Jaye Viner
Born a missionary kid in Kobe, Japan, and homeschooled on the American Great Plains as part of an evangelical community, Jaye Viner straddles many worlds and too many personal interests. As an “EXvangical,” she now worships her cats and spends a great deal of time at the salon maintaining her blue hair. She holds an MFA and MA from the University of Nebraska. Her debut thriller, JANE OF BATTERY PARK, explores what it means to come from one place and want to learn how to be from somewhere else. She lives in Omaha, Nebraska.
Twitter: @JayeViner
Instagram: @Jaye_Viner
Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music while you write?
I have listened to original motion picture scores since early elementary school. It is my go-to writing music as well as the soundtrack I play behind my life. I have playlists for different moods that I move between when writing different kinds of scenes. I also go to certain composers for certain moods. I grew up in a conservative home that was cut off from a lot of popular culture, so soundtracks (even when I hadn’t seen the movies) were my first ‘secular’ experiences. I incorporated soundtracks into my novel, JANE OF BATTERY PARK, as a homage to their importance in my life.
Is there another profession you would like to try?
If the fates had been different, (or I’d been more ambitious) I would’ve been a human rights lawyer. My undergrad was in International Studies and for a long time, I thought I would go over to a post-Soviet country and work for an NGO, join the Peace Corps, and eventually go to law school to do work like Amal Clooney. I have decided that writing novels that values and illustrates the lives of marginalized people is a better fit.
Favorite non-reading activity?
This is embarrassing to admit, but I greatly enjoy watching sports while playing computer games. It is one of the most relaxing things for me. I watch basketball, football, surfing, and ice skating. (Working on baseball.) and I play turn-based strategy games and various Sims. Anything where I can build something (civilization, ships, houses, people) and not die by the hands of a ruthless AI is my thing.
Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?
In my mind, books are always in conversation with film and vice versa. I’m always thinking about film when I write because film is our dominant visual media. For JANE OF BATTERY PARK, I watched Entourage as research into the life of a Hollywood actor, and I drew on the textures and images of several urban thrillers when describing the dark corners and suspense scenes where we don’t know if something is going to jump out and grab someone. My current project is a far future networked utopian world so I’m watching Peacock’s Brave New World adaptation, which is gorgeous and very stimulating.
Do you collect anything? If so, what, why, and for how long?
When I travel, I try to purchase a magnet with an iconic building from that place. I’ve collected them since 2004. I like that they’re cheap and don’t take up much space and it’s a nice collage to have on the fridge where I can drift through trips taken over the years. It’s the most disappointing thing to arrive at a place (like the Denver Art Museum) and realize they don’t have a magnet of their building.
