Author Interview - Stacey Jay - The Locket

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

STACEY JAY

Author of The Locket

I am super excited to have Stacey Jay stopping by to talk about The Locket and her new books coming out in 2011. Thank you to The Teen {Book} Scene for arranging this interview and tour. Let’s light this candle.

I see that you love all things creepy and scary. Does that go all the way back to your childhood or was it something you grew into as an adult?

I’ve ALWAYS been completely captivated by all things creepy/scary. Forget Christmas, give me Halloween! Even as a kid, I enjoyed dressing up and running through the neighborhood in the dark more than Santa’s annual visit.

As an adult, I’ve grown into the spooky even more. I no longer feel pressured to adhere to any pink princess stereotypes the way I did when I was younger. And I’ve realized that it’s not so much “scary” that I love, it’s the acknowledgment of the mystical and unknown.

You seem to be a romantic (albeit a spooky one) at heart. How do you get into the romantic minds of your characters?

I am a romantic. I’m married to my best friend and one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met, so it’s hard not to be romantic.

But I don’t really use my own relationships—past or present—in my books. I’m a former actor and spent four years in a conservatory program learning to pretend to be all kinds of people. When I’m writing, I draw on that training and try my very best to “be” that person when writing from their POV.

The Locket has magic and romance, but it also seems to be teaching a lesson or two. Was that part of what you were hoping to accomplish with this book?

I never set out to teach a lesson—I’m more of an entertainer than a guru—but sometimes a lesson slips through now and then. What I believe, what I’ve learned from life so far, the things I like and the things I can’t stand—they all make their way into my writing in way or another.

Which character in The Locket was your favorite to create and why?

Oh, that’s hard. I actually enjoyed all of them—even the characters who weren’t necessarily “good guys.” But I guess I’d have to say Katie. I had a lot of love for her, though she’s very different from myself or any of the other characters I’ve written. I was really rooting for her to open her eyes and see all the possibilities in her life.

Would you consider writing a middle grade novel?

Yes! I have several ideas that I’m dying to tackle. I just haven’t had time to start anything new this year. I’ve been booked up with contracted projects and meeting deadlines. (Not that I’m complaining J.)

Do you have any other books or projects you are working on that you would like to mention?

I do! I’ve got a couple other books coming out this year that I’m really excited about.

First up is DEAD ON THE DELTA—my first adult urban fantasy. It comes out in June 2011. It’s set in an alternate Louisiana where killer fairies have taken over the bayou.

Then, in Fall 2011, JULIET IMMORTAL, my first hardcover young adult book, will hit the shelves.

Here’s the flap copy (not yet final):

"These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume."
-Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The most tragic love story in history...

Juliet Capulet didn't take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn't anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light.

For seven hundred years, she's fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve the lives of the innocent, while Romeo fights to destroy true love. Juliet is resigned to her role on the fringes of human emotion…until the night she meets someone she's forbidden to love, and who Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy.

Thank you Stacey!