Interview with contemporary fantasy authors Jessi Honard and Marie Parks

Today features co-authors Jessi Honard and Marie Parks to chat about their new contemporary fantasy, Unrelenting.

Bios:
Jessi Honard and Marie Parks met as adults on an Animorphs forum—an online homage to the middle grade sci-fi books they’ve geeked out over since age 10.

Their friendship quickly expanded to a shared love of camping and hiking. Something magical happens in the woods, far from cell service: you get to talking about your big dreams. For them, that was creating meaningful stories. So they started co-writing.

Multiple times, they’ve been asked if they’re sisters. And even though they aren’t related, the answer is yes, because siblinghood goes deeper than blood. Jessi and Marie both believe in the power of found families, a theme that emerges in their solo and joint writing projects, along with identity, trust, and belonging.

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Jessi currently lives in the Bay Area of California with her partner, Taormina, and her very opinionated cat, Obsidian.

Marie lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with her spunky chihuahua rescues, Maya and Mitchell.

Welcome, ladies. Please tell us about your current release.
In Unrelenting, Bridget’s most important job has always been protecting her younger sister, Dahlia. But as adults, Dahlia pushes her away, determined to live her own life. Then, Dahlia vanishes. When her car is found submerged in the river, the authorities tell Bridget to prepare for the worst. Nine months later, everyone has given up hope. Everyone except Bridget.

When a former classmate of Dahlia’s comes forward with a new lead, Bridget takes matters into her own hands. She ignores the dismissive detective’s warnings and launches her own amateur investigation. The search leads Bridget to something far more sinister than a typical missing persons case—a carefully-guarded plot tied to powerful, age-old magic.

To uncover the truth of what happened to her sister, Bridget must confront this dangerous world, even if it means putting her own life on the line.

What inspired you to write this book?
Back in 2013, we were talking about the state of contemporary fantasy. While everything seemed to be focused on vampires, werewolves, and witches, we decided to try something new. We borrowed from apocryphal texts, created a new magic system, and set our story in Cleveland, a gritty urban center with the perfect noir vibe.

 

Excerpt from Unrelenting:
The police officer grabbed the visitor sticker and offered it to Bridget. “Take a seat. I’ll let the detective know you’re here.”

Bridget sat, gripping the sticker so tightly the paper wrinkled. She peeled the name badge off and stuck it to the front of her coat. What did they need name badges for, anyway? She was the only person visiting the station so late.

She pulled out her phone and stared at the lock screen. It was a selfie of her and Dahlia. They were grinning at the camera, with Pilot Mountain in the background. Bridget swallowed and dropped the device back into her purse.

Hands fidgeting for something to do, Bridget started folding the leftover paper from her name tag. She remembered Dahlia telling her, years ago, that it was impossible to fold a sheet of paper in half more than seven times. She took the paper and creased it down the middle.

Dahlia had always been like that: smarter than anyone gave her credit for. Yes, Dahlia was free-spirited, but there was more to her than red solo cups and beach parties. No one else watched her pour over history books and doodle the National Geographic logo. Dahlia had long refused to crack open her drawing pad for anyone but Bridget, allowing only her sister to watch her progress from childhood scribbles to detailed street scenes.

Bridget folded the paper again, meticulous as she lined up the edges. If only Dahlia had stayed in North Carolina. Bridget had tried to show Dahlia how great Chapel Hill’s archaeology program was. But when Dahlia set her heart on going out of state, Bridget had reluctantly encouraged her to follow her dreams. What she hadn’t anticipated was the wedge it drove between them as Dahlia made new friends, explored a new city, and embraced her studies. Their daily texts turned into monthly phone calls. Bridget understood fewer of the references Dahlia posted online about her college life. They gossiped less and fought more, culminating in that horrible final argument. Bridget hadn’t meant to hurt Dahlia. She’d only been worried about her. Now everything they’d had was gone. Maybe forever.

The paper strained against Bridget’s fingers. It refused to crease an eighth time.

Her vision blurred, and she set the paper aside to wipe her eyes. She’d been thinking about her sister in the past tense. Maybe the dull acceptance of others was starting to rub off. I can’t give up on her.

 

What exciting story are you working on next?
We’re working on the sequel to Unrelenting, first and foremost. We also have solo works in progress. Jessi is writing Unmoored, a science fiction novel she’s currently nicknamed “Queer Robin Hood in Space.” Marie is writing Flightless, a fantasy heist with a social justice spin which, like Unrelenting, starring an asexual main character.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Jessi first considered herself a writer in 2015 when she went full-time with our co-owned copywriting and content marketing agency. As far as fiction writer, she accepted this title since childhood.

Marie similarly considered herself a fiction writer since she was a kid, but she didn’t consider herself a professional writer until she was hired as a grant writer in 2008.

Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
We co-founded North Star Messaging + Strategy in 2010, and our copywriting agency has grown to support a team of 12 writers and operational support staff. We’re grateful our capable team is able to take on the majority of the client copywriting needs, because it can be difficult to balance writing for clients with writing creatively.

We make sure we keep producing fiction by time-blocking, participating in writing sprints, and joining critique groups with weekly submission deadlines to keep ourselves accountable.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
When we get stuck writing, we set the manuscript aside and bring up a fresh document, assign ourselves characters, and write out a role play between them. It’s a low-stakes, fun way to get our creativity flowing again, plus it lets us learn more about our characters.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
We both wanted to be writers from a very early age—8 for Jessi and 11 for Marie. But we certainly entertained other career paths, as well. Jessi wanted to be a marine biologist for a while. She sported lots of Save the Whales shirts and started a Kids versus Extinction Club in school. Marie wanted to be an aerospace engineer and work for NASA. When she wound up moving to Houston for college (go, Rice Owls!), she discovered the humidity made that a bit less appealing.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

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Links:
Book Website: https://unrelentingbook.com
Book Twitter: @TheGrigoriBooks
Book Instagram: @thegrigoribooks
Book Facebook: The Grigori Books
Jessi’s Author Website: https://jessicahonard.com/
Jessi’s Twitter: @jessihonard
Jessi’s Instagram: @jessihonard
Jessi’s Facebook: Jessi Honard, Author
Marie’s Author Website: https://marieparks.com
Marie’s Twitter: @marieparks
Marie’s Instagram: @themarieparks
Marie’s Facebook: Marie Parks, Author