Local Author Turns Fantasy Into a Storied Career

By GABRIELLA BOCK | Reporter

Palisadian author Jessica Cluess has always enjoyed delving into new worlds.

Cluess, a young-adult novelist who received accolades after her first book, “A Shadow Bright and Burning,” was released last year, is already gearing up to tour her second novel, “A Poison Dark and Drowning,” at the end of September.

Set in Victorian-era England, the books are part of the popular “Kingdom on Fire” series that follows the adventures of Henrietta Howell, a poor, orphan girl who bursts into flames when angered. Since such strange happenings can hardly go unnoticed for long, Henrietta’s powers are soon discovered by a sorcerer who takes the young gir

l under his wing and enlists her to fight evil alongside a group of all-male warlocks.

A self-proclaimed fantasy “nerd,” the 33-year-old Highlands native began her affair with the genre after discovering the works of Stephen King and Ray Bradbury at the youthful age of 10.

Finding delight in monsters and myths rather than mild-mannered life lessons, Cluess forewent the popular children’s novels of the era and found her niche early on.

“Many people seem to think that fantasy is just about escapism,” Cluess told th

e Palisadian-Post. “But really it’s about confronting oneself in a primal way. Good versus evil, the hero overcoming corruption—I’ve always been drawn to it.”

The passion stuck with her, and now the YA fantasy writer has scribed her name next to literary giants like Henry Miller and Thomas Mann as she joins Pacific Palisades’ list of best-selling novelists.

But like for most writers who have come before her, the path to success didn’t appear overnight.

After graduating from Northwestern University in 2007, Cluess joined the many liberal arts majors who had a difficult time finding stable employment during, and after, the Great Recession.

By day, the young writer worked a variety of odd jobs before gaining employment at a Barnes and Noble cafe. It was there that she drafted stories during the precious hours left between paying stacks of bills, serving coffee to notable writers like Orson Scott Card and always dreaming of, one day, being on the other side of the counter.

(Other fantasy writers have had similar humble beginnings: J.K. Rowling was living out of her car while writing the first Harry Potter novel and Stephen King labored at a laundromat while writing short stories and drafting “Carrie,” which he later eagerly sold for a mere $2,500.)

Then, one night, a surprising source ignited the author with a spark of inspiration.

Cluess told the Post that the idea for the character of Henrietta came to her while she was watching a movie based on the classic Charles Dickens novel “Nicholas Nickleby.”

Far from her usual beloved genre of mythical mayhem, “Nickleby” tells the story of a young man who struggles to save his family from an abusive and exploitive tyrant.

“There’s a scene where the protagonist physically stops the abuse of a young boy,” Cluess explained. “And I began to imagine how a girl in that era would have handled that situation.

“The Victorian Era wasn’t a good time for women. I imagined this girl—all buttoned up and repressed—getting so angry that fire started shooting out of her hands … From there I knew I had to write her.”

So that’s what she did—she wrote during lunch breaks and at the crack of dawn, spending countless hours consumed by her characters and diving deep into a world unknown to all but her.

One year later and Cluess finally came up for air with a finished product in hand.

“I don’t remember sleeping much,” she joked.

Not even two weeks after she began submitting the book to publishers, Cluess had multiple offers flooding her inbox with Penguin Random House at the top of the list.

“I got extremely lucky. It all happened very, very quickly,” Cluess told the Post. “Even now—after two books in—I still have a hard time believing it.”

When she’s not immersed in her own fantastical stories, Cluess teaches a children’s writing workshop at the Writopia Lab on the Westside and visits regularly with her Palisadian family.

“Writing has always been important to my family,” she explained. “My father is a writer, and both of my parents have always been an encouraging and constant source of support.”

With two weeks left to go until her second book releases, Cluess told the Post that she plans on taking it easy at home before embarking on a book tour around the country.

And while she’s “taking it easy,” Cluess will also be finishing up the last chapters of Kingdom on Fire’s third and final book. Yes, that’s three books in just under three years.

When asked how she felt about turning the page on Henrietta and the world she’s created, Cluess said the feeling was “bittersweet.”

“It can be scary and overwhelming,” she revealed. “I was working a minimum wage job and living in poverty when I began writing this series. Now it’s all coming to an end and it feels like a part of me is ending as well—but mostly in a good way.

“And besides, who doesn’t like a little bit of scary?”

“A Poison Dark and Drowning,” book two in the Kingdom on Fire series, will be available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon and other book retailers on Sept. 19. Visit jessicacluess.com for more information.