Voodoo Extreme interviews Jane Jensen
Conducted by Voodoo Extreme in September 2000
Jane Jensen is considered by most to be the queen of adventure gaming. Her Gabriel Knight series of adventure games, with their mixture of extraordinary characters and plots that combine a mixture of occult fact, fiction and history, have won numerous gaming accolades. Fans of this series still pen short fiction, dreaming up their own adventures for Gabe and Grace. The first two games of the series, “Sins of the Fathers” and “The Beast Within” had the distinct honor of transcending into the form of gothic novels. Everyone knows that Jane Jensen is an amazing storyteller with a knack of leading readers, and gamers alike, through winding tales where fact and fiction become one.
What everyone doesn’t know, especially gamers, is that her talents have led the penning of her first true novel, "Judgment Day", which is set for an October 2000 paperback release. For clarification "Judgement Day" was released last october as a hardcover entitled "Millennium Rising"; the name has been changed for the paperback re-release.
Jane “The Goddess” Jensen took time out of her busy schedule to answer some questions for VE. As a side note, be sure to check out her website, (www.janejensen.com 
) for all the latest Jensen sightings.
Voodoo Extreme: Looking at your website, I was shocked to discover that in addition to being two great games, the first two Gabriel Knight Mysteries, "Sins of the Fathers" and it's sequel "The Beast Within", became gothic mystery novels. My copies haven't arrived from Amazon (as of yet), so I was wondering if you could share with me, and the Voodoo Extreme Audience a little about the two book adaptations. What compelled you to write the two novels?
Jane Jensen: I was disappointed in the shelf life of games. Many don't last on the market longer than a year. Plus, many people simply don't play games. So I thought the novelizations would be a good way to extend the life of the story and perhaps expand the audience.
Voodoo Extreme: Did you feel that there was more you can add to the mysteries in a novel form, and did you (add more)?
Jane Jensen: Well, there's a bit more freedom in novel form because you don't have to worry about the art budget! So, yes, I did expand the stories a bit, particularly the second novel.
Voodoo Extreme: Will "Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned" appear in novel form?
Jane Jensen: There are no plans for it at this time. The first two GK books were done on a 2-book contract. Neither the publisher nor myself has pursued doing more of them. To me, the problem was that they really didn't expand the audience for GK since they were marketed and shelved as game tie-ins -- no one other than gamers bought them.
Voodoo Extreme: How much of Gabe's and Gracie's personalities owe homage to you?
Jane Jensen: Hmmm. That's a strange question. I suppose the rational answer is 100% -- in the sense that their personalities were created by me. If you mean how much of them reflect my own personality, there are certainly bits and pieces of me in there, particularly in Grace.
Voodoo Extreme: Congratulations on the upcoming Judgment Day novel. (Formerly Millennium Rising). From the brief description on the web page, I'm eager to pick it up when it hits shelves in October. The Gabriel Knight games, and now Judgment Day, have strong ties to religion, philosophy, the occult, and history. How much of this interest is a result of your experiences at Anderson College?
Jane Jensen: It's not really Anderson College that was a big influence, but rather my upbringing as a fundamentalist minister's daughter.
Voodoo Extreme: Do you consider yourself a spiritual person? How would you describe your day-to-day spirituality?
Jane Jensen: I'd have to call myself a wishful agnostic. I doubt the existence of God, but I am really hopeful that I'll be proven wrong! I suppose I'm always on the lookout for something truly supernatural.
Voodoo Extreme: On average how much research do you put into preparation of these winding and interesting (yet eerily accurate) storylines?
Jane Jensen: It's hard to give a percentage or a hard time limit on my research. A story plotline typically takes me about 5 months to completely flush out. That includes research, plotting/brainstorming, and actually putting the story down on paper in outline form, ready to be implemented.
Voodoo Extreme: Do you do your own research, or do you have a crack team of assistants?
Jane Jensen: I wish! No, it's just me. I do often call people though, such as a librarian or an archdiocese or whatever to get a specific piece of information if I can't find it.
Voodoo Extreme: Jumping back to "Judgment Day", you mention John Hogue's "777: Millennial Book of Prophecy" (one of the books, if I may add, that I read for a class dealing with Millennial Theories that also scared me. I highly recommend Jodi Dean's "Aliens in America", and Lee Quinby's "Millennial Seduction". Anyway...) Is the final version that we will see on store shelves still your vision (despite being resized from its initial 650 pages?)
Jane Jensen: Yes. Definitely.
Voodoo Extreme: Did the arrival of 2000 come as you expected, or are you waiting for 2001?
Jane Jensen: Well, it's not as though "Millennium Rising" (retitled "Judgment Day" for the paperback) expressed my literal opinion of what was going to happen. It's fiction. I'm actually thrilled nothing big has happened (i.e. no meteors, planetary shifts, or second comings) -- if only for the 'in your face' satisfaction of seeing all those disappointed Baptists! But seriously, more and more is coming out in the press about global warming, melting ice caps, etc., so I think a few things in the book, such as the drought, are eerily possible in the next 4-5 years. (BTW, the book is set in 2005)
Voodoo Extreme: With such a large cast in the book, it is sometimes easy for a writer to leave a few of the characters underdeveloped. Are you proud of the entire main and supporting cast?
Jane Jensen: Yes -- I'm very pleased with the book overall. Of course, when you keep a book fast-paced, there are certain amounts of detail and description and char development that go, but I think that's a worthy trade-off, particularly in our present culture.
Voodoo Extreme: Any favorites?
Jane Jensen: Yeah, I love the Southern Baptist character, Stanton, and the Tibetan.
Voodoo Extreme: The teaser information for your next novel, Dante's Equation, brings to mind the John Carpenter film, Prince of Darkness. Will Dante's Equation mark a return of your horror-mystery roots? How is it progressing thus far?
Jane Jensen: Hmmm. No, it's really nothing like "Prince of Darkness". Compared to my other work, "Dante's Equation" is most like "Millennium Rising". It is written as a thriller, but it plays with some heavy themes: kabbalah, physics, metaphysics. It has more sci-fi elements than anything I've done before. There are some horrific bits, such as the sections on hell, but it's not really horror. The publisher deliberately wanted to follow "MR" with something in the same genre, since they want you to build a regular audience, establish a niche.
Voodoo Extreme: Being a gamer, and game designer, do you see a move to more first-person or third-person type games? Do you prefer one or the other? Also what video or gaming technologies would you like to see happen, or do you think need to happen, to help push the game genre further, faster?
Jane Jensen: Do I see a move? I guess there are more 1st person games out there now than 3rd. As for my own preference, I've always worked in 3rd because I felt a good story needed a strong and well-defined protagonist. However, I think 1st person can be done very well and wouldn't mind working with that at some point in the future. As far as new technology goes, I think one big wave in the future will be virtual reality games. Virtual reality will bring storytelling back big time. So good, mass market VR technology is what I'm most anticipating.
Voodoo Extreme: What games are you currently playing?
Jane Jensen: I'm not currently playing anything. I've always been a fan of adventure games and puzzle games and that's about it. There's not a lot out there right now that I'm interested in. I've been spending more time messing with web site development.
Voodoo Extreme: Quoting your extended bio: "The current mood in the business is not supportive of either this audience or those who design for them. However, Jane still believes that interactive fiction will play a more mainstream role in the future, perhaps through the Internet." Is the adventure game genre truly dead in the eyes of marketing and designers?
Jane Jensen: It certainly seems that way based on the experience I have had with Sierra and also at the last few big game shows I've been to such as E3. There's just no interest.
Voodoo Extreme: What form would you like to see interactive fiction head towards?
Jane Jensen: I think there will be some interesting stuff done in interactive web fiction. EA is doing a new piece along these lines. To me, story/conspiracy based web fiction with emails, research/scavenger hunts and the like are more intriguing than the multi-player worlds such as Ultima. Obviously many people enjoy these worlds, but for myself I'm less interested in chatting with a bunch of other geeks (and I put myself firmly in that category) that are into D&D type role-playing than I am in being wrapped up in and getting immersed in a well-designed story -- that sense you get in a movie theater of someone else's vision becoming reality for a while. I've also stated in other interviews that I think virtual reality gaming is where it's at long-term. I still stick by this prediction -- and hope.
Voodoo Extreme: The ending of Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned had me standing in my chair throwing a tantrum! With Gabe realizing his true feelings for Gracie, and Gracie off to find spirituality, I have to ask... Will we ever see a return of Gabe and Grace? I must also indulge myself and ask if there were a chance for a possible fourth chapter in the series, would you be willing to focus more on Gracie's ancestry? There are tons of interesting Japanese mysteries and myths out there that many gamers (especially this one) would love to see you tackle.
Jane Jensen: Well . . . ahem. Yes, of course the ending was designed for a lead in to GK4 and, actually, GK5. My thoughts were less on Japan than on India at the time that I wrote GK3. However, Japan has always appealed as a story center at some point. But will there be a GK4? Who knows?
Voodoo Extreme: After you finish writing Dante's Equation, what is next for Jane Jensen?
Jane Jensen: I don't know. That will depend on how well DE is received at the publishers and if they want to get me onto another 2-book deal right away or not. It also depends if any other offers have come in the meantime. DE will probably not be done until the New Year, so ask me again then!
Voodoo Extreme: Do you like younger men? (Note: Billy didn't know you were married... or maybe he did?) How about younger men that drive a Lexus GS400? (Note: see above)
Jane Jensen: I have always liked younger men. Unfortunately, like all good things in life (cigarettes for example), I have had to put that away as a folly of youth. However, there are compensations to being an old married woman, trust me.
Last update: March 26, 2008
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