Interview with Jenny Reed

Hello! My name is Katelina, and welcome to Weekend Character Interviews. Using state of the art-mumbo-jumbo author magic, Jo has temporarily bent the laws of fictional space and time to allow various literary universes to converge long enough for me to ask different characters a few questions. Since I spend a lot of time in the Amaranthine series quizzing vampires on what they’re doing, where they’re going and why, Jo thought I would be the perfect interviewer. 

Today we have Jenny Reed, the main character from Red Wine for Breakfast by Raven West.

Katelina: Hello Jenny, thanks for coming! No offense, but you look like you’re kinda pissed off…

Red Wine for Breakfast by Raven West

Jenny: Yeah, I am. I’m the host of my very own radio show “Reeding In The Morning” on KTKM FM radio in Los Angeles, California. The station manager just informed me that he hired some jerk by the name of Johnny King to be my co-host. He came to the station with a bottle of Beaujolais to celebrate and now the boss wants to change the name of MY show to “Red Wine for Breakfast” Can you believe the nerve? I’ve been here for more than five years, and just because this King jerk is the boss’s brother-in-law, he gets to rename my show. I guess sleeping with the station manager wasn’t such a great idea after all.

K: Oh crap! That’s a great how do you do. So what’s this Johnny King like?

J: He’s brash, he’s full of himself and a real egomaniac. The problem is that he also has THE best radio voice I’ve ever heard, although I would never tell him.

K: Can’t say I blame you! It sounds like it’s going to be a real challenge to work with him.

J: I wish I could say he was the ONLY challenge, but in the world of radio, there’s a different challenge almost every day. First, I found out that I was going to have a co-host for my show, then I find out that he’s the station manager’s wifes’ brother, and I just broke off my very non-committal  affair with him. I’m single, over 30 and my job has always been my life, but now I’m not so sure I made the right choice.

There is a rumor that the station is going to be sold, and that we may change formats from music to all talk, which I hate. I was in control of my life, but now it seems that the only thing I can control is writing my resume, which I’m going to do right after my shift ends.

Author Raven West

K: Thank you! I get some slack for the non-committal “situation” I used to have with Patrick. There’s nothing wrong with not wanting to leap down the altar! So what happened to end the relationship, and do you have your eye on anyone new?

J: I broke it off mostly because I got bored and he got boring. Right now I don’t see anyone here at the station that I’d be interested in, although I hear the new owner is a pretty sexy Italian, so I’ll keep my options open. Just as long as I keep my door closed where Johnny King is concerned.

K: You said you’re from LA, right? There’s probably a lot of masculine candy running around there-

Jorick: (in the wings) *glares*

K: Moving on… Um, LA, huh? *nervous laugh* Are you from LA or did you move there?

J: No, I’m from New York.

K: Do you think that moving from the East to the West made a big difference in your life (besides the obvious ones)?

J: After I moved to Los Angeles, I also changed my name from Doris Cohen to Jenny Reed, dyed my hair blond and lost a ton of east coast flag. Along with those transformations, I’ve developed a great deal of self-confidence, which was going strong until this Johnny King threatened to take everything away from me. If I lose my job at KTKM, I have no idea what I’ll do. Radio is the only thing I’ve even loved, or so I thought.

K: Speaking of changes, how do you change during the course of this story?

J: I discovered that first impressions aren’t always correct and that sometimes men can surprise you in a good way.

K: It sounds like it works out for you then. You must have a good author.

J: I do. I thank Raven for not making me a typical female victim who needs saving, even when she faces the worst day of her life.

photo by Atomic Taco via Flickr

K: So no running, screaming and twisting your ankle? *laughs*. I’m not sure how that could get worked into a radio station anyway.

J: Definitely no running, screaming or ankle twisting. But, this is not a story about what happens at a Los Angeles radio station, it’s a story about a strong, independent woman, ME, who is drowning in a sea of testosterone and manages to beat the odds.

K: It looks like we’re running out of time, so before we have to go, what is it that you want most in the world?

J: For my show to continue to place #1 in the Arbitron ratings every week!

K: Doesn’t sound unreasonable to me. Last question. Is there anything you’d like to say to our readers?

J: I really hope that you’ll read my story and get to know the real Jenny Reed, and not believe all those terrible things that Johnny King has been saying about me! Please read the story and  let me know how you liked it! Then, you can meet my favorite writer, Rachael Coark, when you read “First Class Male”, also by Raven West!

K: Thanks so much to Jenny for stopping in and answering my questions. You can find her in Red Wine for Breakfast, available on

Smashwords – http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/5472

Barnes and Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/red-wine-for-breakfast-raven-west/1018219099

And a special thank you to Raven West for playing along!

If you’re an author and would like your character(s) to be interviewed by me, then check out this very cool page that has all the details:

https://joleenenaylor.wordpress.com/character-interviews/

Posted by Joleene Naylor on July 16, 2011

https://joleenenaylor.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/interview-with-jenny-reed/