An Interview with J.L. Toussaint

J.L. Toussaint, aka Jen, is an author living in the state of Vermont with a passion for writing, music, tarot, astrology, and graphic design. She fell in love with fantasy, romance, and general badassery quite young, thanks to the films Star Wars, The Princess Bride, Willow, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Dark Crystal, Aliens, and Legend. Those stories came to life on the ‘big screen,’ giving her all the feels and inspiration to create her own stories ‘her way.’ These new tales – mostly of romance, action, and adventure involving her as the main character – lived rent-free in her mind for years. Some made sense, some not so much, but rather than keep them all to herself, she decided she wanted to share them. So she put pen to paper – or rather, fingers to keyboard. That’s when the writing bug hit her like a sack of bricks.

Jen wrote her first novel at the age of twelve, spending an entire summer planted in front of her dad’s computer, listening to Garbage’s debut album on repeat as she typed away in WordPerfect. One hundred and twenty-three pages and four months later, it was done! She felt extremely accomplished, and absolutely refused to let anyone read it other than one very good childhood friend. Though that novel didn’t go anywhere except an archive, she knew she’d be an author someday. The timing simply had to be right.

Fast forward to 2021, she began to design the cover and write her debut novel, Hybrid: Irinsbane Part I, for the tenth time since its conception in 1998. And this time, she did it, and she got it right. Blend her love of movies and beautiful, passionate love stories, with a knack for writing – not to mention a flair for drama and halfway decent comedic timing – and you have what makes J.L. Toussaint’s debut novel, Hybrid, so soul-stirring, badass, fun, and magnetic. Part two, titled Polaris, is the next installment in the series and will be published in 2026.

At home in the Green Mountain State, Jen can be found hangin’ with her two kids, probably doing tarot and astrology readings between writing, editing, and marketing her books. She can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok under her spiritual alter ego, A Violet Flame, the inspiration for the name of her publishing imprint, A Violet Flame Publishing. She also designed and created a beautiful seventy-eight-card Rider Waite Smith tarot deck called Moonlight and Shadow Tarot. The deck is currently unpublished, but once her Irinsbane Saga is out, she can focus on her spiritual creations.

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Tell us the story of your book’s current title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

The title actually comes from the mentions of the North Star in the previous book, Hybrid. But it’s more than that. The North Star was used as a guide to freedom from oppression and slavery, and has since taken on a metaphorical meaning. Being someone else’s North Star is a deeply romantic notion, and given its mentions in Hybrid and what happens in Polaris, it was an easy title to come up with. Not only that, but its significance takes on greater meaning in Polaris. Easy! Have I wavered on the title? Yes, yes, I have! But I think it’s fitting, and I’m stuck with it because my higher self told me that’s the title. No take-backsies.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

My book does have a soundtrack! The problem is, if I reveal the songs, it may give away some of the plot. I’m hoping it doesn’t, as this book is full of twists and turns. I am heavily inclined to write and edit to metalcore, dark wave, dark pop, synth wave, and R&B. Because of this, many of these songs shaped Polaris’ plot and even influenced character design and behavior. Here’s a short list of songs I’ve compiled for the Polaris soundtrack. There are many more, but I’d be here all day listing them all!

– Specter by Bad Omens

– Broken Mirror by Architects

– Ultraviolet by Spiritbox

– Frozen by Rain City Drive

– I’ll See You When the Night Comes by breakk.away

– All It Takes by Karnivool

– Cold Lights by The Birthday Massacre

– In Your Eyes by The Weeknd

– Light as a Feather by Crosses

– Lonely by skyfall beats

– Unravel by ALESTI (feat. Siamese)

– Is It Really You? by Sleep Token and Loathe

– Synergy by SWIM

– Impossibly Distant (The Tides) by Under Moonlight

– Through My Head by Siamese

– WAKING UP by STARSET

– On the Run by Safe Trvls

– Dangerous by Sleep Token

– the cost of giving up by Poppy

What books are you reading (for research or comfort) as you continue the writing process?

This is probably going against the grain, but until this story is finished (all seven books), I refuse to read any new books. I know, I know, it’s not something I like admitting, for fear of becoming a social media pariah, but I have an explanation. I didn’t enjoy reading fiction until I was a teenager. Movies were more my speed, and I didn’t really know what I was missing out on until I started reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy. After that, I read on and off for years, so my book body count isn’t terribly high. It wasn’t until I got into reading the Dark-Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon that I realized I loved reading. These amazingly romantic, funny, spicy, action-packed stories were like watching a movie in my mind. Her books opened my eyes to the world of fantasy romance and revved my own storytelling engine. I’d spent so long focusing on everyone else’s amazing stories that I had neglected my own for twenty-five years. Since I began writing, I haven’t been able to immerse myself in any story other than my own. I’ve tried. Hard. But I literally DNF everything I pick up after the first chapter. And it wasn’t until this question was asked that I realized why: I do not want my story to be influenced by another’s in any way, especially any popular modern fantasy romance authors. Art is as much derivative as it is unique, but I don’t want any elements of my story to be influenced by another writer. Writing this huge story is my sole focus and my biggest creative passion. I want it to be as beautifully incomparable as I am. I completely admire and respect all the fantasy romance authors out there being brave enough and talented enough to tell their stories, but I simply cannot read them. Not yet. I have a mission to fulfill. Once that mission is complete, I can finally get to my TBR list!

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

As mentioned above, my biggest influence was Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series. Her writing is more concise than my own, less descriptive, but the comedy, action, drama, and romance are just perfect. I knew I wanted my book to have romance in it, but I hadn’t dreamed I would be writing spicy scenes until I read her books. In context, spicy content made sense. And it made me feel good while reading it. I want my books to replicate that feeling but on a much deeper, soul-aching level. I was also heavily influenced by movies in the eighties and nineties. The idea that began this trilogy came from my beloved childhood movie, The Dark Crystal. I wanted to expand on the character of Kira and put her in a modern-day setting. Being a children’s movie, the romance was subtle but absolutely powerful, as Jen uses his love for Kira to heal and resurrect her. What a beautiful love story! I wanted that same feeling, but with adult themes so that people my age could enjoy a more grown-up version of Jen and Kira’s love story.

What advice would you give your past self at the start of your writing journey?

Do yourself a favor and buy the best – albeit more expensive – piece of software/equipment/subscription service to help you with writing, editing, formatting, and book cover design. If you can get away with it, don’t skimp and don’t sell yourself short. You are worth it, and your stories deserve the best treatment a self-published author can get. And trust your intuition! That gut feeling you get when something clicks or feels wrong? Yeah, that. Follow that. I, sadly, didn’t listen to my gut and ended up spending money on the cheaper options to eventually get frustrated by their lack of features that I needed. Then I gave in and bought the more expensive ones anyway, thus costing me time, sanity, and money.

What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?

As a writer, it is my job to weave a broader message into my novels. While you dipped your toes into the shallows of the complex world of Hybrid, Polaris takes you into the center of the lake, and you can’t see how deep it goes until you fully submerge yourself in the story. As with every good book, its dark but beautiful emotional vortex pulls you into its depths and doesn’t release you until the last sentence. Full immersion. It’ll leave you wanting more, yes, but my hope is that it’ll open your eyes to the powerful world that lives inside you – one that’s been there the whole time, waiting for you to find it and finally set it free. Lofty goals, or insanely good sorcery – I mean, writing?

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