Q&A With Kristine Jensen 

I’m so grateful Mickey Mikkelson has connected me with Kristine Jensen! Kristine Jensen is a lifelong writer whose work has spanned scripts, screenplays, and storytelling for brands and organizations. She has spent her career shaping narratives, crafting voices, and distilling complex ideas into language that connects. Kristine’s debut novel Wednesday Club is available to read now, wherever you get your books! 

Q: Welcome to Book Notions, Kristine! Would you please give a brief description of Wednesday Club & talk about where the idea for the novel came from?

A: When sixteen-year-old Ivy Hanson is dropped off at her grandparents’ rural South Dakota farm in the summer of 1963, she expects loneliness and disappointment—not the sense of belonging she’s been searching for her entire life. Far from the excitement of city life, Ivy struggles to find her place until she reluctantly agrees to join her grandmother’s Wednesday Club, a close-knit circle of resilient farm women who carry their own heartaches, secrets, and hard-won wisdom.

As the women draw Ivy into their lives, she discovers unexpected friendship, purpose, and the strength of a community that stands together through life’s greatest challenges. When long-buried family secrets surface, Ivy must confront a truth that could change everything she thought she knew about her family—and about herself.

After my grandmother passed away, we found a box of meeting minutes from her Wednesday Club, which ran from 1927 to 1995. They captured the story of a group of rural women who met once a month. More than just a social club, it was a way to learn about current affairs and find opportunities to help their community. I was especially intrigued by the idea of women’s friendships spanning generations. The minutes from the real Wednesday Club sparked the idea for a novel.

Q: How long did it take you to write Wednesday Club? What lessons do you hope readers remember and what emotions do you hope readers feel once they finish the novel?

A: It took me almost 4 years from the beginning to the final draft (v12). Then I spent 18 months querying before I decided to self-publish. During those 18 months, I sent the manuscript to several beta readers and received valuable feedback. 

I hope the central lesson or theme that readers take away is the importance of community. Wednesday Club is a great example of how women pulled together to support one another, regardless of age or background. Our need for community is just as important today. Community grounds us, bridges our divisions, and gives us hope for our future. 

I hope that Wednesday Club makes readers laugh, and cry, and feel inspired to build their own communities of support. 

Q: Will your next novel be a sequel to Wednesday Club or will it be something very different?

A: Yes! I’m currently at work on a sequel to Wednesday Club, set in 1968–69 — a time when America is deeply divided by the Vietnam War, social unrest, and sweeping cultural change. When twenty-one-year-old Ivy returns to Prairie View, she discovers that neither she nor the women of the Wednesday Club are the same people they were five years earlier. As old friendships are tested, new challenges emerge, and personal tragedies reshape their lives, the women must navigate changing beliefs while keeping the bonds that have always sustained them. Against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent eras in American history, the novel explores how love, community, and grace can endure even when the world feels like it’s coming apart.

Q: Does Hollywood have the rights to Wednesday Club and since you write screenplays, have you written a screenplay for Wednesday Club? 

A: Hollywood doesn’t have the rights to Wednesday Club — at least not yet — but the welcome mat is definitely out. Many readers have told me they can easily imagine the story as either a feature film or a limited television series. That doesn’t surprise me, since my background is in screenwriting and documentary filmmaking, and I wrote the novel with a distinctly cinematic style. The short chapters unfold much like film scenes, making it easy to visualize the story on screen. Adapting Wednesday Club into a screenplay is something I’ve seriously considered, and once I finish writing the sequel, it may be my next creative project.

Q: You’ve written screenplays and have done storytelling for brands and organizations! That’s very impressive! Which movies have you written screenplays for and which brands and organizations have you written for? 

A: In addition to novels, I’ve written the feature screenplay Missing Man and, with my longtime writing partner Jim McBride, the feature screenplays Luckiest People and Rhiannon. While we’re still searching for the right literary or film representation, we remain optimistic that these stories will find their way to the screen.

Before turning to fiction, I built a career as a writer, producer, and director of award-winning documentaries. My films, including Company Town and Silicon Valley at the Crossroads, earned national recognition for their storytelling and craftsmanship.

I’ve also spent more than two decades writing for some of the world’s leading technology companies, including Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, and HP. My work has ranged from strategic copywriting to scripts for high-end marketing films, blending compelling storytelling with clear, engaging communication.

Q: Would it be fair to assume that writing screenplays and writing for brands and organizations was instrumental in helping you write Wednesday Club & further novels you plan to write?

A: Writing in all styles has strengthened my writing. Writing for leading brands means my work has been constantly reviewed by others, which has made me more open to suggestions. I was fortunate to have my manuscript read by over a dozen beta readers at various points, and I believe being open to comments helped me improve it. 

My background in writing scripts and screenplays has helped me visualize a “scene” in my novels and add the details that bring them to life for readers.

Q: Would you please post your social media links so the readers of the blog and I may follow you & your work?

A: Website: https://www.wednesday-club.com/

Facebook: Wednesday Club Novel

Instagram: Wednesday_Club_Novel

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jensenkristine/

YouTube: Kristine Jensen Author

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/kristinejensen