Everything Under The Sun by Jessica Redmerski - Interview

From Jessica Redmerski comes a new novel,  Everything Under The Sun. 

In this blog post I will feature an interview from Jessica where she talks about writing, personal things, self-publishing and other upcoming books, including information about her series In The Company Of Killers.

ON WRITING

Tell us a little about why you write in so many different genres. Does it work for you?

I can't stick to one genre. I love writing all types of stories. Does it work for me? Yes and no. Yes, because I'd start to feel claustrophobic if I had to write in the same genre all the time. No, because I think it confuses my readers that I write everything under the same author name. I regret that decision to this day. My advice to authors considering it: Don't make this mistake. 

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing? 

I'm impatient. Very impatient. It's challenging for me to get through the first 2-3 chapters of every book because I have a bad habit of looking at how much I have left to go. I just want to be done with it already so that my readers can enjoy!

Do you have a routine that you use to get into the writing frame-of-mind?

Coffee. 

PERSONAL STUFF

Which do you prefer: ebook, hardback or paperback?

Definitely paperback, hands down. I have a Kindle and it's just not the same. Hardbacks can't be held comfortably (yes, I bend spines! I'm totally guilty!). I can't imagine a world without physical books. It's depressing to imagine, actually.

What is your favorite type of food?

Mexican!

Is there one book that has had an impact on not only your writing, but on you personally?

That would be The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice. It's a book that I've read four or five times and the one that really inspired me to try and become a published author.

ON SELF-PUBLISHING

Do you believe that many novelists choose to self-publish out of frustration with trying to publish traditionally?

When self-publishing on Amazon first became a thing, I do think most of those going it on their own were doing it out of frustration. I was one of them! Even though I self-published my first book a short time after it was becoming the thing to do, I totally did it because I tried for almost three years to land an agent, but to no avail. But now, I think more and more authors are doing it because they feel it's the better route for them, and are bypassing  the query-reject method altogether. Personally, I like both!

OTHER BOOKS

Fans of your In The Company Of Killers series are wanting to know why it's taking so long to release book #7. Can you give us some information on it?

I do get this question everyday it seems, but it's so hard to reply to everybody. I'll do my best to explain what's going on with book 7 right here. So here goes! I'm 100% dedicated to that series, and I know it's frustrating that after six books, it's taking a longer-than-average time to publish the seventh. But I need everyone to understand that not only have I been going through a lot of personal things the past year and a half that prevented me from writing much of anything and finish Everything Under The Sun before i tried to tackle any other book. Everything Under The Sun has been a work in progress going on, I think almost three years now. No matter what else I tried to write, EUtS kept looming in the back of mind, and it was affecting my current works-in-progress (book 7 included). I knew that if I didn't just put everything else aside and finish EUtS that my other books would, quite honestly, be s***. Not all writers are the same, of course, but I'm one of the ones who absolutely must work on the book that's taking up most space in my heart and mind, instead of the one everyone is waiting on. But I promise, I'll be back to work on Spiders In The Grove soon! Just please be patient with me.

You stated that you were going to write Lily's book (from The Edge Of Never) - is that still a certainty?

I do still intend to write Lily's book, but at this time I can't estimate when that might be.

BLURB for Everything Under The Sun

Thais Fenwick was eleven years old when civilization fell, devastated by a virus that killed off the majority of the worlds population. For seven years, Thais and her family lived in a community of survivors deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. But when her town is attacked by raiders, she and her blind sister are taken away to the East-Central Territory where she is destined to live the cruel and unjust kind of life that her late mother warned about.

Atticus Hunt is a troubled soldier in Lexington City who has spent the past seven years trying to conform to the vicious nature of men in a post-apocalyptic society. He knows that in order to survive, he must abandon his morals and his conscience, and become like those he is surrounded by. But when he meets Thais, morals and conscience win out over conformity, and he risks his and his life to save her. They escape the city and set out together on a long and perilous journey to find safety in Shreveport, Louisiana. 

Struggling to survive in a world without electricity, food, shelter, and clean water, Atticus and Thais shed their fear of growing too close, and they fall hopelessly in love. But can love survive in such dark times, or is it fated to die with them?

Everything Under The Sun will be released August 28th.