An accomplished author having contributed to various anthologies as well as her own solo work, Jennifer Anne Gordon is among one of the busiest writers on the scene offering plenty of content for her fans out there. Now, in honor of Women in Horror Month, I talk with her about getting into writing, her process and her thoughts on her work.
Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, when did you get into horror in general?
Jennifer Anne Gordon: Hi Don! Thank you for having me!
It really is hard for me to pinpoint the exact moment of “when I fell in love with horror”. I remember reading the Nancy Drew books when I was 5 and 6, and while they were not horror, I remember how gothic and amazing some of the old school covers were. After that I had a particularly traumatic experience of reading Pet Sematary when I was 10, I found it in my Uncle’s room and thought it was a book about a cat…I was pretty much ruined after that. I went through a phase where I read old Gothic Horror novels from the ’60s and ’70s, I was able to get them at a flea market. From there a dove into Christopher Pike and VC Andrews, until I was in High School and then I was able to read whatever I wanted and I headed straight for King, Koontz, John Saul, Anne Rice….I know at some point in here I also became strangely obsessed with Nightmare on Elm Street and Ouija Boards.
Me: Were you into genre films growing up? What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?
JAG: The first few horror movies I remember watching were Poltergeist and the edited-for-television version of Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween! I remember there was a television station out of Boston that ran Creature Double Features on the weekend afternoons, so I saw all the Universal Monster movies. That same station also would play horror movies during the month of October, so I saw a lot of heavily edited slasher films like Happy Birthday to Me. But it was things like Salem’s Lot, The Omen, and The Haunting that really stuck with me.
Me: When did you first discover your true passion for writing? Were you always into writing growing up?
JAG: The first time I realized I was passionate about it was in seventh grade. I was being bullied at school and my grades were bad. I had a lot of trauma about eating in the cafeteria. My English teacher wanted to help me get my grades up, and she knew I had a knack for writing after I wrote a poem for class. She let me eat lunch in her classroom and would let me write, she gave me those little flimsy blue notebooks you use for exams…and I would just fill them with stories.
Me: Who were some of your favorite writers growing up? Do you try to take influences from their style with your own voice in your work?
JAG: Christopher Pike was probably my favorite from when I was a kid, and then it went to VC Andrews. I would have to say there is a lot of VC influence in my work, not necessarily on the style of how I write, but the themes of contemporary gothic fiction, family secrets, childhood trauma, all the bad stuff in the attics…lol.
I also read a lot of poetry growing up and was especially fond of Tennyson, and then as a teenager, I was very drawn to Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath. I think if you put all of this in a blender you get me.
Me: What is your writing process? What do you go through when you start in on a new story?
JAG: I always feel like the story lives in my head in some form or another for a while, sometimes months or even years. This is the dream casting part of it, when I just spend hours telling myself the story in my head, usually when I am trying to sleep at night, or in the sleepy hour of the morning when the cat has woken me up, but I am not out of bed yet. Eventually, when the world becomes real enough, I start to write. I am a total “pantser” so usually I just have a rough idea of where the story will go, I know a rough plot…but most of the time I spend on my characters, and then they still surprise me. In the end, they tell me the story.
Me: When writing a new project, what's the one fall-back tactic that you're always able to draw inspiration from? How do you stay focused on writing?
JAG: Usually, it is going back to the character, if I find that I get a little lost I go back to them, and let them tell me, and the reader something we haven’t learned yet. So, I use that a lot, and also just visualizing the space that they inhabit, how they walk, how they sit. How they relate to things around them. It is a lot of the same work I did when I was studying theatre and performing.
Focusing on writing is hard right now, there are a lot of distractions in the world, a lot of anxiety in our lives. I have recently found that timed writing sprints really help. Maybe I don’t have the time or the emotional wherewithal to do a long writing session, but I can always write for 20 minutes. So, I set the alarm on my phone and just go for it. Usually, that helps me springboard into something new. And if all else fails, I start a rewrite. Rewriting is writing!!
Me: Is there any specific type of character you prefer writing?
JAG: Broken, introspective, physical or emotional scars, sexually fluid, a character that walks the fine line of sanity and insanity.
Me: How did you settle on the plot for your novel 'From Daylight to Madness?'
JAG: About 7 or 8 years ago I was doing past life regression sessions and I experienced something that was pretty close to the first scene in this novel, and then a few other times I experienced things while being regressed that were snippets of the story, I knew the end, I knew the two main characters, I knew they went on a picnic at one point…I always wondered about her, I knew hew name was Isabelle. It took years to build up the courage to dive into their world. I knew I wanted to tell their story, in some way. I didn’t know I would tell it as a Victorian Gothic Horror story…but I am glad I did.
Me: Was there any special significance to making the characters interact within a hotel? Was it already planned to launch a series of novels set in that location?
JAG: My first novel Beautiful, Frightening, and Silent takes place on the same fictional island off the coast of Maine, and in that novel, there are two “throwaway lines” one being “Oh that’s where the old hotel used to be” and the other line directly references Isabelle and Francis. I won’t say what the line is, it’s a spoiler/Easter Egg.
The island in some respects is based on a real place and a real hotel. I have always been drawn to Victorian Era hotels, especially the idea of being sent away to one for “rest cures”, and I really wanted to play with the hotel being “not a hotel” but everyone is too polite to call it what it is.
Me: Was there any part of your real self injected into the characters?
JAG: There is a little part of me in every character I write, even the villains. Isabelle especially had a lot of me in her. I think of her in some ways as an enigma of quietude. She is sometimes strong, and other times she is lost, but she had this heart that throughout her life has been looking for “something”, and then never feeling like she deserves it when she gets it. There is a lot of me in there, the not thinking I deserve happiness or belonging. Also, I would say some of my worst traits I put into Agnes, who is an antagonist.
Me: Once it was finally written, what was the process to having it published?
JAG: I knew with these Hotel Books that I was going Indie with them, so during the writing process I had already lined up an editor to work with Pattyann McCarthy of Seeing Eye Editing Services. I had also hired an amazing cover designer Don Noble of Rooster Republic Press, and I worked with Books and Moods PR services to help with the Launch, so they set up the ARCs to be sent out and reviews and organized a bookstagram tour. Now I am signed with a Fantastic Publicist, Mickey Mikkelson of Creative Edge. So, all of these people, plus my team of Beta Readers all helped get the book out there. I realized that even going out there as an Indie you still need a high-end team around you.
Me: You also recently released the sequel, When the Sleeping Dead Still Talk. Did bringing in more psychological elements into the story help with the creative output of the story?
JAG: It definitely helped me define who Francis was, he was a supporting character during From Daylight to Madness, and I knew he had deep psychological problems, but once I realized how they manifested itself it shaped the entire structure for the book.
Me: Although listed as a conclusion to the series, are plans to continue it at some point or move towards other writing?
JAG: It was definitely the conclusion of the story of Francis and Isabelle. I do have plans at some point to write a third book in the series, based on Agnes, who became the dark horse character that everyone has loved to hate. She has a lot of story in her, so eventually, she will get her own book, but not right now, I have a few more projects up first.
Me: Outside of writing, what else do you do to stay in a creative mindset?
JAG: Well during pre-COVID-19 days I did a lot of traveling and photography. I love taking photos, specifically of abandoned buildings or architecture. I am also a dancer, so there is a beautiful creativity in moving your body or choreographing something or performing.
Me: What else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers?
JAG: I am working on a literary speculative fiction book right now. I am about 62,000 words into the first draft. I tend to write shorter books, but this will be longer than my usual work. It’s a combination of Contagion with Lost n Translation.
Me: Lastly, being that this is Women in Horror Month, what special message do you have for any women out there looking to join in the industry in any capacity as you are one yourself? Thank you again for your time!
JAG: I would say that this is the perfect time to be a “woman in horror” there are more of us all the time. Also in general the horror community is incredibly supportive, loving, hilarious, and kind!!!
Thanks again Don for having me!!!
To follow her work, check out her official website:
This interview ran as part of our Women in Horror Month celebrations. Click the banner below to check out all of our reviews and interviews about the occasion:
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