Ask the Author: Jennifer Fraser
Answered Questions (10)
Jennifer Fraser
You tell your lawyer about children who are being systemically abused. While he feigns concern, issues promises the abuse will stop, requests information from you and other parents whose kids have been suffering, and finally, turns the tables to destroy the children further.
Jennifer Fraser
I think I'd join Dante on his journey through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. I adore Italy and Italians, am fascinated by the "shaman" figure who goes to the land of the dead in order to bring wisdom back to the people, am intrigued by the divine and its role in our lives. Dante's relationship to the pagan Virgil has always been something that provokes me and moves me. The role of a mentor in one's life (teacher or coach) and how that can change our life trajectory.
Jennifer Fraser
I have been writing more than reading lately, but sitting on my table are several books I'm dying to read - The Dreaming Path: Indigenous Thinking to Change Your Life and Atlas of the Heart and How Emotions are Made and then I have stacks and stacks of unread books that I would love to read every day all day this summer, but doubt I'll get to them. Sigh. First world problems of the highest order.
Jennifer Fraser
Not exactly a mystery, but I became an unlikely whistleblower about child abuse and I think the battle I have been waging against an entrenched system could make a pretty compelling book. If I was telling the story, I would foreground the incredibly brave teenagers who spoke up and mostly survived a system of adults---utterly lacking in empathy and integrity---who tried to crush them.
Jennifer Fraser
I go for a run. I find that the act of blood rushing up into my brain gets my ideas flowing again and helps me clarify next steps. Sometimes I also just walk away from the impasse and go to another part of the story and develop it. I return to the problem section after a break. I think it's really important to get ideas down in skeletal form and not torment yourself about how it sounds. You can always revise and refine.
Jennifer Fraser
Entering into someone else's psyche and striving to imagine and be in the world from their point of view and experience. It's powerful.
Jennifer Fraser
The best thing that happened for me is being asked to join a serious writing group of published poets, short-story, and novel writers. We meet once a month and critique one another's work. It is an excellent way to hone your craft and become a good reader and editor as well. Aspiring writers need to trust themselves to tell their story and then when it's articulated, persevere through the challenging phases of responses, critique, re-writing and then back to the drawing board.
Jennifer Fraser
I am editing Crush: A Wine Thriller. It will be published in the fall. Editing is not nearly as much fun as writing.
Jennifer Fraser
My head is constantly full of stories and characters that clamour for my attention. I am in state of constant inspiration. My problem is not having enough time.
Jennifer Fraser
My most recent book, Teaching Bullies, just launched on Amazon. I got the idea from a personal situation as a teacher and mother. I became concerned by how students were being treated and decided to do research. What I learned about emotional abuse---or bullying by adults to children---was so worrisome and so little known, I decided I had to write about it and inform other teachers, parents, students, lawyers, policy writers and educational authorities. Kids are at risk!
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