I started writing stories almost as soon as I could touch a keyboard, and I never really stopped. My creativity got directed into other outlets off and on, but I kept at it.
The turning point, I think, was when I learned about AO3 and the opportunity to start writing fanfic and fun plot bunnies to share with others. The encouragement I got eventually led to writing new original work, and after about 200 rejection emails, here I am!
I think I have accepted that people like the ideas I come up with at this point, but I’m not entirely sure my brain is quite wrapped around the idea of being “A Good Writer” yet. Even the fact that I’m publishing my third novel still feels like a bit of a dream!
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?
Researching the different kinds of streets that were made in New York City, how and when paving began to replace cobblestones and Belgian blocks. (Also, I learned about the existence of Belgian blocks!)
Once I had that, I had to work out all of the boroughs that still had unpaved streets in 2013, then find the appropriate combination of a warehouse, an apartment or mixed-use building, a parking garage, and somewhere to get breakfast at 5 a.m. on a Sunday within a block or two of each other.
(For the record? Bridge and Washington in DUMBO was the winner at the time – and looking at Google Maps today, it no longer works! Funny how much things can change in less than ten years.)
Do you use a pseudonym? If so, why? If not, why not?
Yes, but also no!
Like a lot of kids who got online in the late 80s and early 90s I used an “online service” ID, which eventually evolved into a bulletin board handle, and finally the account name I used for games, website logins, and eventually the fanfiction I wrote and posted online.
When I started to submit short stories and novel manuscripts, I considered using a pseudonym, especially for the stuff with more adult themes. But the more I thought about it, there was a lot of power and appeal for me in putting my real name out there – especially as a trans woman.
I am proud of what I’ve written. I am not ashamed of it. So why not?
After all, my name is as much an expression of my creativity as my stories are.
Are you a full-time or part-time writer? How does that affect your writing?
I’m a part time writer, and barring a miraculously lucky lottery ticket or a wealthy relative I’ve never heard of leaving me their fortune, I doubt I will ever have the ability to go full time.
I do my best to squeeze writing or editing time into my day, but I’m also a 40-something woman with a chosen family, a stepkid, two cats and a violin. It can be hard to find the hours in the day to do everything I want, and I am not young enough to get away with grabbing four hours of sleep any longer.
The good news is that we live in a time where there are a lot of ways – and a lot of tools! – to support writing anywhere and anywhere in whatever time I can steal.
I have written a chapter of a story sitting on a log in the woods more than sixty miles away from anything else, tapping the inspiration into my phone to make sure I didn’t lose the spark of an idea. I’ve banged out dialogue on a laptop sitting on the couch, and looked at edits on an iPad while riding a Metro train.
Sometimes it does mean that what I work on can bounce from idea to idea erratically, but I’m generally good at finishing what I start eventually.
Woe to the wolf who dares to call
With unworthy hearts lest darkness fall
Dour note this horn will play
The hounds shall rise and wolves shall bay
Through the horn Herne shall command
By blood of the Hunt and a worthy hand!
It is said that long ago Herne, the god of the Hunt, could use his Horn to make wolves obey his commands. A legend that Amy Oakley, Alpha of the Howlers pack, learned as a child and stopped believing in long before her first change beneath the full moon.
After spending three years fighting for her lovers and packmates’ right to live among the werewolves of Londinium, all she wants is a chance to breathe, go back to running her pub, and never see the manipulative Marcel Charron again.
As an ancient prophecy begins to unfold, can Amy and the Howlers find the Horn of Herne and keep it out of Marcel’s hands, or will his web of schemes and plots spell doom for their pack and the rest of London’s werewolves?
Universal Buy Link
Amazon
About the Series:
When Leah Corbyn was bitten on her mail route by a dog, she expected to go to the hospital for some stitches, a few days of medical leave, and for life to go on.
She had no idea that two weeks later she would become a werewolf under the full moon, or spend the next year trying to hide her ‘condition’, but after meeting and dating fellow werewolf Amy Oakley, it wasn’t long before she started to find an entire community in the shadows of London.
Surrounded by unexpected friends and dangerous enemies, Amy, Leah, and their packmate Amélie must fight to make a place for themselves, unaware that the conditions of an ancient prophecy are being met…
Jaymie is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour:
“Oh,” Amy breathed as she pulled Leah into a hug. “Oh, pup.”
“I mean…” Leah shook her head, tears starting to well in her eyes. “I never really knew anything. Where I came from. Why I was abandoned. Nobody even knows who gave me up. They just found me like a lost wallet!” She shuddered in Amy’s arms, tears running down her face.
“I finally learned something about where I came from and suddenly I wish I hadn’t!”
Abigail sat down slowly. “Leah,” she said in her most kind but firm doctor’s voice. “I can’t speak to why your parents made that decision. I wish I could. What I can tell you is that mitochondrial DNA takes a very long time to change from generation to generation, and the fact that you did not possess the full were sequences until you were turned suggests that it was a fairly distant ancestor. Five or six generations, easily.”
She waited for Leah to meet her eyes before she concluded: “Whatever their reasons, this was not one of them.”
Leah gave a sniff and dried her eyes with the back of her hand as she sat up. “That’s…that helps. Thanks, Abby.”
“Of course.” Abigail smiled at all of them before going back to the papers. “So – as I said, we don’t know as much, medically, as we would like about Turning. But this does suggest a few things to me. For one – it may explain part of why you survived the process, particularly with a diet that was…not terribly conducive to your new existence.”
That got a weak laugh out of Leah, and Amélie smiled with relief. If she could laugh…it was a good sign. “So – you think that explains my eyes, too?”
“It would seem so,” Abigail agreed with a nod. “I am not certain why it took so long to express, but my theory is that some of the latent werewolf traits you carry finally began to show through.”
Leah’s lips pulled into a slight frown. “Could that be part of why I’m a different sort of wolf than whoever turned me?”
Abigail nodded again. “Likely, yes.”
Amy reached up to lightly scratch at Leah’s scalp as she examined the different sets of results. “Does that explain Leah’s ear, too?”
Abigail shook her head and went back to the first chart. “The trait that affects the development of cartilage in the ear is an autosomal one. It most likely came from the were who bit you.”
Amélie looked down at the results again, and suddenly felt like she’d been given the last piece of a puzzle.
No one has been able to find the wolf who bit Leah…but they were assuming it was a were who lived in England.
Leah said the ‘dog’ who attacked her had a blonde and pale grey coat.
Marcel knew Leah was Turned.
Marcel knew Leah had no family.
Marcel knew where the Howl was.
Leah never spoke to Marcel at the trial, and Amy would not have told him anything about Leah or herself. If the records from Leah’s trial were sealed, there is no way he should have known any of the things he tried to use against us.
Marcel always said his ears drooped because of an old injury from a fight…but Marcel lied about almost everything.
Her chest felt tight as the facts began to add up.
Marcel…
Marcel is a liar.
Her mouth felt dry as she looked up. “Abigail?”
Everyone turned to look at her, and Amélie didn’t try to hide the dread and shock she felt.
“I know who Turned Leah.”
She has been published in several anthologies, short story collections, and posts her “Fractured Fantasies” twitter micro-stories where she explores different ideas and kinks.
Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/jaymie.wagner.98/
Author Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/JaymieDWagner
Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/JaymieDWagner
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21846389.Jaymie_Wagner
Author Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com): https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/jaymie-wagner/
Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B09HF3P2ZC
