Guest Blog: Jennifer Sturman

Jennifer Sturman is the author of the YA novels And Then Everything Unraveled and the brand new sequel And Then I Found Out The Truth, both published by Point (Scholastic) She also wrote several mystery novels. like The Pact and Jinx.
Jennifer lives and writes in New York City, and lives just a few block away from Delia's aunt Charley..

I'm thrilled to be here, guest blogging for Marjolein! And luckily for you readers, Marjolein suggested a topic. She must have realized leaving me to my own devices could be hazardous. The last time that happened, I blogged about my favorite condiments.

Anyhow, today's topic is traveling. probably because my characters tend to get around.
In my Delia Truesdale books, And the everything unraveled and Then I found out the truth, characters show up ins such places as Palo Alto, Manhattan, Antartica, Patagonia and Buenos Aires. The cast is pretty international too. Delia herself is half Indian, and there's also a psychic from Ecuador, a private eye from Colombia and a film director from from Germany who insist being called a cineaste. His name is Dieter, and he likes to wear scarves, even in the summer.

Sometimes I'm jealous of my characters and the eas with which they move from place to place.
Like most people, I love to travel, and I do it as much as I can. Last year, my family took an amazing trip to Eastern Europe, we were in Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest, Vienna and Prague - but there was a lot of planning and transport and packing/unpacking along the way. For my characters, I can condense the boring logistics into a moment or even do away with them altogether. Then I can focus on the fun part-their experiences in these different locales.

And it's more then experience - setting shapes how my characters think and feel. delia grew up in Sillicon Valley, surrounded by internet entrepeneuers. The local culture was all about science and technology. Moving to New York opens up new horizons not only geograpically, but in just about every other way too. In Palo Alto, the people she knew defined themselves by their careers and pursue their ambitions in a very structured manner. In Manhattan she lives with her aunt Charley, who's anything but structured. Charley's own career, if you can call it that, has included stints in the Peace Corps, zoologu, Eastern medicine, and the arts. She only sees possibilities, options rather then straight and narrow paths.

Meanwhile, even though I love to send my characters to exotic places. I also really enjoy putting them in places I already know, like New York. What's familiar looks completely foreign to their eyes. I probably shouldn't admit this, nut every so often I'll pretend I'm one of my characters as I go about my day. I end up seeing streets i thought I knew inside out in a brand new light- I can 'travel' without even leaving my neighbourhood.

I'm not saying that pretending you're a fictional character while you're at the local starbucks is any substitute for a nice vacation somewhere far from home, bbut it does liven things up. If, however, anyone sees me at the gym wearing a sacrf and speaking wit ha fake German accent, please contact the local authorities.

Marjolein, thanks so much for letting me post - I hope you enjoy Unraveled and Truth!

Many Thanks Jennifer!
For more about Jennifer, visit her at www.jennifersturman.com