About Jen: author & illustrator
Welcome! Thank you for choosing to visit my website.
I’m Jennifer, most people call me Jen. I’m not solely an author and illustrator; I’m an artist as well. I have a sunny little “She Shed” where I’m free to flitter around from canvas to canvas, mostly mountainous landscapes and fluffy cloudy skies. I also enjoy abstract and mixed media creations when unbridled creativity alights.
I’m just as creative in the kitchen, my cooking and baking is never restricted to a recipe, no two meals or delicious treats are ever the same. I enjoy singing, especially karaoke. I might even write my own songs someday.
I love the English language; words are my paintbrush; I type my way into wonderful fantasy realms, and I delight in directing my imaginary characters, sometimes I even feel like they direct me, and that is the sheer joy of being in the flow of true inspiration. I write short rhyming stories for children which I illustrate digitally, and I also compile short stories for adults.
I love the English language; Words are my paintbrush.
I look down at my keyboard with the alphabet arranged before me and it marvels me how 26 letters and some punctuation keys can have such tremendous latent potential just waiting to take creative flight.
As a little girl I yearned to read and write like an adult, I admired people with a vast vocabulary, and I yearned to learn the longest and most profound words to describe everything. To my humbling humiliation, little Jen often used those fabulous new words incorrectly, subsequently giving the grown-ups a gloriously good chuckle.
My father worked in the paper industry, and he would often bring home the most wonderful pads of sample papers for me to draw on.
I enjoyed drawing kookie characters with the funniest expressions I could come up with. Drawing paper, crayons and coloring books were an integral part of my childhood just as much as fancy words were.
Words graduated when my grandmother gave me the most glorious book, “A treasury of Mother Goose nursery rhymes.” I was enchanted! My whole word turned musical, whimsical and magical! I was soon rhyming almost every sentence I spoke, and I made up silly rhyming songs as well. It was a high for me but for my poor family members… not so much.
As an adult author with full creative license, I encourage my playful inner child, and I use bouncy rhyme in all my narratives. I’ve written a few limericks that would never get full marks for meter, but they made me glad, and I’ve created a lot of nonsense rhymes that have made me even gladder.
I am far more an entertainer than an educator, so my stories are playful and aimed to spark imagination and joy. My spot the difference books are for all ages and designed to train up observation skills and aimed to be amusing as well.
My adult stories thankfully do not rhyme, (insert chuckle here) they are fairly short and easy to read. The characters and plots are simple to follow, and the themes are often steeped in serendipity which I delight in. My narratives are descriptive and immersive with plausible, often witty characters. These stories are perfect for a cold or rainy morning, lazy afternoon or quiet bedtime read.
I’m a ‘sunshine and rainbows’ type of writer, I aim to produce ‘feel good’ and escapist stories for my readers. I’m always gleaning inspiration from daily life and waiting for that wonderful call to write. I look forward to my next burst of inspiration and the sound of my fingers dancing around the keyboard, as my mind eagerly creates a special new story for my adult readers. My inner child looks forward to a chance to illustrate and rhyme with the utmost freedom and glee. It’s the best of both worlds for me!
Thank you for taking the time to get to know me a little. I invite you to explore my full collection of books, and I hope there are some that appeal to you and that you will enjoy them as much as I did creating them. Wishing you blessings in every breeze.
– Jen
