Today, we’re chatting with Jennifer Lee Rossman, another of our Battling in All Her Finery authors!
DV: Tell us a bit about yourself!
Jennifer Lee Rossman: I’m an autistic, wheelchair-using sci-fi geek who cross stitches. So yes, I’m a *ton* of fun at parties.
DV: What inspired you to write “The Leximancer’s Rebellion” for Battling in All Her Finery?
JR: To be completely honest, I wrote the first version of this story for a different anthology, who rejected it. But the idea of women warriors and leaders really spoke to me. We need more non-men in positions of power, in stories and in real life, so I rewrote some parts to make Hope the leader I wanted to see in the world.
DV: I’ve seen at least one other author ask you what a Leximancer is. Can you explain that for our readers?
JR: A leximancer is someone who uses word magic, conjuring images and objects by writing about them. It’s a fantastical idea, but not altogether fantasy. Words do have an amazing amount of power for such tiny, meaningless scribbles.
DV: Your story has a bit of a post-apocalyptic vibe to it, but the details of the apocalypse aren’t something your protagonist examines in great detail. Can you tell us more about it, or is that a secret?
JR: It’s not a secret so much as it’s a mystery to me, haha. Sometimes the story gives me a lot of backstory, other times it goes “nah, you’re on your own.” I know aliens came to Earth, and I know they took over. Beyond that, I have no idea. But it was probably a lot like the show Falling Skies, just with less Noah Wylie.
DV: What’s on the horizon for you?
My time travel novella Anachronism is now available from Kristell Ink, an imprint of Grimbold Books, and I’m the assistant editor of Love & Bubbles, a queer anthology of romance under the sea (or, as my mom describes it, “something about gay mermaids”). You can follow me on my blog jenniferleerossman.blogspot.
Thanks, Jennifer!
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