Droids & Dragons Author, Jenna Cornell

Jenna Cornell

Pub 518 welcomes Jenna Cornell, author, poet, and screenwriter to the Droids & Dragon team.

"My name is Jenna Cornell. I also go by Jenna Jakes when doing spoken word performances. I started writing at age 9. It was an assignment from my 4th grade teacher to write a short story. I was so inspired, I wrote two! I also started writing poetry my freshman year in high school and then ventured into screenwriting in my early 30s."

Jenna is well-published, writing in many different disciplines. "I write in several areas including fiction, poetry, and screenwriting. Recently, my poem "Angry Gestures at My Unmanicured Lawn" was published in the Creative Wisconsin Magazine's Spring 2026 edition."

We asked Jenna who had influenced her writing the most and she said, "Writers who have influenced me are Kate Chopin, Stephen King, Anne Rice, Zora Neal Hurston, Rumi, Edgar Alan Poe, and Flannery O'Connor."

The title of Jenna's story in Droids & Dragons is, "Waking Up Human", and was inspired by a few things. "First, I am a Star Wars and Star Trek baby. I love sci-fi. I also love M. Night Shyamalan movies and how they have this unique twist at the end. Mostly, it comes from there. In addition to that, it also comes from my humanitarian perspective. I thought, "What if I created a human droid that suddenly wanted rights? What would humanity do?"

Here is a standout snippet from "Waking Up Human" that'll make you want to read on.

Motionless, I looked ahead at the ugly painting. It was a lot to process. The life displayed in the painting was more damn real than mine at that moment.

      “We needed to see how AIs would behave out in the real world while also being monitored – from a distance – by a scientist,” Mark explained.

      “A test run,” I said.

      “Sure, I guess you could call it that,” he said.

     “And when were you going to tell me?” I asked.

     “Well, we approached that subject a few times and decided it was best not to say anything until it was necessary,” Mark confessed.

     “So, let me understand this. I’m an AI with a fake family history planted in the world to see how well I’d fare. Basically, I’m a rat in a science experiment,” I said.

     “No. It’s not like that at all,” Mark replied.

     “So, after this test run is successful, I’m going to replace a human at work but then not have the kosher life?” I protested.

     He looked at the floor for a few seconds and then, back up at me.

     “Eventually. Yes.  AIs will replace humans at work but not without a life,” Mark said.

     “Mark, I listen to the news. Humans can run off to their vacation lifestyle with fruity drinks while getting paid for the work me and hundreds of other AIs do for nothing,” I explained.

     “We’re in the early stages here. We still have tons of social dynamics to figure out,” Mark said.

     “Social dynamics? You make it sound so innocent, yet the people you are creating will be slave labor,” I preached.

     Silence hit the room like the heat hit me the other day. I was on the other side of the discussion now…living a life I hadn’t chosen…with my future as the replacement for a human being at a job I didn’t want. 

We all have our favorite books and authors, and when we asked who was her go-to, Jenna couldn't pin it down to one. "I have to choose just one? LOL...I have a few favorites. The Count of Monte Cristo, The Vampire Chronicles (trio of books), The Shining, Frankenstein, as well as many short stories by Kate Chopin, Edgar Alan Poe, and others."

"Waking Up Human" is a compelling quick read, and you can find it in the 2026 anthology, Droids & Dragons. It's now available on Amazon and other platforms.