Valjeanne Jeffers is a Spelman graduate and a member of the Carolina African American Writers' Collective. Her poems have appeared In Revelry 2006, Pembroke Magazine 2007, Drumvoices 2007 & 2008, and the anthologies: The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, Making Sense of the Madness, Little Black Book Vol II: Bedtime Stories for Lovers, and Liberated Muse Vol I: How I Freed my Soul 2009, the featured anthology for the Capital City Soul Fest and PurpleMag #7
She also writes under the pen name Valjeanne Jeffers-Thompson. Valjeanne is the author of Immortal 2nd edition and Immortal II: The Time of Legend. She is also an active member of RIM.
1. Introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m Valjeanne Jeffers poet, SF author and artist. I’m also the author of Immortal and Immortal II: The Time of Legend. Sister Moon is my wolf totem sprit and muse and I gladly embrace her. I believe that we should love God, ourselves and our world. One of the ways we can do this is by changing something to make our planet better in any way that we can no matter how small.
I’ve been published in Revelry, Drumvoices, The Ringing Ear, How I Freed my Soul Volume I, Pembroke Magazine and PurpleMag.
2. Tell us about your books. And the world of Immortal that you created.
In the year 3075, Tundra has been at peace for 400 years. There is no poverty or racism. Yet the planet is threatened by an ancient evil. Karla, a young Black woman, is a recovering addict working as a drug counselor. Intelligent and capable, she knows exactly where she’s going and what she wants.
Until she closes her eyes at night and enters a seductive and dangerous world.
To save Tundra Karla must find Joseph -- the one man who can unravel the mystery of her dreams -- and unleash the werewolf sleeping inside her.
In Immortal II the journey continues as Karla and Joseph fight to save their planet -- and their love. More characters are introduced each with their own set of personal issues which must be resolved before they can grow. So you see there are layered struggles taking place in Immortal: the struggle between the characters and themselves, and the struggle to save their world.
I strive to make my art imitate life and there are no totally “good” or “evil” characters in the Immortal series. All of my good guys and gals have a little “evil” in them -- and my villains a little “good.”
3. Why did you become a writer?
Writing is not what I do it’s who I am. I write because I don’t have a choice: creating new characters and worlds is as vital to me as my next breath. I am in love with writing.
4. Tell us about your publishing journey.
I began my journey the way I believe a lot of authors have: trying to break into the traditional industry with an agent who would help me get published. Even as I did I knew, as a Black science fiction author, that the odds were stacked against me. Back in 2004 when I began writing Immortal, I knew of only four published Black SF authors. Years later I would find a whole community of them at
http://www.blacksciencefictionsociety.com but still many of them are still, like myself, self-published.
I had a lot of doors slammed in my face and it made me mad -- I know writing and I knew my novels were phenomenal! I’d also seen trash, more times than I can count, sitting on library shelves. So I decided to self-publish. It hasn’t been easy, but I found a supportive niche online and I’ve never regretted my decision. I’m doing my thing and I love it.
5. Has your work touched anyone? How?
Honestly I believe it has. I’ve had readers tell me that Karla, Joseph and my other characters are realistic and likable. I’ve also been told that my writing projects true hope for the future and optimism.
6. What's on the horizon?
I’ve finished my third novel Immortal III: Stealer of Souls, the third novel in the Immortal series which I plan to release this summer (2010). In Stealer of Souls, new characters, like Annabelle, are born and old friends are reunited. Stealer is fast-paced, imaginative, very sexy and blurs the lines between SF and horror.
An excerpt from Immortal III has been published in Pembroke Magazine and another excerpt will appear in the Black Science Fiction Society anthology, Future Passage (2010).
I’ve also had three stories, The Visitor, Grandmere’s Secret, and Awakening published in anthologies.
7. Encouraging words for aspiring authors.
If you chose to write, do so because you love it and you can’t imagine not being an author. Second of all, be stubborn. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you don’t have what it takes. And finally, find a supportive, loving writing group that meets at least once a month where you can share ideas and have your work critiqued. Don’t give up!
8. Morning Rituals?
Each morning I smoke my first cigarette of the day -- a bad habit I know, but the last one I have -- start my coffee pot and check my emails. This is usually the time of the day that I get my best ideas too. I’m sure this is because mornings are the time of day when our minds are least cluttered, so our creative spirit can whisper to us without interfering noise. In the AM dialogue and plots often leap into my head and I mentally bookmark them until I have a chance to write.
9. Describe your perfect writing environment.
For me this is a room with a computer and a notebook, and with no one awake but me. I like to write from 12AM on, because by then everyone is asleep. A full moon makes this “space” even more stimulating.
10. Who are some of your favorite authors and why?
I love Octavia Butler. She has the ability to say so much with so few words -- like conjuring a room from thin air. I’m also a big fan of Charles Saunders. His writing is like water -- fluid and beautiful. Charles takes African myths and history, both very difficult subjects to work with, and weaves magic in a genre he created called Sword and Soul.
Milton Davis is also one of my favorites -- he can write anything. But Sword and Soul is also his specialty. Brother Davis make his characters come to life and walk across the page, and his Afro-mythic battle scenes make the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Edward Uzzle is one of the most imaginative authors I’ve had the pleasure to read. When I read him he blows me away -- one of those writers that make you wonder: “How did he come up with this?” I always get a militant, pro-black buzz from his novels too.
I also enjoy erotica and I feel that sexuality when written about should caress the ear like the brush of lips and evoke delicious imagery (e.g., juicy mangos, billowing silk etc.) So for writing that sizzles my picks would definitely be B. Sharise Moore and Quinton Veal.
I ’m also a big fan of Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Audre Lorde, Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes, Stephen King, Dean Kootz, Tad Williams and too many others to name.
11. Favorite books?
Some of my favorite novels are:
Wild Seed
(Octavia Butler)
Neters: Issue O and RETRO-KM (Edward Uzzle)
Taste (B. Sharise Moore)
Imaro I & II
(Charles Saunders)
Meji I & II
(Milton Davis)
The Friday House
(DK Gaston)
Banjo Strings
(Larry Winfield)
Their Eyes were watching God
(Zora Neale Hurston)
My Soul to Keep & The Good House
(Tananarive Due)
IT (Stephen King)
The Talisman
(Stephen King & Peter Straub)
Invisible Man
(Ralph Ellison)
I could go on and on!
12. How did you come up with the title?
I didn’t have to think about, the title just jumped in my head -- like the story itself. There was no question in my mind that Immortal was it and would always be it. Later I was amazed that the title I chosen (well before I was anywhere close to being finished) fit so wonderfully with the main characters that grew to people my books: all of them immortal.
13. If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
I’d have to say Octavia Butler, not just because she’s an awesome writer but because she opened the gate for so many of us. Before I read Wild Seed, I didn’t even know that Black folks wrote SF, and I’d been reading authors like Stephen King for years. Octavia made me believe that I could conquer this genre -- that I could be a SF/fantasy author. I’ve also been told that our writing styles are similar which I consider a huge compliment.
14. Parting words.
I’d like to thank Brother DK for taking the time to interview me and for his support. And to all my creative brothers and sisters: peace and strength to your writing hands!
Visit me at: http://immortalfantasynovels.com/
I like to personally thank Valljeanne Jeffers for taking the time to interview with me.
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