Ten questions with Jennifer Herrera
Jennifer Herrera, called “a writer to watch” in her starred Publisher’s Weekly review has had an unusual path to publishing her first novel. Thanks for your time Jennifer!
1. Please tell us about your debut novel.
THE HUNTER follows an NYPD detective who has made this really big mistake. She pointed her sidearm at her partner and let a suspect get away, and it blew up her whole life. She lost her job. Her husband left her. And the worst part is, she doesn’t know why she did it. Then she gets this call from her brother, who is a police officer in her hometown, and he says there are these suspicious deaths. Can she come home and figure out what happened?
She gets it in her head that if she does this and she solves this big case, her husband will forgive her and she’ll prove to the NYPD that she’s an asset to them and they’ll welcome her back. And her crumbling life will reconstitute itself.
The only problem is that going home isn’t simple for her. She has a lot of emotional baggage she has to work through. As it turns out, working through her emotional baggage is going to be key in solving her case and also to figuring out why she sabotaged her whole life.
2. I’ve read that only 4% of the people who start a novel, finish writing it. Why do you think you beat the odds?
I've worked in publishing for a long time, so I'm acutely aware of how hard it is to sell a book once it's written. To me the hard part wasn't necessarily writing the book, it was having the patience to make it the best it could be, even when there was no end in sight. I think the reason I was able to do that is because I truly love what I do. When you love something, you just can't get it out of your head, for better or for worse.
3. Was your debut novel the first book you wrote? (Any prior efforts hiding on your hard drive?)
I've definitely been writing for a long time. The first books I wrote I did so in kind of a fever dream, like "Can I really finish this?" I don't think they were necessarily good but they taught me that I could get to the end.
I couldn't tell you how many there are on my hard drive, or how many partial manuscripts I've tried to write and never finished. But I'm quite sure I've put in at least 10,000 hours, which I know sounds like a lot. But if it's what you love, you do it. What choice do you have?
4. What helped you become a better writer? Any books or resources you found helpful?
What's helped me the most in learning how to write was actually doing it and then getting people to tell me what they thought. I think every writer has different flaws and different strengths and we don't always know which is which until someone else tells us. I had a lot of people read my work and tell me their reactions. Oftentimes the lines I thought were the most clever were the most distracting to readers. It really was a great lesson.
5. What was your process like getting an agent?
My process was pretty straightforward, in part because I am a literary agent. I was writing this book and I was afraid of sending it out to agents and then having it be rejected by my peers. So I sent it to one friend of mine who I trusted would be honest with me. She was/is an agent but I told her that under no circumstances did I want her to represent me--our friendship was more important. Then she said she loved it and she offered me representation. We talked and talked and talked and eventually she said, "No one will work harder for you." And I knew that our friendship could survive working together so I said yes.
Jennifer Herrera, credit for photo: ©Aliza Schlabach 2022.
6. How did you celebrate when you learned your book would be published?
I don't actually remember. Is that sad? I was so happy but I was also kind of numb. I probably opened a bottle of champagne and ordered takeout, knowing me.
7. What was the most exciting moment involving the publication of your debut novel? (The moment you first saw the cover? The call when you learned when it was being published? When you cashed your advance check?)
The most exciting part was actually just getting to write the acknowledgments. I am very aware that to do anything well, it really does take a village. By getting to name all the members of my "village" I really felt that I'd made it. Here we were, all up on this podium together.
8. What’s your best advice for someone who wants to be published?
First, ask yourself why you want to be published. If the answer is anything other than "to give readers something they enjoy," then see if there's another route to get you what you want. If your answer is about giving readers something they'll enjoy, then get as much feedback as possible. Read as much as possible. Try as hard as you can to communicate with readers so you understand how to make a story that serves them. Otherwise you get caught up in all the ego stuff. And that's a recipe for disappointment no matter what the outcome. Your ego is an insatiable beast.
9. What are you currently reading? Or, what's one of the best novels you've read lately?
I find that I keep rereading WOMEN WHO RUN WITH THE WOLVES. It is full of insight into why stories matter and what they have in common across generations and across cultures. It's a deep dive in terms of understanding why we do what we do and how we can do it better.
10. What are you working on now? Any projects coming out soon?
Leigh O'Donnell, the protagonist of THE HUNTER, is getting another book! I can't give too much away in terms of plot but I'm excited about the opportunity to deepen her story as well as the stories of those around her.
If you’d like to learn more about Jennifer Herrera and her work, check out her website or follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
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