Jessica will give a $20 Fandango e-gift card to one randomly
drawn commentor during her tour, so to be entered for a chance to win, leave a comment below. And to increase your chances of winning, you can visit other tour stops and leave comments there.
Welcome, Jessica. Please tell us a
little bit about yourself.
By day, I
work in a cubicle tending to an e-commerce website. By night, I blog, I review
television shows and films, and occasionally, I settle down long enough to
write a novel. I’ve always had a diverse set of interests, which has led me to
study everything from ethics to yoga to film, but the one thing that has stayed
consistent is my enthusiasm for writing. Writing is my way of bringing all of my
interests together—I may not be able to speak six languages, pick the lock on a
door, or cook a five-course meal without a recipe, but I can write about a
character who can, and that’s the next best thing!
Please tell us about your current
release.
Quiet on
the Set is a new
adult book, in which the heroine, Rylie Cates, follows her passion for writing
all the way to Hollywood. She gets a bit of a leg up at the beginning when her
screenplay gets accepted at a film festival, but it’s through new friends and
her unwavering dedication to her writing that she is able to get the screenplay
read, sold, and produced.
At first,
she’s in a new town, a new business, and is a little naïve about how things
work, but as the story goes on, she makes friends and learns the ins and outs
of the film industry in order to make a name for herself and her screenplays.
Throughout the book, Rylie’s friendships help her to overcome all the personal
and professional obstacles put in her path, and it’s those characters, her
friends, who give the story heart, and a bit of comic relief.
What inspired you to write this book?
I had recently
graduated college and had been out of work for several months, and I wanted to
write a success story. I felt like I was failing at my first time out in “the
real world,” and I wanted to tell a story about a girl who got her dream job. Of
course, it evolved into much more than just a story about Rylie’s career, but
it was very cathartic for me to tell a story in which the main character was
able to accomplish so much in her professional life.
Excerpt:
A little background:
This scene is from “Chapter Six: Bad Habits.” Rylie has recently had her heart
broken and has wandered off to be by herself at a friend’s party when she meets
Shane. They’ve already been chatting for a couple minutes in this scene:
‘You
new here?’ Shane said.
‘I
just moved here in May.’
‘And
Wes Kern already broke your heart?’
‘Sad,
but true,’ Rylie said.
‘You’ll
move on. He’s just a kid having fun being famous.’
‘I
hope it’s soon. Heartbreak sucks.’
‘Truer
words.’ He told her about a girl who broke his heart, and it was such a sad
story, she cried. Maybe for him, and maybe for herself. In five weeks, she
hadn’t cried over Wes, and maybe she just was overdue. He held her, comforting
her without trying to quiet her.
‘I
don’t get why your date would leave you. I sure wouldn’t,’ Rylie said,
sniffling.
‘I
guess I’m too old.’
‘You’re
not old.’
‘Too
old for her.’
‘What
is she, picky? You seem like a catch to me,’ Rylie said.
‘She’s
twenty-five. I’m thirty-four.’
‘By
that standard, you’d be too old for me, too.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Twenty-three.’
‘Wow.
Am I too old for you?’
‘Age
is irrelevant if you like each other.’
‘I
like you. Even watching you cry, you’re beautiful.’
‘You
better be careful or I might fall for you, too.’
‘Promise?’
he said. He kissed her then, gently, and she kissed him back. She couldn’t have
protested if she wanted to, and she didn’t. The kiss only lasted a moment,
until a few boisterous party-goers decided to skinny dip. Shane smiled, sensing
their mutual embarrassment at being caught. ‘Can I take you home?’ he said.
Rylie
nodded. ‘That’d be great. Thanks.’
What exciting story are you working on
next?
I am
currently working on an international adventure story, as yet untitled, which
is a new experience and a completely new type of story for me. I haven’t
traveled outside North America, so setting a book in a country I haven’t
visited means a lot more research! It’s also a lot darker than many of my
previous projects, and it gets into some ugly situations, ugly sides of the
world and humanity that we don’t like to talk about. Tapping into that and
experiencing the emotions and fear that my characters have in those situations
is a real challenge, but it’s a lot of fun. I love trying new things and
testing myself as a writer—I feel that challenges and experiments are the only
way to learn and improve.
When did you first consider yourself a
writer?
I started
writing original stories when I was eleven, but I don’t think I really
considered myself a writer until I was about fifteen. I wrote my first “real”
novel at that time—real in terms of length and quality—and it felt like the
most honest and substantive story I’d written up to that point.
Do you write full-time? If so, what's
your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find
time to write?
I don’t
write full-time, but it does take up a lot of my free time! I work part-time
three days a week, but as soon as I get home, I’m back on the computer,
blogging or working on my next story.
My schedule
is sometimes a little erratic on my days off, but I usually take the beginning
of the day to do the blogging, marketing, and short, uncomplicated tasks. I’m a
night owl, so I’m most productive and most creative in the evening and the wee
hours of the morning. I usually save (or put off) my creative writing projects
until that time of day, and it usually pays off more in word count than if I
were to write when I first woke up.
I
technically have plenty of time to write, and when I get going, I can get into
a really good grove. But, as so many of us are, I’m addicted to my various technologies,
and I have to remind myself to disconnect a little to get back to writing.
What would you say is your most
interesting writing quirk?
I don’t
know if other writers do this, but I track my stats when I write. Part of it is
to ingrain the memory of when and why I started the story, but part of it is
just nerdiness combined with some OCD tendencies. I always make notes of the
dates (and often times) when I started writing and when I finished, and I keep
track of my word count and chapter count throughout my revisions.
It’s kind
of fun to watch the story evolve from the first draft through the editing
process, because the word counts and chapters never stay the same. The first
draft of Quiet on the Set was nine chapters and about 45,000 words, and
it wound up printed as a sixteen-chapter book with over 62,000 words!
As a child, what did you want to be
when you grew up?
Like a lot
of kids, I wanted to be a vet when I was a kid--until I thought about the
additional schooling and more unpleasant parts of the job. I went through an
archaeologist phase as well—I have Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones
to thank for that. I even wanted to be a lawyer for a while because I enjoyed
debates and putting together arguments, but I didn’t want to spend my life
doing paperwork, even though I probably would have been good at it. I came back
to being a writer shortly after that when I realized that being passionate
about what you do is all that matters.
Anything additional you want to share
with the readers?
Life is too
short not to do what you love. It may not make you wealthy, but it makes you
rich in a more meaningful way. Take time for yourself and for your passion.
Your fifty-years-from-now self will thank you for it.
Visit me on
my website: http://www.jessicalave.com/
Follow me on
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessinsists
Connect with
me on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6428146.Jessica_Lave/
Buy the
paperback from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Set-Jessica-Lave/dp/1482794586/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364606566&sr=1-5&keywords=quiet+on+the+set
http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Set-Jessica-Lave/dp/1482794586/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364606566&sr=1-5&keywords=quiet+on+the+set
Buy the e-book
for Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-On-The-Set-ebook/dp/B00C2JP4PS/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364514591&sr=1-4&keywords=quiet+on+the+set
http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-On-The-Set-ebook/dp/B00C2JP4PS/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1364514591&sr=1-4&keywords=quiet+on+the+set
Buy the
paperback from CreateSpace:
https://www.createspace.com/4209363
https://www.createspace.com/4209363
Thanks, Jessica.
Readers, don’t forget to leave a comment if you’d like a chance to win the
e-gift card!
5 comments:
Thank you for hosting today.
Thanks for the interview :) You seem to have an exciting writing career ahead of you!
andralynn7 AT gmail DOT com
Thank you for hosting the tour today! I'm working again today, so I won't be able to check in for comments until later, but I look forward to reading them!
@Andra, thanks again for your support!
Wonderful interview! Lovin' the way this novel sounds!
justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
@Chelsea, thanks so much for checking out the interview! I'm glad to hear the feedback on the book--make sure to follow along on Monday! That interview really gets into some of the meatier parts of the book :)
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