WELCOME TO MY STOP ON THE BLOG TOUR FOR

the Jealousy of Jalice

by Jesse Nolan Bailey

Read on to check out his novel, read Jesse Nolan Bailey’s guest post, and

enter for a chance to win a physical copy of the book plus some cool swag!

The Jealousy of Jalice

by Jesse Nolan Bailey
(A Disaster of Dokojin #1)
Publication date: May 19th 2020
Genres: Adult, Dark Fantasy, Fantasy

Synopsis

The Realms have split apart, the Stones of Elation have been hidden, and warnings of dokojin drift among the tribes.

The land and its people are corrupted. The Sachem, chief of the Unified Tribes, is to blame.

It is this conviction that drives Annilasia and Delilee to risk their lives. Afraid of the aether magic he wields, they enact a subtler scheme: kidnap his wife. In her place, Delilee will pretend to be the chieftess and spy on the Sachem.

Unaware of this plot against her husband, Jalice is whisked away by Annilasia. Pleading with her captor proves futile, and she rejects Annilasia’s delusional accusations against the chief. After all, the Sachem has brought peace to the land.

Yet a dangerous truth hides in Jalice’s past. As she and Annilasia flee through a forest of insidious threats, they must confront the evil plaguing the tribes and the events that unleashed it.

GOODREADS

Available at:

AMAZON

Guest Post

I had the pleasure to ask Jesse Nolan, if he could tell us about the inspiration and transformation of his own writing processes, the initial idea about writing his novel and if the final product has turned out different from its conception? What were some of the lessons learned?

The initial idea for this novel came from a need to see more LGBTQ+ protagonists in the fantasy genre. Growing up, I didn’t have exposure to that within that genre, and I desperately wanted to see characters I could better relate to that were openly gay and weren’t stereotyped or relegated to minor roles.

The tale originally spawned as a cliché fairytale story of two gay princes that fall in love but are doomed by some curse. I thought it would interesting to have the princess of the story—normally the damsel-in-distress in the diluted Disney versions—be the villain that is the source of the princes’ cursed love.

This changed a lot over the course of time. Eventually, I found that the princess still held the most compelling tale, though she would remain a source of contention between the two gay princes. I chose to explore her view point and what led her to the fated decision of curing the young princes.

When I finished the first draft of this story, it held a very typical Euro-centric setting and terminology. I quickly decided that I wanted my story to be set in a world less contrived, and the terms ‘princess’ and ‘princes’ were dismissed for this new setting. In addition, rather than set the story in the initial timeline of these characters’ childhoods—which is when the curse takes place—I jumped forward and started the tale years later. I found that the timeline of the curse was not as exciting as the after-effects it caused later in these characters’ lives.

Finally, the elements of horror that slipped into the final product appeared in some of the later drafts. After I established a more tribal setting, I found that the themes of the story meshed well when they were metaphorically reflected in the world these characters inhabit.

So, I started off with a Disney love story that featured gay lovers and a princess villain, and ended up with a grittier story that concentrates on the princess’ journey that lead her to cursing the gay lovers and her motivations behind that. Subsequent novels in this series will dive into the view point of the gay characters, but I thought this debut novel needed to explain the princess’ journey first.

The biggest lesson I learned through this process is that the first draft of a story and the final product revealed to readers can, and more than likely will, look very different. The first draft is a sort of word-vomit of the core ideas that are founding the story, and then later drafts rip this apart and meld in other ideas until it is a more original, coherent piece of art. Not every initial concept will remain in the final draft, and usually a first draft reveals a lot of areas where the story simply needs more time to marinate in the authors head. Without that first draft though, the final product would remain elusive and unfulfilled. It’s easier to work with a mess and mold it into something worthy than it is to work with some abstract idea floating around in the mind.

Thank you so much for sharing your writing process with us, Jesse :)

Author Bio

Enthralled by the magic that written stories contain, Jesse Nolan Bailey has always wanted to be an author. With his debut novel finally released to the masses, he can now claim such title with relief. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, where he has embraced the equally-gratifying lifework of hosting a trio of spoiled cats.

Website Instagram Goodreads Facebook Twitter