PlotDog Press is pleased to introduce to you the author J.P. Daly as part of her virtual book tour for her novel Black Hole: A Novel.

J.P. Daly, or Jennifer Peterson Daly was born in Massachusetts and has moved 41 times in her life. She now resides in Central Florida with her two sons. After graduating with a BS in Written Communications from Eastern Michigan University, she started working in marketing and PR for various corporations and non profits. Currently, she is a full time marketing manager for a software company and a full time single mom.

“Jenna,” as she prefers to be called, wrote Black Hole: A Novel on a dare. After writing it, things in the book started happening to her.  Jenna answered some questions about her writing and the novel as part of the tour, here are her answers.

Q: When did you start writing? How, why and when did decide you wanted to be a published writer? How did you go about it? What did you do to achieve this end?

Jenna: I started writing poetry in high school; they were the typical wailings of a confused teen. But when I got up the nerve to show my English Lit teacher one of them, she offered nothing but encouragement. I submitted one to the school’s literary magazine and it was published.  I continued to write poetry throughout college.  It was there, during my senior year, that I became Features Editor and Copy Editor for the college paper. The back to school issue in 1986 contained a Features Section with more than 10 stories-all written by me. That year I also wrote a short story that was honored at the Undergraduate Symposium for creativity. That recognition started a small spark in me. I knew I loved writing and needed to do something with it.  After some casting about and getting a paid internship at a major corporation, I went the practical route, writing for advertising and in business.

The book I self published, Black Hole: A Novel, was written on a dare while I was going through a rough time. I never intended to publish more than five copies for family and friends-my brother suggested more. After hearing a lot of negative stories about how hard it was to find a publisher, or even get my book read, I decided to self publish. Createspace.com offered me the opportunity to have a real, finished, and tangible bound book.

Q: How would you describe the writing you are doing?

Jenna: From 2004 to 2008 I was going through a very rough time in my personal life. My first book was very cathartic and therapeutic. I became a bit obsessed by it; staying up nights writing and talking into a dictaphone in traffic.  If I had to choose to describe it to a reader, I’d call it non-nutritional value, escapist woman fiction.
Q: Who is your target audience? What motivated you to start writing for this audience?

Jenna: I picked my own age group or slightly older or younger women (35-55) as I knew what “voice” to use and about the technologies and challenges they face as both working and stay at home moms.
Q: In the writing that you are doing, which authors would you say influenced you most? Why did they have this influence?

Jenna: I read a lot, so picking one, I can’t do.  I read a ton of adult fiction: Bill Bryson is fantastic and his sense of humor very similar to mine.  But then I admire JK Rowling as well, as she wrote on a train, etc., and didn’t lose sight of the fact that she had a unique story to tell. And look at what it’s spawned!
Q: What are your main concerns as a writer? How do you deal with these concerns?

Jenna: My novels tend to leap back and forth from past to present. My biggest concern was that readers not get lost when that occurred. Not one reader has told me this was an issue in my first book.   My other concern is finding time to write. I’d love to do this for a living, but until it compensates me enough, it’s a second career (not a hobby, as hobby to me sounds less committed).
Q: How have your personal experiences influenced the direction of your writing?

Jenna: People who know me, see me in Black Hole: A Novel.  I was going through a tough divorce and needed a creative outlet. I am working on the sequel to it now, and the setting is in Cortona, Italy, one of my favorite places in the world.
Q: What are the biggest challenges that you face? And, how do you deal with these challenges?

Jenna: My challenge is having it stand out in the ocean of fiction available to day. Having a publisher pick up this book or a screenwriter see what a great movie it would make is my dream. All I can do to make this happen is seed the book knowing it only takes one person, the right one, to discover it.
Q: How many books have you written so far? (Please include titles, publisher, date of publication and a brief description of the book/books.)

Black Hole: A Novel, was my first book. I self published in November of 2008.
Q: Do you write everyday? How does each session start? How do you proceed? How, where and why does it end?

Jenna: With a full time job and being a single mom to two boys, I write when I can. Black Hole: A Novel was mostly written between 10 pm and 2 AM weekdays; my only alone time.  Now, my writing has these odd inspiration periods that arrive where I write in spurts.  I stop when I realize I am going back and rewriting and it is no longer flowing out of my fingers.  When I travel, the time on a plane is perfect. I’ve invested in a 5 hour battery for my laptop.
Q: What is your latest book about? How long did it take you to write it? Where and when was it published? How did you chose a publisher for the book? Why this publisher? What advantages and/or disadvantages has this presented? How are you dealing with these?

Jenna: Black Hole: A Novel is about a woman who thinks she has her life all wrapped up and controlled. Losing that control is her nightmare, but she does not know this until it happens.

I started it in June of 2007 and published it in November of 2008. It was technically done in June of 2008, but I was hip deep in a divorce and put it on the back burner.  I chose to publish myself and viral market it, since the negative stories I got about securing a publisher discouraged me. The problem with self publishing is you have to buy your own copies to use as marketing samples and send them out to various people. This limits the promotional ability I have due to costs. I’ve started handing them out on airplanes when I travel.
Q: Which aspects of the work that you put into the book did you find most difficult?

Jenna: Showing not telling is my weakness. I have found that closing my eyes while I write descriptions helps a lot.  I tend to write quickly and not dwell on sentence structure. Later, I go back and embellish or repair.
Q: Which aspects of the work did you enjoy most? Why is this?

Jenna: Writing dialog is a trip!  I listen to conversations whenever I can and absorb what is around me. I don’t use actual conversations I have heard, but I do notice inflections. People also do not speak in full sentences most of the time.
Q: What sets the book apart from the other things you’ve written?

Jenna: At 400 pages, it is the longest thing I have ever written. I flip through it and marvel at it.

The odd thing is that after I wrote the book, things in it happened to me. That is by far, the spookiest part of this whole adventure. I had never been to Vegas before the book. After it, the opportunity to go showed up not once, but twice!

Q: In what way is it similar?

Jenna: I am very emotional and sensitive-the family drama queen.  This book is packed with intense emotions in areas, just like my poetry.
Q: What will your next book be about?

Jenna: I am writing two. One is un-named and is the sequel to Black Hole: A Novel. The third one (It’s Just Coffee, or is it?) is about internet dating.
Q: What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?

Jenna: Without a doubt, having a tangible, actually book in my hands, and being able to say, “I wrote this.” Noticed or not, I have a tiny legacy for my sons.

Black Hole: A Novel, self published on createspace.com, can be purchased from Amazon through any of the links included in this post.  We found more about the book on Amazon and from Jenna’s site:

Synopsis
After the sudden disappearance of her husband, Allison Pierce must build a new life for herself and for her two young sons. Along the way she discovers herself, her strength, the value of friendship, and a new way to define what a family can be with the power of love behind it.

Book Excerpt (From Back Cover)

“That damn  thing is glaring at me, she thought, and felt her breakfast roll around in her stomach. It was being stirred by someone with a large spoon.

No.  Not yet.

Standing in front of a mirrored elevator, dressed in a mauve suit that still smelled vaguely of cedar and mothballs (despite a careful application of perfume to diffuse it), she took a deep breath, held it, her lungs burning, and tried glaring back. Ten, twenty, thirty, forty seconds went by before the air demanded release and she pushed a noisy “Whoooosh” out with it.

It was no use.

It was the size of a silver dollar.

It was white.

It had a large black up arrow on it.

No. Not yet.

What was her life supposed to be now? The last eleven years had defined who she was. That foundation was gone. She did not belong in her new life, yet had to stay. So much had already been taken away from her. The only option was to add something. Something hers. Something new. What should I do? had become a daily plea. In reaching for an answer, she had grabbed an opportunity in the hope it would silence it. Knowing she would never be the same, and that nothing in her life would ever be the way it was again, she did the only thing she could.

She went forward.”

Join Jenna on the next stops on the Virtual Book Tour:

June 27 – Romance at Heart Magazine at http://romanceatheart.com/
June 28 – Bird Book Dog at http://www.bookbirddog.blogspot.com/
Or stop by Jenna Peterson Daly’s Website at http://www.dalybookstore.com