Today I’m conducting a session with…Jessica E. Subject!

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Me: Tell me about an experience that had a profound impact on your life.

Jessica: Becoming a mother had the biggest impact on my life. Unlike with a pet, you cannot keep a child in a cage, aquarium, or kennel. And it was no longer in my stomach where I simply had to keep myself healthy in order to keep my child healthy. I was responsible for another life. I’d already made some changes during my pregnancy, but when my child was born, it became the most important person in my life. And a few years later, I had another. I love my children so much, and wouldn’t trade them for anything. (Even during the moments when they are not getting along.)

 

Me: What personality trait of yours helps you most as an author?

Jessica:  Being an author is not easy, regardless of how you are published. It requires a lot of time and dedication, not only with writing and editing your book, but also with finding readers and all the other social media requirements. My patience definitely helps me get through each day. As authors, we must wait to hear back from beta readers, editors, publishers, and reviewers about their thoughts on our stories. Another thing we must wait for is time to write. Most authors have dedicated writing time, but there are always interruptions, and we must be patient during those times. Also, inspiration doesn’t always strike during writing time. Thank goodness for note taking apps and simple pen and paper for the ability to write things down during those moments.

Being an author is not easy, regardless of how you are published. @jsubject #AOTC #AmWriting Click To Tweet

Me: What personality trait of yours hinders you most as an author?

Jessica:  I am easily distracted. I have a hard time focusing on writing my stories when I know I have something else to do. I try to get all the other tasks completed earlier in the day so I can focus on my writing without those other obligations looming over me. Sometimes it works, but not all the time.

 

Me: What was your high point as a writer—a time when you were happiest, on cloud nine, flying high? What happened?

Jessica:  I cannot chose one moment. Of course, when I received my first contract offer from my publisher, I was super excited, but other moments since then have made me extremely happy. I love receiving good reviews and personal messages from my readers. Going to book signings and meeting readers face-to-face were fabulous author moments for me. Meeting other authors who I adore and respect is thrilling, as it being invited to participate in events and anthologies with them.

 

Me: What was your low point as a writer—a time when questioned your path as a writer, a time when you felt really crappy about your writing? What happened? How did you get over it?

Jessica:  As an author, our stories are constantly critiqued throughout our career. It’s part of the industry. I understand and accept that. Most of the negative reviews I’ve received shine the light on areas of the particular story that could be improved. And I love those reviews. It gives me areas to work on for future stories, and also for that particular story if I get the chance to revise it. I did that with Made For Her when I re-released it. But, I received one review for another story that got under my skin. Yes, I learned some things from parts of the review, but other parts made assumptions about me that were simply untrue. It took me a couple days to move past that review, but I kept writing. I had to.

 

Me: Which of your characters are you most like? Why?

Jessica: There are pieces of my personality in every single character I write. Some more than others. Yet, none of them are exactly like me. I would have to say I am most like Vilarra from Gib and the Tibbar, which is a Galactic Defenders story that will be in the Pets in Space 2 anthology. She is strong-willed, but quiet when she needs to be. She believes in what is right for everyone and gets upset when she sees injustices. She is also very loyal and lets only a few into her closest circle.

 

Me: How many books have you written? How long does it typically take you to write a book? What’s the most painful part of the writing process for you?

Jessica: I have 28 published titles, not including those in anthologies and box sets. They range in length from 7k to 36k words. There is no set amount of time for me. It all depends on the month of the year. Some months I have more time to write, while others (June to August), I don’t have as much. The longer stories take me more time to plot out and develop the characters, so they can take two to five months depending on what else I have going on with my family and more. The most painful part of the process is sitting my butt down to write the first draft. I love plotting, editing, revising, formatting, uploading, and more.

 

Me: What is a story your family always tells about you?

Jessica: My family likes to tell the story about how I passed out at my grandmother’s wedding. A widow, she was getting married to a man who I’d known for many years. I was in elementary school at the time, and had already experienced periods of vasovagal syncope. In the process of many tests with specialists to figure out my triggers, I didn’t expect it to be an issue on a cold February day. But, during the ceremony, I could feel it coming on. I told the maid of honor, and she told me not to worry. I don’t remember the next part, but I’m told I handed the maid of honor my flowers and crumpled to the ground. It was quite embarrassing, but everyone laughed it off, and my grandmother told the story all the time.

 

The most painful part of the process is sitting my butt down to write the first draft. @jsubject #AOTC #AmWriting Click To Tweet

Me: Tell us about your sci-fi romance, Jager (Galactic Defenders #2)

Jessica: 

Jager’s new squad of Defenders has completed training, but the spoiled princess who has grated on his nerves since her first day of training is called back to Hemera for a yearly celebration. When Princess Katrina doesn’t show up, Jager must find her and drag her home, where he wishes she would stay.

Katrina is a Defender, not a princess. And there is no way she wants to return to a planet she hates for some stupid ceremony. Not when she could be out killing Erebus with her squad.

But when a new enemy threatens both their lives, they must work together to survive.

 

Me: Share with us a favorite paragraph or two from your newest release. Why do you love this paragraph? What makes it special to you?

 Jessica: 

He spotted her leaning against the fence surrounding the forest, chatting with Jace, a Mingot, and a seventh-year Defender like him. His competition. They both had new squads and had to prove to the Alliance they were ready to go on missions. The new Zulu squad had already aided Echo on a humanitarian mission in the Tuey system. Probably because Katrina shared information about the drills with Jace so his team would perform better. Each drill was supposed to be different, but Jager couldn’t be sure. Katrina would do anything for the Defender who had helped saved her father when the Alliance had turned their back on him. How he wished he’d been sent instead.

No. He didn’t like Katrina. He didn’t like her fraternizing with Jace, the only Mingot he knew with hair. Perfect hair some Defenders swooned over. And he definitely didn’t like what the guy did with Katrina behind closed doors. Naf and Oflan could shove it up their asses if they believed him to be jealous of the other Defender. Because he wasn’t. Jace belonged to a different squad, and Jager wanted to keep his own squad focused without having to deal with the drama of relationships. Maybe if Katrina hung around with her own squad, they could work well together for a change. Some of her skill could rub off on the rest. Who was he kidding? The other three were hopeless.

This is one of my favorite parts of Jager, as he is trying so hard to deny his feelings for Katrina. Also, he is overwhelmed by his squad. It shows his vulnerability and his state of mind at the beginning of the story.

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Abbie Roads writes dark emotional novels featuring damaged characters, but always gives her hero and heroine a happy ending… after torturing them for three hundred pages. RACE THE DARKNESS and HUNT THE DAWN are available now! SAVING MERCY Book 1 in the Fatal Truth Series is available now.

About the author: abbieroads