Pulse (ePub)

As a teenager Jennifer Downs was encouraged by her high school English Literature teacher to pursue a career in creative writing. She always kept her mentor’s words in the back of her mind, but law enforcement was her first calling. She dabbled with prose here and there while working full-time. However the majority of Jennifer’s writing included official reports and college term papers. There was little time for creative pursuit until she retired.

Jennifer found the path to becoming an author had widened greatly since high school, thanks to the Internet. At one time the only way to become published was to submit manuscripts to one editor and another until you either gave up or caught a lucky break. But self-publishing and direct-publishing has changed all of that. She launched her first short story, Pulse, online.

About her decision to start writing again, Jennifer explains, “To be truthful, I didn’t become a writer sooner because I didn’t have any good story ideas. I hadn’t become warped and twisted by life yet. I had to let that happen first; then I had something interesting to say.” Eventually the story ideas came freely. She documents them in her writer’s notebook so they won’t slip away.
It seems too cliche for a retired cop to write crime novels. Instead she steers more toward her other interests: politics, survival, bush craft, treasure hunting, and American history. Her plots take the form of flash fiction and short stories revolving around those themes.

When she’s not working on a manuscript, Jennifer spends time with her husband and animals on their hobby farm.