Jessica Gouin – Author Spotlight

About the Author:

Jessica Gouin hates talking about Jessica Gouin. Especially in the third person. I’m a fairly normal person from Windsor, Ontario. I was born here, grew up here, met my hubby here, and had my children here. I really couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. More than anything, I love watching my children grow every day. They amuse the hell out of me. I swear they were sent to earth to provide my life with comedic relief. When I’m not living the mommy-life, I’m writing. Writing is my stress reliever. I go a little mad when I’m not creating an escape path for the characters in my head. I’m a reader first, though, always have been. I try to branch and read all types of genres, but I always seem to come back to those epic love stories. I’m a sucker for a great kiss. I love rain storms, a good laugh, strong coffee, sleep, and anything with chocolate. I hate mean people, the outdoors, heights, and centipedes. I genuinely become ecstatic when I receive a like on my Facebook page, or when someone reaches out to say they thought my books were good. So, thank you for stalking me because I love it! There are so many great books, and authors, in the world today which makes it super hard to keep track of every new release or any other news. If you don’t want to miss any important updates from me, sign up for my newsletter.

Interview Questions:

Warning: This interview will have spoilers.

Random Questions:

What is your biggest fear? Heights! You should see me on the Ferris wheel…
What is your favorite TV show? Friends. I’ve watched each episode a thousand times.
What is your favorite movie? Pretty in Pink.
How many siblings do you have? One, an older sister.
If you could have dinner with anyone (dead or alive), who would it be? My Meme. She passed away before I had my children and I’d give anything for her to meet them.

This or That:

Pepsi or Coke? COKE!
Pancake or Waffle? Pancake. Yum 🙂
Christmas or Halloween? Halloween.
Cookie or Cake? This is like Sophia’s choice. If I had to pick, I guess…cookie
Fireman or Policeman? Fireman, please!

Specific Book Questions:

Six Years Gone: This was the first book of yours that I read. I absolutely loved it. Where did the idea for the book come from?

I’m so glad you read and loved this book. The start of our beautiful friendship! Since this is going to be full of spoilers, I can tell you all the secrets. I was obsessed (still am) with Teen Mom 2. While watching it, my mind wandered, as it often does, and I started thinking how crazy it would be if one of the girls got pregnant and the father never found out until years later. I wanted to write that kind of a story. The rest of the book snowballed from that idea.

Lachlan is Australian in Six Years Gone. What made you choose to make him Australian?

Umm the accent. Hello! I’m teasing. Actually, one of my favorite books of all time (Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens) had an Australian character and I fell in love with him and wanted to make an Aussie of my own. It was a lot of fun researching the country and the different lingo they use.

Sawyer is hiding a secret during the book that she and Lachlan have a son together. When he finds out, it breaks his heart. Was it hard to write those emotional scenes?

All of the scenes with Noah were hard to write because I based him off of my son. SYG was definitely a challenge because there were so hard heavy scenes but I think that’s what made the story so special so it was worth all my tears and angst music that created my mood.

I was so mad at you at the end of Six Years Gone, like really, just when everything was going good you had to go and kill off Sawyer. Was that a hard decision to make to kill her? Did you think that it would make your readers as emotional as it did? (I cried like a baby)

I can only apologize so many times! LOL

For real, a lot of readers were upset by the ending. But again, I think that’s what made SYG so great. I wasn’t afraid to push the limits. I didn’t plan on killing Sawyer, though. Actually, it was supposed to be Noah that died at the end of the book, however, since I based him off my boy, I literally couldn’t even think about how I would write those words. All I knew is that I didn’t want The Gone Series to wrap up in a pretty bow with a HEA. I wanted to write something that ripped readers apart so I think I succeeded with that.

Edges of Gone picks up where Six Years Gone ended but now it is Sawyer’s brother Owen and his new wife Sloane’s story. Why did you choose to change who the main characters were? Why not continue from Lachlan’s point of view?

I couldn’t write Edges of Gone in the same point of view as Six Years Gone because I lost half the voice. Even if Sawyer could have a voice, I loved the idea of having different voices throughout the series. I felt it gave the overall story a more rounded feel with multiple layers. It also gave the reader a chance to experience four unique sides to one story.

Edges of Gone was darker than Six Years Gone. Owen is in a dark place after the fire and losing his sister. Was it your intention to make this book darker or did it just happen while you were writing?

Edges of Gone was supposed to be the recovery book. It took a turn. I wasn’t anticipating the story unfolding the way it did, but the more I wrote, the darker it became. Owen was the one character that surprised me the most. He practically leapt off the page on his own and I couldn’t control him. I left that job to Sloane anyway 😉

Sloane is a saint in Edges of Gone, I don’t know if I would have been as strong as she was with everything Owen put her through. Did you find it hard to write her part? Was there ever a time you thought about having her leave Owen for good?

Never, for one second, did I want them to break apart. I wanted a temptation and I wanted the reader to think there were other options, but they were always destined to end up together. Of all the characters in The Gone Series, Sloane was the easier one to write. I loved how strong she became to keep her family together. She’s a true heroine, in my humble opinion 🙂

Break and Burn is the new book you are working on. Can you tell us what that book is about and how it is different from the Gone Series?

I get excited with each book I write, but Break & Burn is the start of something beautiful. It’s a lot lighter than The Gone Series and way steamier. I just approved the cover for this book and O.M.G. it’s amazing!

B&B is about a group of four twenty-something best friends living in Woodsview, California. It’s a four book series that starts with Imogen Harper who is a secondary character from Edges of Gone. When I created the world of Woodsview in Six Years Gone, I knew I wasn’t done with it and this is a great trip back there. B&B is a spin-off from The Gone Series.

I’m terrible with explaining what my stories are about. I tend to ramble and give away too much, so here is the synopsis:

First loves are supposed to be erratic wings fluttering in your chest and epic kisses at sunset. Unfortunately, mine consisted of irrational lies and heart-smashing sledgehammers. With nothing but the loss of my doe-eyed innocence, I fled my hometown. I deserted the only life I’d ever known and started over in Woodsview, California. That felt like an eternity ago. I’ve managed to scrape together fragments of myself since then. With moral support from my three crazy best friends and far too many bottles of wine, the dust of my apocalypse had finally settled. Until a night out with my girls turned into an unexpected brush with a stranger. He was sent to prove to me that second loves can be even better than firsts. The flutter returned with a vengeance. Then my first love showed up when I least expected him to. In my experience, love doesn’t just break, it burns too.

Random Ending Questions:

Is it hard to write duel POV?

So hard! I doubt I’ll do it again. It’s basically writing two books in one. The most difficult part is having to switch mindsets when you’re deep inside a character’s head and emotions.

What was the most difficult scene you have written?

There’s a scene in Edges of Gone where Noah is telling an officer what happened in the room when Drew shot Sawyer. I cried so hard during that scene that the words blurred. I kept trying to think of how my son would speak and what words he would use then I pictured him witnessing me being murdered and what that would do to him. That was hard for me.

What is the hardest thing about writing?

I used to think the hardest thing was finding the time because I worked a day job, however, I’ve been a full time writer for nearly a year now and I’ve learned there are greater challenges. Distractions are my downfall. I thrive on creating new characters and building scenes and emotions, but for the life of me, I can’t get off of Facebook for longer than an hour.

How do you select the names of your characters?

It depends on who I’m naming. I have a mental list of all my favorite names for both genders and the main characters get those names. For secondary characters and others who aren’t in the spotlight, I tend to browse baby names for the year which the character would have been born and pick one that would best encompass their personality. It gets tricky when secondary characters are so well received that they star in your next book (AKA Immy).

Anything you would like to say to your readers…..

I’m sorry for the ending of Six Years Gone! A little bit. I do enjoy collecting the tears of my readers in a jar that I keep beside my bed, though.

Also, thank you! Thank you for taking a chance on a rather newbie indie author. I appreciate every review, every comment, every like and follow and subscriber. I really do have the best readers and love meeting new ones.

And thank you Kathy for these great questions! xx

Thank you for agreeing to do this interview!

Author’s Books:

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