Welcome to BookEnds, Jenny Knutsson!

I’m SO elated to welcome Jenny Knutsson to the BookEnds team – Jenny’s adult fantasy is as exciting as it is intricate! – Naomi

What genres do you write? Read?

I write fantasy, but I have some historical fiction concepts tucked away that may one day find their way to a page. I’m pretty sure that whatever I write will contain at least a hint of magic.

Most of my favorite books—for instance, Dune, Ender’s Game, Ready Player One—are science fiction. Other than sci fi, the genres I typically read are fantasy, historical fiction, and mystery (police procedural, private detective, and cozy).

Plotter or pantster?

I’m most definitely a plotter. An extreme plotter. Before I start writing a draft, I craft a very extensive and obscenely long outline that details everything going on in each chapter. This outline includes crude bits of dialogue, character emotional reactions to events, and notes as to why certain items are important in the grander scheme of things. I wrote an awful lot of case outlines during law school, so perhaps I picked up the habit there.

Synopses, love them or hate ‘em?

HATE ‘EM. The synopsis for my current manuscript is the most painful thing I’ve ever written.

Do you have a writing playlist or a vision board?  If so, what’s on them?

I don’t listen to music while I write, and I don’t keep a writing playlist, but music does play a large part in my development of characters. I mostly listen to rock music, and songs by bands like Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel era Genesis, and Foreigner have helped me get to know my characters and find out what makes them tick.

I don’t use a vision board per se, but I do have Pinterest folders that contain photos and other items that I use as inspiration for characters or setting.

Drink of choice when writing? When not writing?

I drink dark roast coffee when I’m writing. I roast my own beans in the writing shed/coffee roasting hut in my backyard! When I’m not writing, and sometimes when I am, I drink red wine (Tempranillo from the Rioja region of Spain is a favorite) and California-style citrusy IPAs.

Day or Night writer?

I’m a night writer by necessity. I’m a morning person and would prefer to write during the day. However, life as a lawyer and mother of two young kiddos means my free time starts around 7:30 at night. I get an average of three hours of writing in a day and about five during the summer.

Twitter or Instagram? Or Facebook? Where can we find you?

Website: www.jennyknutsson.com

Twitter:  @Jenny_Knutsson

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorjennyknutsson

If you could meet any author, living or dead, who would you want to meet and why?

Stephen King, hands down. I eat up his novels like candy, and I admire so much about his writing. His books (including his fabulous On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft) have taught me so much about the craft of writing, especially suspense and characterization. I’ve enjoyed his body of work so immensely throughout my life, and I’d love the chance to tell him so.