We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessica Cage a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jessica , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I would have to say my Tales of Novia project has been the most meaningful in recent years. After losing my grandmother, the person responsible for me being a writer, I found it difficult to do the thing I love most. I would sit at my computer for hours without so much as a single finished sentence. Then I turned to my Tiktok community. I thought I would just distract myself, but the people who came to be a part of my world thanks to that app, rallied behind me. They encouraged me to develop a passion project which was inspired my creators on the app. I started doing live chats where my community would help me design the world map, name character and locations, and even nominate other creators for me to use as inspiration. That experience helped me to reconnect with a huge part of myself that I thought I’s lost when my grandmother died. It also reinforced my belief in community. And now when anyone asks me what is the main factor behind my success, I tell them its the awesome community of readers, writers, creators, and friends I’ve built over the years. Without them, I wouldn’t be living my dream today.
Jessica , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a fantasy author who focuses on writing strong characters of color at the forefront of my stories. I started self-publishing in 2011 shortly after giving birth to my son. I wanted to be able to encourage him to follow his dreams and didn’t want to feel like a hypocrite. So of course, that meant I had to shake off my fears and start putting my work out there. Writing has been my passion since I was a child. My grandmother encouraged me to write, but when it came time to get a job, I decided to go corporate. Coming from a poor family, that was the practical choice to make. For over a decade I worked building two careers, one in corporate America and the other as an independent Author all while being a single mother. It was hard, but it was worth it. There were many times when I wanted to give up. I told myself that I could just focus on the day job that was bringing in the money we needed. Each time I considered doing that, I felt like a little part of me was dying. So I kept forging ahead.
I am proud that I stayed the course. And after years of hard work and building my brand, in 2018 I saw a burst of support after the release of the movie, Black Panther. Suddenly there were a lot more readers openly looking for exactly what I had. I took that opportunity to push my work even further and now, I am a full-time author.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I want to continue giving representation to those who may not have always had it. When I started publishing there weren’t a lot of mainstream books that had main characters who looked like me. I’m happy to see that changing and fell encouraged to keep doing what I’m doing. Our stories deserve to be told.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding thing in this, for me, has to be the readers. It’s the message I get via email, comment sections, and DM’s from readers telling me how much the loved my work and how they were happy to see themselves in the stories. It’s meeting readers at events and looking into the eyes of someone who was inspired or impacted by my work. That is where the joy comes in for me. I get to talk to them and understand more about them each time. It also allows me to know what they want to see coming next.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jessicacage.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jcageauthor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jcageauthor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMYchGBx-xaf6dyxQTuFcdA
- Other: Tiktok: https://www.instagram.com/jcageauthor/
