posted on January 20, 2014 by Jenn Bennett

Speakeasy Love

BITTER_SPIRITS_covermedSome of you may already know my work through the Arcadia Bell urban fantasy series from Pocket Books. But this month the first book in my new historical paranormal romance series was released, BITTER SPIRITS. Having garnered starred reviews in both Publishers Weekly and Booklist—and a Top Pick in RT Book Reviews—the book is about a spirit medium who falls for a sexy, scarred bootlegger in 1920s San Francisco when he becomes haunted in Chinatown.

A little different, right?

A lot of readers ask me why I chose to set the book in the Roaring Twenties. My love affair with that decade started way, way back in my teens (a dog-eared copy of THE GREAT GATSBY + a French bob + long strings of flapper-friendly beads inherited from my grandmother). However, that teenage crush never really ended, and over the years, I ended up with a small library of 1920s research material and a closet filled with narrow-brimmed cloches. But it wasn’t until after I’d written my debut, KINDLING THE MOON, that I considered writing something set in that time period.

The ’20s has a wealth of juicy period details that could be mined for a story—Prohibition, flappers, jazz… But from a writer’s point of view (mine, at least) the most interesting thing is that it was a decade in which women broke social barriers and ventured into institutions that were previously regarded as Men Only. Women got their hair bobbed at the barbershop, smoked cigarettes, and sat at the bar alongside men. They moved to big cities to find work. Drove cars. Voted. They were pioneers, learning how to be independent, and that’s exactly the kind of heroine I like to write!

http://www.jennbennett.net/

Jenn Bennett

Jenn Bennett

Photo �Bill Skeel

Jenn Bennett is author of the Arcadia Bell urban fantasy series from Pocket Books and the upcoming Roaring Twenties paranormal romance series from Berkley. Born in Germany, she’s lived and traveled extensively throughout Europe, the U.S., and the Far East, and currently lives near Atlanta with one husband and two very bad pugs.

http://www.jennbennett.net

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Latest from our Blog

Mahoney & Squire – Military Women’s Fiction – Meet The Characters

Have you met the men and women of Mahoney & Squire, my high-stakes, high-octane military action adventure series? Let me introduce you! Captain Kathryn “Kate” Mahoney, USN Call Sign “Scarlett” Ambitious, strong-willed, patriotic, and assertive, Kate Mahoney is often derided as a “bitch” by the old school naval aviation community. She struggled through dysfunctional relationships,… Read More

Read More