Jenni Howell

writing is my passion but my kids are my first and greatest love!! even with quitting homeschool to put them in school, it’s HARD to balance how all-consuming publishing is with motherhood. here’s four things I make sure always happen

1) I plan offline. Yes, my outlines eventually get typed up like this so I can send them to critique partners and agent and editing crew, but they start in journals. I hand write as much as possible in the early stages because that means I can be jotting ideas down when the kids are home—but not on my phone. Kids see mom on phone as mom gone!

2) I do not work from 3-9 PM. This is non-negotiable for me, as I’m the primary caregiver for my kids from pick up at school to bedtime, and I want to be present. I’ll jot down intrusive ideas into my journal, but I don’t let myself sit with them until the kids’ bedroom doors are shut for the night.

3) I bring them into it in ways large and small! We celebrate my wins as a family with favorite dinners or special snacks “from my editor” (aka my advances haha)—and they help me brainstorm, too! I don’t always use their ideas but boy is it fun to see what they come up with. We also have dance parties to my playlists… at least the kid-friendly versions of them 🤣

4) I take them to events and to see my book in stores whenever I can. This sounds like I’m making it about me, but turns out they really love seeing their mom be somebody other people think is cool?? At least marginally??? They’re convinced I’m famous—and I am to them, which is all that matters 🥰

How do you balance motherhood and your creative career?

🩵🩵🩵j

✒️

thou shalt not 😌

if you want real enemies to well, not lovers, but obsessive kissing enemies I gotchu

📖: BOYS WITH SHARP TEETH

you are dream makers 🩵 thank you for every review, every purchase, every comment, every event, every smile, every screech

I’m here, writing the next book, because you took a chance on a new author 🩵 thank you for dreaming alongside me

🫶j

👹yearning is my favorite food👹

TEACH ME TO PREY is out Dec 8; comment ME for a dm with how to get it signed & on sale 😈

👹 yearning, possessive demons
🔪 soft serial kiłłer girls falling in love with their next victim
🥰 REAL enemies to lovers in a standalone
🫀 she steals his heart (literal)
🔥 “I will burn eternally if it means having you”
🍏 evajacks meets Hannibal

✨ One heart for another. One life for another. And only her soul to pay.

Two years ago, Tara Corbane made a deal with a demon. Before each lunar eclipse, she must make a trade—a lover’s heart offered as sacrifice to save her sister’s. And with each offering, Tara fears she’s becoming more and more like Thorn, the twisted but tantalizing demon she’s sworn to hate.

Thirty days before the next eclipse, Tara heads to New Orleans, where her newest target awaits. But Rian Connach, the handsome heir to a real estate empire, is nothing like the others. He’s single, for starters, and isn’t out for love but vengeance. He’s hot on the trail of the serial killer he blames for the death of his girlfriend. Whose heart was ripped out by none other than Tara herself.

As the eclipse draws near, Tara finds herself trapped in a game of cat-and-mouse. To save her own skin, she teams up with the broken and beguiling boy hunting her, all the while fighting her feelings for the demon whose secrets threaten everything she’s ever believed about him, and herself. With Rian getting closer and closer to learning the truth, and Thorn warning of the gruesome consequences to come if Tara doesn’t fulfill their bargain, time is running out to answer the ultimate question.

Is Tara the predator, or the prey?

🔥

can the voices just be quiet until I finish this paragraph plz tysm 🙂‍↔️

im almost to end the of a side project im doing just for fun for myself and the battle scenes are (SO FAR) keeping the other voices so so quiet— but other days, it is ROUGH to stay focused creatively. I’m always looking for advice for how to balance!!

🩵j

ps hi!! if you’re new here i write books with real enemies to lovers, vicious girls with raw, open hearts, toxic boys getting what they deserve (and kneeling at her feet when she gives it to them), settings that feel like characters, and swoon worthy prose ✨✨✨ thanks for stopping by!!!

✒️

🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️ oops

📖: TEACH ME TO PREY out December 8, 2026 from New York Times Bestselling author Jenni Howell

👹 yearning, possessive demons
🔪 soft serial kiłłer girls falling in love with their next victim
🥰 REAL enemies to lovers in a standalone
🫀 she steals his heart (literal)
🔥 “I will burn eternally if it means having you”
🍏 evajacks meets Hannibal

THIS WAS MY HAPPY PLACE 🥰🥰🥰🥰 i love indie bookstores— their events are always INCREDIBLE and is at the top of my list for must-do bookish hang outs 🫶

ty to every reader that braved negative wind chill to come this weekend to hang out with and and I!! i swear i almost got frostbite walking to my car 🥶 but y’all BROUGHT IT 🔥 BOOKISH PPL ARE BEST PPL!!!

If you’re new here, hi!! I’m jenni, somehow a NYT bestselling author and general ball of chaos 🤣🤍 My book, BOYS WITH SHARP TEETH was an
🔥 Instant New York Times Bestselling Novel
🔥 Barnes & Noble Best YA of April
🔥 Goodreads Out of this World Fantasy of 2025
🔥 The Nerd Daily Most Anticipated YA of 2025
🔥 Paste Magazine Most Anticipated YA of 2025

And my next, TEACH ME TO PREY, is out December 8!! It’s for you if you love these things:
👹 yearning demon boys
✨ magic that comes with a devastating price
☠️ serial 🔪 soft girls
🐈‍⬛ cat and mouse hunter x killer (but she’s the cat)
🔥 full blown enemies to lovers
🫀 she steals his heart (literal)
💋 toxic, bad idea kisses
🐊 sweltering bayou vibes
🍏 evajacks meets Hannibal

k ilu BAAAAIIII
✨j

🔥

I can’t help it I love himmmmm 👹

I finally get to talk about this book with yall!!! It’s the BEST!!

TEACH ME TO PREY out December 8, 2026 from New York Times Bestselling author Jenni Howell & you can preòrder and add to now! it’s got:
👹 yearning, possessive demons
🔪 soft serial kiłłer girls falling in love with their next victim
🥰 REAL enemies to lovers in a standalone
🫀 she steals his heart (literal)
🔥 “I will burn eternally if it means having you”
🍏 evajacks meets Hannibal

🔥