Jackson Pearce Interview

I'm hosting the ever-so-lovely Jackson Pearce, author of As You Wish, on her Traveling to Teens tour today. Here is her interview!

Did you always want to be a writer?

Yes. Well, no. When I was very, very little, I wanted to be a veterinarian. But then my dream was burst when I realized that sometimes, I would have to put animals to sleep, and I was so many levels of not okay with that.

What was the most difficult part about writing As You Wish?

The revising. AS YOU WISH has seen present tense, past tense, first person AND third person points of view. I also changed the ending entirely—twice.

What is something that helped in you actually finish writing your story?

What kept me motivated to keep writing was a desire to be a writer professionally combined with the end of college and knowing career-choosing-time was coming fast. I was afraid that if I got a day job, I wouldn't be able to keep writing, so I wanted to sell a book before I got a day job. That didn't happen, but it all worked out great anyway-- I was a software tester for a year and a half, in which time I sold AS YOU WISH and wrote SISTERS RED, and now am a full time writer!

Did you also want to write for young adults, or did you just get lucky it turned out that way? ;)

I’ve always wanted to write (and read) young adult stories. YA is a genre made of almost entirely phenomenal books—I think because teens, unlike adults, will throw a book down if it starts to suck, no matter what the reviewers say. It’s a very demanding genre.

Can you describe your road to getting agent and publication?

My first book was a YA high fantasy called THE KEYBEARER. It sucked. Only, I didn’t know it sucked at the time. It was rejected by over one hundred agents, revised and rewritten into oblivion, and finally shelved when I began AS YOU WISH.

AS YOU WISH was rejected by seventy-something agents before it was picked up by an agent and somewhat quickly sold to HarperCollins! A year later, SISTERS RED and a second unnamed title were picked up by Little, Brown.

KEYBEARER, however, was a book that HAD to be written and rejected. Writing it taught me how to write more than any class or how-to book ever could have. I don’t know that I’ll ever bring it out of retirement, but I’m so, so glad I wrote it and stuck with it.

What was your reaction when you first heard you got an agent/publisher?

I was eavesdropping on my neighbors when my agent called for the first time. There was freaking out. And jumping. And running in circles.

When the first offer for AS YOU WISH came in, I was driving. I pulled off the road, caught my breath, and drove the rest of the way to practice. I didn’t tell anyone about the offer—in fact, I didn’t tell anyone it was definitely selling until the auction. Then I called my grandfather first and foremost—I recorded the phone call and posted it on my blog. It’s especially meaningful because about a year later, he died; his funeral happened on the same day as SISTERS RED sold.

How has the blogging community and fellow authors helped you in your journey?

The blogging community is fantastic—I love blogging and moreover, feeling like I’m a part of a bigger group of YA lovers. It’s hard to find people in real life to talk about YA books with, so having that group online is so helpful.

Not to mention the fact that when I was first starting to look in to publication, bloggers and message boards were PRICELESS to me. I think I learned more about the industry from the Blue Boards than I did from any How To Get Published book.

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Thanks so much, Jackson! You rock.

And a short description of As You Wish for you, from indiebound:

A brokenhearted Viola inadvertently summons a genie into her world. Jinn agrees to stay until Viola makes three wishes, but she's afraid she won't wish for the right thing. Jinn can't deny that he's falling for Viola, and only after she makes her first wish does Viola realize she's in love with Jinn.

Links: Jackson's website and blog/twitter/amazing youtube channel

HarperTeen/Hardcover/$16.99/Amazon/B&N/Borders/IndieBound