Ladies and gentlemen, meet the multi-talented Jessa Slade, author of the Marked Souls series.
1.
What is the name of your business and what do you tell other
people you do? (such as author, teacher, designer)
Hello, I’m Jessa Slade, and I’m
an author. (This sounds like a 12-step program intro, except I use my last name
because I’m dying for people to know how word-addicted I am.) When people ask
what I do, I say I am a writer. I say writer instead of author because I like
to emphasize the verb part. I’m a writer when I write. That’s the part I
control. Technically, I suppose you could say I control the author part too,
now that I am self published, but personally, I consider the author part of
myself subject to the whims of being read. And that part I can’t control.
Sadly!
2. When did you know it was
time to stop treating your art as a hobby and start it as a career?
When I got paid! That sounds a
little mercenary, doesn’t it? I guess I’m going by the IRS’s definition :) I’ve
always written with the intent of being read, and until that happened, I wasn’t
ready to call myself an author, which is the career part. But to be honest, I
didn’t make that many changes moving from writer to author. The deadlines are
more deadly :) but the work is pretty much the same: words on the page, one
after the other.
3. What are some of the
aspects of your job that people don’t see? For example, most people don’t
understand how much marketing is done by the authors themselves instead of a
publisher, and most audience members don’t see how costumes and props are
designed/chosen.
I did a booksigning at the
Powell’s Books at the Portland International Airport with a couple other
authors, and I was surprised how many people were surprised we were authors! I
mean, we were sitting at tables surrounded by our books next to a sign that
said Meet The Authors, and yet when we said we were the authors, people invariably
said, “You’re the authors?” in simultaneous tones of surprise, pleasure and
suspicion. Apparently we did not look like authors! I wonder what would have
convinced people.
Most people don’t see the hours
that go into writing a book. Nathaniel Hawthorne said “Easy reading is damn
hard writing.” I suspect most people think writing is easy because all of us
learn our alphabet from our very earliest years, so how hard could it be,
stringing those same 26 letters together over a blank page? (Insert maniacal
laughter here.)
4. Who inspired/inspires you
on those inevitable rough days?
I belong to a great romance
writers’ organization, Romance Writers of America. The women and men in my
local chapter are a fabulous source of inspiration and energy. There is always
someone querying or getting published, just starting or just finishing a book,
touring blogs or going off-line to concentrate. Seeing that constantly ebb and
flow of mindful effort, excitement, determination, and passion helps keep me
going when the works aren’t going.
5. Name a few of your
current projects. For example, conferences, publicity, design process, what you
have for sale.
For the holiday season, I
published a Christmas novella in my Marked Souls demonic possession series.
(What? Christmas and demons go together like children and lots of sugar.) THE
DARKEST NIGHT is about two lost souls finding each other at the darkest
time of the year. Also, the second book in my Steel Born dark fairy series, A
LITTLE NIGHT MUSE, is out in January. I’m currently working on the second
book in my science fiction romance anthology series and the third book of the
Steel Born. I gotta write faster!
6. (OPTIONAL) This question is a chance
to meander or talk in greater depth if you’d like. Here you can talk about what
hobbies you pursue, how you refresh your well of ideas, what you would
recommend to other women interested in a career in the arts, or just anything
you'd like other people to know.
I truly
believe in the power of a creative outlet to change for the better the way we
live, think and love. I don’t doubt that entropy is out to get us, and our only
way to battle the inevitable chaos is to create. Whether that’s writing, music,
painting, sewing, cooking, gardening, or compiling supercuts of cute baby
animal videos, find the thing you love and share it with the universe. The
universe is waiting for your art!
You can find me online at:
Following
Your Dream by
Once the craft is learned, and you believe in your work, you
have to put that work out there for others to purchase and enjoy. You also need
to surround yourself with people who encourage your writing, people who hold
you accountable for the best work you can do, and people who believe in you. 
