Hello!

Those stories, and many like them, made me who I am today. 

Not just because of the heroic path we watched develop, but because of the moral obligations that all of these heroes had to the stories they told.

The good ‘guy’ always wins.

Or do they?

As I entered my teenage years, I took on books like Lord of the Rings, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and many more. 

I got to thinking about the same good ‘guys’ I always read about.

What defines a good character?

Is it victory? 

Is it overcoming weakness?

Is it a choice?

Is it luck?

Oftentimes, I think what defines a good character in any story is relatability. So as I entered my twenties, I began really delving into what makes people, people.

I soon realized that this would be a life-long quest of my own, and began writing the plotline for Baelfire back in 1995. 

My role models back then, are the same they are today: my sisters Kari and Stacy. As such, my main character was a woman named Shawna, who was a model of both of those amazing humans’ best qualities. 

Life affirmed this for me, as I observed them becoming mothers, and dealing with various losses as fate sometimes seems fit to dish out. 

I watched how their qualities defined who I thought a hero should be.

In the meantime, I managed to meet with severe amounts of rejection for getting the original 1996 book published. Defeated, I shelved the dream while I continued to learn more about people and behavior.

I focused my academic studies on Sociology and Anthropology, and began diving into the topics of racism, misogyny, and the way these concepts evolved throughout history.

Then I too became a parent, and like my heroes, got to explore the most amazing lessons life has to offer us. 

I added politics and economics to my areas of interest at this point, and really what I wanted to do with Shawna and Baelfire became something of a distant longing rather than a dream. 

I found one thing I was really good at during all of this, and that was Bartending.

Bartending was a life-saver. 

As silly as it sounds, bartending allowed me to pay the bills as a single parent and spend as much waking time with the one thing that becomes my focus entirely: my son Collyn.

Not only did I discover that I was a really good bullshitter; I found that there was really no better way to study sociology, anthropology, politics, and history. 

Drunk peoples’ secrets and behavior really let me get a sneak peek into human behavior.  

Baelfire, as realized, began to take shape.  

For the next 13 years, I tried my hand at owning my own bar.

Through a series of strange mishaps, and precarious partnerships, let’s just say (simply) that I failed. 

Three times over.

At this point, I am thirty-five years old and I’m wondering: “What am I going to do with myself?” 

There, staring back at me, was 25 years of sketches, maps, character drawings, and notes of an entire world I created gathering dust.

I met a man named James Mace, who said he’d love to take a look at my stuff.

I sent him a few chapters, and with his encouragement, published my first version of Baelfire…

...it had begun!

The reviews I began to get were so amazing and encouraging!

I was relieved that my unconventional writing style was actually a hit among those that had decided to give me a shot!

Baelfire isn’t a story about heroes.

Baelfire is a story about people living their lives come what may.

In this story, I have placed all of my knowledge of people, camouflaged in a setting that is relatable and reflective of the world I have come to know. 

It is a combination of my fascination with history (and the “what-ifs” encapsulated therein,) coupled with my love for science and the science fiction that have (time and time again) become reality. 

Imagine this: an ancient Roman/Egypt hybrid of a culture, that can power their cities with electricity created within their great pyramids. 

Would it be a utopia?

Or would they extort certain members of the population, only for greed or personal gain, as we see prevalent today?

Would there be misogyny?

Would there be racism? 

I wanted to create a story that immersed my readers into well-developed characters so deeply, that these sometimes overwhelming questions could almost go overlooked. Yet at the same time, demanded that they had to ask the questions in the first place.

There are no “good guys” in Baelfire. 

There are just people with qualities that you might view as heroes.

For me, the overall aspect of Baelfire encompasses two primary topics: History repeating itself, and time constantly molding perceptions. 

I choose to begin my story, where my 1995 original notes left off, which was Shawna becoming a mother. 

I realized that my earlier failure and disappointment in not getting the original book published, actually gave me one hell of a back story, so I decided to write this new one from the perspective of her son, Ronin. 

Ronin’s younger years mimicked my own, which was growing up on a ranch with only my mother as a primary influence. 

From that point on, the whole series is a metaphor.

The setting of Baelfire is here on Earth, with an intentionally vague concept of actual dates and times. 

The time period is defined by the ages we know today, and the precession of the constellations. 

For astrology lovers, knowing that we are in a transitional period from the Age of Pieces to the Age of Aquarius right now, gives clues enough to when the first and last chapters of the book take place. 

For those readers that really aren’t well versed in the topic, just know that we are looking at the near future (within the next few hundred years or so) for the first and last chapters of each book.

As I mentioned, this is intentionally vague.

The majority of the characters you will meet, and get to know, live in the Age of Sagittarius, albeit it is unknown when the story takes place in that age. 

Again, for those non-astrology nerds reading, this would be somewhere around 7000 years from now.

Spoiler alert (not really): at some point in-between then and now, the world went to shit. 

Now I can tell you why, but suffice it to say that that’s all part of the story, and you’ll have to read it to actually find out...

So far, I have two completed volumes of the book, “Innocence Lost” and “The Ties That Bind Us.”

Book Three, “Burn Them All” is in the works, and Book Four, “Seeking Truth” is currently being mapped out. 

I have plans to wrap up the series in nine total books, and I will be writing short novellas as fillers to do just that. 

Also, in the works is a Role Playing Game (tabletop and dice,) and a digital comic book illustrated by a dear friend and amazing artist. 

I’m also working on audio (myself as narrator) versions of the books…

There’s even a five-year plan for the Age of Capricorn.

Here’s where you come in.

Buying a signed copy of the books, or a t-shirt, or both, will allow me to tell more of this story.

You can think of it as a ‘go fund me,’ or even a poor artist’s charity, but your support actually will free up my time from bartending in order to keep on hacking away at the keyboard.

Remember, I’m not a writer, I’m a bullshitter.

So if you want a good story, I’m Jade Jesser, and I’m your guy.