About Me
Hi! I'm Jen and I write books.
Some sad. Some funny. Some a little of both.
My debut novel, The Language of Cherries (Owl Hollow Press), released February 11, 2020.
My second novel, All the Lonely People (Owl Hollow Press) released in fall 2021.
You can find either of them where books are sold.
Short Bio
Jen Marie Hawkins writes books that (hopefully) will not embarrass her children or her grandmother.
Long Bio
Jen Marie Hawkins is a nurse who writes books for young adults (and the young at heart). By day, she is a medical developmental editor of study materials and review courses for physicians.
Her short works can be found in literary magazines, and her manuscripts have been finalists in the YARWA Rosemary Contest and the RWA Maggie Contest. In 2018, she won the Joyce Henderson Award for her unpublished novel, Before and After August. Her debut YA novel, The Language of Cherries, released in February 2020, received a starred review and was named by Kirkus as one of the best books of 2020. Her sophomore novel, All The Lonely People, was released in August of 2021. She is represented by Hilary Harwell of KT Literary Agency.
Jen lives in the beautiful Deep South with her husband and sons, and a bunch of rescue animals (dog, cat, bunny, snakes). When she isn't reading or writing stories sprinkled with magic, you can probably find her cuddling her boys, sipping the best Cabernet Sauvignon with her handsome hubby, and daydreaming about Clemson football season.
A few of my favorite things
Authors who inspire me
A.S. King, Alice Walker, Maggie Stiefvater, Laini Taylor, Maureen Johnson, John Green, Aimee Bender, Sandra Cisneros, Jeff Zentner, Matt de la Peña, Sarah Addison Allen, Kelly Link, Alice Hoffman, Adam Silvera, Laura Esquivel, Haruki Murakami, Neil Gaiman, Jandy Nelson, Pablo Neruda...and on and on and on...
My playlists always contain
Old stuff: The Beatles (4ever), Sam Cooke, Bob Marley, Stevie Nicks, A Tribe Called Quest, Elton John, Van Morrison, Jim Croce, Led Zeppelin
New(ish) stuff: THE AVETT BROTHERS, Amos Lee, Ben Harper, Hozier, Florence Welch, The Wailin' Jennys, The Head & the Heart, Rex Orange County, Jack Johnson, Beabadoobee, Kendrick Lamar, Khalid, Vance Joy, Damien Rice
Endless love for
Jesus. My sweet boys. Travel. Dogs. Ukulele music. Archery. Cherry pie. Crossfit. The smell of a campfire. Napa Valley. The ocean. Red Rocks. Writer friends. The crinkles around my husband's eyes.