Jenna Cooper's Blog

I Wish I Didn’t Have to Post This

jennacooper — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:38:25 +0000

It seems so strange just less than a month ago, my last post was about continuing Amber’s search. Well, her body has been found. My heart broke when I heard this news, and I thought about all of her family I’ve met, and about this girl who I never knew, but I felt such a kindred spirit with. I feel horrible as I write this, and angry that someone could ever end such a young, beautiful life as Amber’s. My prayers continue to go to her family, and I hope that yours do, too.

Amber

jennacooper — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:56:33 +0000

Today marks the one year anniversary of Amber Dubois’ disappearance. My dad and I participated in a walk-a-thon today to help raise money for her search, along with many other wonderful people. I just wanted to make this post to remind everyone to keep her in your mind and heart as the search continues for her.

More Music

jennacooper — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:39:50 +0000

The next song I have to share that reminds me of Turned is February Song by Josh Groban. To me, this one is Adrian at the end of the book with Petra. I couldn’t find a video on youtube with the lyrics, so I’m posting the official music video and then posting the lyrics below that.

I hope you all enjoy!

February Song by Josh Groban

Where has that old friend gone
Lost in a February song
Tell him it won’t be long
Til he opens his eyes, opens his eyes
Where is that simple day
Before colors broke into shades
And how did I ever fade
Into this life, into this life

And I never want to let you down
Forgive me if I slip away
When all that I’ve known is lost and found
I promise you I, I’ll come back to you one day

Morning is waking up
And sometimes it’s more than just enough
When all that you need to love
Is in front of your eyes
It’s in front of your eyes

And I never want to let you down
Forgive me if I slip away
Sometimes it’s hard to find the ground
Cause I keep on falling as I try to get away
From this crazy world

And I never want to let you down
Forgive me if I slip away
When all that I’ve known is lost and found
I promise you I, I’ll come back to you one day

Where has that old friend gone
Lost in a February song
Tell him it won’t be long
Til he opens his eyes
Opens his eyes

Music

jennacooper — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:48:34 +0000

I will be the first to admit I am no music guru, and many others who know me will confirm it. But I really enjoy music and must be listening to it when a write (the result of first writing on a family computer and trying to drown out my world to bring myself into the world I was creating). And I always think that there’s something magical when you find a song that matches a book or a movie or your own life. All of the books that I love and the ones that I write usually have a few songs that I always make me think of them. This is no different with Turned.

There are a few songs that make me think of Turned. The first I’ll share with you is “Let this Go” by Paramore. This song always makes me think of Petra, at the end with Adrian.
So here’s a video of “Let this Go” with lyrics for you all to enjoy!

P.S. I didn’t make this video, so no, I don’t have a sister named Maribel

FAQ #2

jennacooper — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:33:54 +0000

One question people ask before and after reading Turned is how I came up with the title and why did I name it Turned?

When I was writing, I didn’t have a clue what the title should be. Nothing seemed to stand out or fit, and I couldn’t go on the old fallback of naming it after the main character, because they were three. I remember I was sitting on the chair I nearly always write in, with my computer on my lap, and just thought what could be a word or two that describes this book I’d written? I first thought of Turned because of Petra, but I began to realize that Adrian and Darnell were turning just as much as she was. Their views and morals are turning all the time, as well as other minor characters.

And so that is how the title of Turned came to be.

An Interesting Question

jennacooper — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:05:39 +0000

Once I was asked why Adrian’s father went by Dr. Fairfax on Earth and not Mr. Fairfax. This is something that I just think is interesting in Head Fairfax’s character, and was never really able to bring up in the book.

The answer is that Head Fairfax, while apprenticing when he was Adrian’s age, grew used to being upper-class and higher than most of the population. But on Earth for his Head duties, no one really knew how important he was. “Mr.” was a title given to everyone. Now, he couldn’t really be given a title of nobility since he’s in America, and saying he’s the President wouldn’t exactly work. The title that would elevate him to the highest he could be without being an obvious liar was, well, Dr. So his choice of title wasn’t due to many years of hard work to get a PhD, but quite simply, his pride.

Wow, Time Flies!

jennacooper — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:50:22 +0000

I realize it’s been a while since my last post. Sorry about that. It’s been busy, with school and the holidays and scholarships and college applications. I do have one new thing to post about, though.
On November 12 I was honored at my high school district’s meeting for publishing Turned. Here’s a picture of me with the school board:

It was pretty cool and nerve-racking to be recognized, me and my dad even had seats reserved for the meeting (which was definitely nice, the meeting was packed because of certain things going on in the district).
And there were even two teachers from my school there, who didn’t know I was being honored there, and they were really excited, especially since they’re advisers for Best Buddies, a club I’m the secretary of, and so they know me better than most teachers.

I will do my best now to be more persistent in my blogging! I already have some other things to talk about, so they’ll be coming up.

FAQ #1

jennacooper — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:05:40 +0000

A question I’ve been asked quite a bit is how long it took me to write Turned.

My answer: Writing is much more than “I wrote it, and now it’s published”. So my initial, cold-cut writing of Turned took me about four months. But, it took me a year and a half to edit. Now, I probably could have edited a lot faster. Okay, I really could have edited it a lot faster. I hate editing, and it is a sorry excuse for why I put it off, because it is so important for the writing process. There are so many things that I discovered on editing, about the story and characters that went over my head the first time I wrote it. It’s sort of like re-reading a book, except that I got to make changes so that everything fit together.

First School Presentation

jennacooper — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:59:23 +0000

Yesterday I went to a school for the first time! It was really fun. We made up our own characters and story, then some kids acted out what we had come up with. I also talked about my book and answered a few questions. It was really fun, and I have at least one more presentation for a school lined up and I absolutely cannot wait for that!
Oh, and Happy Halloween everyone!

Ladies Auxiliary

jennacooper — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:52:16 +0000

Today I had the opportunity to speak to the Coronado Hospital Ladies Auxiliary about my book. They were all very warm and it was really nice to talk to them.
College applications are going on right now, so I’m a bit busier than I usually am, but still working hard on everything!