Interview with Jocelyn A. Fox, Author of Heartless

What’s the story behind the story? What impressed you to put in writing Heartless (Athena Ellison Book 1)?

My earlier collection, the Fae War Chronicles, is extra epic and excessive fantasy, and I’ve been writing that collection for the previous twelve years. So I needed to delve right into a darker and edgier collection, exploring the concepts that fantasy creates the area to ponder: household relationships, society’s expectations, understanding when to ask for assist, and finally deciding if the ends justify the means. But I additionally nonetheless needed to put in writing a enjoyable guide, so I believed of it as a loving send-up of the “hidden magical world” style, blended with a splash of profanity-laced superhero.

If you needed to choose theme songs for the primary characters of Heartless (Athena Ellison Book 1), what would they be?

Athena: First half of the guide: “Welcome to the Jungle,” Guns N Roses; Second half: “Heartbreaker,” Pat Benetar

Kellan: “Beggin’” by Måneskin, “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” Pat Benetar

Thaddeus: “Fortunate Son,” Creedence Clearwater Revival

Tabitha: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” Cyndi Lauper

Elspeth: “Sabotage,” The Beastie Boys

Apollo: “Good Times Bad Times,” Led Zeppelin

What’s your favourite style to learn? Is it the identical as your favourite style to put in writing?

My all-time favourite style to learn is fantasy, although I do attempt to learn a range of genres, and I’ve solely written fantasy novels. I grew up studying C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and was the identical age as Harry Potter when every guide was launched, in order that was fairly enjoyable. When I began writing my first revealed guide, The Iron Sword, I got down to write a guide that teenage me would have favored to learn.

What books are in your TBR pile proper now?

Woman, Captain, Rebel, Margaret Wilson

Verity, Colleen Hoover

Haunting Adeline, H.D. Carlton

Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo

Scholomance trilogy, Naomi Novik (reread)

What scene in your guide was your favourite to put in writing?

I’m a sucker for the large struggle fruits scenes, however there have been additionally a couple of key scenes on this guide that led as much as the climactic showdown. Aside from the showdown, which I can’t actually speak about with out spoilers, there’s one other struggle scene the place our heroine simply completely will get her ass handed to her. (Can I swear on this interview? Former sailor.) So it’s sudden and in addition forces Athena to reevaluate her lone wolf fashion, which units in movement the remainder of the plot.

There are additionally a couple of scenes during which the fourth wall is damaged in a method, or it’s a wink to a different collection. For instance, flying vehicles are outlawed within the Secondworld as a result of of a really high-profile incident…

Do you have got any quirky writing habits? (fortunate mugs, cats on laps, and so forth.)

I often go to a espresso store to put in writing. I needed to break this behavior in the course of the pandemic, however fortunately now that the whole lot is open once more, I can return to being the neighborhood author lurking within the nook with a latte!

Do you have got a motto, quote, or philosophy you reside by?

This life isn’t the costume rehearsal.

If you may select one factor for readers to recollect after studying your guide, what wouldn’t it be?

Asking for assist isn’t a weak spot—it really takes a rare quantity of energy.