The Jealousy of Jalice
Jesse Nolan Bailey
(A Disaster of Dokojin #1)
Publication date: May 19th 2020
Genres: Adult, Dark Fantasy, Fantasy
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.
Interview with Jesse Nolan Bailey
For
those interested in exploring the subject or theme of your book,
where should they start?
My
book fits in the dark fantasy genre, so my suggestions would be to
read work by Mark Lawrence (Prince
of Thieves)
or Steve Erikson (Gardens
of the Moon).
The characters in dark fantasy are known for being morally grey, and
the worldbuilding features bleak or horror-like settings. Basically,
these are books that vibe well with the spooky Halloween season and
the long winter nights.
How
did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?
I’ve
always loved fantasy and science fiction. If there’s aliens,
ghosts, or dragons involved, count me in. Fantasy uses other-worldly
settings and characters to draw in the reader, and it can be a great
realm of creativity for writers. As for the darker elements in my
book that nod to a more horror-based genre, I think my earliest
memories of enjoying scarier entertainment was in the Star
Wars: Galaxy of Fear
EU children’s book series.
What
were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel
you achieved them?
My
initial motivation with writing this debut novel was to create a
world in which LGBTQ+ characters could exist without being
stereotyped or relegated to minor roles. I believe this book succeeds
in that initial goal. The
Jealousy of Jalice
lays the groundwork for some gay characters and romances, and I am
eager to flesh out those characters in future novels. In the end, I
think TJOJ represents what I wish to see more of in the fantasy
genre: a diverse cast set in a unique backdrop that isn’t
Euro-centric.
Anything
you would like to say to your readers and fans?
To
all those who have already read The Jealousy of Jalice: thank you so
much for your support. Seeing those reviews on Goodreads, the
interviews on blogs, the shout-outs on social media—it all means
more than you can imagine. Without any of you, my dream of being an
author would only be half-fulfilled, and rather empty. For what is an
artist or performer without an audience? You make this dream
possible.
What
did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Probably
exploring the genre-blending of fantasy and horror. The first draft
of this book didn’t include nearly the amount of horror that it now
boasts, and it just felt rather generic and cliché without it.
Adding in the horror moments/elements really meshed well with the
themes that I embedded in the story, and creating the demon
characters proved to be both challenging and incredibly gratifying.
Can
you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have
planned for the future?
I
am in the initial stages of writing the sequel to The
Jealousy of Jalice.
I’m not sure yet how many books this series (A
Disaster of Dokojin)
will feature, but rest assured that Jalice’s journey and
Annilasia’s quest don’t end with this book.
In
the more immediate future, I have a standalone novella (unaffiliated
with the TJOJ world) that I hope to release before the end of 2020.
Titled Amethyst,
it’s a much shorter piece, and takes the peculiar genre-bending
aspects I explored in TJOJ and attempts to spotlight them in a
strange setting.
If
I may leave a teaser for Amethyst
here, the plot revolves around a woman named Rashell who seeks to
find her missing brother. She hires an investigator, who spends as
much time looking into the town’s cultish worship of a glowing rock
as he does helping her. Together, they uncover a sinister truth that
threatens the future of the village.
How
long have you been writing?
I’ve
been writing since I was kid. My first attempts at a novel in my
tween years were, embarrassingly, nearly identical imitations of The
Lord of the Rings
and Star
Wars.
Thankfully, I’ve learned to stoke the flames of creativity since
then and can confidently say that I’m not trying to rip off Tolkien
or Lucas.
Can
you tell us a little bit about the characters in The
Jealousy of Jalice?
Jalice
and Annilasia are the main POVs that the readers spend the most time
with. Both are stubborn in their own ways, and each must learn to
overcome this obstacle.
Jalice
is a chieftess, married to the chief of the tribes, and is
comfortable in a self-delusional mindset that the world around her is
as it should be. She trusts her husband, and that his decisions are
for the best of the Unified Tribes.
Annilasia,
on the other hand, isn’t blind to the chaos that Jalice’s husband
has cultivated during his reign, and she finally decides that the
decay of the land needs to be redeemed.
Annilasia’s
conspirator, Delilee, happens to be both Jalice’s cousin as well as
her royal decoy. She too believes that something must change for the
good of the tribes, and reluctantly agrees to aid Annilasia in
kidnapping Jalice in a scheme to overthrow the chief.
If
you could spend the day with one of the characters from The
Jealousy of Jalice who would it be? Please tell us why you
chose this particular character, where you would go and what you
would do.
Probably
Delilee. She’s the friendliest person in the cast, and isn’t
manipulative or self-centered. If we were in the real world, we’d
probably just go chill at a coffee shop and chat about books
together. If we were in her world, and assuming this was prior to the
tyrannical reign of the chief, we’d probably do the exact same
thing—though I’m not sure if I’ve canonically established if
coffee exists in her world or not.
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.
1 comments:
Thanks for being on the tour! :)
Post a Comment