At Little Red Writing we’re prolific writers and aggressive marketers. It’s almost like we’re machines, but really we’re not. We’re people with our own personalities outside of the personality of our brand. So for some Friday fun, we want to pull back the curtain and show you the people that make Little Red Writing run. To do so, we’ll be running a series of profiles that ask a variety of questions from food to travel and even the important things like, “if you were an animal, what would you be?” We hope you enjoy getting to know our staff a little bit better!
Our first series of questions, titled “No Place Like Home,” relate to things about your home/hometown and what makes your area home. This week’s profile is on Jen Barry. O’ Captain our Captain, Jen is the owner of Little Red Writing but she does a little bit of everything. She’s a writer, marketer, and visionary. Recently, she has moved into a new neighborhood in Nashville with her husband Liam and her two dogs Hurley and Birdie. Get to know Jen this week!
What is your favorite place in your city and why?
Nashville is pretty big, so picking one place would be tough. Plus, we recently moved to a new neighborhood, so we’re slowly discovering the cool things around us. For now, since we’re in the middle of a pandemic and spending a lot of time at home, my favorite place is our courtyard behind our house. It’s heavily shaded with a view of the lake, so it always seems at least ten degrees cooler than anywhere else.
Do you have any pets and if so tell us about them and their personality/quirks?
We’ve had Hurley for seven years, now, and he tends to quickly become famous among friends and neighbors as they all meet him. Our new neighbors already know him by name and call to him when they’re passing our house while out for a walk. He obliges, of course, because he’s incredibly energetic and friendly.
Then, there’s Bridie, the complete opposite. Both are Jack Russell mixes, but Jack Russell mixed with something different for each. Like, Hurley is Jack Russell and maybe Pointer… Something tall and lean, for sure. Bridie is Jack Russell and maybe Bulldog or Corgi. Something short and round that waddles instead of walking.
Where Hurley is the life of the party, Bridie would prefer to sit on her favorite couch cushion and ignore everyone but Liam…and sometimes me. But she deserves the quiet she craves. We got her one year ago from a rescue and learned she’d lived most of her life on the streets or in shelters. She’s never had a family until now, so she can have all the peace she wants.
What is your best lazy day?
I haven’t written fiction in a couple of years, but if I had the time, my favorite day would be to curl up in an overstuffed chair with a cup of coffee and a killer playlist and just release the stores that have been speaking to me for months. I’d need more than one day, though, and that’s why I don’t use the one day I do get here and there to open the floodgates. Nothing is more frustrating than an unfinished story, and frustration is the opposite of relaxing, isn’t it?
What are a few of your favorite/quirky knick-knacks laying around your house that have value or meaning to you?
My father’s sister passed away nearly twenty years ago, and upon her passing, many of her home furnishings and decorations came to my possession. My Aunt Kay (not to be confused with my other Aunt Kay, my mother’s sister) had a wonderful shabby chic style (this doesn’t mean my other Aunt Kay had no style. She did, but different style). My dad’s sister lived the last several years of her life outside of San Francisco, so many of the pieces she left to me invoke the West Coast when I see them or touch them, even if they’re not overtly Californian. Like the powder pink silk throw over the chair, or the pair of Victorian lace gloves on the tray by the front door… I love having these little pieces of her with me all the time, bringing back her memory and thoughts of the time I got to spend in California with her.
