How did you write THE JUMBIE GOD’S REVENGE? All at once, or did you outline the story?
I didn't think I had a 3rd
jumbies book in me when Elise Howard asked me for one. And I was working on two
other books at the time. So I started writing down little ideas on post-it
notes and sticking them on the wall in my office. Eventually I had enough little
ideas that I could see how the whole thing would come together. I outlined the
story, something I usually don't do, and then I started writing.
What
were some surprises (good or bad) in creating a trilogy?
This wasn't intended to be a trilogy. It has expanded by single
books every time. Who knows where it will end at this point? The great part was
that people wanted more and more jumbies, and if I had thought of a series at
the beginning, I definitely would not have come up with the ideas that I did
under pressure. The difficult part was that because I didn't intended for it to
be a series there were things I didn't set up in the first novel which made
things hard in book 2 and then book 3.
What
gave you the idea for the series, and for how the story develops in THE JUMBIE
GOD’S REVENGE in particular?
I originally thought I wanted a series, but then it wasn't bought
as a series, so every book has had to develop on its own. The good news with
that is that a reader could pick up any book in the series and start there. The
idea for the jumbie god came while I was watching the awful hurricane season in
2017 and how it was devastating Caribbean nations. The Weather Channel
mentioned a Carib god called Huracan. The Caribs are the indigenous people in
Trinidad where I grew up. That was the very first thing I wrote on a post-it
that went on my wall.
Do
you have a favorite scene, quote, or moment from THE JUMBIE GOD’S REVENGE?
The moment that Corinne comes into her full jumbie powers when she
is up in the mountains and goes to the fire to have a chat with Papa Bois is
easily my favorite. It's powerful and surprising and also a little bit gross.
If
you could tell your younger self anything about writing, what would it be?
That it has to be treated like any other skill. It takes time and
patience and courage, but it also needs to be nurtured. I'd remind myself to be
gentle. I went to Catholic all girl schools my whole life, so being gentle was
never on the menu.
What
are you currently reading? What’s in your TBR pile?
Reality is Not What it Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity by
Carlo Rovelli (I read at least one physics book a year), Lalani of the Distant
Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly, Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby, Ancient West
African Kingdoms: Ghana, Mali, & Songhai by Mary Quigley (for research for
a nonfiction book I'm writing), An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United
States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, and quite a few others for
both research and pleasure.
Do
you write to music? If so, what were you listening to while you wrote THE
JUMBIE GOD’S REVENGE?
I find it too distracting to write to music, but I often take dance
breaks where my assistant Barkley and I, let off steam in between long writing
sessions. My music choices for dance sessions are pretty eclectic. It could be
anything from classical to pop to rock. Barkley is quite fond of Motown, but he
is a terrible dancer. Two left feet. Two right ones, too.
Book Three.
In book three of the
popular Jumbies series, Corinne must use her emerging supernatural
powers to battle the angry god who would destroy her Caribbean island
home.
When an out-of-season hurricane sweeps through Corinne’s seaside village, Corinne knows it’s not a typical storm. At first Corinne believes Mama D’Leau—the powerful and cruel jumbie who rules the ocean—has caused the hurricane. Then a second, even more ferocious storm wrecks the island, sending villagers fleeing their houses for shelter in the mountains, and Corinne discovers the storms weren’t caused by a jumbie, but by the angry god Huracan.
Now Corinne, with the help of her friends and even some of her enemies, must race against time to find out what has angered Huracan and try to fix it before her island home is destroyed forever.
When an out-of-season hurricane sweeps through Corinne’s seaside village, Corinne knows it’s not a typical storm. At first Corinne believes Mama D’Leau—the powerful and cruel jumbie who rules the ocean—has caused the hurricane. Then a second, even more ferocious storm wrecks the island, sending villagers fleeing their houses for shelter in the mountains, and Corinne discovers the storms weren’t caused by a jumbie, but by the angry god Huracan.
Now Corinne, with the help of her friends and even some of her enemies, must race against time to find out what has angered Huracan and try to fix it before her island home is destroyed forever.
Buy The Jumbie God's Revenge: Amazon - B&N - The Book Depository - Indiebound - Kobo
Book Two.
To rescue the missing children and clear her own name, Corinne goes deep into the ocean to find Mama D’Leau, the dangerous jumbie who rules the sea. But Mama D’Leau’s help comes with a price. Corinne and her friends Dru, Bouki, and Malik must travel with mermaids across the ocean to the shores of Ghana to fetch a powerful object for Mama D’Leau. The only thing more perilous than Corinne’s adventures across the sea is the foe that waits for her back home.
With its action-packed storytelling, diverse characters, and inventive twists on Caribbean and West African mythology and fairy tales, Rise of the Jumbies will appeal to readers of A Snicker of Magic, Breadcrumbs, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.
Buy Rise of the Jumbies: Amazon - B&N - The Book Depository - Indiebound - Kobo
Book One.
Corinne La Mer isn't afraid of anything. Not scorpions, not the boys who tease her, and certainly not jumbies. They're just tricksters parents make up to frighten their children. Then one night Corinne chases an agouti all the way into the forbidden forest. Those shining yellow eyes that followed her to the edge of the trees, they couldn't belong to a jumbie. Or could they?
When Corinne spots a beautiful stranger speaking to the town witch at the market the next day, she knows something unexpected is about to happen. And when this same beauty, called Severine, turns up at Corinne's house, cooking dinner for Corinne's father, Corinne is sure that danger is in the air. She soon finds out that bewitching her father, Pierre, is only the first step in Severine's plan to claim the entire island for the jumbies. Corinne must call on her courage and her friends and learn to use ancient magic she didn't know she possessed to stop Severine and save her island home.
With its able and gutsy heroine, lyrical narration, and inventive twist on the classic Haitian folktale "The Magic Orange Tree," The Jumbies will be a favorite of fans of Breadcrumbs, A Tale Dark and Grimm, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.
Buy The Jumbies: Amazon - B&N - The Book Depository - Indiebound - Kobo
Tracey Baptiste is a New York Times bestselling author who grew up in Trinidad and
Tobago on jumbie stories and fairy tales. Moving to the United States at
fifteen was one of the hardest and most exciting times of her life. Tracey is a
former elementary teacher and editor. She writes everything from picture books
to middle grade and young adult novels, both fiction and nonfiction. She
currently teaches at Lesley University's MFA program in Creative Writing. You
can find her online at traceybaptiste.wordpress.com and on Twitter:
@TraceyBaptiste
The Jumbie God’s
Revenge
By Tracey Baptiste
Algonquin Young Readers
Publication Date:
September 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61620-891-2
$16.95
272 pages • 5.5 x
8.2 inches
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love getting comments. Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog :)