!MI: What was your inspiration for the Midnight Magic Mysteries?
JH: I wanted to expand the F.R.E.A.K.S. world and also get a bit more romance in it. The F.R.E.A.K.S. is more action and mystery oriented, following the misadventures of Special Agent Beatrice Alexander. In the Midnight Magic series they�re stand alone, following one woman in her quest for understanding and love but with some action and mystery thrown in for flavor.
MI: How does Witch Upon A Star compare to your past works?JH: This book begins decades before Bea ever joined the F.R.E.A.K.S., years before the super-natural co-op began, or before Vivian and Jason met. This is a prequel to all the books that came before. It�s also a very dark, twisty romance between two very lost souls that doesn�t end in a traditional way.
MI: Tell us about Anna Olmstead.
JH: I introduced the character in the second F.R.E.A.K.S book, To Catch a Vampire. She�s a witch, a former FREAK who helped Beatrice with a case a murderous vampires, something she had a lot of experience with having been raised and then falling in love with a vampire named Asher. She also has ties to the Goodnight Coven I introduced in What�s A Witch To Do? Basically the events that occurred with her set in motion every event in both the F.R.E.A.K.S. and Midnight Magic series. The supernatural co-op, the events in the Eastern Pack, Oliver joining the F.R.E.A.K.S., it all stems from the adventures of Anna Olmstead Asher West.
MI: Do you have a pet? Tell us about him/her.
JH: I have a six-month-old Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier named Elsa Lanchester, after the actress who played the Bride of Frankenstein. Potty training has been a nightmare!
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| Elsa Lanchester |
JH: French fries. I cannot live without them.
MI: Do you have a favorite recipe?
JH: A White Russian. One shot Vodka, � shot of Kahlua, half a cup of cream served over ice. Like drinking Starbucks coffee that gets you soused. Yum.
MI: What�s your favorite part about being an Inker?
JH: The community. Everyone is really there for each other when we have questions or concerns. We�re a lucky group.
Witch Upon a Star is available online and in bookstores now!
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