CassAsks - Jen Lyon

On this month's CassAsks, we're featuring Jen Lyon!

She made a crazy splash onto the scene in the sapphic literature community a few years ago with The Senator's Wife series, and kept that momentum up by recently publishing The Unfinished Line, which came out nearly 2 months ago and is still hanging out in the top of the lesbian romance charts.

You can check out The Unfinished Line on amazon here, and follow Jen on instagram here!

1. What was your first fandom you ever joined (if you were into a fandom). Did you read fic for it? Have you ever written fic? 

I’ve honestly never joined a fandom, but when I was a teenager, Role Playing Games were really popular on Yahoo Groups (I’m feeling really old suddenly), and I was really into the English classic series, The Scarlet Pimpernel. I spent hours and hours a day writing RPGs with fellow Pimpernel enthusiasts (a few of which became lifelong friends). So I imagine the RPGs were the predecessor to the modern version of FanFic.

2. Your series, The Senator’s Wife, is your debut work in publishing. I can’t imagine committing to a series right out of the gate! What was your publishing journey like with this project?  

A rollercoaster. I wrote the first two books over five years ago, knowing off the bat that I would never be able to condense everything I wanted to do into one book–hence just biting the bullet and going for the series. I spent about a year trying to get an agent, but looking back now, my query letters were below par and I just literally had no idea what I was doing. I considered going with a couple interested small publishers, but ultimately decided to take a stab at publishing it myself. I honestly never thought I would even get fifty people to read it, even if I sent it out for free.

So I was a little (a lot) surprised at the interest it got, given that I honestly winged just about everything for that first book.

I feel a lot more confident now in my publishing process, and though I have considered seeking an agent again, I’ve decided to remain indie for the foreseeable future. I love the control I have over choosing title names, cover art, who I work with, and how it is distributed, etc. It’s been a lot of work, but also a true pleasure.

3. What part of the writing process strikes you, first (a plot line, a single scene, the characters, etc)?

Definitely a single scene. I get an idea in my head about a moment I want to make happen and then orchestrate everything else around it. My idea for The Senator’s Wife stemmed from an idea I had on a plane to Alaska back in 2010 – I knew I wanted to have a water rescue type situation where two women meet, beginning a forbidden-esque relationship. And voila, almost fifteen years and 400k words later, here we are. ;-)

4. Did you know this series needed to be a trilogy when you started it? What happened during your planning process to make you realize you needed to make it a trilogy?

I knew straight away I would probably have to make it into at least two books. There was a lot of ground I wanted to cover and, even though I am one of those readers who more than happily picks up a 300K word novel without the blink of an eye, I knew that wasn’t the case for everyone. So two long books were guaranteed. When I got to the ending point of Caught Sleeping (book II) I let it rest, uncertain if anyone would really want more. But my wife (my one and only reader at the time) convinced me a couple years later to finish up the story, so I began Whistleblower.

And though Whistleblower wraps up everything completely, I’ve had a lot of readers asking for a fourth and final book for Catharine and Alex. So after a few months of brainstorming, I can say that will definitely come to fruition. I’m looking forward to it.

5. What are your upcoming publishing plans? Anything on the horizon?

My next book is called The Unfinished Line and should be out before the end of summer. I wrote it a few years ago but it needed a major rewrite, so that is almost complete and will soon head to my editor. I’m really excited about it. Like TSW, it is more literary fiction than a romance, but is still based around a sapphic love story involving two characters near and dear to my heart. I also have a medieval trilogy written and awaiting editing (also sapphic) that I absolutely cannot wait to get published. It’s a little dark, but adventure-filled and will hopefully be enjoyable for fans of angst and twisty drama.

Somewhere in between all that, I will do the 4th book for Catharine and Alex and a standalone for Amelia Walker. I also have plans for Elle and Nathalie ( from The Senator’s Wife).

6. What is your favorite idea that you haven’t yet written?

I’m torn between really wanting to do a darker, more twisted sapphic version of The Pirates of the Caribbean or a sapphic retelling of The Mists of Avalon.

7. What is your favorite meal?

Probably Chicken Tikka Masala with garlic naan. I think I’ve managed to source the best Himalayan restaurants in the United States and the UK.

8. Who is your own personal favorite character that you’ve written?

I love Amelia Walker. She was fun to write and there is something really enjoyable about knowing readers either absolutely love her or absolutely hate her, with no gray area in between.

9. What book got you into reading? 

Mists of Avalon. I enjoyed reading prior to it, but it was the first book as a young teenager I remember falling passionately in love with. The first book that made me cry when it was over, simply because I knew I’d never have the chance to read it for the first time again.

10. What book got you into reading sapphic romance?

Tipping the Velvet was probably the first book I came across where it was specifically a queer story being told. I then stumbled across Kristen Zimmer’s The Gravity Between Us. I honestly had no clue there was such a massive index of sapphic books available until after I finished TSW. That’s when I got involved in some of the social media communities and discovered the thousands of incredible authors and books out there. What a time to be alive!

11. If you could pick one song to epitomize your characters, what would it be? One song each, for as many characters as you’d like to answer with.

Alex: This Is What You Came For (Rihanna) Or: Insomnia (Daya) (sorry I had to pick two!)

Catharine: I Can Do It With a Broken Heart (Taylor Swift)

Amelia: We’re Not Friends (Ingrid Andress)

Elle: God Is a Woman (Ariana Grande)

Caleb: You’re So Vain (Carly Simon)

Sawyer: No Man’s Woman (Sinead O’Connor)

Carlton: fuckyounoah (aka I’m a Narcissist) (Noah Cyrus)

12. What is your favorite Taylor Swift song and/or lyric?

This is like asking someone to pick their favorite kid or dog. Unfair! ;)
I guess, lyrically, I love the bridge for Enchanted (Please don’t be in love with someone else). But currently, the entirety of I Can Do It With a Broken Heart would probably be my favorite. Honorable mention to Champagne Problems.

13. Have you ever read a book – or fanfic – that is criminally underrated? Now is your chance to advertise it: 

Mrs. S by K Patrick. The prose in this book was SO unique. It was no surprise to find the author is an acclaimed poet.

14. What would you title your auto-biography?

What The Fuck Was That? (Or: 101 Ways to Take On More Than You Can Chew).

15. What is your favorite trope to read? Is it different from your favorite trope to write?

Literally anything with a ton of angst, forbidden love, love triangles, overcoming obstacles, etc. I like heavy subjects, and tend to write the same.

16. Finally – where would you put these characters on this seating chart: 

Catharine Cleveland from your Senator’s Wife series
Alex Grey from your Senator’s Wife series
Charlotte Thompson from Those Who Wait by me
Brooke Watson from In the Long Run by me
Caitlyn Lloyd from Pas de Deux by E.J. Noyes
Carol Aird from The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith 

I’m seating Catharine and Charlotte together on one of the long sides because I think the two would get along well in an ambitious, politically-driven, sure-of-themselves kind of way. I’m seating Caitlyn next to Alex on the opposite long side, because both can discuss life as professional athletes, competing at the Olympics, etc. Brooke is going at one end of the table, because (even if she might not enjoy the spotlight) I think her pragmatic steadfastness would help steer lulls in conversation. Carol Aird is going at the opposite end, simply because I feel she would be affronted if she were not seated at the head of the table.