AMoRaR Interview – Jessica A. McMinn

A Month of Rain and Reads Interviews4 months ago10 min readAdd comment

Welcome to A Month of Rain and Reads, a celebration of self-published and indie SFF throughout the entire month of November. To find out how you can take part and view the whole list of content, visit our introduction post.

Today, we have an interview with Jessica A. McMinn, author of the dark fantasy series Gardens of War & Wasteland.

Describe yourself like you would a character in one of your books.

Jessica A. McMinn is a cautious, lawfully-good introvert who still manages to make bad decisions even after overthinking them. She always tries her best while constantly gaslighting herself into believing she is lazy and underachieving. Sarcasm is the highest form of wit and she will die upon this hill.

Our theme for November is A Month of Rain & Reads. Do you subscribe to the idea of curling up with a good book while the rain pours down outside? What book would you read? Would you bring tea and a blanket? What would make the moment perfect?

Oh absolutely—so much so that I stream ‘cozy cabin thunderstorm’ aesthetic videos on YouTube while I listen to audiobooks and do my cross stitching every night. I’m not a tea drinker but will have a nice hot Milo in the colder weather and definitely a blanket!

What else do you want our readers to know about you?

Ha, nothing actually comes to mind. My books are far more interesting than me, I promise!

Why did you decide to self-publish, and what has been your biggest success so far?

I remember watching my fellow undergrad alum Helen Scheuerer make her indie debut back in 2017 and was so utterly in awe of the quality she produced that it made me realise it was possible to build a career from self-publishing. (Helen’s since gone on to be a hugely successful hybrid author).

Still, I remained on the fence about my publishing goals until 12 months out from releasing The Ruptured Sky. The final nail in the coffin so to speak was when I was writing a query letter for a new Australian publishing house when I just thought, ‘Do I really want to put energy into convincing someone else to publish my novel when I could just publish it myself and divert that energy into getting people to read my novel instead?’

And that was that!

What is your favourite thing about being an indie author?

The community is definitely a huge draw card. I can only speak for fantasy/sci-fi spaces, but for the most part everyone is welcoming and enthusiastic about boosting each other, which is always great. From a business side of things, having full creative control about what I put out and when is also huge. I’m not at the mercy of whatever traditional publishing houses are currently in the market for. I can tell the stories I want to tell, how I want to tell them.

Your debut novel, The Ruptured Sky, was the first in a series of dark fantasy. What is it about dark fantasy that you enjoy, and how dark do you go?

I think it’s a throw back to my angsty teenage emo days (lol). Despite being the typical ‘goody-goody’, I gravitated towards dark and twisty things as a counter balance, I suppose—flexing a bit of rebellion and ‘alternative aesthetic’ that I otherwise didn’t exhibit. I don’t think I go super dark in terms of some of the other offerings on the market, but I certainly do not shy away from it. I have no triggers.

Your most recent release, Parasitic Omens, also looks quite dark and gothic! You’ve described this as perfect for fans of the video game Bloodborne. Do you take inspiration from souls-like games and other games?

I do, actually. I think video games are probably the most prominent influence on both Gardens of War & Wasteland and the new Gods of Dallalmar series, which Parasitic Omens has kind of soft-launched for me. When I did most of the early drafting of The Ruptured Sky, I barely read novels, but rather consumed a lot of video games and manga/anime.

JRPG franchises such as Final Fantasy, ‘Tales’ and Fire Emblem were really instrumental in shaping The Ruptured Sky, along with The Legend of Zelda, which I’ve been playing since I was like 10. Bloodborne wasn’t released until I was on my third or fourth draft, but it immediately announced its presence and saw the introduction of ‘demonspawn’—the hellish, mutant monsters that our main girl Amika makes her living hunting—into the lore and worldbuilding. Parasitic Omens takes the concept of nightmare beasties even further, and I suspect it will persist for many future titles to come!

You like to write morally grey characters. What’s your favourite thing about these types of characters, and what makes them fun to write?

Building on from the appeal of dark fantasy, it stems from a desire to rebel against myself and who I am. As a people-pleaser and someone who is terrified of disapproval, I tend to opt for choices that make the least waves. Writing morally grey characters gives me the space to branch out and explore paths that I would never take, so I find them the most compelling to read (and write).

What themes are important to you, and how are they reflected in your writing?

I like to explore that space between personal ambitions and external expectations, which is what underpins The Ruptured Sky and the Gardens of War & Wasteland stories at large. How far will people go to achieve their goals? What do the consequences of an ‘end justifies the means’ mentality really look like?—those kinds of things.

I also tend to play around with religion and its purpose—false gods, malevolent gods, absent gods, and what have you. I’m not religious myself but I find belief systems and mythology fascinating and, being such a cornerstone of the human experience across time and space, so important to feature in secondary world fantasy, whatever form it takes.

Last but not least, queer representation and normativity. People with diverse sexual and gender identities exist and I want that reflected in my books. Sure, my characters are going to suffer and have a horrible time of it—but it won’t be because they don’t fit the cis-het paradigm. It will be because they’re unfortunately in one of my books, lol.

What are you working on next? Can you tease us?

I am currently working my butt off getting Book III of Gardens of War & Wasteland finished. The penultimate installment—The Corruption Within—will hopefully be releasing this time next year, followed by an optional ‘3.5’ novella, and finally, Book IV.

After the completion of the Gardens of War & Wasteland quartet, I’ll be diving deeper into the world of Parasitic Omens, with the first full-length Gods of Dallalar novel. At this stage, I envision Dallalmar being a series of interconnected stand-alones, but the jury is still out on that yet!

And a few quick questions. What’s your favourite…

…book, in recent times?

Not recent in its release, but new to me: The Realm of the Elderlings. Wow. Just wow. As for newer releases, I’ve been blown away by The Will of the Many, Songs of the Drowned and indie favourite, Legacy of the Brightwash.

…game, in recent times?

Again, not super recent because I’m time poor but favourites from the last decade-(ish) include Bloodborne (duh), Witcher 3, Final Fantasy XIV (particularly Heavensward, Shadowbringers and Endwalker expansions), and both Legend of Zelda Switch titles. I was also super into Overwatch for a good while but then it went 5v5 with role lock and … yeah.

…writing advice?

Draft first, edit later. Seriously. Just get to the end of the damn story before you start making changes. Otherwise you’ll get stuck on a perfectionist loop and rewrite the first half ten times without ever having a finished product to work with. Trust me, I know—it’s the reason The Ruptured Sky took twenty years to publish.

…advice for someone who wants to publish their own book?

Do it, but do it well. By which I mean, don’t rush it. Take the time drafting and redrafting. Connect with other writers in your genre. Get some feedback, hone your craft. And if you’re going indie, start putting money aside—even a dollar a week—early in the drafting process so you can afford an editor and a professional cover designer that will hold its own in a busy market.

…source of inspiration?

Any form of storytelling—novels, tv shows, film, manga, animation, video games, history—is rich in ideas and I’ve certainly found inspiration in all of them!

…way to clear your mind when everything gets a bit much?

Sing it out! Pop on your favourite tunes and just belt it out like no one is around to listen (and if they are, too bad for them!)

Do you have any last words? Any shoutouts to authors who have supported you or whose books have inspired you?

I could be here forever listing all the people who inspire and support me, but I will make just one shout out to Krystle Matar for, well, being Krystle Matar: You are an amazing champion for the community as well as a fantastic author and all-round stellar human being. I look up to you in so many ways.

Anyway! Chase those dreams, indie fans! There will never be too many stories in the world.

x

Jessica A. McMinn

Jessica A. McMinn is an author of queer speculative fiction based in regional Australia with a passion for dark fantasy, dark coffee and cats (which, let’s face it, are all dark inside). When she is not writing (which is more often than you’d think), Jessica can be found raising her two beautiful children or immersed in an audiobook while drawing, crafting or playing video games. Her debut novel, The Ruptured Sky, is the first installment in the gritty dark fantasy quartet, Gardens of War & Wasteland, and is perfect for fans of Robin Hobb, Anna Stephens and R F Kuang.