More about Jessamine in her Own Words

Last week I wrote a little about my character, Jessamine, in my Shaker book, The Gifted.  I promised to share an interview I did “with” her when the book released. I enjoy doing character interviews. I need to do two of them for characters from my upcoming release, The Song of Sourwood Mountain. Maybe that’s why I thought of sharing this one. It was fun getting in Jessamine’s head to see how she might answer the interview questions. As we are all very different people with different ways of thinking, so are characters in books. That’s what makes us love the characters who come to life for us when we’re reading.  I hope if you read The Gifted or if you think you might read the story, that you will feel that way about Jessamine.

Meet Jessamine Brady from The Gifted.

1. Jessamine Brady, tell me the most interesting thing about you.

Oh, definitely my curiosity, the desire to know about things. My granny liked the way I was always ready to wonder, but after she died and I went to live with the Shakers, my curiosity kept getting me in trouble with the sisters there. Discipline and obedience were more important than wondering about things of the world that might cause me to stray from the proper Shaker way. But how can one stop wondering when there is so much to wonder about in this world?

2. What do you do for fun?

I do so enjoy walking in the woods where I can be among the trees and perhaps throw off my shoes and wade in a creek. It’s a place of beauty with the birds singing over my head, flowers lining my paths and pretty rocks shining in the sunshine. It makes me want to sing or even better, write a story about the squirrel peeking down at me from a tree limb over my head or the butterflies floating along on the breeze.

3. What do you put off doing because you dread it?

Ironing. I hate ironing. The irons have to be heated on the stove and the room gets so hot while one is trying to press out all the wrinkles in a pile of laundry. I can’t help but wonder what is so bad about wrinkles. I asked Sister Sophrena that once and she told me neatness and order were very important and that such could not be had by a sister wearing a wrinkled dress or apron. But I suppose some other Shakers agreed with me about the ironing since they made a cloth that could be washed and then would dry smooth without a thousand wrinkles. If I had the say, everything would be made from such fabric and all the irons used for doorstops.

4. What are you afraid of most in life?

When I was a little child, I was afraid of storms. The noise of the thunder and the lightning streaking down through the sky made me cower behind my granny’s skirts. But then she helped me see the majesty of the storm. Now I more fear the storms of life that can catch one unaware. People leaving by choice or by fate. So sometimes I fear the unknown, but I do know the Lord walks beside me and is ever ready to reach out a hand to help steady me on my path of life. So fears, though they come, do not paralyze me. I walk on with the good Lord’s help to face whatever awaits around the next corner.

5. What do you want out of life?

I want to embrace the life the Lord has given me. I want to love and be loved. I want to write down stories and sing to children. I want to be free to be me.

6. What is the most important thing to you?

The Lord living in my heart, of course. But beyond that, it would have to be the gift of love. Oh, and I must confess how fun it is when stories bubble up inside me from nowhere. The Lord has given me many gifts and for each of them I am thankful.

7. Do you read? If so, what is your favorite type of book to read?

I love to read. The very feel of a book in my hands makes me happy. With the Shakers, I am only allowed to read the Bible or books of Mother Ann’s life and teachings and my school books. I do so miss books of imagination. That’s the kind I most want to read. Books that tell stories, and while they may not be true, nevertheless the words ring true in my heart. The Shakers do not have that kind of books in their village. Maybe that’s why I keep making up stories of my own. 

8. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Only one thing? I have many things about myself that could be changed for the better. Just ask Sister Sophrena. I’m sure she could come up with a long list! But you did say one thing. I would not be so impulsive. I would think before I leaped so that perhaps I wouldn’t continually find myself in a quagmire of troublesome problems.

9. Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?

My granny didn’t think a person should own another animal but only befriend them. The Shakers don’t allow pets for even the animals that live among the Shakers must have a useful purpose. They think pets do not. But I would love to have a dog that’s sole purpose would be to make my days happier because of it loved me and I loved it.

10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?

What an exciting thing to imagine! I would travel back to the time when my father met my mother. I would hide in among the fragrant yellow jessamine flowers in the South Carolina garden where he proposed to her and I would witness their love firsthand.

Did you enjoy meeting Jessamine in her own words?

You can check out more about Jessamine’s story in The Gifted.  For fun, if you leave a comment, I’ll throw your name in my giveaway hat for a copy of The Gifted. This will be another fast one with a deadline of February 6, 2024 at midnight EST. Remember, you must be at least 18 years old to enter. The prize will be The Gifted. If you’ve already read it, remember autographed books make great gifts.