You Think You Know Someone...
Jenna Kernan is sharing some secrets about herself with us that you may not have ever guessed!
1) Information Specialist: I once worked the information booth at Book Expo America in New York City’s Javitts Center, after it was technically closed, because there was no other place to sit and eat lunch with my editor. I fielded questions which I had no authority whatsoever to answer, all through the meal. Mostly this involved telling attendees that they were out of tickets for author events, which seemed obvious to me, since the booth was unmanned.
2) Ukulele Lady: I've taken up playing the ukulele since arriving in Florida because it seemed to be the thing to do. I've collected three ukes including my first one which was purchased at a flea market for $8. I told my husband if I learned to play three songs I’d buy a good one.
3) Scatterbrain? I once arrived at a conference in New Jersey, for which I registered twice, but didn't secure a room for myself and MY ROOMMATE! Thank goodness for overflow hotels!
4) Listen Up! I always listen to my complete manuscript using a text to speech program. I find many missing words and awkward sentences this way. It helps me hear the flow of the story and is a step I never miss in my editing process.
5) A Bad Day of Fishing… The adage is true that a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work. I found a fishing pole bobbing in the surf in the Gulf of Mexico, covered with weeds and somewhat corroded. I took it as a message from the universe to try fishing, which is now a new passion. I often fish at sunset in warm, knee-deep water on the Gulf of Mexico. My best catch? A sixteen-inch pompano.
6) First Edition: My first story was one I illustrated at age five with my mother acting as scribe. The tale involved a bird and a monkey in a ruined city, and had a print run of one. My current one is a Christmas collection of three heart-warming Western historical novellas titled Western Christmas Weddings.
7) Contagious? While traveling in Europe with friends, I was asked by a fellow traveler if I was contagious because of the color of my hair and the spots (freckles) on my skin. My friend asked if he had seen freckles before, and he said he had not, but hair that red in his country was a symptom of malnutrition, and he didn’t know what to make of the spots!
8) Facebook Fail: I was once exploring Facebook's new Live Streaming function while in the bathroom, and nearly broadcast a very private moment—live! Thank goodness for the Go live? button which I did not push. My phone somehow survived being hurled across the room, thanks to a well-placed bathmat.
9) Family Name: My father chose his mother’s surname as my middle name. My grandmother raised chickens in Pennsylvania, and her father immigrated from Ireland where he was, according to my father, “a ne’er-do-well fiddler.”
10) No Shoes—No Service: Since moving to Florida, I've been going around barefoot so often that I've arrived at the grocery or pharmacy with no shoes. Once I pretended I was wearing shoes and did my weekly shopping anyway. Now I have an extra pair of flip-flops in the car to avoid facing the store manager.
