Interview with DESTINED’s Jessie Harrell
I know you’re probably asking if I have in fact lost my mind. Like, did she get her books mixed up or something? Like why is there a book cover for Cynthia Hand’s UNEARTHLY sequel, HALLOWED if the post title says, “Interview with DESTINED’s Jessie Harrell?” Well, there is a method to my unique style of madness. I promise. And, you my friends, are the beneficiaries of this mad, mad, madness. I promise again.
If you don’t know by now, I forgive you. If you already know and can’t wait till tomorrow for the release of Jessie Harrell’s DESTINED, I love you. I do, and will prove it in just a minute. You see, below is an interview with Jessie or as I like to call her, J to the H. No really. She lets me call her that. I figure it’s better than Jerell. Wow. I’m distracted so easily! Anyway, back to Jessie Harrell. I keep repeating her name so you will become hypnotized into picking up a copy of her AMAZING debut novel, DESTINED. Jessie and I sat down to dish about DESTINED. P.S. — there’s a contest too. Giving away a copy of DESTINED, HALLOWED by Cynthia Hand, signed copies of Lisa McMann’s FADE and GONE and a Melissa de la Cruz BLUE BLOODS makeup bag! How cool is that? Read the interview to the end to find out how to win this wonderful loot!
But first, a bit about Jessie Harrell. Jessie’s favorite foods are pasta and chocolate. Need I say more?
GM: You could have written any Greek retelling you wanted, why this one?
Jessie: This is the myth I fell in love with back in college. So many of the Greek myths are downers. They had this whole tragedy thing going on. But I’m a romance kind of girl, and you won’t find a more romantic story than that of Cupid & Psyche. I mean, this charming stranger who you can’s see comes and visits you at night, but in exchange, he gives you an amazing palace to live in and treats you like a goddess. It’s mysterious attraction at its best.
GM: You chose to put somewhat modern settings around your ancient story, making it feel almost timeless. Was this your intent?
Jessie: My true hope was just to open up the ancient world to reluctant historical fiction readers — people who (like me!) don’t want to have to slog through heavy language just to learn about a culture or read a good story. And yes, by giving the characters more modern day behaviors and ideas, I did hope to make the story more than just a fairy tale. I wanted Psyche to be a true role model and not just a pretty face, like she was in the original version. If that makes her story timeless now, than so much the better!
GM: The relationship between the sisters was interesting. Do you have siblings? If so, what’s your relationship like?
Jessie: Actually, I’m an only child. I had step-siblings growing up, but never any that I lived with full time. Much like the other relationships in the story, I just had to imagine how real teens would react to their circumstances (if real teens from today were dropped in ancient Greece, that is). Chara (the sister) would naturally be jealous of Psyche’s beauty and attention, even if she was trying her hardest to celebrate with her sister. But once she had a reason to let her jealously take over, Katie bar the door. So really, this is what happens when two sisters who are close growing up are driven apart by a wedge — jealously, betrayal, secrets. All juicy stuff.
GM: Have you told your children about the release? Are they excited, or are they too young to really understand?
Jessie: My six year old saw the book when the proofs came in and I told her it was my book. She said, “You’re an author?” (With an appropriate amount of appreciation in her tone.) And that’s pretty much been the end of it. The five year old hasn’t seemed to care at all. I mean, I am
writing books without pictures over here. How great can that be?
WATCH DESTINED BOOK TRAILER! DESTINED
GM: I read this story a long time ago, when it was vastly different. Can you tell us about some of the changes you made?
Jessie: Where to begin? The version of the story I wrote many moons ago stuck much closer to the original myth. Aphrodite was a harpy just because she was a goddess. Eros was vain and self-centered for much the same reason. They didn’t have true motivations or personalities. It wasn’t until I fleshed them out and made the gods more three dimensional that the story went from good to great (I hope, anyway). And then I added heaps and heaps of romance. This story isn’t about Eros using his arrows to win the Psyche’s love. This story is about the God of Love using all of his charms to win over a reluctant lover.
GM: I love, love, love the cover. It is a thing of wonder all its own. Who was the cover designer and how much input did you have?
Jessie: Why thank you! I feel the same way about it. :) I hired a newbie designer named Josh Longiaru, after I found his redesigned covers for Shade and Shift on a book blogger website. I knew right away that I wanted to work with him. Turns out, he’s only been tinkering with cover redesigns to enter contests and win books for his DD (how sweet is that?), but he was willing to make the leap into the pros. We totally worked hand in hand on every aspect of the cover. I ended up finding the cover photo after we’d gone through quite a few searches of stock photos. He proposed the fonts he thought would look good, etc. It was a back and forth process in which I had final say on every detail. Frankly, it was pretty awesome.
GM: Is DESTINED part of a series? I hated to see it end. As a reader, I want more, more, more. Please tell me this not is all there is.
Jessie: Well, Eros and Psyche’s story may be over, but there are more stories on the way. I am currently planning a companion novel to Destined involving a different mythical couple. It will be written in the same style as Destined though, so if you liked Destined, you hopefully like the new one too (I’m tentatively calling it Oracular, but don’t hold me to that). I’ve also co-written a modern day paranormal/mythological romance with Nikki Katz that I plan to get back to work on very soon.
GM: What advice do you have for writers still struggling to get their stories told? It took a long time to see this story to the page.
Jessie: Yes. Yes, it did. And so my best advice is patience. I was only able to really make Destined what it is today by stepping away from it for about a year, writing another novel, taking time to hone my craft, learn about the industry, educate myself on self-publishing. I think authors have a natural tendency to jump the gun on saying we’re finished with our stories (and this definitely includes me too!). But patience is what made my story better and I’d tell all first-time novelists to make sure they’ve given the manuscript enough time to marinate, and enough beta reads and edits, to really make it shine before you put it out into the world.
GM: How are you spending release day?
Jessie Harrell’s Release Day Video
GM: Congratulations. I am so proud of you and happy for you. What a great story. I am so happy that you stuck with it and saw it through.
Jessie: Thank you so much, Georgia. The story wouldn’t be what it is today with you and your wonderful advice — even before you were my
editor. (((HUGS)))
GET DESTINED NOW!
DESTINEB by Jessie Harrell on Mae Day Books
ISBN: 0615500951 (ISBN13: 9780615500959)
Digital ISBN: 978-1-4524-6598-2
DESTINED on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11778281-destined
Jessie Harrell’s official website: www.jessieharrell.com
Jessie Harrell’s Blog: http://jessie-harrell.blogspot.com
Buy DESTINED on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Destined-Jessie-Harrell/dp/0615500951/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1
CONTEST RULES: ONE WINNER FOR a copy of DESTINED, HALLOWED, FADE and WAKE plus a BLUE BLOODS makeup bag! 1. You must be a georgiamcbride.com Believer! 2. You must comment below with some indication that you’ve actually READ the interview. 3. You must TWEET the following: I want to win @jessieharrell DESTINED @cynthiahand HALLOWED @LisaMcMann WAKE prize pack @georgia_mcbride. 4. Contest entrants receive extra points for marking DESTINED and HALLOWED as want to read on goodreads!
CONTEST ENDS 11/30.
Good luck!
xx
NB: All book covers are property of their respective owners and used only for the purpose of representing appropriate image for book title. All novels given away have been donated by publishers including Mae Day Books, Disney Hyperion, Harper Teen. Lisa McMann’s WAKE and FADE have been donated by YALITCHAT.ORG.
