Hey guys! I forgot to share this when it was new but Mathew from Blog of the Wolf Boy, interviewed me exactly a year ago today. It was an interview I had most fun answering. And I’m still reminiscing and feeling unsure how well I did despite Mathew’s assurance.
Reblogged via Behind the Author: Jessica E Larsen β Blog of the Wolf Boy

Hello again friends, bloggers and muses,
This weekβs Behind the Author interview is going to be dealing with novel writing and publishing. Todayβs author is a passionate writer, a hopeless romantic and a published author. Weβre going to be talking novels.
Todayβs Guest: Jessica Larsen of JessicaeLarsen.com
If you havenβt had the pleasure of meeting Jessica or perusing her blog, then I encourage you to do so after the interview! Sheβs a great blogger to be friends with, funny and encouraging. Now, letβs get to it!
βYou donβt start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking itβs good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. Thatβs why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.β β Octavia E. Butler
The Interview
Mathew: Hey Jessica! Itβs great to have you with me for this interview. Iβve been looking forward to this, because outside of your bubbly persona, youβre also a published author with 9 novels written in English and 4 novels written in your native language of the Philippines. Thatβs a pretty impressive fete for any writer.
Jessica: Thank you for the kind words, Mathew. I swear my heart is swelling. Itβs an honor to be here in this interview.
Mathew: My first question for you is, at what age did you first begin writing to publish and how has the literary journey evolved for you?
Jessica: Iβve been seriously writing poems since I was 18, but it was when I was 20 that I discovered my passion for romance stories. I only wrote in Filipino for years and submitted it to publishers. Nothing much comes out of it, because some rather unbelievable reason was given to me when the book gets rejected, like they canβt have a hero who has killed someone even for self-defense and stuff like that. Although some did made sense, like βnothing much happensβ or plain and simple slap like: βYour stories sucks!β
Ouch. I feel to say, βMy friends said itβs good!β But we know how friends are right? Theyβll always find positive things for you to show their love.
After getting rejected again and again, I lost my confident with my writing. But I love creating stories, so I started story blogging to build experience and get feedback from readers. I joined online writing groups and participated in non-profitable contest (those that donβt cost a cent) and share my story in other story websites. But this was back in 2006 when blogging was young, and bloggers practically dominated the internet. Nowadays, it takes so much more to get notice. In six years, I finally feel tougher. I published my first book in 2012.
Mathew: How have you gone about trying to promote your books in the past? Do you have an agent?
Jessica: No, I got my publishing contract with two of my books without an agent. To be honest, contacting an agent is more nerve wrecking for me than going straight to publisher who accept direct submission from the authors.
I donβt have much time to promote the last year other than sharing teasers in my blog and mentioning my books from time to time. But before when I had plenty of time, I created artworks of my characters and share them on DeviantArt and other image sharing sites. I also make book trailers and spread them around. And I contact book reviewers and asked if theyβre interested in reading my book and (hopefully) review it. Sometimes I ask blog tour sites which offer to include author books in their review page for a small fee to list my book(s). They will take the responsibility of sending the copy of the authorβs book to the bloggers who request to read it and make sure the blogger follow up.
Mathew: Youβre fairly new to the blogging world, starting late last year. Correct? What made you get into blogging?
Jessica: Yes and noβ¦
2018 is the year I return to WordPress. I started blogging around the summer of 2003β¦My blog back then was created to relieve my homesickness and share my life outside of my country. I since jump around different blogging platforms. Not staying long enough. Last year, after being in Blogger for 5 years. I moved back to WordPress and made a fresh start because I like it best for interaction.
Mathew: One of my bucket list goals is to create and publish a novel. But, Iβm a bit of a perfectionist and an over-thinker, so this process is painfully slow. Not to mention I spend way too much time scribbling my inane thoughts onto my blog. What advice would you give to me and other writers working on their first novel?
Jessica: Oh, ah, haha π this is embarrassing for me because Iβm not sure if Iβm qualified to give advice, but Iβll do my best. Ehemβ¦ ah, I donβt think thereβs a one-size fits all advice for writers. I think that every writer has different needs. What works for me might never work for another. And what they find best might be tormenting for me.
Hereβs what work for me. I make a promise to myself to write every day, even when Iβm in a bad mood. Usually I sit down and write first thing in the morning for at least 30 min. Then Iβll write whenever I can throughout the day (mobile writing apps like Evernote come in handy for this). But that 30 min in the morning is a must. Itβs surprising you know, that by just sitting down each day and making time to write, I get inspired, while breaking the routine throw me in a writerβs block corner.
Also being a perfectionist is great, but if itβs getting in your way while writing your draft, I think that side of you should be imprisoned. That editor side needs to shut up so that you can begin writing without it screaming at you for what youβre doing wrong. Also, if that perfectionist side persist, try reading these quotes (theyβre my favorite).
Note from Mathew: Iβve spread Jessicaβs quotes throughout the interview. π
βStart writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.β β Louis LβAmour
Mathew: It seems to me, that you primarily like to write about romance in your novels, but you have elements of fantasy, crime and other genres, which I find interesting. Of all of your books, which one was the most fun for you to write and why?
Jessica: Out of all the published ones, I think βMaking Him Fallβ because this involve a demon princess and an archangel fighting over the human who the angel was guarding. But the angel is bored, and the demon princess find the angel repulsive and attractive. Another thing I found fun is building the land and inventing fantasy land names, and magical plants. And my favorite character, the talking crow.
However, the one Iβm most excited and had even more fun writing is the sci-fi series about aliens playing god on earth. I finished the draft of the first book, currently planning the next book, unfortunately, because I have a 2 Β½ year old, I can only work on writing books minutes a day, which leaves no room for self-editing.
Mathew: Thanks for your time, and all of your insight. I wish you great success with your many novels, short stories, and blog. Itβs been great to have you as part of the community. Perhaps we can end this interview with a bit of a personal question. As a romance novelist, you must know a thing or two about relationships, what works and what doesnβt work when it comes to love. Being that writers typically need a bit of space in order to produce quality work, what are 3 traits that a writer should look for in a partner in order to make sure that they donβt lose their passion for writing over time?
Jessica: Understanding. You canβt have someone who doesnβt understand your passion for writing and doesnβt appreciate what you do. It will simply drag you down which in turn makes you unproductive.
Loving and supportive. Being a writer is solitary work, but a writer needs someone to push them forward and remind them of their love for writing, especially when they feel like giving up. π
Patient. A writerβs inspiration can come from anything, anywhere, anytime. And there are times when Iβm so inspired that itβs impossible to remove me from the keyboard. I canβt have someone stressing me for whatever reason, like dressing up because we must go or moving from my PC to the table to eat dinner hahahaΒ Β (this happens a lot). I can list more but I think this is my top choices.
βYou can always edit a bad page. You canβt edit a blank page.β β Jodi Picoult
Afterthoughts
Well, there you have it! If there are any of you aspiring writers out there who have been thinking of publishing your first novel, I hope that Jessicaβs words bring you some encouragement as they have for me. Iβll definitely be setting aside at least a half an hour a day towards that goal myself in the future. Persistence is more important than anything else, after-all, because without the act of doing, we are only ever dreaming.
Also, I believe one important point to note from this interview is that if you want to be successful, you better be prepared to fail! It doesnβt mean that things wonβt work out for you, but youβre probably going to have moments that will test your determination. Donβt fear being rejected by publishers or agents. Just take your actions one at a time, and donβt think too far ahead. Just keep moving in the right direction, and donβt give up! If you can do that, than thereβs nothing that will be able to stop you. [read moreβ¦]
Don’t forget to visit Mathew’s page for other author interviews and other fun contents!
Love,

I’ve read it again π, I’ve read this interview before, I must have read it in his blog, now he is got new blog. π good to read it again, you are inspiring Jessica, as always π€
You must have. Yesterday is exactly one year ago when he posted it in his blog. I planned to share it short time after the interview but forgot it. So this post has been in the draft for a year π
I can’t surf the internet now because my wifi connection is extremely slow 2kbps. π Replying comment takes forever. But a friend told me that the link in my post is broken… now I know why. I didn’t know he have a new blog. Haha
Thanks for reading again β€
2kbpsπ³ I’ll go mad to work on such connection π u got lot of patience π. Matthew had posted about his new blog and it’s based on philosophy, he wrote about bhudism and other sayings of life lessons, it was good, I lost his blog name too, have to search in my following list . I’ll share you if I get it π
I learned patient after being a mom. But if this happen before… yes I’ll go insane. Anyway, for now I’m only in the internet for commenting back since I haven’t been online for 2 days π
Thanks do share the link. I can also see if I can contact him when the internet speed returns π₯
sure I’ll search and share π Yes being a Mom needs lot of patience, and you got that already, lucky you ππ Hope ur internet speed resumes ASAP β¨
what a great interview; I vaguely recall when Mathew published this…
Thanks Jim. It was a year ago. I planned to post it a day later but I forgot and it has been in the draft for a year haha π
better late than never for such a nice interview!
Didn’t know you are an author of 9 books Jess…Lovely reading this interview of yoursπππ
Thanks Madhuri! π Haha maybe I don’t give much author vibe π
Nah nothing like thatπππMay be I looked through it I guessπππ….Lots of Loveπππ
Thanks for always making me smile… throwing lots of love your way too π₯°π€π€
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This interview is so so you! π€π
I love when the words describe perfectly a person π€π hopeless romantic π€π
Is a long time I don’t read anything except blogs and I only read one of your books and I loved it…I must look into this ππ€©
Understanding, love, support and patience are key elements in any relationship I think, which I appreciate a lot! ππ
Well done dear Jess! Keep going ππ€πΈ
Thanks Ribby! π Thanks for all your support π
So glad to know I sounds like myself. I’d hate to come out as someone else than myself π
You answered the questions extremely well, Jessica. ππ»
Thanks Chris! π