Under the Influence - Background

It came to me on a bus. Not exactly the expected locale for inspiration, especially a bus en route to a shopping mall, but inspiration is often immune to such things.

Under the Influence, is about, Kay Kent and Raul Martinez, travel influencers who end up in Prague, stranded by the pandemic. They're quickly seduced by the city's foggy allure. Their changed circumstances propel them to explore what else might sustain them and question their choices.

Soon they're entangled in the nefarious underworld of oligarchs, violent grifters, violent rivalries, a dubious religious icon and even the boogey man in Moscow. It is a journey sparked by romance and unplanned adventure. Raul has fallen for their new neighbor, Ivana, an art student, from Ukraine. She just happens to be the granddaughter of one of the most dangerous men in Kyiv. A skilled con man draws them into a dangerous realm of corruption, violence, and geopolitical tensions.

My background is as a senior TV News producer and later, a commissioning editor and documentary filmmaker. My experience covering politics, natural disasters and breaking news events led me to longer form work in investigative and observational documentaries and ultimately into the world of media development and journalism training in Eastern Europe. I have had the honor of winning two Emmys, a Peabody, a DuPont and the good fortune of being part of an Oscar nomination for a documentary short.

I spent six years living in Prague. Shortly after the pandemic ended, I began traveling full time and enjoyed writing and yes, even editing this book along the way. Pursuing this flash of an idea as a novel, crafted while globetrotting, presented an invigorating creative challenge. I hope you’ll see that in the resulting story.

Jean Garner

Tangier, Morocco

xjwgarner@outlook.com / +1 631 760 1418 / http://linkedin.com/in/jeangarnermedia