Jodi Meadows is a member of the Brave New Worlds group and is an absolutely lovely human being who happens to own many ferrets. Her upcoming novel Incarnate, being released by HarperCollins in January, was featured on December 18 - but hey, it's silly not to give you all the summary again!
NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.
NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?
Nicole: Welcome to WORD and Debut December, Jodi! What's it like being an Apocalypsie?
Jodi Meadows: Being an Apocalypsie is awesome! It's wonderful, having so many other writers in the same place. It's a support group and a cheer squad all in one.
N: Wanna know what else is awesome? The fact that you have a room in your house just for your pet ferrets. Are any named after book characters?
JM: At one point, I had seven ferrets. (I. Know.) So they really needed their own room. I moved my computer into the ferret room so I could hang out with them (they sleep a lot, so they're only occasionally distracting).
The ferrets have been named for many things. A couple were after towns, one was named after my mother-in-law, and other names just came to us. We've had Don Diego de la Vega (Zorro!), Bobby (after Bobby from SUPERNATURAL), Todd (a wraith from STARGATE: ATLANTIS), and Kaylee (from FIREFLY). We also had a Simon, but he wasn't named after Simon from FIREFLY.
N: Oh, I love FIREFLY! Do any ferrets pop up in Incarnate?
JM: Sort of! During the masquerade, someone dresses up like a ferret. And Ana mentions a bunch of weasels playing in the brush at one point.
N: Speaking of Incarnate, can we talk about that gorgeous cover!? Or maybe I'm biased. I do love mask-like things.
JM: Ohh yes. I love masks too. I love the prettiness, the symbolism, the prettiness... oh, I mentioned that already.
I could not be more thrilled that the art department went with the mask for the cover of Incarnate. It's perfect!
N: here are dragons in Incarnate. I love dragons. Please tell me the dragons aren't evil?
JM: I suppose the dragons' alignment depends on your perspective, huh? I, for one, LOVE the dragons.
N: Dragons are always good to me. Even when they're the 'bad guys', I'm rooting for them.
How did you come up with the specifics of the reincarnation system in Incarnate? Wouldn't it be difficult for a Newsoul to fall in love with a... um... Soul, given the life difference?
JM; I knew from the start I wanted to write about a world where everyone was reincarnated, except for one person, so before I started the story, I sat down and made a ton of notes about what life in that society might be like. I tried to imagine how they'd behave, feel toward one another, whether or not they could LEAVE (and risk being reborn to someone they didn't like!?), and how issues like crime and murder might be affected. I mean, they can kill someone and get in trouble, but the victim would just come back. It'd be more of an annoyance than anything!
So I started with things like that, and moved on to how it would be for someone new to fit into all of that. People get scared when their routine breaks, and when Ana was born, another soul didn't come back. Fear + grief = trouble for Our Heroine.
N: Would you like to live in Heart?
JM: No way! Some of the walls have heartbeats. That's totally creepy.
N: Speaking of hearts, it's near the holidays - what gift do you want the most?!
JM: I want people to buy my book! And I want a pony. (One of those things will be easier.)