Interview with Jennifer Anne Gordon - Cover Story - September 2026

Hello Jennifer, welcome again to the Relatable Voice magazine! You’ve been an actress, artist, dancer, and writer. Which of these has influenced your writing the most?

I think being an actor and studying theatre has definitely had the biggest impact on my writing. While studying acting we spent a lot of time on character development, and listening to the way people really speak to each other, how they move and begave when they think no one is looking. I always start there with my work. The character comes first, and then I figure out what they are doing.

Your work often explores the darker side of human nature. What draws you to these themes?

I grew up in the family that had a lot of generational trauma and mental illness. I remember my aunt with schizophrenia would stay with us for a month during the summers, and she was always adamant that she was not “crazy” that instead she was haunted.

As a visual artist, do you tend to see your stories before you write them?

There are times that I see flashes of scenes; they tend to play out more like a movie trailer or even a music video. I never really see an entire scene, but I do see probably the heart of a scene, or a detail of a room, and expression on a character’s face. I take those flashes and then write to get to those moments.

Your books have received several awards. Has that recognition changed you as a writer?

It has not changed me artistically at all, but I think some of the awards have helped others to take me more seriously, or even have helped me be invited into anthologies or asked to an event.

What inspired your new novel, Perfect Wives, Perfect Lies?

Several years ago, I was working for a political advocacy firm, and our main clients were The National Association of Social Workers. I spent a lot of time with the social workers and hearing their concerns, their stories. I kept thinking how thankless their jobs were. These people were heroes. They are underpaid, overworked, and often become really burned out. So, this is really where Becca started. I wanted to write about a woman who always wanted to help people, to be a hero, but due to a tragedy in her life she gets derailed and cannot even help herself.

The book explores the identities people create online. Why did you want to write about this?

Many years ago, now I knew a young woman who was absolutely beautiful but lived a bit of a sheltered life and her family did not have a lot of opportunities financially etc. I don’t really know how she even met this “person” I would assume on a chat room or through Facebook, but she became very emotionally involved with them, their family, their friends…all online. One of those relationships that you can never meet the person because something always comes up…in this case it was work, then it was something else, and then it was cancer. This young woman truly believed that she knew this man and his family, she believed they would get married. Everyone outside of this situation could see this was a web of lies. But this person/people on the internet had love bombed her so hard that she alienated everyone in her life.

So, this situation really fascinated me…on both sides. How does one become someone who pretends to be another person online, and what are the ramifications that can happen on both sides.

Grief plays an important role in Becca’s story. How did you balance that emotion with suspense and dark humor?

I think in some ways there is a lot of myself in Becca. I am known to always crack a joke when things get too dark and too serious. I have also been a part of a grief writing workshop that has been meeting for 6 years. It is run by the amazing Diane Zinna. I think she has been instrumental in me being able to explore grief through humor. I know I used Becca’s humor and even the “wives” personalities as ways to counterbalance the great loss in Becca’s life. I also feel like on social media there is such a tendency to be the funniest, the prettiest, the weirdest…anything to get attention, to get that dopamine hit, to be someone “important.”

Do you think social media has made us better storytellers—or better liars?

I’m not sure if it’s done either. I do think that it has made people very brave especially in their willingness for cruelty and insults.

As a podcast host who interviews other writers, what have you learned from those conversations?

I have learned that we are all very neurotic, and I have learned that no matter where you are on your author journey we all still share all the same moments of panic, elation, and doubt over this beautiful thing we do.

What’s next for Jennifer Anne Gordon? What would you still love to accomplish?

Right now, the only thing I want to accomplish is finishing my next book. But of course, the dream of a film and tv adaptation is always there…but most importantly is just finish the book.

How do you create characters who feel both flawed and relatable?

I just try to make them as real as possible. I start the same way with every character, I give them 5 core memories, 5 things that shaped them both good and bad. Most of the time these things will never end up as part of the story, but I feel like it really informs me as a writer about everything they do, every choice they make.

If readers take one thing away from Perfect Wives, Perfect Lies, what do you hope it will be?

That grief is not linear, that it can be messy, and that there is no right way to go through it. That is the most important. And I guess the back up takeaway would be, don’t tell your darkest secrets to strangers on the internet.

Jennifer Anne Gordon is an award-winning author and podcast host. Her debut novel Beautiful, Frightening and Silent won the Kindle Book Award for Best Horror/Suspense for 2020, as well as the Best Horror Novel of the Year from the Authors on The Air Global Radio Network. Her novel Pretty/Ugly won the Helicon Award for Best Horror for 2022, and the Kindle Book Award for Best Novel of the Year 2022 (Reader’s Choice) Her novelette The Japanese Box won the Lit Nastie Award for 2023 for Best Short Story, and her essay Navy Blue Dickies (Glassworks) is a Best of the Net Nominee for 2025. Her mainstream debut, a book club thriller, Perfect Wives, Perfect Lies will be released In September of 2026. For benevolent stalking please visit JenniferAnneGordon.com & @jenniferannegordon_author.

Cover story published in The Relatable Voice Magazine - September 2026. Download the full magazine for free at https://www.relatable-media.com/the-relatable-voice-magazine