By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Jennifer Dupree really loved writing short stories, but when she attended graduate school, her view changed.

“I figured I should take advantage of the mentorship. And I’m so glad I did! Writing a novel is hard, and without the structure of having to turn in work regularly and complete a thesis to graduate, I probably would have given up,” she said. “But, once I did it, I knew I could do it again!”

Her debut novel, The Miraculous Flight of Owen Leach, was published in April 2022 by Apprentice House Press.

Jennifer is set to release her latest work, What Do You Want from Me? (contemporary women’s fiction) this April. The launch will be at the Baxter Library in Gorham on April 22 at 6 p.m. Then, she will be at the Harrison Village Library on April 30 and the Windham Library on May 7.

What Do You Want from Me? is a gripping family drama, where the past collides with the present in unpredictable ways. When her father’s former lover falls down the stairs on Halloween, Maeve finds herself torn between protecting her mother and seeking the truth. As Maeve juggles caring for her aging, unstable mother while managing the demands of her own family, dark questions about the past arise. Did her mother really cause the accident, or is it just a tragic coincidence? And what will Maeve do with the truth when she finds it?

Rich with deeply intriguing characters, this novel explores the complexity of family loyalty, memory, and the haunting influence of long-buried secrets. In order to unravel the truth, Maeve must confront her own perceptions of the past, all the while trying to repair the fraught bond with her teenage daughter.

Suspenseful and emotionally charged, this is a story about the deep, unsettling rifts that can tear families apart. Perfect for readers who love darkly humorous, thought-provoking narratives that challenge notions of guilt, love, and the pull of the past.

Pre-orders are available now on Amazon and Bookshop.org. Once the book is released (April 22!), it will be available everywhere — independent bookstores, online, or through Jennifer at events.

About the Author

Jennifer is an assistant editor for The Masters Review, a librarian, and a former bookstore owner.

She earned a MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast program.

Her work has appeared in December, Solstice, The Masters Review, On the Rusk and other notable places, and has won the Writer’s Digest Fiction Contest for 2017 as well as two Maine Literary Awards (2022, 2006).

Q&A with The News

The News recently posed these questions to Jennifer:

Q. Tell me about your interest in writing — who it developed, inspirations?

Jennifer Dupree: I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember, but I started to be more serious about it after I graduated from college. In 2013 (well after I graduated from college!), I enrolled in the Creative Writing MFA program offered through USM’s Stonecoast program. There, I received the mentorship I needed to complete my first novel (The Miraculous Flight of Owen Leach, which came out in 2022) and to develop the tools needed to keep going on my own.

Q. What do you enjoy most about writing?

Jennifer Dupree: I enjoy revision more than anything. I’ve always loved the idea of literally re-visioning something — to see it again, and again. I don’t mind coming up with new ideas, but there’s always this period of time between coming up with an idea and seeing if it has legs that I hate. Especially because I write all my first drafts long-hand, it’s a pretty tedious process.

But once I have something, even if it’s very rough (which it always is), I can start asking myself the questions that will get me to the finished product. I find that fun, even though it has taken me 10 years and 8 years for my two books, respectively.

Q. What challenges did you face?

Jennifer Dupree: It’s just hard to find writing time between work and family and generally having a life. But that’s something all writers I know face.

Q. How did the plot develop?

Jennifer Dupree: Oh, this book was a great deal of evasion and starting over on my part. I knew I wanted to write about dementia, but I tried coming at it from a bunch of different angles before I landed on this one. I knew Maeve felt guilty about the past, but I didn’t know why, and I knew she had a complicated relationship with her mother. I also knew I wanted her to be trying (and often failing) to be a better mother than her own. But I kept having the drama too high or the stakes too low. It was just a lot of tweaking.

Q. What do you like most about this book?

Jennifer Dupree: I love that all the characters (with maybe the exception of Maeve’s husband) are deeply flawed. They’re all trying really hard but in pretty misguided ways — which feels very human to me.

I also love Effie. My own grandmother had dementia, and for years I volunteered and then worked in nursing homes. I hope I’ve captured the humor and grief that often accompany the loss of memory.

Q. What’s next?

Jennifer Dupree: I’ve just finished a collection of essays about my 30-year (and still going) friendship with a man with Cerebral Palsy. It’s currently out on submission.

Q. What did you learn from this experience that will benefit you in your next venture?

Jennifer Dupree: Surround yourself with people who will support you. Not people who will only tell you what you want to hear, but people who genuinely care about the success of your project and about you as a person.

Website: www.jenniferdupree.com