About
Click For a List of Jaye’s Upcoming Appearances
About Jaye
After several years as a magazine editor and freelance writer, Jaye Wells finally decided to leave the facts behind and make up her own reality. Her overactive imagination and life-long fascination with the arcane and freakish blended nicely with this new career path. Her Sabina Kane urban fantasy series is a blend of dark themes, grave stakes and wicked humor. Jaye lives in Texas with her saintly husband and devilish son. Her work is represented by Jonathan Lyons of Lyons Literary, LLC.
Fun Facts
- Astrological sign: Aries
- Favorite Color: Red
- Favorite Food: Mexican
- Favorite Adult Beverage: Wine or Beer
- Favorite Cities: Charleston, San Francisco, New Orleans
- Dream Vacation: Tuscany
- Favorite Vampire: The Count from Sesame Street
- Tattoos: Check out Sabina’s birthmark. I had it first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a typical workday like for you?
The only thing typical is that each day is different. Sometimes I’m strictly writing. Some days, I’m juggling writing with promo or businessy stuff. Some days, I’m a complete slack ass. It varies depending on where I am in the book process.
How many books are going to feature Sabina Kane?
Right now, I’m contracted for three. There’s also a short story about Sabina’s early days as an assassin in the Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance, vol. 2. But Sabina’s world is pretty complex and there’s lots of stories to tell, so who knows how many there will be ultimately.
Where do your ideas come from?
Everywhere. I’m not being sarcastic when I say that. I’ve gotten ideas from dreams, wine bottles, web sites, newspapers, overheard conversations, a porch light, and dozens of other random places.
Will you eventually have Sabina Kane merchandise for sale?
You mean like books about her? j/k
Actually I’m not sure. I guess it depends on demand. If you really want a thong with Sabina’s face on it, email me.
Is there going to be a movie?
We’ll see.
What authors do you like to read?
My reading taste is pretty varied, but within the paranormal realm there’re so many. If I tried to list everyone, I’d probably get myself in trouble for leaving off a friend’s name. So for now we’ll go with the biggies: my faves include Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris, JR Ward (her books are like crack cocaine), Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christopher Moore, etc. etc. And, of course, no list of favorites would be complete without Anne Rice.
Which emotional state do you experience more often when writing? (1) I’m going to throw this effing mess out the window or (2) leave me alone, I’m having an intimate moment with my manuscript.
The second part of that could get you arrested in several states, I think. But my emotional state changes so much while I’m writing one answer is impossible. So many factors come into play. But if I had to guess, the effing mess state outweighs more during the draft mode.
How do you get in the mood to write sex scenes? Or a fight scene?
Same answer for both. Music. It’s amazing how many songs on my play list apply to either sex or fighting.
How many cups of coffee do you consume in a typical writing day?
Usually about four huge mugs, but by the time I reach the last cup the pot’s gone cold. I drink it anyway. Then I switch to diet coke. My kidneys are begging for your help.
When did you decide to be a writer?
I decided to write a novel when I was eight. I think I got as far as the title before I gave up. It took me 22 more years to take my first writing class and realize it’s not supposed to be easy. I sold three-and-a-half years later.
How did you create the mythology for Sabina’s world?
All my world building starts with research. In this case, it started with me reading everything I could find about Lilith. For me to create this world, I needed to know where vampires (and the rest of the dark races) came from. I literally started at the very beginning–in the Garden of Eden. Everything else was a matter of stealing elements from mythology and folklore and adding a few dashes of imagination.
Do you have a favorite paranormal being?
Obviously, vampires are pretty intriguing to me. But usually its whichever one I’m writing at the time.
Are you a pantster or a plotter?
My editor claims I’m a scene writer. That means I start with one or a few scenes as inspiration, then I have to figure out the rest of the story. The process of figuring all that out is complex and sometimes even a mystery for me. But I do find that imposing the structure of an outline speeds the writing process quite a bit. But I don’t outline so much that I don’t have room for flights of fancy. In other words, the answer is: I’m a plantster.
How did you cultivate such a wicked sense of humor?
I made a pact with the devil. My dark master feeds me witty lines through my dental fillings.
Were you always into vampires or did it start in adolescence, like the schizophrenia?
Oh, I was terrified of them as a kid. I used to sleep with a pillow over my head, convinced one was going to come in my bedroom window. I obviously believed vampires would be too stupid to notice a child-sized outline under the covers. But I prayed every night that if a bloodsucker did come on that he’d bypass me and go suck on my sister instead. But I guess that fear turned into fascination once I discovered Anne Rice in high school.
What do you have against apples? Does it keep you from consuming God’s gift to humanity, the applewood smoked bacon?
Um, hello? I’m not a vampire. If I lived in Sabina’s world, I’d be eating apples for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’d even bathe in apple cider.
The truth is, when I started creating Sabina’s world, I knew I wanted to take some of the long-held vampire myths and twist them. I did a lot of research into biblical history and Jewish folklore for this book and one thing I kept coming back to was the classic forbidden fruit story in Genesis. When Eve and Adam ate the fruit from this tree several things happened, including their loss of immortality. Since Lilith left the garden before this event, I made the logical leap that Lilith and her offspring would be immortal because they didn’t eat this fruit. Since vampires are the only direct descendants of Lilith in this world they too are immortal.
A lot of debate has happened about what exactly this forbidden fruit was—pomegranates, figs, etc. I chose apples because they’re the classical imagery we see of Eve and Adam. Plus apples are so common in our culture and lore. Maybe, just maybe, the saying was originally, “An apple a day keeps the vampire away.” Just sayin’.
Why do all the vampires have red hair in your world?
This is also taken from folklore and the Bible. After Cain killed Able, he was punished by God. He was sent out to wander alone for the rest of his days. God marked Cain so that no one would kill him, thus he regained his immortality in a sense. Again, people have debate what this marked actually was. Some said it was red hair, which is rare in the Middle East. Also, in some Eastern European traditions, vampires were reported to have red hair. So I took these two ideas and decided all the vampires in this world would have red hair. I took it a step further, however, because one can tell the age of the vampire by the shade of red—lighter strawberry blondes are younger whereas the auburn- and mahogany-haired vamps are much older. Because Sabina is a mixed blood, her hair is black streaked with bright red.
Who is Lilith?
According tot Jewish folklore, Lilith was the first wife of Adam. Some say she was the first feminist because she demanded to be on top during sex. Whatever the case, she soon got fed up with Adam’s surly ways and left the Garden of Eden. She moved to a place near the Red Sea where she hooked up with demons. She’s the prototypical dark goddess, and the number of myths relating to her could fill up several volumes.
What the heck is a mage?
In my world, mages make up a race of genetic magic users. They were created by the goddess Hekate, who is a descendant of Lilith. Mages are far more human-friendly than vampires, which is the source of a lot of a lot of animosity between the races. Mages are not immortal in the literal sense, however they live very long lives, due to their ability to use of magic protect and repair themselves. They can live around two thousand years. All mages smell like sandalwood and their powers are weakened by brass.
Got more questions for Jaye? Email her: jaye@jayewells.com
