#IShipIt: Behind the Book with Jess Anastasi

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#IShipIt

You’ve got a favorite #ship, right? Either book, TV show, or sometimes movie, I’m talking that couple you just love together—whether they are together in the story, or you just think they should be together because the world would surely become a better place, so many of us have that one (or more) secret obsession that probably goes far deeper than you would ever admit to.

I’ll openly admit that I’m a serious shipper. There are so many couples I love—couples that are cannon like Clarke and Bellamy from The 100 or Chloe and Lucifer on Lucifer. To why-can’t-they-just-get-it-together ships like Oliver and Felicity on Arrow or Lucy and Wyatt on Timeless. Unconventional ships like Caitlyn and Barry on The Flash, or Meredith and Alex on Grey’s Anatomy. There are different reasons for loving them all, and all come with differing levels of torture and UST (unresolved sexual tension) for fans.

I do have a point to this, and that point is, I wanted to create my own ship. This partly came out of the barely-tapped ship of Mal and Inara on Firefly. I always wondered what would have been between those two had Firefly survived to two, three, or more season. This was a huge influence on developing the Rian and Ella ship in my Atrophy series.

It’s not like I’m saying this is Firefly fan fiction (not that there’s anything wrong with fan fiction, I LOVE fan fiction!), because Rian is way darker and walks a much more morally ambiguous line than Mal ever did. And Ella is struggling with her own issues when it comes to her abilities as an Arynian priestess. But Mal and Inara were definitely a starting point when I began developing my characters.

The other thing I love is a redemption story. The darker the character, the further they’ve fallen, the more invested I am in seeing them find their light and love. A couple of good examples are Grant Ward from Agents of Shield (still hurting over the season three finale) or Sebastian Monroe from Revolution. It could have been argued that these guys were straight out sociopathic, but I always thought that deep down, they were good men who’d found themselves on a very dark path, but still had the chance to make things right.

Rian is one of these men—he’s definitely forgotten that he was once a good guy, and everything he’s been through has made him dark, possibly pushed him beyond the point of return. But bring in Ella, and it becomes a different story. I know A LOT of my readers are hoping that Rian and Ella’s book will be coming out next or soon, but unfortunately, this ship is on a slow burn, and doesn’t look like it’ll be changing any time soon. Rian has a lot to atone for, and let’s face it, anytime he’s involved, things are far from simple.

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About Diffraction:

After his unusual reaction to a weapon, Commando Varean Donnelly is accused of being a shape-shifting alien and imprisoned onboard the Imojenna. Sure, he has abilities he keeps hidden from everyone—including the gorgeous doc examining him—because the government makes sure people as different as him disappear. For good.

Imojenna doctor Kira Sasaki knows there’s something different about the handsome commando the captain’s thrown in their brig. She doesn’t think he’s Reidar, although he might have been a victim of their cruel experiments. But when Kira learns the stubborn commando’s racial make-up, she finds herself torn between defending him to Captain Rian Sherron and his crew or urging Varean to escape while he still can.

The Atrophy series is best enjoyed in order:

Book #1 Atrophy
Book #2 Quantum
Book #3 Diffraction

Find it online:

Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Goodreads

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About Jess Anastasi:

Jess has been making up stories ever since she can remember. Though her messy handwriting made it hard for anyone else to read them, she wasn’t deterred and now she gets to make up stories for a living. She loves loud music, a good book on a rainy day, and probably spends too much time watching too many TV shows. Jess lives in regional Victoria, Australia, with her very supportive husband, three daughters, two border collie dogs, and one cat who thinks he’s one of the kids.