An In Depth Interview
with author Jessica Cale
What were you like at school?
Basically the same. I wasn’t interested in most of my classes because I was always working on something else. I loved French, History, English, Art History, and Ceramics, but I spent most of my other classes and every study hall writing. I published an independent magazine, wrote horror stories, and wore almost nothing apart from band t-shirts and pajama pants. The biggest change in almost twenty years is that I have a computer now.
Were you good at English?
Obnoxiously so. I read anything I could find from an early age, with often strange results. My mother and grandmother encourages any and all reading, and they weren’t at all bothered about age restrictions or high vs. low culture, so I was reading Shakespeare at ten, Poe at eleven, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Nabakov at twelve, all the while borrowing my grandmother’s romance novels. The first book that really resonated with me was Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides, which I read when I was the same age as the girls in the book, growing up in a very similar place. It was fantastic. When I started working on my first book in middle school, no one was surprised.
What are your ambitions for your writing career?
I just want to write what I want to write. I get new ideas all the time, and they always surprise me. I want to be able to really lose myself in it, to give it the kind of time and focus it deserves. There are few things more frustrating than having a scene playing out in your head and not being able to write it down because you have to work. I’m very fortunate that I’m an editor now. I love reading new things, and I want to do what I can to help people to write the best books possible. I have a healthy appreciation for anything that’s a bit different, and I like to encourage that.
Which writers inspire you?
The writers who have had the greatest impact on my development have always been song writers. Songs are the only thing I don’t feel I can write, and I really admire the ability to sum up so much of the human experience in just a couple of well-chosen lines. My favourite writers are Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, and John Cale.
So, what have you written?
My first history book just came out, Sexuality and its Impact on History: The British Stripped Bare. It was a collaborative effort, and I wrote the chapter on the ritual and reality of courtly love in the High Middle Ages. There’s a lot of great information in there, including love magic, sex work, marriage, medieval contraception, homosexuality, and transgender identities. Apart from that, I write a history blog, Dirty, Sexy History, and a series of historical romance novels set in the 17th century. The first one, Tyburn, won the RWA’s Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence for Best Historical of 2015. I also have a couple of contemporary short stories out, and my next book is a contemporary romance set in Scotland. All of my books can be found on Amazon here: https://goo.gl/nxThaA
Basically the same. I wasn’t interested in most of my classes because I was always working on something else. I loved French, History, English, Art History, and Ceramics, but I spent most of my other classes and every study hall writing. I published an independent magazine, wrote horror stories, and wore almost nothing apart from band t-shirts and pajama pants. The biggest change in almost twenty years is that I have a computer now.
Were you good at English?
Obnoxiously so. I read anything I could find from an early age, with often strange results. My mother and grandmother encourages any and all reading, and they weren’t at all bothered about age restrictions or high vs. low culture, so I was reading Shakespeare at ten, Poe at eleven, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Nabakov at twelve, all the while borrowing my grandmother’s romance novels. The first book that really resonated with me was Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides, which I read when I was the same age as the girls in the book, growing up in a very similar place. It was fantastic. When I started working on my first book in middle school, no one was surprised.
What are your ambitions for your writing career?
I just want to write what I want to write. I get new ideas all the time, and they always surprise me. I want to be able to really lose myself in it, to give it the kind of time and focus it deserves. There are few things more frustrating than having a scene playing out in your head and not being able to write it down because you have to work. I’m very fortunate that I’m an editor now. I love reading new things, and I want to do what I can to help people to write the best books possible. I have a healthy appreciation for anything that’s a bit different, and I like to encourage that.
Which writers inspire you?
The writers who have had the greatest impact on my development have always been song writers. Songs are the only thing I don’t feel I can write, and I really admire the ability to sum up so much of the human experience in just a couple of well-chosen lines. My favourite writers are Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, and John Cale.
So, what have you written?
My first history book just came out, Sexuality and its Impact on History: The British Stripped Bare. It was a collaborative effort, and I wrote the chapter on the ritual and reality of courtly love in the High Middle Ages. There’s a lot of great information in there, including love magic, sex work, marriage, medieval contraception, homosexuality, and transgender identities. Apart from that, I write a history blog, Dirty, Sexy History, and a series of historical romance novels set in the 17th century. The first one, Tyburn, won the RWA’s Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence for Best Historical of 2015. I also have a couple of contemporary short stories out, and my next book is a contemporary romance set in Scotland. All of my books can be found on Amazon here: https://goo.gl/nxThaA
What are you working on at the minute?
I am writing a contemporary romance set in the Hebrides about an author with a pretty serious case of writer’s block. It started as a way to vent some of my frustrations with the industry in a (hopefully) funny way, and it grew into something else. It’s my first full-length contemporary, so it’s a challenge for me as well.
Which actor(s) and/or actress(s) would you like to see playing the roles of your main characters if your work was adapted for the big screen?
For this one, I would need an exceptionally large, beardy Scottish man in his mid-forties, so you really couldn’t pick a better actor than Rory McCann. As for the heroine, I would probably cast Mariska Hargitay or Alison Brie.
How much research do you do to add depth to your works?
It depends on the book. For Sexuality and Its Impact on History, I had a head start with the history blog and my Medieval History degree, but I also did at least six months of more specific research for the chapter. It took me ten years (on and off) to research my series, but now I know more of it off the top of my head. For my newest book, I’m researching it by listening to true crime podcasts (especially My Favorite Murder), watching nature documentaries, and tracking down regional treats like soap from the Isle of Mull Soap Co. To help with the dialect, I’m listening to anything Scottish I can get my hands on. I got Trainspotting on audiobook and I listen to that before I fall asleep!
How do you relax?
I’m still trying to figure that out.
How can readers discover more about you and you work?
The best place to find me is on Dirty, Sexy History. I’m also on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and I would love to hear from you.
Social Media & Website Links:
Website: http://www.dirtysexyhistory.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorjessicacale
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JessicaCale
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/skittles_and_smut
Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to sit with us! We appreciate the sacrifices you have made to become an author and wish you the best!