BBNYA Finalist: Author Interview with Josie Jaffrey

If the murderer you’re tracking is a vampire, then you want a vampire detective. Just maybe not this one.

It’s not that Jack Valentine is bad at her job. The youngest member of Oxford’s Seekers has an impressive track record, but she also has an impressive grudge against the local baron, Killian Drake.
When a human turns up dead on May Morning, she’s determined to pin the murder on Drake. The problem is that none of the evidence points to him. Instead, it leads Jack into a web of conspiracy involving the most powerful people in the country, people to whom Jack has no access. But she knows someone who does.
To get to the truth, Jack will have to partner up with her worst enemy. As long as she can keep her cool, Drake will point her to the ringleaders, she’ll find the murderer and no one else will have to die.
Body bags on standby.

May Day is the first book in Josie Jaffrey’s Seekers series, an urban fantasy series set in Oxford, England.

This author interview is part of the BBNYA finalist tour. May Day was the winner of the 2021 Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Award. Read my 5-star reviews of May Day and Judgement Day.

Hi Josie, congratulations on winning BBNYA 20211! I already May Day when you released and I loved it so much. Jack Valentine is an amazing character and I’m so glad you introduced us to her. I’d hate for her story to end. Your next book is Winta’s Day, will that be the last in the Seekers series?

Thank you so much! I’m expecting the series to be five books long in total (Winta’s Day will be the third), so there are a few books left in which she can continue to be her chaotic, insubordinate self. But actually, that won’t be the last we see of Jack. I just couldn’t contemplate letting go of her entirely at the end of the Seekers series, so instead I’m going to be doing some prequels covering her old cases from her 20 years as a detective before the start of Seekers. More details coming at the end of the year!

Can you reveal anything about Winta’s day?

Let me think… I can tell you that there will be rebellion and betrayal, and that Jack will get herself into the messiest romantic polygon possible. It’s a turning point in the series because the world as Jack knows it is about to break apart entirely. It should be fun, and angsty, and dramatic, I hope!

Last year, The Gilded King was also a finalist. Did you expect May Day to do even better?

While I think May Day is probably a better book than The Gilded King, so I believe it would do better in a head-to-head between the two, the calibre of the authors who entered BBNYA 2021 was just incredible and intimidating. I felt lucky even to make it into the finals, and never expected to win. It was a really wonderful surprise.

I love the Silverse world you created. Where did you get your inspiration and which elements did you borrow from other franchises?

I love vampires and zombies, and was very keen to merge them into a single series. The idea for the world really presented itself from that point onwards, because I’ve always felt that if vampires were real, they’d just take over the human race and put themselves in charge so they could protect their blood supply.

As far as what I borrowed, the answer has to be: everything! There is such a rich store of vampire and zombie fiction/television/films out there, and for those people who love it all (like me) it just seeps into your consciousness and becomes part of everything you write. It’s impossible to be unaware that everything you do is standing on the shoulders of all the creators who have come before you. Particular inspirations for me were the vampire hierarchy in Charlaine Harris’s books, the concept of ‘mating/marking’ from a huge number of vampire romance novelists and the ruined London of 28 Days Later.

In your short story Bloodwork, we say goodbye to Cam, a character who’s been with us for a long time, through multiple series. Will the Seekers series be the last series in the Silverse?

Chronologically, Blood Work is actually the first appearance of Cam, so I prefer to think of it as introducing him, because I can’t bear to say goodbye to my fave! There’s going to be one more short trilogy of novellas in the Silverse (not featuring Cam, sadly), and that’ll be the end of the overall timeline.

But apparently I can’t let it go, because there are two more series coming on top of that (including the Seekers prequels I mentioned above, which will feature Cam) that happen within the existing timeline without affecting the main plot. I’ll be talking about more at the end of the year.

You also started your own magazine featuring short stories and reviews surrounding fantasy themes. Can you tell us a bit more about the magazine and how you go about creating it?

It’s called Indie Bites and we publish quarterly, featuring short fantasy stories from indie authors and reviews of indie books on a different theme in each issue. It’s really a collaboration between a bunch of indie authors and bloggers, who kindly contribute their time and writing to promote indie fantasy. The editorial team then selects the best pieces and publishes them online, where they’re available free, and in print on Amazon, where they’re available at print cost. It’s been a wonderful experience to see all the amazing talent out there. You can find out all about it at www.silversunbooks.com.