Jennie Bennett, Romance Author

I have been working on EXISTENCE for the past seven months. I love time travel and I love a hero, so this was the perfect book for me to write. Lately I've been struggling with my re-writes. I knew in the back of my head that something was wrong, but I couldn't pin-point it. It got so bad that I finally broke down and talked to my husband about it. Normally I avoid the subject of writing with my husband becasue his eyes glaze over, but I just couldn't keep it in anymore. I'm so glad I said something becasue my husband pointed out a MAJOR plot hole. It's so major that I can no longer write EXISTENCE. The entire premise of my book is that if someone were to change past enough the world would implode and basically become a different planet. The bad guys in my book want this to happen becasue they've been alive for 4,000 years (they are immortal) and they're sick of humanity. They think that they are the people who need to re-start the human race. so...

I just finished a book I've heard endless praise about: Across the Universe . I gobbled the whole thing up in a day and it's still messing with my mind. When I finished, I read the acknowledgement page. Before I got serious about writing I would skip that page and close the book, but now I read every line. It's always fun to see people I 'know' (via the internet) mentioned on acknowledgement pages, but I thing I really enjoy is getting a glimpse into how much work it takes to make a book. I had to laugh when I read Beth's acknowledgements becasue her writing processes sounded a lot like mine. This particular paragraph stuck out to me. "The best part about being a writer is having writing friends. Roybn Campbell and Rebecca Carlson helped me hammer out the first draft of Across the Universe , Heather Zundel and Christina Farley helped me break it to pieces and write it back better, and Erin Anderson, PJ Hoover, and Christina Marciniak told me Across t...

When I first started the blog A Book, A Girl, A Journey, I had this vision in my head --a vision of mass numbers. You see, I started blogging for a couple of reasons. A few years ago I was following this blog called Twilight Guy . It was a hilarious teenage boy who was reading twilight and blogging about it, chapter by chapter. He had thousands of followers who loved his posts, and he was also getting his middle grade series published. He didn't talk about his book much, but he did mention it. When the book went on pre-order it made the best selling list the first day. I told myself that if I had that one I great idea that I knew could be an awesome novel, I would start a blog of my own. So that's what I did. Rest assured, that pipe dream of being on a bestseller list when the book is still on pre-order has been pulled back to reality, in fact, I really did not expect that to happen with A Book, A Girl, A Journey. However ... The second reason I started blogging was beca...

As I sit here and write this post, I should be writing my book. I had all these grand intentions. My time was plotted out and everything. But then I tried to go to the store and my daughter had a complete meltdown. I mean, screamingatthetopofherlungsandnotstopping kind of meltdown. I had to leave my crap in the cart and rush home to put her to bed. I was little angry and most defiantly frustrated. When she finally settled down to sleep (and my son went outside to play) I thought it was my chance to write. source I opened up my document and stared at the screen. I couldn't write becasue I wasn't in the right frame of mind. I think I'm typing this now as a way to get myself back to that point. My poor characters have been sitting in the shadows just waiting for action, and I'm here waiting for the action to come to my brain. Everyone, breathe deep with me. Close your eyes and make a humming noise and send good vibes my way. Ah , that's better. Time for m...

I love spring. I have been especially loving this spring with so many days of good weather. Happy sunny days make me happy. I guess I should call spring my favorite season becasue I'm a huge fan of those blossoming trees and flowers. Then again... Today my son asked if spring was over (becasue I told him Easter was over, which he was very sad about) and I explained that spring wasn't over. Somehow that lead to me telling him all about summer. Days so hot you could almost melt. Water fights, camping trips, barbeques, and playing in the sand. Sweet watermelon and corn right off the cob. Popsicles. Oh man, maybe summer is my favorite season. The fact remains that I am having a very difficult time staying indoors which means very little writing is happening right now since I only have a desktop, and I can't read my own handwriting. However, I am justifying my lack of writing with all the relaxation and inspiration I am receiving from the great outdoors. Oh well,...

I really got down and dirty reading this month. There are so many good books out there and I just could not get enough. To exceed my goal of a book a week I read seven books this month, and they were all excellent! I have been anticipating this book since I first saw the cover a good seven months ago. little did I know the author would leave us with a huge cliff hanger! I would say that I should have waited until the next book, but I'm glad I didn't. I like speculating on what could be :D Did it take me long enough to get around to reading Possession? Apparently not becasue the next book (surrender) comes out in June and this one has a serious cliff hanger as well. Needless to say, I per-ordered my copy. Love the teen angst in this book. Both excellent books and way funnier than I thought they would be. Both books had me laughing hysterically from line one. Do not miss out on these clever little gems.  The last one comes out in July and I can bar...

Last week my writers group got together and had a brainstorming session. It was good that there where only four of us, because we took 20min + each to talk about our books. I went in not really expecting to talk about me. I mean, I've already written my book once. I'm re-writing it to iron out the bumps. I thought I knew where my story was going. I was wrong. Something about hearing everyone's ideas compelled me to share my own story. I had no idea how many lose ends needed tying up. They even helped me think about what to put in the second and third books. I discovered that brainstorming with other writers improved my story line in ways that I could have never done on my own. We are so lucky to be surrounded by writers in the internet. You might even find a few that live near you. Take the time to get to know them and pick their brains when you get a chance. You never know how much they can help you become a better writer.