UFI welcomes Author Jennifer Allis Provost. Thanks for Joining us!!
What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from
looking on your bio or reading in another interview?
I’m really an intensely private person. I don’t particularly come off that
way, I don’t think – I’m social and outgoing and have a lot of fun connecting
with readers in various ways, particularly in person. But “letting people in”?
Not so much. I keep things close to the vest, and I don’t trust easily. I’m
more comfortable with small groups of close friends than I am large groups of
acquaintances. Which doesn’t always make my author job easy. Laugh!
What do you enjoy doing on your down time?
Down time? What’s that! :Laugh: Hm. I love spending time with my chickens,
as incredibly boring as that sounds. If someone had told me ten years ago that
I’d be crazy about birds, I would have laughed in their face. But chickens are
fascinating. And friendly. And they make me laugh. Particularly when they are
Banty roosters who think they are top dog and “ankle-bite” everything in their
path. I have over forty, and each one has a different personality, a different
attitude. Each trip to the layer house is like Easter, the egg colors fascinate
me. Ducks are equally amusing in different ways. And turkeys have now claimed
a soft spot in my heart…which is ironic considering as adults they are intensely
ugly. But personality? Oh my. Amazing beasts.
My boys and I are hoping to get into quail this year as well, and maybe some
pheasants. We’re also hoping our preservation breeding program can get off the
ground with the infusion of some quality birds and some isolated coops. It’s a
work in progress, but one I absolutely love.
What is your Favorite part of writing?
By far it’s the world building. I
love creating rules, boundaries, and tomes of useless information that will only
ever be used in tiny bits. Running a close second is the research that goes
along with that.
Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?
Anymore, I
find I’m not so good at blocking out the world around me and have to have quiet.
Other must haves are coffee (and endless supply, thank you very much!) and
something to snack on.
What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/
Paranormal Genres?
Oddly enough, I don’t often read these genres, truth to tell.
I will say I find Myra Lang’s SPARK RISING absolutely fascinating (and full
disclosure, yes I edited it, but she did all the hard work, not me☺). The world
building is what suckers me on a good UF read and hers is fantastic. I really,
really enjoyed Aldred Chase’s ALL THINGS TO EVERYONE. It’s more middle grade,
definitely not romance, but it captivated me.
How would you pitch the Inherited Damnation Series to someone who has not
heard of it before?
A speculative twist on the lost ancient Celt tribes blended
with a splash of demon mythology. It’s full of danger and darkness with just
enough romance to keep things perfectly spicy!
Can you tell us a little bit about the world that the Inherited Damnation
Series is set in?
It’s completely set in present day, but the eight siblings are
immortal descendants of a lost Celt tribe, the Selgovae. So while their
“normal” is the same as yours and mine, in so much as every day life, their
roots run far deeper and they have broader experiences to build upon.
However, throughout the series, I visit different places. You’ll start in
Maine, and stay on the east coast for a while, then venture to Scotland, the
mountains, England and even Paris, France. Each of the siblings lives in
different areas of the world, and I try to bring those brief forays to far-away
places to life as much as possible.
There’s also a definite historical feel in certain areas. I really tried to
grasp the sense of “old” as much as possible. Although, if you’re familiar with
my Templar series, there aren’t any heavy accents to wade through ;)
Do you have a favorite scene in Cursed to Kill?
I do! There’s a scene where
Cian, the hero, is struggling with the truth of his existence. He knows Miranda
will never believe he’s over two thousand years old and his blood is demonic.
He also knows he’s done the unforgiveable and fallen in love, making her a
target for his bloodthirsty side. He’s standing in his bedroom thinking things
through and she wakes up. I don’t want to reveal any spoilers, but the emotion
in the exchange they have is one of my favorite scenes in that book. I find
what he tells her both noble and heart-breaking.
Which character was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to
write about?
Oh, goodness… that’s tough. And honestly, it boils down to the
same answer—Taran, the hero in the last book. He’s very dark, and in the
initial books I hadn’t fully plotted out where he was going. So it was very
easy to assign every horrible deed to him—he was my scapegoat and I enjoyed
truly hating him.
Until about the time my initial editor remarked she had no idea how I was
going to redeem him.
By that time I knew his plot, but even going into the book I realized it
wasn’t going to be a cakewalk. He does some very unredeemable things throughout
the series and I needed to make readers like him. Somehow. That ended up being
the hardest part and the hardest character to shape. But during that process he
became my favorite. I finally understood why he did the things he did…as well
as some of the secrets he harbors.
Before he came along though, it was so Dáire. Lol!
What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?
At the moment, I confess, what I’m working on isn’t under the Claire Ashgrove
name. I have contracts to fulfill as Tori St. Claire, and I’m presently
embedded in Romantic Era British working class with the Sharrington Chronicles,
written as Sophia Garrett. (Historical romance.)
I do hope to set the next Windwalker story loose this year, and the Templars
will come to a final end. When those will happen, exactly, I can’t say – I
really don’t know how time will play out with the contract demands. The best
advice I could give if someone wants to know right away, is to sign up for my
newsletter. I don’t send it out often, only when there’s something important to
say, but that’s usually my first go-to for announcements. And this year, I hope
to include some newsletter-only content that’s fiction. I’m working on some
ideas there for a short serial.
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