Jessica Jayne Webb
I am a primary teacher with a flair for fantasy. Huge fan of Terry Pratchett, Jane Austen, and my indie friends Amber Thoma, Krystina Cole’s, movies and programmes like Resident Evil, Bridgerton, World War Z. Big lover of anything fantasy!!
Do you try more to be original, or to deliver to readers what they want?
I go with my heart and what I feel I should share.
What is it about your chosen genre that you love?
Anything is possible!
How do you select the names of your characters?
Some I investigate some I just imagine the character and what they look like and the name comes to me.
What was the first book that made you cry?
A solitary blue by Cynthia Voigt
If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
Get a dyslexia test, I didn’t get it until university and my wonderful lecturers and the student centre helped me get on track with training and helping me become who I am now.
Have you Googled yourself? Did you find out anything interesting?
Yes, I have Googled myself. It’s a surreal feeling seeing my name and face on articles and web pages for my book.
Are there any secrets in your books that only a few people will find? Can you tell us one? Or give us any hints?
No secrets, I’m not going to upset the balance, but once the series is complete, you might want to reread to find the titbits that help in the reveals especially in book three which will be my next project after I finish this current one.
Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym? Why?
Yea, I have one but I haven’t used it yet. Was thinking I might when I jump genres for another book I’m writing.
How did publishing your first book change your writing process?
It was a learning curve. But you can’t learn unless you make mistakes, and boy, did I make them! What’s that saying? “Once bitten twice shy”? Yeah that doesn’t really work on me.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I have an unpublished cookbook, children’s book and another fantasy series. I will eventually get to them.
What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters of the opposite sex?
The only thing I find difficult is doing the intimate scenes, don’t laugh, but I have to put the laptop down and do a little scream, or set it down and do something else. I’m the same with watching movies or reading books. I have a pillow on the ready to hide into.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
I haven’t really had any bad one posted yet. At least I don’t think so, I enjoy the constructive criticism it helps me improve.