Author Spotlight: Jennifer E. Smith

(Books by Jennifer E. Smith)

JENNIFER E. SMITH is not only the well-known bestselling author of young adult books such as THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT and THE GEOGRAPHY OF ME AND YOU, (which were translated into 33 languages!!). She is also one of the few authors I’ve looked up to for craft reference and guidance during the development of my book HANAMI. So imagine my excitement when I knew she was coming over to the Philippines for a book tour. I finally got to meet her in person and chat about her new book, WINDFALL, which was a story of how fate dealt a hard hand in the lives of best friends Alice and Teddy, until luck and opportunity came in a form of a lottery ticket and changed everything.

I asked Jennifer whether she believed in luck, and she said: “I do. I believe in luck, and I think we are all lucky in our own way if we look at the positive in many things.”

Indeed Jennifer is very positive, and quite insightful. She sees herself as a magpie, taking bits of knowledge and inspiration from everything that she encounters. She also shares that an author’s book is in some way, a form of time capsule, where moments are frozen on a page. She also believes that a great writer is a great reader. Because reading can help develop the instinct and perception for timing and plot, it is the best teacher you can give yourself.

“Do you have any fighting words that help you keep focused?” I asked.

She smiles and replied, “Honestly, the words that always go through my head when I’m trying to write is: JUST SPIT IT OUT. Because truly, getting the words on the page is sometimes the biggest part of the battle. You can always shape sentences and edit them, but you can’t edit a blank page. So often times, I just tell myself to get it down, just write it, JUST SPIT IT OUT.”

Before we said our goodbyes that morning, we played a game:

ME: When I say a word, you have to tell me the first thing that comes to mind.

JENNIFER: Ok, let’s do it!