An Interview with Jennifer Carr

I’m Jennifer, but you can call me Jen.

I live on a hobby farm in Alabama with my husband, Rob (we’ve been best friends since we were 13), our awesome daughter, Hayes (she’s 14, hilarious, and beautiful!), and a bunch of noisy goats and chickens. It’s a fun mess, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Before I ventured into the world of book writing I wore a lot of different hats. I taught high school AP Psychology, did some marriage and family counseling, planned weddings, and homeschooled our kiddo just to name a few.

I’ve always loved writing. Complete transparency alert—I never set out to become an author. I know, that probably sounds unlikely considering, but it’s true. I sat down one day and decided I wanted to write a story because I needed to know how a dream I’d awoken from ended. It snowballed and turned into chapters and eventually into an entire book. When I finished that book, I needed to make sure my characters were OK and thriving so I wrote the second book.

It was at that point I realized that being an author was something I could see myself doing for a really long time. So, I’m still writing and loving every minute of it.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

To be honest, I never planned to become an author. I know it sounds unlikely, but it’s true. One day, I decided to write a story because I needed to know how a dream I had ended. It turned into chapters and eventually a whole book. When I finished that book, I wanted to make sure my characters were OK, so I wrote the second book (The Lost and Found).

That’s when I realized that being an author was something I could do for a long time. Now, my fourth book (Wrapped Up in You—follows Fall When You’re Ready) comes out on October 1, and I’m already planning the next book in the series!

What inspired you to start writing this book?

I am a sucker for 90s Country music. Brantley Gilbert sings a song called Fall Into Me and one line says, “Fall when you’re ready, babe…” One day the song came on the radio and all of a sudden these two characters popped into my head and said, “Hey! This is our song!” I pulled out my phone, started leaving a note to myself using voice to text, got home and interpreted it the best I could, and here we are!

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

Oh, I can do better than that—I curated a custom Spotify playlist and found a song that relates to all 64 chapters. It’s all country music from the late 80s to early 2000s.

Describe your dream book cover.

One I didn’t design and didn’t cost me anything…. HA! Seriously, though, I love my book covers because they mean something to me. The ones I didn’t design were done so by a friend and the ones I did give me a sense of accomplishment.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I was a marriage and family counselor and taught High School AP Psychology. In high school I was the DJ at a rollerskating rink…

What books did you read (for research or comfort) throughout your writing process?

I try not to read too many books while I’m writing. I’ll pick books up between projects and while they’re in edits but between the all-consuming drive to write and not wanting too many extra words in my head, I can’t say that I read books while writing. BUT, I did listen to A LOT of country music and I did have to do some reference checks to be in line with the 90s/early 2000s timeline! It made for a great walk down memory lane.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I want there to be a constant reminder that it’s not selfish to chase after the dreams you have. And sometimes, second chances are worth taking.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.