moot point

NYT bestselling author of the WINTERSONG duology and the GUARDIANS OF DAWN series

[bangbangwhoa]

books I’ve read in 2022 📖 no. 147

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

“A candle unused is nothing but wax and wick. I would rather light the flame, knowing it will go out than sit forever in darkness.”

[sjaejoneswriter]

Churros are better than boyfriends in Korea apparently

[sjaejoneswriter]

I've upped my signing game on this trip to Korea. 💪🏻💮

[sjaejoneswriter]

MUM: (to my brother) Trouble, you look like a local! MUM: (to me) You...do not.

[sjaejoneswriter]

Hi! This is a random question and you’ve probably heard it before, but it’s about that magical girl series you were writing, Guardians of Dawn? I’m really confused. This was a book I was really excited to read two years ago, and it never came out. Does anyone know if it was being put on hold?

With the imminent (?) death of Twitter, I decided to dust off my old Tumblr account and...wow do I have a lot of asks to go through. Mea culpa, mea culpa, I know I have been gone for literal years.

HOWEVER, yes, Guardians of Dawn is still happening—in fact, the first book will be published August 2023! You can add it to Goodreads here.

[sjaejoneswriter]

Oh, and if any of y'all are interested in reading a (very) early copy, my publisher has listed 100 copies of the uncorrected bound manuscript for a giveaway on Goodreads!

[jung-koook]

'me, myself and jimin' behind the scenes (3)

[sjaejoneswriter]

No one inspires gender envy in me more than Park Jimin

[sjaejoneswriter]

Hello! I recently finished Shadowsong, and while I liked both the book and Wintersong, I was wondering just why you decided to end Josef's storyline the way you did, especially if it means separating him and Francios.

Even though I just answered a question about François, I thought I might talk a little bit about something that has never interested me all that much: romance. 😅

I'm being flippant, of course, but I've never thought that being in a romantic relationship was the be-all, end-all of a happy ending. For Josef, finally discovering where he comes from and returning to a place he feels like "home" is the happiest ending I could have given him. And while partings are bittersweet, if François had followed him, he would have suffered the fate of all the previous wives of the Goblin King.

There is a reason Liesl walks away at the end of Wintersong, which is to say that I think it's better to live for yourself than to die for love. But this is my belief, of course; yours may differ. In which case, feel free to write AU fanfiction to right my wrongs! I used to do that when I felt the author didn't end a book I loved properly. 😉

[sjaejoneswriter]

Are there any actors who come close to how you picture your characters?

I'm not a very visual writer, so not really? I joke that all my first drafts could be titled Bodiless Voices in Featureless Rooms, even though I sketch and draw my characters a lot. I am, however, open to any and all fancasts!

[sjaejoneswriter]

I’m not sure if my question went through but if it didn’t, do you have an idea as the author of what happened to François? Or do you prefer to leave it to the readers interpretation? It’s something that’s been on my mind and I would like to know more about this if you care to share! Or maybe it’s something that you want your readers to think about?

I've surprisingly (?) gotten a lot of questions about the ending of Shadowsong, specifically with regards to Josef and François and what happens to them.

As for Josef, well, we know he [redacted]. For François, I think he remained with the performance troupe that he and Käthe were traveling with during the events of Shadowsong, helping Liesl compose songs and becoming an impresario. Of them all, he has the most professional musical experience, and is also the most trained. There weren't a lot of opportunities for young men of color back then (although composers like Joseph Bologne, Chevalier Saint-Georges—who inspired François—found a good deal of professional musical success during his lifetime), but I like to think that the madcap world of actors and artisans would suit him.

[sjaejoneswriter]

Was wintersong originally a fanfic? I feel like I’ve read it about 4 years ago, the scenes are so familiar. I also emailed you. Please let me know!!

While Wintersong was inspired by Labyrinth and a number of other gothic stories I loved as a teen, the only fandoms for which I actually wrote fanfic were The X-Files, Sailor Moon, and Harry Potter. 😅

And before you go searching for them, they are terrible and unfinished, so I advise you not to look.

[sjaejoneswriter]

Hi! This is a random question and you’ve probably heard it before, but it’s about that magical girl series you were writing, Guardians of Dawn? I’m really confused. This was a book I was really excited to read two years ago, and it never came out. Does anyone know if it was being put on hold?

With the imminent (?) death of Twitter, I decided to dust off my old Tumblr account and...wow do I have a lot of asks to go through. Mea culpa, mea culpa, I know I have been gone for literal years.

HOWEVER, yes, Guardians of Dawn is still happening—in fact, the first book will be published August 2023! You can add it to Goodreads here.

[sjaejoneswriter]

tbh I only peeked my head back here to find some BTS content to follow and interact with but how do I filter out the fics 💀 I don’t really care about shipping—y’all do you—but I came for bangtan’s unique brand of chaos, not smut. halp.

[paledreamer]

The Goblin King shook his head. “The sort of passion she inspires in me is all flash and no heat. I need an ember, Elisabeth, not a firecracker. Something that burns longer, to keep me warm for this night and all other nights to come.”

[thestrangegirl091200]

An aesthetic for the Wintersong duology by S. Jae-Jones.

Pictures not mine.

[taeyongdoyoung]

“Your music,“ he said at last. "Your music was the only thing that kept me sane, that kept me human instead of a monster.”                                                                                              ― S. Jae-Jones, Wintersong

[laequiem]

WORN PAGE LIBRARY (@wornpagelibrary) December BOTM: Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

“Life,” he said softly, “is more than flesh. Your body is a candle, your soul the flame. The longer I burn the candle...” He did not finish. “A candle unused is nothing but wax and wick,” I said. “I would rather light the flame, knowing it will go out than sit forever in darkness.”

[sjaejoneswriter]

Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if my mother never immigrated from Korea.

Photo taken the last time I was there with her in 2019.

@ Myeongdong, Seoul