We have another new author joining us! Say hello to Jennie Bricker, who, after receiving her B.A. in creative writing and M.A. in nineteenth-century literature, spent ten years in publishing before going to law school. Now she practices natural resources law in Portland, Oregon, moonlighting as a freelance writer and editor. She has published professional articles, one of which received the Burton Award for Legal Achievement, and feature articles for the monthly print magazine, the Oregon State Bar Bulletin. Jennie’s short stories and microfiction have appeared in 100 Word Story, Third Wednesday Magazine, and a Writer’s Digest prizewinners anthology. Her debut novel, Thirsty Creek, was published by Unsolicited Press in December 2025.

We’re thrilled that Jennie’s YA novel is forthcoming from Type Eighteen Books! Stay tuned for more news about that in future posts. In the meantime, we asked our newest author our usual, introductory questions, and her answers are here:

Who are some of your favorite authors, and why?

Virginia Woolf and Toni Morrison. I would like to have introduced them to each other and then taken them out for beers at the McMenamins Barley Mill Pub. I also love Louise Erdrich and Margaret Atwood. I like prose that feels like poetry and characters that feel like people I wish I knew.

When did you know you were a writer?

Fourth grade. Middleton Elementary School in Idaho (go Vikings). I was instructed to identify my career goal, so I pasted a photo of a typewriter onto a black piece of construction paper and said I wanted to be a writer. But then I accidentally went to law school.

Where were you born? Do you think the places of our lives inform our writing?

I was born in Utah. My folks lived in Spanish Fork, where they owned a monument business (as in, gravestones) and ran a news radio station. My writing comes from the places I’ve lived, which include Utah, California, Idaho, and Oregon, and certainly from a western states perspective (although I’m still figuring out what that means).

Where would you vacation—city, country, beach, or mountains?

Mountains, hands down. I’m not opposed to cities in modest doses, and I love the country and long road trips. I used to love the Oregon Coast, but I almost drowned in a rip tide in 1997. This put a strain on our relationship.

What do you think is the most important part of storytelling?

Stories are everything. It’s what we as humans do to understand ourselves. And to tell stories that other people read — that’s an exhilarating, heady experience and a tiny bid for immortality.

Find out more about Jennie HERE.