Indie Author Spotlight: Jess Layne
Pictures taken from Jess Layne’s mood board for In Beds of Flowers
In Beds of Flowers: The Canviant Trilogy
Book Summary:
Dion Evestre has been the right hand to the Fae king for over eighty years. In that time, he has fulfilled every dark order presented to him, each one hardening his heart. But two women, from two different times, will test Dion as he never has been before.
Ciaragen Vey: wielder of shadows, daughter to a famed general…and orchestrator of the destruction of the Fae king and his reign. Will she succeed in her task, or will her darkness and desires be her downfall?
Althea Cardenia: fourth in line to the crown of the human continent, and a powerful healer. In a centuries-old tradition, she must choose a man to marry by her twenty-first birthday. She’s resolved to do her duty, despite the part of her that wishes for more.
But, as always happens in faerie tales, Althea learns to be careful what she wishes for. Because the fate that comes to her in the final hour is far worse than the last.
With no knowledge nor experience in how to fight this new enemy, Althea finds herself forced to do something even harder: to trust them. Him. The one who betrayed her, and her family.
Or, maybe she’ll stab him–again.
Who is Jess Layne?
Pulled from Jess’s website: Jess was born and raised on Long Island, NY. She may not live there anymore, but she will always talk with her hands, and drive like a New Yorker because of it.
She has a degree in health sciences, hence the partiality towards using that knowledge in Althea’s points of view. She took creative writing in high school, shortly after the Twilight/Hunger Games/Divergent craze, and even started writing a bit herself in her free time. But, those journals have long since been lost, hidden, or thrown away.
This is her debut novel, which she wrote after her shifts in her corporate job nearly every day, and more on the weekends while her partner played video games beside her. She lives with him, their dog, and their baby boy.
An Interview with Jess on all things IBOF
Question: One of my favorite threads post you’ve shared is the description of In Beds of Flower’s hierarchy:
“In Beds of Flowers has a king. He isn’t supported by the people he oppresses; only by the very few; the richest among the nation he rules over. Without them, he would have no power at all, and therefore they are the true rulers. The series is about the many people, and the few rulers, and how wonderful it is when the many take down the few.”
There’s clearly a lot of political turmoil in the world, particularly the United States with the new presidential administration. Was the timing of this book’s publication influenced with the change of administration, or rather has it played into the Oligarchy’s injustices further as you’ve worked on the novel?
Answer: It would be compelling to say I saw the current administration coming, but I didn’t. I believed and hoped Harris would win, but as that man took the seat, and his regime revealed itself to be what she warned everyone it would be, it happened to line up with themes of The Canviant Trilogy. And, since his supporters have somehow made Suzanne Collins’s works out to be “for them”, I want to make it clear now: Oleander and Olin are Trump and Elon. They are the bad guys.
Question: In Beds of Flowers is an amazingly written novel to be a debut. How long have you been planning out this novel and the world system?
Answer: Thank you! To be honest, I am a total pantser; I knew what I wanted the plot twists to be, and how I wanted the book to end, but everything in-between was a “let’s write and see where it takes us” situation. Altogether, I went through five edits, meaning six versions of the same story, just improving with each one.
Question: On your website, you mention that you “took creative writing in high school, shortly after the Twilight/Hunger Games/Divergent craze, and even started writing a bit herself in [your] free time. But, those journals have long since been lost, hidden, or thrown away.” Are there any prompts or stories that stick out in your memory that you’re willing to share?
Answer: I remember one was more sci-fi romance. Aliens disguised as humans, but with a key difference that I won’t share because who knows–maybe I’ll write it after TCT and its following project (shh!!)
Question: What’s your favorite way to work on your novels? Are you a coffee shop type of gal, or cooped up in an office with no distractions?
Answer: I am 100% a no distractions gal. I can’t even listen to music unless it’s to get the feel of a scene. Usually, I’m at my kitchen table or on my couch with my laptop, with my emotional support water bottle and a zero-sugar Monster on deck.
Question: What can you share with us about book 2?
Answer: It’s longer. Darker. More spicy. There are more plot twists and reveals, so if you finish IBOF, and you think, “What else could there possibly be?” Just you wait, babes.
SPOILER WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING QUESTION….. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK
Question: Like mentioned above, books are clearly political- this one in particular as well. The storyline of human’s blaming the fae for babies born with deformities or other defects, and then leaving them in the woods to die is heartbreaking. Our (real life) world has such a chilling history of infanticide- is there a regional practice in particular that influenced this part of your storyline?
Answer: Yes, heartbreakingly. Eighteenth-century Scotland.
Question: So, ADATHAN! We clearly see bits and pieces of his past throughout the first story. To essentially be brainwashed into a blood oath is incredibly manipulative, and such a dark twist to this story. Do we learn more in the following books about his upbringing and how he was left with Olin?
Answer: Yes, we get an in-depth look at Adathan’s past in book 2! How he came to be in Olin’s service, what he did there, and how he got into the position he was in within Thea’s timeline.
Question: Dion and Ciaragen are such an amazingly balanced couple. I love the shift in dynamics of traditional roles with her work as a guard, an incredibly loyal one at that despite her strong hatred for Dion at the beginning. Will we get to see what the last twenty years have done to her in light of her losing yet another person in her life? Is this going to be the incredible female sorrow I saw you mention on Threads? (side eye emoji here LOL)
Answer: I truly strived to make each of my characters complex, and diverse in personality. Ciaragen is extremely loving once you get past that hard exterior, but she is also stubborn. Impulsive. A little brash. All things we learned in IBOF, which she retains in book 2, because that’s who she is. She is sorrowful, but angry more than anything, and in book 2 we get to explore her realization that she recognized a desire to be better within IBOF, but abandoned it upon being hurt again. And we get to watch what she does with that knowledge.
So, I’ll give you one more guess as to who that Thread was about (side eye emoji here)
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