We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Crissa-Jean Chappell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Crissa-Jean below.

Hi Crissa-Jean, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

During the pandemic, I fell into a dark hole of depression. I was drowning in grief over the death of my mother to Alzheimer’s. She was my best friend and without her, all the magic in the world was gone. Then in the spring of 2020, I lost my father to cancer and my uncle to COVID. So much loss within a short amount of time.

One morning, I woke up in excruciating pain. I couldn’t stand up straight, much less walk. I was stuck in bed from March to June. It felt as if my trauma had manifested physically in my body. Nothing brought joy to me anymore. Writing had always been cathartic–a way of making sense of life–but I lost the desire to start working on a new book. Why even try? It wasn’t the best time to be submitting to publishers, who were dealing with their own problems, just like many businesses during COVID.

Instead of pushing myself to produce new work, I took a break. I revisited my favorite books and movies and remembered why I loved stories in the first place. I started to realize that I hadn’t actually dealt with my pain. I had written SUN DON’T SHINE (a story about a girl who loses her mother) but I needed to confront the reality of my own loss.

Slowly, I grew stronger. At first, I could only walk a few steps. Then around the block. Later that summer, I took long walks in Green-Wood Cemetery, a place of solace for me. A year passed and Green-Wood, with its stone angels and shadowy oaks, was now a regular part of my walking ritual. As I walked, I often thought about the characters in my novel. It felt like I had let them down. Now I was determined to find a home for them. I sent a sample chapter of SUN DON’T SHINE to Fitzroy Books / Regal House and I was thrilled when they requested the book. A few months later, it sold to my editor.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the author of five YA novels. I write books “…for teens looking for a story that reflects real struggles…” and “swampy south Florida in all its grittiness” (Booklist.).

SUN DON’T SHINE (Fitzroy Books / Regal House) is my new YA thriller. It’s about a girl who was abducted by her father when she was little. Now she’s sixteen and looking for a way out.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I’ve been on the road this year, promoting SUN DON’T SHINE. I think the best part of traveling is the chance to meet librarians, booksellers and readers. Writing can be a very solitary business. I spend a lot of time sitting at my desk and talking to imaginary people. Then you send a book out into the world and it’s not yours anymore. It belongs to everyone who reads it. So it’s really exciting when someone says they’ve enjoyed meeting my characters, who are like friends to me.

The book’s protagonist, Reece, confronts a lot of struggles, but she grows stronger and finds her voice. That’s a theme that many readers have mentioned to me…the fact that they’ve gone through their own personal struggles and found her story so relatable.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When I was younger, I believed in this idea that “art is pain.” Or that pain is somehow necessary to create art. But if you’re in pain (physically, mentally) then it becomes impossible to produce creative work. Art can come from many places, including a place of joy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.crissajeanchappell.com
• Instagram: @crissachappell
• Facebook: Crissa Chappell
• Twitter: @crissachappell
• Other: TikTok @crissachappell

Image Credits
Harlan Erskine Crissa-Jean Chappell