Alex Bell - fantasy author

Yippee, the momentous day has finally arrived! Almost, anyway. Technically Jasmyn comes out on Thursday but I have a feeling it’s out on some bookshelves already. Besides, I’m going on holiday at the end of the week and might run out of time, so I’ve decided to blog about it now.

Look at the cover. Is it not perfect? Is it not the most beautiful, gorgeous cover you ever saw in your life? Hats off to Kustaa Saksi - that man sure can create. Seriously, the book is worth buying for the cover alone. I am so flippin’ chuffed that of all the artists I might have got, I got Mr Saksi. He. Is. Da. Best. If we are ever in the same country, let alone the same bar, I will positively ply him with beer (or any other alcoholic beverage he would care to name).

Anyway - I’m very excited about this book. Although I dearly love The Ninth Circle, Jasmyn is more the sort of thing I would like to repeat. It’s also the sort of book I would seek out to read. It’s much more me, if you will. I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. In fact, this book came to me much easier than most. Perhaps because I knew exactly what was going to happen almost from the outset. The thing practically wrote itself and, for that reason, only took three months to do. I’ve had a smug little gloat over the good reviews, and turned my nose up in disgust at the only (so far - but give it time) bad review I’ve seen.

Although all authors are probably influenced to some extent by other books they’ve read, I’m not usually consciously aware of this when I write. Jasmyn is different because I am very much aware of the books/authors that in some way inspired or influenced me when I was writing this book. The main one is Peter O’Donnell writing as Madeleine Brent. The Madeleine Brent books are historical romantic suspense, whereas Jasmyn is more of a supernatural romantic suspense, but in terms of characterisation and plot twists, I think Jasmyn is a definite product of the love I have for those books. Of all the ones on my bookshelves, they are the ones I’ve read over and over again, even if they are a bit of a guilty pleasure.

The other influence, so far as the initial set up goes, is Cecelia Ahern with P.S. I Love You. Jasmyn, too, starts with a woman who has been unexpectedly widowed. But then the spooky stuff starts.

Margeret Mitchell and Alexandra Ripley (authors of Gone With The Wind and Scarlett), and Deanna Raybourn with her fantastic Silent series were also influences at the back of my mind, but probably not to the extent that you can see it in the book.

Most of the books I’ve mentioned are romances, of course, and I wouldn’t class Jasmyn as a romance. But having enjoyed the aforementioned books, I wanted to do something that had a romantic element but was also a supernatural mystery. That’s what I set out to do with Jasmyn, and I was really pleased with how it turned out in the end.

But the best thing about Jasmyn being published? It’s not the legions of screaming fans I expect to turn up at my doorstep at any moment, nor the worldwide renown that will surely be mine in the not too distant future. It is having an excuse to buy these for the second book party I will be having next month:

Not only are these shoes ridiculously beautiful, but they are entirely vegan. It’s almost too good to be true. No animal bled to death for them or anything. Seriously, If I had known about these shoes in advance (never mind the matching dress I bought in America), I would have written this book sooner. Jasmyn - thank you very much for the shoes. And for the party I will be having as soon as I return from Las Vegas (unless I come back broke and destitute, in which case, er . . . the party’s off.).

Tags: Jasmyn, Veggie stuff