Author of Award Winning genre-bending The Biodome Chronicles, Jesikah Sundin lives in the Pacific Northwest with her three children and waffle-afficiando and high-school sweetheart husband.
After several careers later in music and administration (but not earth sciences, her college pursuit), she returned to her first passion: books. And earned the title “coffee zombie” by her children who drone, “grounds… grounds… grounds…” as she pours a cup of dark roast writer’s ambrosia before approaching her keyboard.
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First of all, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule of writing, photography, and living! I’m constantly gazing at your beautiful book covers, they are
GORGEOUS! And the writing is top-notch too! Readers love Willow and Fillion and the amazing world you have built in The Biodome Chronicles!
Okay, so I’m here to ask the important questions, the ones that REALLY matter…
You’re trapped on a mall rooftop as the apocalyptic floodwaters rise. You have access to a helicopter with ½ tank of gas, a flimsy inflatable raft, and a disgruntled but loyal manatee. Strategies for survival?
Manatee and I go far back to Mer Wars 3.2––you should thank the nebulas you missed this war
to end all Mer Wars––where I saved him from a soul-sucking Fishing Net of Debase. The net-wielding necromancer was attempting to raise a manatee zombie apocalypse powered by pure, dark Manatee essence. Manatees may appear docile, but they are passive predators. Repressed anger. Tons of it. Make no mistake. But I digress … Ever since then, Manatee has clung to my side despite his Fishing Net of Debase side-effects. So I release Manatee from his life debt and shove him into the flood waters. He swims away, reluctantly, but also while flipping me off (literally). As he fades into the muddy depths of waste and depravity, I stuff the inflatable raft into the helicopter and then whirl away to higher ground. Though, I have a feeling Manatee will find me. He always does…
Open the trunk of your car (or hatch of your SUV or WHATEVER). What’s inside? Besides gum wrappers and remnants of the muddy Northwest…
My hopes and dreams, dead and rolled up in long-forgotten trash, rotting away in a dark, unused corner of the trunk. Nah, just kidding. Probably plant bits. I like to rescue clearance plants from nurseries and love them back to life. If not that, then pieces of the forest after romping around on various hiking trails.
Kindred animated character?
Oooooo, that’s a hard one! I’d probably say a combination of Asuna (her ALfheim game world
character in the anime Sword Art Online) and Fawn from the Tinkerbell series (don’t judge :-P).
Writing books is like bringing literary children into the world… on that note, have any heartwarming, funny, or traumatizing birth stories to share? (they make the best kind of birth control!)
Well, I almost died in all three child births. If I had lived before modern labor and delivery advancements, I would have bled out with baby number one. Rinse. Lather. Repeat. For each labor. SCARY! And yet, that wasn’t birth control enough for me, haha! I love my babies *mama pride intensifies* Though, they’re not babies anymore. My daughter is a couple weeks shy from turning 9; my younger son is 12-3/4; and my oldest son is 14-1/2 (woe is the parent who forgets the quarter marks in age!).
Since your work can be described as a kind of ecopunk genre, let’s say someone cursed you (or blessed you, depending on how you feel about old age) and you will transform into a tree once you turn 70… what kind would you grow up to be and why? Oh my! What a lovely curse. I would choose an oak tree. Probably not a surprise to my readers! In my old age, I want sprawling, gnarled roots and long, knobby branches. Sturdy and magical, may my life offer brilliant green leaves of wisdom in Spring, a cool haven come Summer, a fiery embrace in Fall, and nourishment to sustain another through the Winter of their life. *le sigh*
Okay, okay, time to talk about your amazing series! What do your readers love most about The Biodome Chronicles?
*deer in headlight look*
Ummm … I, uh, think they love my characters most? (Sorry readers if I’m wrong!) Each of my characters are flawed, lean toward unlikable but always remain sympathetic, and struggle with normal, relatable issues though they live in fantastical realities. This combination, I believe, makes them memorable. Tangible. My editor and I are constantly discussing whether that’s a Coal way of saying something or would Leaf let feelings out in this moment over duty or how to balance the passionate emotion and logic in Willow differently than Fillion.
I also think my settings are a huge factor in reader satisfaction. In the Outside world (predominantly Seattle, in the year 2054), the near-future has a Cyberpunk glaze familiar to dystopian fiction. High technology at the cost of humanity. Our creations have become like one of us and we are pushed aside as lesser gods to the machines that dictate our pathetic existence. That sounds flowery. But, seriously, how many of us go through a single day without our Smart phones notifying us of absolutely everything? Very few of us *actually* live off-grid anymore. This is why many find this setting alone as meh, the philosophical nuances lost to genre cliche and real-life familiarity. But contrast it with New Eden Township, a quasi off-grid community that is intentionally living a natural, agrarian medieval life for science ? … And boom! The kaleidoscope of colors shading social commentary pops. Old world meets new world in a way that not only forces my characters to question their reality, but forces the readers to do so as well. At least, that is what many have shared in reviews. And, I’ll admit, that was my hope. Why? Because The Biodome Chronicles is set in a real world that feels fake and a fake world that feels real. It’s up to the characters (and the reader) to decide what is truth. As one of my characters says, “Feelings are real. They often become one’s reality. But they are not always based on truth.”
Are you ready to discover what is real? ;-) OK, I wrote all that and, honestly, it’s probably just Fillion’s smart-ass responses and Mack’s waggling eyebrow moments. *sigh* I overthink everything… Hahaha!
Thank you so much, Jesikah! Can't wait to introduce more readers to your amazing world and characters!