Meet Trailblazer Jette Harris

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jette Harris.

Jette, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m a writer. I’ve always been a writer. While I was always bashful about my work and accomplishments, I shoved my stories into others’ hands and asked them to read. Inspired by X-Files and Disney’s Gargoyles, I wrote a lot of suspense thrillers until high school, when I wrote quite a few dirty stories. I was constantly in the state of “writing a novel,” although this did not occur until 2006 when I was a sophomore at Mercer University. I wrote a serial killer thriller. It was awful. I had no concept of revisions or rewriting. It’s sitting in a pile at the top of my bookshelf. Recently, I pulled it out and flipped through it to realize it has some pretty good nuggets in there, although the plot is fatally flawed.

After college, I was in an abusive relationship for three years that almost killed me (a few times), and prevented me from writing for about seven years. I would jot down ideas, and pick at scenes, but I didn’t write anything substantial until I had moved states twice and was just beginning to feel safe again.

I made my first serious push to publish in 2014 when my then-new husband and I settled back down in Georgia. I set out to write a short-story serial. I ended up writing COLOSSUS, the first of the several novel Run Rabbit Rub series. I teamed up with Stephen Moran at Moran Press to polish COLOSSUS up and get it published, although I opted to go indie rather than hybrid in its publication. I still had little-to-no idea what I was doing, which was why the pacing of COLOSSUS is imperfect, and the concurrent sequel, Two Guns, came out two years later rather than the next year, as I had originally hoped (although the pacing issues were fixed). I just released RUIN, the third book in the series, last October.

I also released a series of Victorian romantic suspense novelettes under my great-grandmother’s name, Anna Lillian Wade. To get the dirty stories out of my system and put to good use, I publish them under A. L. Wade. I have some YA/MG works plotted, but not written, and I’m tempted to seek traditional publication with those since they are more difficult to get into the hands of the intended audience.

I still have little idea what I’m doing when it comes to marketing, but the information is out there, and I’m eating it up. But, like always, the writing comes first.

Has it been a smooth road?
Although I’ve struggled with anxiety my entire life, it was pretty privileged until I graduated from college. Actually, it was pretty privileged after college, too, but I had an abusive boyfriend to navigate. He would talk down to me, would disparage my choice of music, would not allow me to watch horror movies, beat me, controlled my income, prevented me from seeing my friends and family, attempted to murder me–almost everything you hear about in stories about domestic violence.

I convinced myself that I was happier than not, that I would be OK, that I wouldn’t find anyone better. My story of abuse was not as bad as the others I heard about. None of these things were true; They were all the product of manipulation and fear. It wasn’t until an old friend from high school (now my husband) started to build me up emotionally, no strings attached, that I realized how miserable I was.

The memes are right:
Trust people when they show you who you are.
Trust your gut.

Also:
Press charges.
Don’t drop the charges.
No matter what, for the love of God, don’t drop the charges.

The one regret I have in my life is that the man who tried to kill me is free to hurt someone else because I had been emotionally manipulated and too terrified to face the truth.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I write serial killer thrillers as Jette Harris, historical romances as Anna Lillian Wade, and erotica as A. L. Wade.

I try to be as realistic as possible in my works. That means descriptions of graphic violence, reckless, hasty decisions, and some awkwardness.

My characters are multi-dimensional and spring off the page, even the bit parts. None of them are perfect. Even my villains fall on their asses every once in a while (can you imagine Dr. Lecter slipping in mud?).

What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
You can always jump. It’s not always easy, and it doesn’t always work out, but it is an option. School, relationships, career, living spaces… you can pick up and try something else. It’s scary, but it’s possible. It’s OK to be wrong. It’s OK to write your choices off as a learning experience.

I was a teacher. I was going to be a teacher since I was in middle school. I taught for three years, and it was horrible, stressful, and didn’t pay enough to cover my expenses (even in Cobb County, which is supposed to be one of the highest-paying districts in Georgia).

Needless to say, I don’t teach anymore.

I have moved from Georgia to Virginia to Florida, back to Georgia, to Maryland, and finally bought a house northwest of Atlanta. Georgia has always been a soft place to land because housing is cheap in most places, and jobs are plentiful (even if they suck).

I love my job now, and my house. I would not have either of them unless I was able to write off my previous decisions as a learning experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Author.to/JetteHarris; https://Author.to/ALWromance; https://author.to/ALWerotica
• Instagram: @JettimusMaximus
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/JettimusMaximus; www.facebook.com/ALWerotica
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/JettimusMaximus
• Other: http://ko-fi.com/jetteharris

Image Credit:
Donna Bullard

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