Are you a fan of psychological thrillers? If so, then you’re in for a treat! Jenni Lorraine, the author of the Tess Trilogy of the Sourwood Mountain has created a gripping thriller series that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The series is filled with dark and twisted characters, complex relationships, and shocking twists that will keep you guessing until the very end.
In this exclusive interview, we’ll be diving into the creative process behind the series, the inspiration behind the characters, and what the future holds for Jenni Lorraine and her Tess Trilogy.
Inception of the Tess Trilogy: What inspired you to write the Tess Trilogy of the Sourwood Mountain? Was there a particular event or idea that sparked the series? The story was actually inspired by my own daughters. In the Tess trilogy, a curious red-headed little girl that believes in folk monsters organizes a group of her friends to start searching the woods for evidence that these monsters exist. Then, while they’re searching the woods, they happen to come across the skeletal remains of a young woman.
When my youngest daughter, a redhead, was about ten years old, she used to love going exploring outside, too, and one day she came home carrying a big piece of bone she’d found and for a moment it terrified me because to my untrained eye, it looked human. After we looked it over a while longer, we figured out it was from a deer
Weeks later, I had a nightmare that it had been a human she found and that kind of got the gears turning on this story, although other elements of the story were inspired by other events or things I’ve heard.
The story of Tess’s mother is actually based on a relative of my father’s. He told a lot of stories about her growing up and what a tough cookie she was, so when I decided that Tess’s home life needed to be a little different, I decided to pull inspiration from that for the part of Tess’s mom.
Themes and Motifs: What are the core themes and motifs you explore throughout the series? How did you weave these elements into the narrative? The primary theme of the series is that reality can be scarier than any monster story and sometimes the worst monsters in our lives are the people we know. There’s also a lot in the book that centers on mischaracterization. The role of Tess’s uncle Joel is one case of this. He’s known around town as a troublemaker, a hothead, etc., but in reality he’s a nice guy that is just very selective about who he allows to get close. I think a lot of people can relate to that.
Character Development: The characters in your series are quite complex. How do you approach character development, especially in the psychological thriller genre? Before I ever start a project, I sit down and do a very in-depth outline of my work and very lengthy character profiles of everyone. I want to know them as well as I know my family before I ever start putting their lives down on paper.
We all have parts of us that have been affected by the past, so I even add in details to their character profiles that the reader will never know, because just like in life we don’t get to know the whole story ever. For example, in this book, we introduce a woman named Kathleen, who is a state investigator that comes in to help Sheriff Cline investigate the disappearance of Ellen Dewey. In her profile, I wrote that she had suffered several miscarriages in a previous romantic relationship, which explains why she tends to take a back seat when it comes to decisions about the kids or getting too close to the kids in the story. She has some unresolved feelings about children and her own abilities to care for them based around that part of her past.
Setting and Atmosphere: The Sourwood Mountain setting plays a significant role in your books. How did you create such an atmospheric backdrop, and how does it contribute to the overall tone of the story? The title of Sourwood Mountain comes from a real old Bluegrass song and sort of speaks to the idea that life can be hard in rural communities. People tend to look at small town life under this idyllic lens that nothing bad ever happens and everyone’s friends- but in reality, bad things do happen and people don’t always get along and then resources are scarce to deal with these issues when they crop up.
I like to explore stories where people are left to their own devices to work through not only the big issues like a young woman murdered in the woods or a child being kidnapped, but also all the smaller issues that branch off of that: the gossip and the finger pointing and the crumbling of relationships that come out in the aftermath—and how people get up and get along in these times when there is no victim’s assistance services or team of detectives to jump in and blanket the town with an investigation process.
Psychological Depth: Your books delve deeply into the psyche of the characters. How did you research and approach the psychological aspects of your storyline? I have always had an interest in how trauma affects people psychologically, partly because of trauma I’ve endured in my own life and how I’ve seen trauma affect others I care about. I try not to ever put a label on anyone’s issues in the books unless it advances the storyline. Most of the time, we encounter people in life that are doing the best they can with what they have and most are walking around suffering from mental and emotional disorders that go undiagnosed. We aren’t meant to ever fully understand each other. If we were, all our brains would work the same way. Instead, I like to focus on the basics: This is who this person is. This is how they think. This is why they think that way—and it doesn’t need to make perfect sense.
As opposed to the first book, Tailypo, Nereid really does a deep dive into Sheriff Cline’s concerns about how this investigation and ordeal in Adelaide is going to affect Tess and her friends. There’s a part of the book where he talks to Kathleen about why, he thinks, Tess is so obsessed with monster lore and explains that he believes she likes the predictability of storybook monsters because monsters have rules and people do not- and Tess has unfortunately had some experiences with monstrous people.
There’s another part where Kathleen asks to talk to Chris about the investigation and Cline strictly forbids it. I won’t discuss that reasoning because it would give away some parts of the story, but it all winds up making perfect sense in the end.
Plot Twists and Suspense: Your books are known for their unexpected twists and turns. How do you maintain suspense and keep readers engaged without revealing too much too soon? I believe in hiding things in plain sight. There are elements of this story that have already been revealed in Tailypo that simply aren’t registering as reveals because they weren’t relevant to anything at the time.
As in life, big stuff often hides in the mundane.
Writing Process: Could you describe your writing process for this trilogy? Did you have the entire series mapped out from the beginning, or did the story evolve as you wrote? I love a good outline. I mapped it all out, then left it and came back and looked it over again three months later. At that time, I changed a few things. Left it another month. Came back and looked it over. This process repeated for about a year until one day I came back and re-read it and knew it was exactly how I wanted it to be. From there, I just got to work.
Challenges and Rewards: What were the most challenging aspects of writing a psychological thriller series? On the flip side, what were the most rewarding elements of creating this trilogy? I think the biggest challenge has been just trying to keep the story engaging as it moves through the series. I really didn’t expect Tailypo to do as well as it did, so I was a little gunshy to get Nereid out. I’ve been worried about it falling flat of what readers are expecting.
The most rewarding part, though, has been seeing how well Tailypo was received. I expected to sell a few copies. Instead, it reached best-seller status and took me fully by surprise. It’s rewarding to know that your work is appreciated and loved.
Readers’ Reception and Feedback: How has the reception been for the Tess Trilogy? What has been the most surprising or heartening feedback you’ve received from your readers? It has been mostly well-received. I have had a few critics not understand that the narrator is a grown woman who clearly hasn’t had the best education or resources available to her in her life. She’s remembering being a child and telling the story her way, so there’s grammatical issues involved and she’s an unreliable narrator at times, too, particularly in her colorful descriptions of some characters she doesn’t really like. Critics have judged the grammatical issues, not realizing they were intentional.
Also, there’s been a fair amount of people who have allowed their political beliefs to sway their perception of the book. There’s a character in the story who gets an abortion. Another is gay. I’ve had some people not like the book because of these aspects. I have to wonder how those people live out in the world and get along in a reality where their personal convictions don’t get to decide the lives of others, but I digress..
For the most part, the book has been well received and I’ve been encouraged by the support of the series and by the number of people that have reached out to me personally regarding their love of the characters and the way they feel underdogs are represented in the storyline.
Future Plans and Projects: Are there any new projects or upcoming works related to the Tess Trilogy or other genres that your fans can look forward to? 2024 is going to be a busy year for me. I’ve launched an interactive book series for kids. I have an interactive book series for adults launching in February. I also have two other trilogies written that will release in 2024. One is about a woman who finds her parents have gone missing and another is a story of two elderly sisters remembering back to their time in the circus and a horrible accident that might not have been an accident after all.
Personal Connection: Is there a character or specific aspect of the story that resonates with you on a personal level? If so, how has that influenced your writing? The whole series has really been a labor of love. There’s not a character in the book that isn’t based on one or more people in my life- and the underlying tone of the book is that even in the hardest of times, love prevails. That’s a big thing for me.
Impact and Reflection: What do you hope readers will take away from the Tess Trilogy? What messages or reflections are you aiming to convey through your work? We area all stronger and more capable than we believe ourselves to be- and our first judgments about people are rarely ever correct.
Nereid is Part Two of the “Tess Trilogy” of the Sourwood Mountain Series by Jenni Lorraine and should only be read after reading the Best-Selling first installment, “Tailypo.”
The weeks that have followed since the discovery of young Ruby Milton’s body in Pichol Creek have been a whirlwind of strange activity and
mounting suspicions in the small town of Adelaide, Virginia, with eleven-year-old Tessie and friends caught in the center.
Since she was old enough to read, she’s done nothing but absorb information about monster lore from across the globe-becoming convinced that folk monsters live in abundance in the woods surrounding her tiny home town.
It was a monster-hunting excursion that led the group of young explorers to find the skeletal remains of Ruby, a former girlfriend of Tessie’s uncle Joel, laid to waste in Pichol Creek after Tessie’s trusted dog, Job, retrieved the skull.
Now, a dark shadow has been cast over the town of Adelaide as Sheriff Alan Cline races against time to solve the case,convinced it’s somehow linked to a series of disappearances, shady characters, and secrets that have long been rotting away at the heart of the local community.
In a case where nothing appears as it seems, only one thing can be known for certain:
The true beasts of Adelaide are about to be revealed.
She’s been told time and again to stay out of the woods and away from the old mine, but eleven-year-old Tessie Rowe has an imagination bigger than her mother’s back yard. Since she was old enough to read, she’s done nothing but absorb information about monster lore from across the globe- and she’s become convinced that the area surrounding her tiny hometown of Adelaide, Virginia has just about one of everything.
Now Tessie and her friends have set out to prove once and for all that the creatures of Tessie’s imagination really do exist. As soon as they get started, though, they find the skeletal remains of a young woman washed up on the shores of Pichol Creek.
With no reports of missing persons, Sheriff Alan Cline is stumped- that is until the post-mortem reveals the identity of the young woman and points to foul play. With a growing list of suspects who all have seemingly iron-clad alibis, Alan must turn to the young monsters hunters to share clues.
In a case where nothing appears as it seems, only one thing can be known for certain: The true beasts of Adelaide are about to be revealed.
About the Author
Jenni Lorraine is a seasoned wordsmith who has made her mark in the literary world with her best-selling Sourwood Mountain series.
Jenni’s journey began behind the scenes, working as a ghostwriter and proofreader for nearly two decades. Her dedication and unyielding commitment to the craft eventually led her to step into the limelight and embark on her own writing adventure.
One of her crowning achievements was winning the Paragon Award in recognition of her commitment to raising the voice of women in literature.
Critics and fans alike have drawn parallels between her work and literary giants like Joan Didion and Stephen King.
Known for crafting gritty trilogies and interactive mystery books that delve into the raw and relentless aspects of human experience, she masterfully weaves tales of underdogs who rise to meet life’s challenges head-on.
For adults, her interactive novels are immersive journeys into storylines where, with every turn of the page, readers become part of the investigative process, unraveling mysteries and piecing together clues.
For the younger audience, Jenni pens interactive books that impart valuable life lessons. Her stories encourage responsible decision-making and champion the welfare of animals. They inspire children to be good advocates for pets and wildlife while teaching them the importance of kindness and compassion.
Beyond the written word, Jenni’s life blends devotion to her family, a love for animal companions, and a touch of whimsy.
She calls a serene farmstead in the Midwest home. Her family is her anchor and she boasts two dogs as loyal companions, as well as a mischievous parrot named Harpy in honor of one of her most well-known characters’ fascination with folk monsters.
From her modest corner of the world, Jenni draws inspiration from the simple joys of rural life. Every day is an opportunity to explore the profound and the poetic, and she weaves her everyday experiences into her storytelling.
I have a lot of titles I’m working on this coming year, however the newest release is “Nereid,” Part two of my Tess Trilogy. I also have a new series of kids books launching Jan 1. You can review all my works and upcoming works at my website www.jennilorraine.com jenni@jennilorraine.com
The Tess Trilogy of the Sourwood Mountain is a powerful and thought-provoking series that will leave you breathless. Jenni Lorraine’s ability to create complex characters and explore the darker aspects of human nature is truly impressive. The series is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and anyone who enjoys a good mystery. We hope that this interview has given you some insight into the creative process behind the series and what the future holds for Jenni Lorraine.
