Monique O'Connor James

What would you like for readers to take away from your novel/novels?

I’m really hoping that my readers connect with my characters and can feel what they are feeling. Jamais Vu is about second chances and everyone deserving them. It’s difficult to write a paranormal novel that leaves you feeling better about the world, but I hope on some level I do that with each one of my books.

What part of your first novel did you find hardest to write?

My first novel, The Keepers, had a lot of personal ties to me in it. It wasn’t autobiographical, but it did reflect some of my personal experiences. In the book Jess loses her mother to breast cancer. I also lost my mother to breast cancer and sharing those emotions with a character was difficult at times, but I feel better emotionally for having done so.

Was there ever a moment when you wouldn’t trade what you do as an author for the world? 

What was that moment for you?

Probably the first time I was sent a contract (for The Keepers). I ran outside crying and my husband thought something was wrong. But to be honest, every time I get an email or a message saying that someone really connected with my story…well those are the times I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

What makes you feel like you’re reading or have read a truly amazing book? 

If I’m still thinking about the book or its characters a day later, then I know the book impacted me. I love a book like that, one that you almost grieve when you finally finish!

Is there one book that has had an impact on not only your writing, but on you personally?

The only thing that comes to mind is that I read Anne Rice’s novels when I was 13 and from that moment I wanted to push myself to write a full length novel. Of course, it was years later before I actually did it, but she gets the credit for that.

Tell us something most people don’t know about you!

Because I’m loud and outgoing people think it’s easy for me to stand up and talk in front of a crowd, but the truth is any time I’m forced to speak publically, I’m screaming inside. It’s one thing to entertain the room when you aren’t the focus of attention, but something completely different when all eyes are on you. I’m working on that though!

Here is the book blurb: 

A gunshot echoes, thrusting Darby Lambert into a near death experience. Inside the confines of an ambulance, she meets “the man in white light”. He takes away the guilt, but makes her question everything. “You will see them,” he whispers, as he catapults her back into the real world where she is plagued with dreams of demons, nurses, and rock stars.

Why has He sent her back? Does she have the courage to rectify her sins? Given the chance, could you erase it all? 

Sounds amazing right??? I know I will be reading it!

Thank you so much for joining us today and to everyone reading!