Interview with YA fantasy author Jadie Jones

Young adult fantasy author Jadie Jones is here today talking about her series, The Moonlit Trilogy, made up of Moonlit, Windswept, and Wildwood.

Jadie is in the midst of a virtual book tour with WOW (Women on Writing) and you can learn more about her and her writing by visiting her other tour stops.

Bio:

Georgia native Jadie Jones first began working for a horse farm at twelve years old, her love of horses matched only by her love of books. She went on to acquire a B.A. in equine business management, and worked for competitive horse farms along the east coast. The need to write followed wherever she went.

She lives with her family in the foothills of north Georgia, and is co-founder of Aradia Equestrian. When she's not working on a new project, she is either in the saddle or exploring the great outdoors with her daughters.

Welcome, Jadie. Please tell us about your current release.

Wildwood, the final book in the Moonlit Trilogy, just released last month, and it’s my very favorite piece of Tanzy Hightower’s fantasy/adventure story.

In Moonlit, book #1, she loses her entire life in a single night. In search of answers, she comes across a water witch who tells her that her trials in this life stem from unresolved decisions from her first mortal life a thousand years ago.

In Windswept, book #2, she learns there are a lot more girls just like her, and what purpose they’ve been brought back to fulfill.

In Wildwood, book #3, the chips are down, Tanzy has been forced to take up residence with her worst enemies, and her friends are under attack by an even larger threat. They must to choose whether to try to save each other, or to save the world as we know it.

What inspired you to write this book?

Moonlit is a blend of so many inspirations – quiet mornings at the barn as a kid, predawn trail rides where magic seems a blink away, the realization of every adult that the world has a lot more secrets and shadows and teeth than it first seemed. I heard that humans see less than one percent of the color spectrum, and it made me wonder what in the world is in all this “clear.” And now, as a mom, in re-watching all the old kid shows and movies, I have to wonder if “Shera” and “The Last Unicorn” have had some subconscious effects.

Excerpt from Wildwood (Book #3):

I race for the aisle, where a stream of horses gallops down the center. I punch off the ground and launch myself at the lead horse. My hands tangle in his mane, and I throw myself on its back. The horse jumps forward and we rush toward the opening. I keep my eyes trained on the sun. Its sphere breaks free of the horizon. Beneath me, the horse gathers, preparing for flight. He takes three more increasing strides and then powers off the ground.

As the lip of the cliff passes under us, I fling myself sideways and twist in the air, catching myself on a crag. I cling to the side of the fortress and peer down, watching the horses cascade over the edge and down the hill made from tens of thousands of Taigo, their forms hardened into stone. At the bottom, living Taigo bob in the sea, their numbers stretching far into the distance.

Flames appear in the line of the closest Taigo. Then the second line, and the third, rippling outward, and igniting the churning water for a solid mile. Their wailing cry haunts the open air. The first group mounts the reborn horses, and begins their surge up the hill. The incredible, impossible sight makes me forget for a split second that they’re coming to kill me. I clamp the knife between my teeth, climb up to the opening, and swing inside.

What exciting story are you working on next?

There’s an important secondary character in the Moonlit Trilogy that has become a fan favorite, and has earned a new adventure as she seeks answers of her own. I’m also working on a crime mystery set in the North Georgia Mountains, with a serial killer obsessed with fate and the number three. Figuring out who dunnit is just the beginning.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I have two answers for this question. One: I wrote my first “full length” story in seventh grade. It was a ghost story inspired by R.L. Stine’s goosebumps series, and I was positive I could publish all 104 pages. Two: when I drafted Wildwood – book #3 in the series. Moonlit (book #1) felt like a fluke. Writing book #2 was brutal. I feel like I barely survived. With Wildwood, I felt like I was finally in control of the plot and the pace from word one.

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?

My dream is to one day write full time. For right now, I also train horses and coach hunter/jumper riders, and I’m a full-time mom to two small children. I literally write whenever and wherever I can: on my steering wheel while I’m waiting in the carpool line, on the living room floor during an episode of Dora the Explorer, you get the idea. I have an office in the basement, and when the stars align and I have enough energy, I actually make it down there to write, and I definitely do my best writing there, but I take what I can get.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I like to draft with pen and paper because I doodle when I’m brainstorming.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A writer and a professional equestrian. I guess dreams do come true.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon

Thanks for being here today, Jadie!