Interview with Jennifer E. Smith!

by - februarie 19, 2014


JENNIFER E. SMITH is the author of This Is What Happy Looks Like, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, The Storm Makers, You Are Here, and The Comeback Season. She earned a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and her work has been translated into twenty-nine languages.
In Romania was published "The statistical probability of love at first sight" ("Probabilitatea statistica de a te indragosti la prima vedere") and "This is what happy looks like" ("Uite, asa arata fericirea") by Epica Publishing House. :)


DHW: What inspired you to write "The statistical probability of love at first sight"?

J: The original idea for the story came out of an overnight flight I once took from Chicago to Dublin.  (I should warn you that this isn’t a romantic story, though!)  I was sitting next to an older Irish gentleman who was so nice, and we spent a large portion of the flight talking.  When we landed, we had to go through separate lines at customs, since I’m American and he was Irish, and afterwards, and we never got a chance to say goodbye.  I realized then how strange it is that you can spend that many hours talking to someone without even knowing their last name, and it struck me as an interesting way to start a love story…

DHW: The action is happening in 24 hours, we think it takes you a lot of time to write it and visit the places.

J: Yes, it was a unique challenge to set the book over twenty-four hours!  I actually wasn’t in London very much while I was writing it, though I’ve spent quite a lot of time there, so I relied mostly on memory (as well as Google maps!) to help make sure the timeline made sense.  I really enjoy stories that are set in a short timeframe, though, so this was a lot of fun to write.


DHW: What about the inspiration, are you thinking about a special person or a memory when you write?

J: My story ideas are usually sparked by something that happened to me in real life before quickly spinning off into pure fiction.  My life isn’t nearly interesting enough to account for an entire book! 



DHW: Now, are you working on a new book?

J: Yes – always!  I have a new one coming out in the US in a couple of months called THE GEOGRAPHY OF YOU AND ME, and then I’m in the middle of another one, which doesn’t have a title yet, but actually also has a short time frame – it follows a couple on the night before they leave for separate colleges.  They’ve spent the whole summer trying to decide whether to stay together or break up, and now they have only twelve hours left to decide.



DHW: You are a writer, but why? If you could choose another job, what would you pick?

J: I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was ten years old, so I feel very, very lucky to be living out my dream.  But I’m also an editor, so I guess no matter what job I’m doing, it involves books…which is exactly what I’ve always wanted.

DHW: We are curious: what actors did you see in the roles of main characters?

J: I always find this question so hard to answer!  I’m not completely sure, but I love hearing what readers think, so I’m going to flip the question back to you guys.  I’d love to know who you’re picturing as you read!

DHW: What do you thing about ROMANIA? Or about our blog? A message for our followers and your Romanian fans?

J: I’ve gotten so many lovely notes from readers in Romania, so I just want to say thank you to all my Romanian fans, and to you guys for having me on the blog.  Thank you, thank you!  I hope to maybe visit one day…


Thank you, again, Jennifer! 

Hope you liked it guys!

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