An Interview with Jennifer Paller Girard
Jenn was born in Vail, Colorado and lived nearby for most of her life. After receiving her Doctorate in Behavioral Health, she continued her career of helping people – orphans in Vietnam, patients at the Colorado Children’s Hospital, and clients in her private counseling practice.
One of her favorite passions was travel. She visited forty-seven countries on six continents.
This was her final message in her own words, before passing away on December 17, 2024:
“I may be thirty-eight, but I lived the life of someone twice my age. I wouldn’t change it for anything. I mean, except for the becoming incurable, chronically ill. Thank you to everyone who touched my life in some way or taught me some kind of lesson. Live big, and don’t waste a moment – I didn’t.”
What inspired you to start writing this book?
After the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, Jenn wrote this book with hope that it would lift the spirits of the affected families and those who support Israel. She was inspired by the resilience of the Jewish people as she fought her own courageous battle.
Next Year in Avaria was written in a twenty-day period during the last months of her life. She desperately wanted to go to Israel to volunteer her support but was unable to travel while fighting the symptoms of several debilitating diseases.
Tell us the story of your book’s current title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?
The title Next Year in Avaria came to Jenn so easily as she started to write that she assumed that it was temporary. As she continued writing, it became clear to her that it was, in fact, the right title for her book.
If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?
We’re Not Gonna Take It from Rock of Ages, When You Believe from The Prince of Egypt, Eye of the Tiger, and Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’.
What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?
Preschool teacher, mental health therapist, Doctor of Behavioral Health, volunteer English teacher in Vietnamese orphanages.
Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?
Jenn read voraciously from early childhood throughout her life. She read everything from fiction to textbooks. When she retired due to medical issues she read an entire book almost daily.
Where is your favorite place to write?
On a long airplane trip during the night when everyone else is sleeping.
What advice would you give your past self at the start of your writing journey?
Give yourself a quiet place to sit down and start writing – just let it flow. Write what you want to read!
What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?
You are stronger and more powerful than you’ll ever know unless you are tested. You might find out just how much other people count on you.
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