Today we’d like to introduce you to Falencia Jean-francois

Falencia, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?

I have been in love with storytelling for as long as I can remember but I started writing in earnest when I was twelve years old. There were always people coming in an out of the tiny apartment I shared with my family, some I knew and others who were complete strangers. While I’m sure they were all harmless, it made it difficult for me to feel safe in my own home. On top of that, my mother was undergoing cancer treatments which added more uncertainty and instability into my already unstable life. I can’t remember what it was, specifically, that caused me to start writing–one of my mother’s friends had gifted me a spiral bound, maroon covered notebook and I immediately took a pen to it and started building my first world, a world where I had power and control and I could overcome any hardship. Over the next twenty or so years, my writing gradually shifted from wish granting to exploring the aspects of human nature that piqued my curiosity. Once I made this mindset shift, I started to think seriously about publishing my work. I self-published my first two novellas, After Hours and Cinderella, in 2022 and my first novel, Devil of the Deep, in August of 2023. While I can now say that I have “accomplished” a goal that I’ve had for a long time, I still very much feel like I am at the beginning of what I hope is a long and fruitful writing career.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

The journey to this point has been long and difficult. Writing takes a lot of time and mental fortitude and there were times, over the twenty years that it took me to get to this point, where I had one and not the other or neither but very rarely both. I have Bipolar Disorder and, unmedicated, would swing wildly between the highs of hypomania where I experienced intense creativity and lacked discipline and the lows of depression where I experienced intense creativity and lacked motivation. On top of my mental health struggles, I also experienced financial struggles. While I was grateful that my wife and I were both able to work full-time to meet our needs, the work was time- and labor-intensive and I had to spend the little free time I had choosing between self-care and creative efforts. It wasn’t until some of the more difficult aspects of my environment–my income, my housing situation, my job, etc–improved that I had the physical, mental, and emotional energy to put into my writing.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I am Falencia Jean-Francois, author of Devil of the Deep. I am a self-published author who specializes in fantasy works that feature proudly queer, Black and Caribbean characters. As a queer, Caribbean person myself, I have seen the harmful effects of the deeply ingrained homophobia within Caribbean culture and I write to spread the message that it does not have to be that way. If I were to be known for anything, it would be for promoting the happy coexistence of queer and Caribbean identities in fiction in the hope of inspiring more of it in the real world.

I am most proud of the books that I have written, published and soon-to-be published! Devil of the Deep is my first novel and its publication has been more successful that I could have ever imagined. I am eager to follow up with the sequel!

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?

Networking can be so difficult nowadays! It seems like, even though we’re more connected than we’ve ever been, people are less accessible than ever! The best advice I can give is to say what you need out loud and to not be afraid to be told “no”. Be respectful in your approach and, if the answer is “no”, move on. There are people out there who are looking to be mentors or even just connect on a more personal level. It might just take more time to find the people who are right for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.falenciajf.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/falenciatheestoryteller
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/falenciajf
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/falenciatheestoryteller