Welcome to the 2024 ARIA Author Showcase and Giveaway Event! 

  

  

How to enter – Comment on the daily showcases to enter the daily giveaway. Comments close four days after the initial Showcase post. GRAND PRIZE drawn on Dec 5th (1 -$250, 1 -$100, or a 1 -$50 Amazon gift card. One grand prize pp) – For every showcase you post on, you automatically gain one entry to the grand prize. 30 Authors = 30 entries.    

Jennifer Carrier will be at the Rhode Island Author Expo   

On to the Showcase! 

 

What name do you like to write under? Jennifer Carrier

Where do you call home? Northern Rhode IslandI

What genre(s) do you write? Children's Books 

What genre(s) were you drawn to when you were younger? Was there a reason that genre(s) appealed to you the most? As a young adult I loved to read young adult novels, usually romance or novels based on true stories. I still am very into true crime, mysteries, and psychological thrillers!

What were some of your favorite books growing up? Why?  The Diary of Anne Frank, Twilight, 5 People You Meet In Heaven, Tuesdays with Morrie.

What are some of your favorite books today? Still all of the above! I also enjoyed The Handmaids Tale series.

What inspired you to become a writer? As a child my mother was always saying that one day she wanted to write a children's book. She would doodle on envelopes and napkins. She was always thinking up titles and story lines. I always wanted to be just like my mother, so I kind of inherited her dream. 

 

Use Your Words

 

Looking through the eyes of a child with autism, Use Your Words! follows a young girl as she grows up and finds her place in this world.  Jennifer Carrier's students inspired Use Your Words!, with the hope of teaching empathy and seeing through the eyes of another.

Tell us a little about how “Use Your Words” came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma or something else?  A student of mine, Ava, inspired Use Your Words! I had her in my class from the time she turned three and was diagnosed with autism, until she was five years old and off to kindergarten. In her last year of preschool with me, I used to say to my colleagues how I wanted to write a book about her and all of the incredibly witty and hysterical things she says! Ava was the type of child that had natural comedic timing, and would have her teachers falling off their chairs laughing so hard. One day something sparked my creativity. I went home and wrote the book in less than an hour.

Which scene, character or plotline changed the most from first draft to published book? Being that the book is based mostly on real life, not much changed about the characters. Illustration wise, I think we spent the most time on Ava. I wanted to make sure she was accurately portrayed.

Which character was the most challenging to create. Why?  Ava, for sure! I really wanted to make sure I captured her true self; her wittiness, her humor, and her struggles as a child with autism.

What do you like best about being a writer? I absolutely love reading my book to groups of young children. Mostly because the book itself has some pretty deep language and meaning. I like to help them really understand the concept behind how communication looks different for everyone and that it's ok to be different. 

If you could collaborate with any author past or present, who would it be? What would the title of the book be? (If possible) - Give us a one sentence blurb.  Mitch Album! He is my absolute favorite author. I'd love to learn a thing or two from him, and maybe write a book called "Sundays With Jenny". 

You can follow Jennifer Carrier here - 

Website - https://words-for-all.com/

FaceBook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095246289764 

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wordsforall_/ 

 

Jennifer is giving away a signed copy of Use Your Words!

To enter, comment below → Has a book or person ever inspired you to change your life for the better?

(Comments are open for 4 days)