Jennifer Foehner WellsJen was born in 1972 and was raised primarily in rural areas surrounding Highland, Illinois. She grew up reading voraciously and was turned on to science fiction at a young age when a family friend lent her a compilation of Ray Bradbury’s short stories as well as John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids, among many other great works of the genre. In 1995 she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from Monmouth College, Illinois.
After graduation Wells worked as a lab technician in an animal disease diagnostic lab and as the assistant store manager of a locally owned greenhouse, before stopping work outside the home to raise children. As her children got older, Wells made use of her spare time to pursue hobby writing, particularly a novel length fan fiction in the Stargate Atlantis universe called Futura Memoratia. When this piece was well received, Wells began work on an original novel, Fluency, in 2012, publishing it in June 2014 using Kindle Direct Publishing. The book was virally successful immediately upon release, selling more than 30,000 copies in the first three months alone and 80,000 copies in the first year. And her lifelong dream of becoming an author was fulfilled. Wells attributes most of her success to exposure to a large platform of science fiction readers on Twitter, serendipitous timing due to a resurgence in interest in space opera in popular media, meticulous editing, and the choice of artist Stephan Martiniere as cover artist. Jen resides in Pennsylvania with her two children, Dr. Beard (the geekiest literature professor on the planet), and an assortment of floofs, both large and small. |
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