Q&A With Sarah Jaune

Welcome! This evening we’re talking to Sarah Jaune, author of the Shelter trilogy. Because I’m sure you’re as interested as I am about how her mind works. So tonight we’re talking a little bit about how she got into writing, and her new book, The Webs We Weave.

How did you get started writing?

I always had stories floating in my head.  I tell myself stories to fall asleep.  I wrote out a few of them when I was younger, but I didn’t really get into writing until I started writing Harry Potter fanfiction, which is writing in the world of Harry Potter with your own original stories.  The readers of those stories are the ones who helped me really learn to craft and tell stories in a cohesive manner.

Did you always want to be a writer?

No, I actually had no intention of becoming an author.  I had a couple of teachers suggest it through the years, but I never saw it as a job that I could or would do.
Where did you get the idea for the shelter series?

My dad told me about solar storms hitting the earth and wiping everything out.  I think much of the idea for the series built from that, but I also wanted to focus on two young adults trying to survive on their own.

How much research do you do?

A lot.  I spend a lot of time checking and double checking facts before I put them into the story.  I sought out experts, read papers, watched documentaries, and so on.  I spend a lot of time making sure I have the small details correct.
Do you make notes?

It depends on the story.  For some stories I have no idea where the plot is going until it’s already arrived.  I’d say it’s like taking a road trip and seeing where you end up without following a map or plan.  I do keep character notes and some plot points in notebooks.  If I have a specific look for a character, I have details about that in my notebooks.  I will also keep a notebook with me as I travel around through my day to write ideas down.  I often dream my ideas, so I have a notebook in my headboard, too.

How do you get in the mood to write? Is there a time of day you write best?

With the Shelter series I listened to a ton of conspiracy theory podcasts to help me find inspiration and to get paranoid.  It helped set the mood.
My favorite time to write is sitting in the car waiting for my kids to be done with gymnastics.  It’s a whole hour of peace and quiet, but I can write any time.  I am not a morning person, though.  If I’m up early, I’ll sew first until I’m totally awake, then write.
Where do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration in everyday life.  I was driving along and thought about the dreams I’d had the night before, which were some strange dreams, and thought “that could be a novel”.
Who are your favorite authors?

JK Rowling, Kathy Reich, and Preston and Child.  The last two write a series that I love.  I’m also a bit of a forensics nerd.  If I’d been good in science, I’d have loved to be an anthropologist or a meteorologist.  

Your last book, The Webs We Weave. Where did you get the idea for that book?

That was based on a real life experience of mine.  When I was ten, I was in my room and I always slept with the door open because it seemed less scary that way.  I could see the light in the hall.  One night I looked to my door and saw a black mass with blood-red eyes staring at me.  I closed my eyes, sure it would go away, then forced my eyes open and it was still there.  It took me a moment to find my voice, but I slammed my eyes shut again and started screaming for my parents.  I believe now it was a demon.  It was the scariest moment in my life.
I got the chills just listening to it. Have you ever based a character on a real person?

I included my middle child in my first book.  I actually represented him as himself.  For those who know him, this was a very funny inside joke.

Which one is your favorite, out of all your characters?

My favorite character in all my books is Mia because I based her on my own personality type in Myers-Briggs, which is INFJ.  I had a lot of fun exploring this weird thought pattern that I live in all the time.  Fun side note is JK Rowling is also an INFJ.
Speaking of Mia, Why did you have Andrew and Mia separated from the world in Shelter?

This was actually my commentary on the class system that we have in this country.  Mia is from a well-do-to family and she was, literally, sheltered from the world falling apart.  She was given every resource she would need, and trained to survive and thrive.  For most of the world that just wouldn’t happen because the resources aren’t there.  I wanted them isolated because it engenders a sense of “all those out there are bad”.  It becomes us vs. them and the ‘thems’ might be dangerous.  I think that people who are higher up in society, socio-economically, sometimes feel that way.

Was this a message to your readers, that is to say, do you try to weave messages into your writing?

I try to focus on people who are broken, but who are looking for healthy ways of getting out of that brokenness.  I don’t want people to romanticize abuse or dysfunctional relationships.  I may put those elements in a story, but I will also show the steps for getting out of them.

Changing tracks a bit, how did you get published?

A friend of mine, someone I wrote with in the past, said, “hey, I’m starting a publishing company.  Will you write a novel for me to publish?” and I said sure!
I’m sure working with a friend made things a lot easier, is there anything you don’t like about the publishing process?

I really hate publicity.  That’s the part that I would like to ignore.  I could happily sit in my cave and write, but getting out there to try to sell it is very difficult to me.  I end up saying stuff like, “I swear it doesn’t suck.”  
Speaking of publicity, Is there a new book coming out soon?  

There is a new book!  It’s called The Overseer’s Son and it should be out in a few weeks.  I’m very excited about this.  It’s a story for a younger audience, although the adults who have read it all seem to enjoy it.  My oldest child wanted a story that he could read, and he’s eleven.  He’s a very advanced reader, but obviously I had to make sure the content was not too mature.

Your first book, Shelter came out on January 20th, 2015, Prison in the beginning of April, Seeds in early August, and The Webs We Weave was released mid October. How do you write so quickly?

I type very quickly, and the words tend to fall onto the page without a lot of forethought on my part.  Sometimes I will give a scene a lot of thought in the day(s) leading up to writing it, but often it just comes out fully formed without dithering over it.  On a very good day I can type 14 pages in a word document, although I typically only shoot for 5.
How do you produce the covers for the books? Do you take your own photographs?

I have taken my own pictures thus far for Shelter and Seeds.  I bribed two teens from my church for Shelter and dressed my toddler up as a girl to get that shot.  For Seeds, I dyed my friend’s hair blonde, curled it, and hunted up a really old truck to get the shot.  It was the one I really wanted.  We tried to get an artist for Prison’s cover, but he ended up too busy.  For The Webs We Weave, I used my middle child as my model and an artist added in the demons in the trees.  For The Overseer’s Son, it will be all hand drawn and I saw a few of the pictures, including some of the chapter art and it looks amazing!

I know I’m looking forward to seeing it.

Are there any new projects in the works?

So the overseer’s son is one of 6 books, and the plan is to release them one every other month for a year. so I’m about a quarter to a third of the way through writing the second book and we should be publishing the second book in the beginning of February.  The goal will be book 3 in early April, and so on.

Well that’s all the questions I have. We can now open the floor to other questions. If anyone has one they can type them into the chat bar.

Thank to to Sarah for answering them all, thank all of you for joining us, and have a lovely evening