Books Interview – Jessica Shirvington

What made you want to become an author?

Oddly enough, I don’t know. Being a writer was never something I had thought or considered a possibility – especially when thinking of career choice. I came from a corporate background and it wasn’t until I sold my company in the United Kingdom and moved back to Australia to have my second daughter that I started to write stories. I guess if I had to say one thing – it would be that reading made me want to be a writer. Discovering stories and whether or not I enjoyed them and then, dissecting what exactly I did and didn’t enjoy became a pattern. One day, instead of reading a new book, I started writing a new story. It went from there.

What is your favourite thing about being an author?

That the only limitations are the ones you put on yourself. When you work in fiction, it is your job to think outside the box, to come up with new and interesting stories and characters. There is nothing that belongs in the no-go area – the job of fiction is to go everywhere.

Where did the inspiration for the Violet Eden and Disruption series come from?

The Violet Eden Chapters started with the name Violet. From there I researched everything to do with the word ‘violet’ until I stumbled across the rainbow mythology and then the biblical folklore around it and…to angels. It all flowed from there. One of the best things about that series was that there were so many possibilities thanks to all of the mythology at my fingertips.

Disruption started from a simple thought – wouldn’t it be interesting if we could just walk by a person and get a rating? Somehow, just instantly know whether or not we were compatible. But then, if that could happen, what are all of the other implications of a technology with that kind of power?

My stories always start with questions. My job is to answer them in a way not many would expect J

You made a successful switch from Urban Fantasy to Dystopia – how did your fans react?

My readers were great and happily came with me (as far as I know!). I don’t think I’ll ever just write in one genre. It just isn’t in me as a writer. I want to do a lot of different things. I have another novel, Between the Lives, which is more of a contemporary psychological mish mash with a dose of the unexplainable. I have a children’s picture book on the way and next, I plan to do something completely different again. Where is the fun in always being the same? 😉