Today let's welcome author Josie Jaffery! Tell us a little about yourself.
Hello! I’m Josie and I live in Oxford, England, with my husband
and two cats. When I’m not writing, I work as a lawyer specialising in
commercial and intellectual property law. I’ve been writing seriously since
2014 and am about to start on my sixth novel. I also run an online book club,
The Gin Book Club, through my website.
Josie, it sounds like you keep busy! Share a short excerpt from your novel
Josie, it sounds like you keep busy! Share a short excerpt from your novel
His beautiful blue eyes bored into mine.
“What would you have me do?” he challenged. “Would you rather I lied? That I use clever arguments to convince you this is something you want? That I manipulate you into believing the reality of this arrangement to be other than it is?”
I looked down at the table.
“We have to drink blood to live,” he continued, “and it has to be human. There’s no way I can make that concept more palatable to you, if you’ll excuse the pun. Life as you knew it has changed, Emilia. We have always been here, moving amongst you, it was just that you weren’t conscious of our presence. Now, with the Weepers multiplying, consuming and replacing your kind, we can no longer hide.”
“Isn’t that a little disingenuous?” I said, remembering Jeff’s theory about the lead time that would have been required for the level of organisation the vampires had displayed. “Aren’t the Weepers just an excuse for you to act?”
“We have been waiting for an opportunity for some time,” he acknowledged with a tilt of his head. “I know you want things to return to how they were,” he continued, “but that is not in my power to give. Your world is gone. You’re fighting for a life that no longer exists. There are difficult decisions to make, sacrifices, simply to save what little remains to us. I am trying to salvage an existence for your race, a new world for both of our races. There could be a place in that world for you, if you’re willing to look for it.”
Sounds great! Of course I am a little partial to vampire novels. Which do you prefer: print books or ebooks?
“What would you have me do?” he challenged. “Would you rather I lied? That I use clever arguments to convince you this is something you want? That I manipulate you into believing the reality of this arrangement to be other than it is?”
I looked down at the table.
“We have to drink blood to live,” he continued, “and it has to be human. There’s no way I can make that concept more palatable to you, if you’ll excuse the pun. Life as you knew it has changed, Emilia. We have always been here, moving amongst you, it was just that you weren’t conscious of our presence. Now, with the Weepers multiplying, consuming and replacing your kind, we can no longer hide.”
“Isn’t that a little disingenuous?” I said, remembering Jeff’s theory about the lead time that would have been required for the level of organisation the vampires had displayed. “Aren’t the Weepers just an excuse for you to act?”
“We have been waiting for an opportunity for some time,” he acknowledged with a tilt of his head. “I know you want things to return to how they were,” he continued, “but that is not in my power to give. Your world is gone. You’re fighting for a life that no longer exists. There are difficult decisions to make, sacrifices, simply to save what little remains to us. I am trying to salvage an existence for your race, a new world for both of our races. There could be a place in that world for you, if you’re willing to look for it.”
Sounds great! Of course I am a little partial to vampire novels. Which do you prefer: print books or ebooks?
I actually use and love both.
When I’m reviewing books, I like to have a print copy so I can
take photos and include the books in my video reviews. I also do a lot of my
reading in the bath (particularly at this time of year, when it’s a bit chilly
in the UK!), and my e-reader tends to get steamed up if I try to use it.
Instead, I read print copies and let the pages get all crinkly.
I love my e-reader when I go on holiday (all the books I could
ever wish for!) and also when I’m reading a series. As soon as I finish the
first book in the series, I can buy the next immediately and read on with no
interruption.
Is this a stand-alone novel or part of a series?
A Bargain in Silver is the first novel in my four-book paranormal romance series, the Solis Invicti series. All of the books are published and available on Amazon in print and e-copy.
That's great. I hate waiting in between series for the next book. I love reading books when the series is already completed. Currently, what are you working on?
I’m just starting on the sequel to the Solis Invicti series. It’s going to be a trilogy, set several hundred years after the end of theSolis Invicti series. There will be some familiar faces, and plenty of new ones. I’m pretty excited about it.
Do you have people read your drafts before you publish? How do you select beta readers?
Is this a stand-alone novel or part of a series?
A Bargain in Silver is the first novel in my four-book paranormal romance series, the Solis Invicti series. All of the books are published and available on Amazon in print and e-copy.
That's great. I hate waiting in between series for the next book. I love reading books when the series is already completed. Currently, what are you working on?
I’m just starting on the sequel to the Solis Invicti series. It’s going to be a trilogy, set several hundred years after the end of theSolis Invicti series. There will be some familiar faces, and plenty of new ones. I’m pretty excited about it.
Do you have people read your drafts before you publish? How do you select beta readers?
I do. I’m very lucky to have a small group of fairly critical
and literary friends who read my novels before publication. They’re very
generous with their time.
Josey, who designed the artwork for your cover? Or did you design it yourself?
My cover was designed by Martin Beckett of Martin Beckett Art, and I love it! I’ll definitely be working with him again on future covers.
What was your biggest challenge when writing? Did you have any writer’s block? If so, how did you work your way through it?
I always find that I get stuck about a third of the way through a novel, which I gather is fairly common. Usually it’s because I’ve reached the turning point of the plot, but unexpected elements have crept into the story which mean that I need to rework my plot plan for the remainder of the novel. After an hour or so soaking in a bubble bath, I can usually think my way through the problems. If not, the problem is usually that one of my characters is behaving in a way that is inconsistent with their personality. In that case, I just put the manuscript aside for a few days, then rework it after taking a break.
Sometime taking a break is just what you need to clear your head. I also find jumping from project to project helps me. What are your hobbies aside from writing, if any?
I obviously adore reading (hence the book club), but I’m also a keen rower. My training takes up almost as much time as writing does! I row competitively with the City of Oxford Rowing Club.
Wow, what a great way to stay in shape. Authors sit so much it's great to have an active hobby. Which do you find more challenging inventing the hero or the villain? Why?
It entirely depends on the novel. With the Solis Invicti series, the protagonist narrates the novels, so it was challenging to create and maintain her voice through the whole series. The villain in A Bargain in Silver doesn’t appear as often, so although it was important for the villain to be a rounded character, that character wasn’t so complex to write.
Josey, who designed the artwork for your cover? Or did you design it yourself?
My cover was designed by Martin Beckett of Martin Beckett Art, and I love it! I’ll definitely be working with him again on future covers.
What was your biggest challenge when writing? Did you have any writer’s block? If so, how did you work your way through it?
I always find that I get stuck about a third of the way through a novel, which I gather is fairly common. Usually it’s because I’ve reached the turning point of the plot, but unexpected elements have crept into the story which mean that I need to rework my plot plan for the remainder of the novel. After an hour or so soaking in a bubble bath, I can usually think my way through the problems. If not, the problem is usually that one of my characters is behaving in a way that is inconsistent with their personality. In that case, I just put the manuscript aside for a few days, then rework it after taking a break.
Sometime taking a break is just what you need to clear your head. I also find jumping from project to project helps me. What are your hobbies aside from writing, if any?
I obviously adore reading (hence the book club), but I’m also a keen rower. My training takes up almost as much time as writing does! I row competitively with the City of Oxford Rowing Club.
Wow, what a great way to stay in shape. Authors sit so much it's great to have an active hobby. Which do you find more challenging inventing the hero or the villain? Why?
It entirely depends on the novel. With the Solis Invicti series, the protagonist narrates the novels, so it was challenging to create and maintain her voice through the whole series. The villain in A Bargain in Silver doesn’t appear as often, so although it was important for the villain to be a rounded character, that character wasn’t so complex to write.
The
book I’ve just finished is third person narrative, and again the protagonist
was tricky, but I was really eager to get the villain’s character just right.
That took a lot of work too.
Since you wrote in this genre, do you think you will ever write in other genres?
Since you wrote in this genre, do you think you will ever write in other genres?
Definitely. I’ve just finished writing a YA historical fantasy
novel, and I’ll probably write more in those genres in future. I also have
plans for more paranormal romance novels, some YA and some NA.
THE SOLIS INVICTI SERIES
By Josie Jaffrey
The
Solis Invicti series is set in London, in a world in which the human population
has been decimated by a blood-borne virus. In the wake of the zombie
apocalypse that follows, a vampiric race called the Silver seizes control.
Without the protection of the Silver, humanity will soon cease to
exist, and without uninfected human blood, the Silver will perish. A necessary symbiosis is the result, but the
power of the two races could not be more unevenly balanced.
The
protagonist of the series is Emilia, a twenty-something barmaid with an
insubordinate and reckless approach to the new order. In the first days following the collapse, she
struggles to accept that her life has changed irrevocably and that she
is powerless to reclaim it. That
recalcitrance brings her face to face with the highest ranks of the Silver.
The
series is targeted at adults and mature young adults. The books contain horror, profanity and
sexual content. This isn't erotica, but
there are some steamy scenes (only one or two per book). There are love triangles, aggression and drama,
but there is also an eventual HEA.
Series Info:
Books in series: 4
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Adult, Dystopian, Urban Fantasy
Additional
Media Links:
A BARGAIN IN SILVER
Solis Invicti: Book I
By Josie Jaffrey
A deadly infection
threatens to wipe out humanity. The only people who can stem its advance are
the Silver, a vampiric race who offer a simple exchange: protection in return
for blood and subservience. It's not a deal that Emmy's willing to make, but as
her world burns around her she finds herself in the arms of the enemy and the
line between oppressor and saviour begins to blur.
After an attack by the infected, Emmy is rescued by the
handsome Drew who introduces her to the world of the Silver. Desperate to
escape subjugation and confused by her attraction to him, she gathers what
remains of her surrogate family and plans to make a break for freedom.
But despite her efforts to resist, she is drawn further into
the intrigues of the mysterious Silver through the agency of their ruler, the
Primus: Solomon. Emmy refuses to submit to the cold and detached Primus and an
attempt on her life makes it clear that he is unable to protect her from the
political machinations of his race.
As the connection between them deepens she must choose
between her desire and her will to rebel, but can she trust his intentions when
everyone is after her blood?
Tagline: If the price of safety
is slavery, would you bargain your life?
Book
Info:
Publisher: Self-published
Author: Josie Jaffrey
Cover Art: Martin Beckett Art
Page Count: 356
Word Count: 102,000
ASIN (Amazon): B00RR2XM86
ISBN (Print): 978-1548138516
Release Date: 4 January 2015
Rating: 18+
Praise
for A Bargain in Silver:
✭✭✭✭✭ Dystopian, post-apocalyptic and dark, very
dark… Josie Jaffrey takes on the world of the paranormal with bold strokes and
a personal touch. – Tome Tender
✭✭✭✭✭ I absolutely loved this book. I had the
hardest time putting it down. I think I may have even growled at my family when
they interrupted me. – Baroness Book Trove
✭✭✭✭ This is a powerful start to what I am sure
will be an amazing series! – One Book Two
✭✭✭✭ This book had me hooked right from the very
first page. A slightly different twist on the usual vampire romance, this is a
well written and intriguing start to the series. – A British Bookworm’s Blog
Excerpt:
His beautiful blue eyes bored into mine.
“What would you have me do?” he challenged. “Would
you rather I lied? That I use clever arguments to convince you this is
something you want? That I manipulate you into believing the reality of this
arrangement to be other than it is?”
I looked down at the table.
“We have to drink blood to live,” he continued,
“and it has to be human. There’s no way I can make that concept more palatable
to you, if you’ll excuse the pun. Life as you knew it has changed, Emilia. We
have always been here, moving amongst you, it was just that you weren’t
conscious of our presence. Now, with the Weepers multiplying, consuming and
replacing your kind, we can no longer hide.”
“Isn’t that a little disingenuous?” I said,
remembering Jeff’s theory about the lead time that would have been required for
the level of organisation the vampires had displayed. “Aren’t the Weepers just
an excuse for you to act?”
“We have been waiting for an opportunity for some
time,” he acknowledged with a tilt of his head. “I know you want things to
return to how they were,” he continued, “but that is not in my power to give.
Your world is gone. You’re fighting for a life that no longer exists. There are
difficult decisions to make, sacrifices, simply to save what little remains to
us. I am trying to salvage an existence for your race, a new world for both of
our races. There could be a place in that world for you, if you’re willing to
look for it.”
By Josie Jaffrey
The Price of Silver is
the second book in Josie Jaffrey's Solis Invicti paranormal romance series, set
in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic London where a deadly infection threatens to
wipe out humanity. The only people who can stem its advance are the Silver, a
vampiric race who offer a simple exchange: protection in return for blood and
subservience.
Emmy is fenced in by the city, the walls marking the edge of
safety closing in around her and sealing her in with one vampire who loves her
and another who wants her dead. As she struggles to keep herself and the people
she cares about alive, her fellow humans chafe against their enforced
submission, and it becomes clear that there are bigger schemes and greater
deceptions in play than she had ever imagined.
All the while, the monsters wait outside the barricades for
their moment. Of one thing she is certain: without the help of the Silver, the
humans won't be safe for long.
Tagline: In the straits of
necessity, sometimes there isn't room for freedom.
Book
Info:
Publisher: Self-published
Author: Josie Jaffrey
Cover Art: Martin Beckett Art
Page Count: 406
Word Count: 118,000
ASIN (Amazon): B0175G70L8
ISBN (Print): 978-1548144050
Release Date: 25 October 2015
Rating: 18+
Praise
for The Price of Silver:
✭✭✭✭✭ Fabulously twisted, dark and intense, the
lines between good and evil become gray smears as Josie Jaffrey plummets us
into book two of the Solis Invicti series with The Price of Silver. – Tome
Tender
✭✭✭✭ There are plenty of surprises and delicious
twists to make readers want to continue reading. – One Book Two
✭✭✭✭ This is really a very strong sequel. I look
forward to reading Book 3. – A British Bookworm’s Blog
Excerpt:
I was pushed roughly into the door at the top of
the stairs, used as a tool to open it wide. It cracked across my cheekbone and
into my hip, sending agonising bursts of pain radiating out across my body.
This man was brutal, and I wasn’t going to get any mercy from him.
We walked through the kitchen and I knew when we’d
entered the dormitory because the breeze from the open window above what used
to be my bed hit my bare thighs, chilling me to the bone. But it was too quiet,
the normally omnipresent murmurs and snorts of sleeping people oddly absent.
Where was everyone? I’d assumed that they were taking me to see Oliver or the
other rebels, that they were going to try to beat information out of me about
the Silver. Oliver had probably realised that I’d been holding back, and I
thought he’d want to know what I knew.
But the room felt practically empty, as if the
dormitory was unoccupied. There was a clanking, metallic sound by the window as
I was marched in that direction.
“Is it true?” a male voice by the window asked.
There was a movement from the man holding me, the motion sending a further jet
of pain through my shoulder. He’d clearly made some sort of gesture, but I
couldn’t guess what it might have been. There were a few footsteps towards me
and then hands at the neck of my shirt, tearing the thin fabric open.
“See?” said the voice again, now right in front of
me.
“Damn. He was right,” the man at my back replied.
“It’s going to make a fucking big statement, I’ll
tell you that much,” came the response.
“Should never have taken that bribe, little girl,”
another voice said from the direction of the window, female this time, as
fingers stroked over the choker around my neck. The fingers were replaced by
heavy metal that was draped around my throat in a loop. Chains, I thought.
“Too late now,” the man said, and I belatedly
realised from the finality of his tone that they were going to kill me.
Dear god, they were going to kill me. Humans were
going to kill me.
BOUND IN SILVER
Solis Invicti: Book III
By Josie Jaffrey
Exiled from the city
and from the affections of the vampire who had loved her, Emmy finds herself
pushed into a captivity she never expected to experience. With the bond to her
former protector broken, she knows that the chance to turn Silver is now a
monstrous obligation rather than a glittering opportunity.
In an unfamiliar place among unfamiliar people, Emmy feels
deserted by those Silver she had thought of as friends, out of sight and out of
mind. If only her enemies were equally forgetful.
Bound in Silver is the penultimate book in Josie Jaffrey's
Solis Invicti paranormal romance quadrilogy, set in a dystopian,
post-apocalyptic London where a deadly infection threatens to wipe out
humanity. The only people who can stem its advance are the Silver, a vampiric race
who offer a simple exchange: protection in return for blood and subservience.
Tagline: If you're living
against the clock, try not to do it in a cage.
Book
Info:
Publisher: Self-published
Author: Josie Jaffrey
Cover Art: Martin Beckett Art
Page Count: 306
Word Count: 95,000
ASIN (Amazon): B01G11DEMC
ISBN (Print): 978-1548145514
Release Date: 23 May 2016
Rating: 18+
Praise
for Bound in Silver:
✭✭✭✭✭ Dark, emotionally taut and edge-of-your-seat
riveting. Ms. Jaffrey’s take on Vampires, their world and their power has me
awestruck! – Tome Tender
✭✭✭✭✭ I love the world. I love the premise. I love
the characters! Jaffrey has quickly become a must read author with the crazy
world of the Solis Invicti. – One Book Two
✭✭✭✭✭ In short, this book just works. And that
ending? Bring on Book 4! – A British Bookworm’s Blog
Excerpt:
He leaned away from me and gently released my left
arm from the top before carefully pulling the material over my head and off my
right hand, his eyes intent on his task until it was complete, but as soon as
the top hit the floor he raked me with his gaze.
“You are so beautiful,” he said as he pushed my
hair away from my face. “I think I’ve wanted you since the first time you
called me an idiot.”
“To your face or behind your back?” I asked with a
saccharine smile.
“Well, you might have some other names for me in
about five minutes’ time. Ten tops.”
“Like ‘Quickfire’?” I asked.
“I was thinking more along the lines of ‘Jesus’ and
‘Oh, god’, but whatever works for you.”
THE SILVER BULLET
Solis Invicti: Book IV
By Josie Jaffrey
The truth is out, and
Emmy is faced with a choice she dreads: surrender her mortality, or allow her
frailty to threaten the nascent society the Silver are building. With exile the
only reasonable alternative, she struggles with feelings she can’t define and a
duty she’s reluctant to accept.
While the Silver city hangs in the balance, Emmy must remake
herself to redeem it and save her friends. Her reinvention forces her to choose
sides, threaten alliances and risk becoming like those she fears: inhuman.
The Silver Bullet is the final book in Josie Jaffrey's Solis
Invicti paranormal romance quadrilogy, set in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic
London where a deadly infection threatens to wipe out humanity. The only people
who can stem its advance are the Silver, a vampiric race who offer a simple
exchange: protection in return for blood and subservience.
Tagline: To think of death as a
thing of beauty: that’s a threshold you can’t cross twice.
Book
Info:
Publisher: Self-published
Author: Josie Jaffrey
Cover Art: Martin Beckett Art
Page Count: 305
Word Count: 89,000
ASIN (Amazon): B073V5TCK4
ISBN (Print): 978-1544644035
Release Date: 4 August 2017
Rating: 18+
Praise
for The Silver Bullet:
✭✭✭✭✭ Absolutely riveting! This is NOT a quiet
read. This is edge of your seat turmoil at its best as Josie Jaffrey brings her
world to life once again. – Tome Tender
✭✭✭✭✭ An explosive ending to an amazing series! I
will shout my love for this series from the rooftops! – One Book Two
✭✭✭✭✭ I think that this is a series which is an
undiscovered gem. I really do. I have devoured each installment greedily, and
this, the final book in the quadrilogy, was no different. Reading this series
has been a real treat. – A British Bookworm’s Blog
Excerpt:
I
caught the thought as it sped through my brain. Now I was thinking of a human
as an ‘it’. This was how it started, how a mind could creep from humanity to
cruelty without missing a beat. But no, it wasn’t even cruelty; at least
cruelty was deliberate. It was apathy. It was racial nihilism, closing your
heart to an entire species until you cared about their lives as much as you
cared for the life of a falling leaf: with intellectual or artistic curiosity,
devoid of emotion.
To
think of death as a thing of beauty: that’s a threshold you can’t cross twice.
