Jessie Cal is the author of the Disarray series as well as Looking After You: A Clean Romance. Her friend reached out to me and asked me if I’d review Ms. Cal’s novel. After reading Disarray I naturally had some questions for her!
Q: Have you had experience with amnesia before? If so, what was it like?
Ms. Cal: I have never suffered from amnesia, but I have for years wondered what it would feel like. I find the idea of starting from scratch both scary and fascinating at the same time. Sad, I know. My mind goes off the rails at times.
Q: How much research do you put into your writing overall?
Ms. Cal: It depends on how much knowledge I already have on the subject. I knew nothing about amnesia, however, my character didn’t really have “regular” amnesia, so that gave me the freedom to write whatever I wanted and still be true. Now, I wrote a short fiction where she was a surgeon who believed in bloodless surgeries. I had to research a lot on that topic–took me days.
Q: Are you inspired by literary trends?
Ms. Cal: Although I enjoy reading them, I can’t say my writing is influenced by them. I tend to write based on my dreams, and odds are, you won’t find that in the bestseller section.
Q: What is your favorite under-appreciated novel?
Ms. Cal: Oh, it’s so hard to pick just one. They are all different genres, and I love them for different reasons. But one I just recently read was entitled If I Was a Rich Girl. Very cute. Also, Soaked. Adorable. And many more!
Q: What did you want to be when you grew up:
Ms. Cal: I went through several phases, but writing stories have been a phase that always came back. Until I finally decided to sit and write my own [short stories and novels].
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