DERRICK FERGUSON: Who is Valjeanne Jeffers?
VALJEANNE JEFFERS: I'm an artist, poet and science fiction
author. I'm also a member of the Carolina African American Writer's Collective
(CAAWC) and a graduate of both Spelman College and NCCU.
I've written six books. I paint and I've had poems and
nonfiction published too. During the late '90s, I wrote my first, and only,
nonfiction book, The Story of Eve, a collection of essays in which I analyzed
the media's connection to politics and our behavior. I really had a lot of fun
writing it, because I'm something of movie buff. Obviously, this wasn't my last
stop. The Story of Eve was never published as an entire volume, although
excerpts have appeared in PurpleMag.
But the absolute love of my life is science fiction.
DF:Where do you live and what do you do to keep yourself
in cheese and crackers?
VJ:I live in Alabama. I have an MA in Psychology, and I
taught college for a few semesters. I enjoyed teaching—I've always
loved a good rousing discussion. I mean, let's face it, what is teaching but
engaging your students in dialogue that encourages them to think and question
the world around them?
More recently I've begun working as an editor for Mocha
Memoir Press and also as a freelance editor (I'm co-owner with my fiancé
of Q and V Affordable Editing). Editing
is another job I enjoy, because I get to read some of the best novels written
before they're even published! I'm also self-published, so I sell my own books
and earn income this way too.
DF:How long have you been writing?
VJ:I've been writing since I was nine or ten years old. As a
child, I found writing to be a wonderful escape— just like
reading, only more interactive. I was also a greedy reader of SF/ fantasy
literature.
I rediscovered this love during the '90s, when I became a
lifelong fan of Stephen King. I remember working as secretary (while going to
classes at night) and reading books during my lunch hour—in class too
whenever things got boring.
Then I stumbled upon Wild Seed by Octavia Butler. Octavia
was a revelation! I'd never read science fiction written by a Black person—I
didn’t even know People of Color wrote SF! I became obsessed with writing my
own novel, creating my own worlds. When I first starting writing science
fiction, I found that I was able to escape into my characters' lives, even when
I just thinking about a plot or scene twist. For me, this is still the most
productive and fun part of writing—the ability to slip into my
character’s skin.
DF:Why science fiction?
VJ:Science fiction, in my humble opinion, is the most
wonderful genre ever created! In what other motif can you create an alternate
universe, give your characters preternatural powers, and make a
statement about the human condition? You're only limited by your imagination.
As an author, I like having that kind of freedom— the freedom of not
being constricted by the laws of our physical universe.
With science fiction you can use your
character's “powers” to make statements about who they are. You can even
manufacture the kind of world you'd like to live in...one that is imagined, but
(perhaps) not impossible, such as in the “not-too-distant-future” worlds. After
all 40, years ago cell phones and modern computers were science fiction. Two
hundred years ago, so were airplanes.
DF:What writers have influenced you?
VJ:There have been so many! In my youth, I read a lot
of YA SF/fantasy, pulp fiction and
African American literature. I was addicted to the Nancy Drew mystery series
and to Marvel comics. I also devoured the works of Zora
Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Chester Himes. I'm the
daughter of two English teachers, so AA literature was required reading in my
household. But I didn't enjoy them any less because of this.
I later came to feel that the magic realism of African
American literature (especially the novels of Himes and Wright) had a profound
effect upon my evolution as a writer. I mean take Richard Wright's The
Outsider, for instance, in which the protagonist fakes his own death and
recreates himself. This is the classic stuff of pulp and science fiction!
As an adult, I credit Stephen King, Dean Kootz, Sarah Zettle
and Tad Williams as among my early influences. But during my last five years as
a writer, I believe I was most strongly influenced by Octavia Butler, Charles
Saunders, Tananarive Due, and Steven Barnes.
Of course I have other favorite authors, who I know have
impacted me—folks like Mimi Jean Pamfiloff, Carole McDonnell, Quinton Veal, Ronald Jones, Edward
Uzzle, Milton Davis, Joe Bonadonna, Derrick Ferguson and Balogun Ojetade.
DF:When I'm asked to describe your work I always say it's
imaginatively experimental. How would you describe it?
VJ:Thanks for the compliment! I'd say that “imaginatively
experimental” is an excellent description. In adding to this, I'd describe my
work as loosely fitting into the science fiction genre, with elements of
fantasy, erotica and horror.
The alternate worlds I build are in keeping with what is
scientifically probable if not yet possible. But there is sorcery
too—magic just seems to find its way in my books.
Charles Saunders once described my Immortal series, as a world in which science
and sorcery co-exist. (I floated around on cloud nine for a month after that
review!)
There is horror too, simply because some of the scenes in my
novels can be very frightening. But life can be scary, and art imitates
life. So there are scenarios that will make the reader's hair stand up on the
back of their necks.
I've also been known to write some pretty steamy love
scenes. Hence the erotica. I take the attitude that all authors express their
connection to love and sexuality differently. There is never a right and wrong
approach. James Baldwin, for example, could be graphically sexually in his
novels. Octavia Butler, more reserved. Both are brilliant authors, and both are
acceptable ways of approaching love and sexuality. I view sex as a part of
life. I don't ignore it. I don't emphasize it either, so
it's not on every other page.
DF:Tell us about the IMMORTAL series.
VJ:Each novel has time-travel, sorcery and shape shifting
woven into the plot. The books are set on the alternate planet Tundra, a world
without racism, sexism, poverty or crime. This is the setting of Immortal in
the year 3075.
But the setting of 2075, a year which impinges on the
present, is just as violent and conflicted as American during the 1960s. In
fact, I drew heavily on the '60s, an era of great conflict but also of great
love and sacrifice, when I wrote the Immortal series. And my readers have said
that they get a strong “Make Love not War” vibe when reading them.
In the first novel, Immortal, I introduce Karla and Joseph:
lovers who've been separated by time and space. The inhabitants of Tundra
decided that this was the way they wanted it, and fought to make it so. Karla
and Joseph are gifted. They are also burdened. Gifted because they are werewolves.
Burdened, because it falls upon them to protect Tundra from a powerful evil
that has been unleashed upon their world.
Karla and Joseph are not the only protagonists of Immortal.
The first novel builds the groundwork for the communes of supernatural beings,
good and evil that make their appearance. In the second novel, the reader meets
Karla and Joseph's kindred, who are also the saviors of Tundra. In Immortal
III: Stealer of Souls, another key player emerges: Annabelle, a vampire with
her own agenda and her own stake in Tundra's survival.
In Immortal IV: Collision of Worlds, the characters find
themselves in a sinister, steam punk realm without their memories. Their death
or survival is interwoven with the fate of Tyrol (The Switch II: Clockwork).
That's all I can say giving away too many plot goodies. This is the conclusion
to the series. At least, it was supposed to be. However, my readers have
told me in no uncertain terms that I can't end it there. So we'll see.
DF:In the IMMORTAL series you're fearless in mixing
science fiction with werewolves, vampires and eroticism. When you began the
series did you worry that it would be too much for potential readers?
VJ:Most definitely! In the beginning, I felt like I had so
much going on, that no one would ever want to read it. But the story is what
the story is. When one begins to write, the characters take on lives of their
own...these spirits that walk across the page.
I got good feedback from CAAWC. So I pressed on. I started
to realize that I had a very unique book and that everything somehow fit
together to create a compelling mosaic.
I remembered Octavia Butler's fiction. She was well known for her
supernatural “communities.” I thought of The Talisman too, a SF odyssey in
which the characters “flip” between realities. Then I knew I had a winner.
DF:Tell us about THE SWITCH series
VJ:The Switch was my first plunge into the steam punk genre.
It takes place on the planet Tyrol: a world in which the wealthy live in luxury
in the skies, and the poor in a cancerous, steam punk underground. One of the problems with Tyrol, along with
the oppression of the poor, is that the society has become so cut-throat that
wealthy women cannot take lovers— for fear the men will marry
and then murder them to steal their money. So the rich create androids for
their own pleasure.
Like my Immortal series, there is a sharp contrast between
the privileged and the poor. There are also two lovers, Simone2 and Dumas2, who
are central to the plot, and to the liberation of their planet. There is
sorcery and there is time travel. But The Switch is also an erotic thriller,
with a plenty of sharp turns and twists. I've had two fellow writers compare it
to Phillip K. Dick's Blade Runner! Of course, I'm honored by such a comparison!
There is also heavy emphasis on the other characters, such
as Z100, an evil agent provocateur, and Lotus, the time keeper. And for anyone
who missed reading Book I: The Switch (originally published by Mocha Memoirs
Press) not to worry. I've condensed both books into The Switch II:
Clockwork.
Charles Saunders has just written a fantastic review of The Switch and Immortal IV and I'm really juiced up about it! It's up on his site for anyone who wants to check it out!
DF:What are your future plans for your writing career?
VJ:I've just two of my stories published in anthologies,
which I'm very excited about! My interracial romance story, Mocha Faeryland
was just published in 31 Shots of Mocha (Mocha Memoirs Press). This was the
very first fantasy romance story I'd ever written. But I like pushing myself
outside my comfort zone. And my sword and soul story, The Sickness, was
accepted for publication in Griots II: Sisters of The Spear (MV Media). Griots
II should be out in 2013.
I'm also writing a space opera, Colony. If readers are
interested, they can read the first chapters at smashwords or my wordpress
site. I have a paranormal novel, set in New Orleans, in the works. And I'm
working on a film based on one of my stories, Grandmere's Secret, with Balogun
Ojetade. It's the first time I've ever attempted anything like this, and so I'm
both anxious and excited about it.
DERRICK FERGUSON:What's a Day In The Life Of Valjeanne
Jeffers like?
VALJEANNE JEFFERS: I spend my day writing, editing, reading—not
necessarily in that order—and playing with my grandbaby.
And I hang out with my guy, Quinton Veal. Quinton writes erotic poetry (Her
Black Body I Treasure) and he's an extraordinarily talented artist too. So we
have a really cool relationship.
Anything else we need to know about you?
I'd like to thank Derrick Ferguson, pulp fiction writer
extraordinaire for interviewing me. I had a blast!
Valjeanne Jeffers
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