The third She Reads Winter selection is Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent. We recently caught up with Jennifer and asked her to tell us about this award-winning debut novel:
SR: Your novel, Fireflies in December, was the winner of Operation First Novel, run by Jerry Jenkins and the Christian Writers Guild. Can you tell us a little about this contest, why you entered, and what the process was like?
JV: Operation First Novel is such a great opportunity for unpublished writers. It gives you a shot you don’t often get, because when you’re submitting proposals to editors at publishing houses, you’re competing against published authors who are proven and have a reader base established. That kind of competition is tough for unpublished writers to overcome. But with the First Novel contest, you go up against others who are in the same boat as you.
I entered Fireflies in December in the contest in 2006, but finished as a semifinalist. I figured if it got that far, I had something, so I worked on tweaking the book over the next year. During that time, I entered the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis contest which gives judges critiques. I used the advice I got there to help my editing on Fireflies in December and then reentered the First Novel contest in 2007 and came away with a contract.
SR: The main character in your novel, Jessilyn Lassiter, is a 13 year old girl wrestling with loss, racial prejudice, and fledgling love. What gave you the inspiration for this character and how go about creating such a realistic world for her?
JV: Jessilyn was the first thing I came up with when I sat down to write Fireflies in December. I didn’t have much of anything to go on when I started writing that book except for the fact that I wanted to write a Southern drama. And I like coming of age stories, so making the main character younger just fit. Making the setting of the book realistic was important to me from the beginning which is why I wanted to set it in the South where I’ve lived my entire life. Here in Virginia there are certain things that fill our summers, like the humidity for instance. We don’t love it, but it certainly typifies Virginia summers. Those are the things that color my memories of growing up in the South, and they’re things that color Jessie’s world in the book.
SR: The first line of Fireflies in December is one of my all time favorites: “The summer I turned 
thirteen, I thought I killed a man.” Are first lines in a novel important to you? Was this originally how you started the novel?
JV: At the beginning of the writing process for Fireflies in December the first line was, quite honestly, a dud. But while I was trying to figure out ways to get my work noticed by editors I heard a lot about that first page and how important it is, particularly the first line. So I went back to the beginning after I had written much of the story and tried to come up with a line that would be attention-grabbing and would give readers a good taste of the novel right off the bat. Now, working hard on the first line has become a staple for me. I’ve learned that it doesn’t just hook editors, it hooks readers, too!
SR: You deal with some pretty heavy issues of betrayal and racism in this book and I noticed that you didn’t shy away from using racial epithets in a few places. Was it hard for you to write about such cruelty? How did you balance the evil and the mercy that weave throughout this story?
JV: There was never any prejudice in my family, and I was very much like Jessilyn growing up. I didn’t see any reason why there should be any differences in the way people were viewed because of the color of their skin. I still don’t understand it, and when I started doing research for Fireflies in December, I was more and more astounded at the violence and hatred that existed in Jessie’s day. I knew from my research that in order to maintain a realistic feel to the book I would have to use uncomfortable language and violent actions at times. There were some scenes in particular that were very difficult to write. Sometimes I got angry, sometimes sad, depending on what I had to write that day; but, that’s what helps me write realistically – feeling the emotions of the characters.
SR: I was particularly fond of the character Luke Talley who is the object of Jessilyn’s crush. More than the token love interest, he seems to have his own depth – his own story. Was he inspired by anyone in particular? And how does he come into play in the sequels to your novel?
JV: Luke is just my own creation of somebody I’d like to know. I wanted him to be an ally for Jessie, someone she could depend on outside of her family. He’s the one person in Jessie’s small circle who doesn’t believe in Christ, like Jessie, and they relate to each other in that respect. He’s also the kind of guy readers could enjoy seeing Jessie crush on. She’s such a tomboy in some ways that I really wanted her to have someone that brings out her feminine side.
Luke isn’t going anywhere in this series. He’s a part of Jessie’s story, a huge part of her life and journey to adulthood. But Luke isn’t always going to be able to be the ally Jessie is dependent upon him being, so things might get a little complicated. I guess everyone will just have to keep reading to find out how! The third book, Catching Moondrops, will release in the fall of 2010.
SR: Often in fiction you find that the female lead has a troubled relationship with her father. Yet the opposite is true in this case. Jessilyn’s father is a loving, godly man who takes in a young black girl after her parents are killed. It seems as though men like that are few and far between these days. Is there anyone that comes to mind when you think of Harley Lassiter, or is he purely a figment of your imagination?
JV: Well, I have a great dad, but Harley Lassiter isn’t based on him. None of my characters are really based on any one particular person. They’re basically out of my imagination and then accented by bits and pieces of people I’ve observed. We all have little quirks and tendencies that are unique to us, and sometimes I steal those and work them into a character.
I love Harley because he’s not unrealistically perfect – he can get angry and overprotective – but he’s a godly man who knows what he believes in and stands for and simply doesn’t care if other people agree. That’s not an overwhelmingly common characteristic, but it’s an incredibly important one.
SR: Ok, your turn. Which of the characters in Fireflies is your favorite? Why?
JV: I always have to go with Jessie because I spend so much time in her head. The books are written in first person from Jessie’s perspective so I identify with her the most. I think, also, that I put more of myself into her than any other character. But I also have a great affection for Miss Cleta. I love how she doesn’t give a flyin’ fig about what anybody thinks of her. She just bakes, and talks to Jessie and threatens Klansmen with shotguns. Gotta love her!
SR: Book two in the series, Cottonwood Whispers, recently released. Can you give a few hints as to what Jessilyn is up against? How does she change and mature as the series progresses?
JV: The danger of prejudice is really the theme of this entire series, and Jessie’s up against it again in Cottonwood Whispers, except that in this book the prejudice is against a white mentally challenged man. It’s also about how people tend to rush to judgment, particularly against people they don’t relate to. Jessie is turning 17 at the beginning of this story, and she’s facing that challenging transition from childhood to adulthood. Of course, she’s trying to work her way through her evolving relationship with Luke, and she’s also coming face-to-face with the difficulties that growing up can bring. Like most people, she’s realizing that growing up isn’t exactly all she thought it would be.
You can read the first chapter of Fireflies in December here.
