Hello and good morning. How are you doing today, Jazz? I'm fantastic.
How are you absolutely blessed because I'm getting the opportunity to talk to somebody
who changes people's lives. Oh, thank you, Thank you so much.
Likewise embracing what you have done, I mean, we deserve monuments. I
mean, wow, wow, I mean this is more than just words on
a page. This is a piece of art as well as a piece of
history. Oh, thank you so much to get in that moment though,
and then to relinquish it to the readers. How did you take steps like
that? I mean, it's really hard for me to let a story go
AND's like it's just mine and I've been working on it for so long and
it's just me. And I think that it comes down to trusting that your
words will find the people who need them the most. And I just whenever
i'm writing something like of course, like I'm writing it for me first and
then second thinking about like, okay, well who else needs this? And
so like when it came to Thirsty, my next novel, I was in
a place where I was like, you know, I was struggling with my
own addictions, and so I hope that whoever picks up the book, you
know they need it. Well see that. That's what I like about your
writing. It's almost like you're saying that, hey, look, I'm going
through this and I am human enough to say I'm not the only one.
And so as you write, you're reaching out to those people. M Yeah,
there's like this vulnerability that it's really really scary being an author. But
also I find that those are some of my favorite stories, whether it's books
or movies, where you can tell just somebody is putting their entire heart on
the line, And to me as a reader, that's what I typically respond
the most to. And so I think, especially writing for teenagers and young
adults, like we owe them that honesty and that vulnerability. Don't you think
that thirsty? It seems like it's a page from today, and I hope
that when somebody reads it in twenty five years are going to think the same
exact things, like, oh my god, I've seen this in my world.
Yeh. I mean, I think it's unfortunately, something that's super normalized
and very common in our society is just drinking, and it just has become
like, you know, like I had my first alcoholic drink when I was
fifteen, and so I know that I know that I wasn't the only one.
Like when you know, I was a teenager, it was like this
forbidden and fun thing, and so I think the teenagers today like are facing
some of those same issues. And so I wanted to write about it,
but without being like super heavy handed or just like you know, wagging a
finger saying you shouldn't do this, you shouldn't do that, like that never
works out. Well, you know, well, I'd like to be a
part of that writing process, because, like you said, you write for
yourself first and then you have to go back and edit it. So do
you go through a fermenting stage or anything like that where you kind of set
the book aside and then come back as the reader. Yes? Always,
always, I always need like a minimum month away from whenever I write something,
I set it to the side, and I come back and I'm able
to really like look at it with a fresh point of view. I think
that's really necessary because when you're writing and then the thick of it, you're
so close, and you know, it's hard to determine what's working what's not.
So I think that distance is always should always be in the writer's toolbox.
Thirsty is one of those books that I think that every generation can read.
And the reason why is because you deal with learning how to fit in
and you're making making those decisions like in the book, you know, the
decisions that your parents may not like. Well in in the real world.
I mean, it's also it may be a decision that my spouse may not
like. I mean, there's so many different things that connect all the stories
together. Yes, absolutely, I think when I you know, when I
was in my mid twenties and I was no longer even living with my parents,
but I was facing some of these same issues where I, you know,
I met somebody and I really wanted to be their friend, and I
really wanted them to like me. And you know, you think that that's
just an issue that teenagers face. I'm like, Nope, I think it's
across generations, Like whether it's a boss you're trying to impress or you know,
I'm a romantic interest. I think everybody can relate to that feeling of
not being good enough and just trying to prove yourself no matter the cost.
One of the things that you put focus on is teenage drinking, and I
grew up in the state of Montana, where it was like we could have
anything. And the thing is is that in my fifties, I went back
home to Montana to those places where I think I should have died, and
I mean in the river Yellowstone River, up on the rims above buildings,
and to sit there in that moment and try to figure out why it didn't
happen. And I mean, did you have you done things like that as
well? Oh my goodness, the stories I could tell. Yes, me
and my one of my closest friends that I've that I've been friends with since
I was in third grade, Like we like used to always take a friendship
trip every year, and there were some trips where you know, we were
both like super drunk and making a lot of bad decisions. And you wake
up the next morning like, I'm really glad, like we're still alive to
talk about this. But yeah, it's very You are not the only one
I can assure you. Do you think that Blake and Ella are true friends?
Or is it that that Blake is just a tough person to kind of
like understand what love is? Oh? I think that I don't like writing
one dimensional characters and So with Ella, Ella is Blake's long term girlfriend,
I think that there was there is love there. Of course, there's love
that's tethering them. I think that what happens I'm interested in exploring, like
what happens when other things kind of overshadow that love. So whether that's like
Ella's desire to join this sorority like kind of overshadowing her love and care for
Blake and vice versa. You know, like instead of having honest conversations with
Ella about how Blake is feeling, you know, Blake will often you know,
resort to self sabotage or something like that. And so that I definitely
think there is love there. But this book is a kind of like a
reckoning of like we're at a crossroads. What do we do now? See
once again, there's that connection with the older adults when you talk about self
sabotage and friends and the connections that people have because even with the sorority,
we may not be in college, but businesses really do want that camaraderie and
they will do these these inspiration seminars and things like that to get that sorority
or that business together. I mean, everything you've got here for a ya
reader. It's going to prepare them for a future where they're gonna go,
oh my god. I was reading Jazz's book and this is oh my god.
Yes, I think even if you were never in, you know,
a sorority of fraternity, I think that whole the method of like like kind
of breaking you down to build you up as present in a lot of pype
of dynamics, and so people who haven't even been like involved in Greek life
in the traditional college setting will probably understand that concept. Could you go back
to being a teenager again? Could I? YEA will do what I want
to Exacinitely absolutely not. I mean maybe if I if I knew what I
knew now, I would definitely be like a lot less afraid and like you
know. But then again, it's like, you know, I wouldn't do
it over if I had to do it all over again, I'm I wouldn't
be me. So at the end of the day, now, I'm good
with being thirty one. Thirty one, man, that's where it all changed
for me. All of a sudden, I realized, wait a second,
my twenties were spent doing everything I wanted to do as a teenager. And
then my thirties were mopping up that mess that I had as a twenty year
old. Yes, absolutely, It's like the minute I turned thirty, I'm
like, WHOA, Like, this is this is the this is what I
thought of when I'm like, oh, adult problems, not when I was
you know, twenty one. Are you hoping that readers will will kind of
stop and reflect in their own personal lives, even if it's a YA reader
or or an older woman or male, that they'll sit there and they'll go,
Okay, this is what I did. There's something I can learn from
this because somebody needs to read it. Absolutely, And I think that that's
what makes young adult novels so beautiful and so impactful. Like I think that
you know something about like half of hya readerships are adults. Actually, are
you know finding comfort in these stories of like what I wish I could have
done or how things could have turned out differently, or kind of like seeking
the love or acceptance that you didn't get at that age? And so I
think I will always be drawn to this age category. And you know,
there's just something so compelling about it as a and a reader. So as
that author, I realized that you know, this is, this is the
pivoting moment of Thirsty is. We need to sell it, we need to
move the book. But but you're always working on something and that's the invisible
part of your story that we don't know. Mm hmmm. Yes, I'm
always like trying to work on something. And I think that everything that I
write, though will have similar kind of similar themes about like complicated family or
friendship dynamics and exploring queerness and race and class. So no matter what I
write, if anybody has picked up a Jazz Hammond's book, I want them
to know kind of like what they're getting into good. I would love to
read a book from you about how everything you know when when when it comes
to like you were talking about queerness and LGBQ t Q, is the fact
that how it seems like that over the past six months to a year,
it's all shifted and gone backwards, and it's like I would love to have
a story about how all of a sudden it's like, oh, you mean
we won't be able to legally get married or they're challenging it. Oh my
god, because I mean you talk about an emotional change there. Yeah,
yeah, I mean to me that feels like a horror novel like again,
and I'm like, I try to write just contemporary, but no, that
is like that is our contemporary life. And like when you look at the
news, it's like, oh my goodness, what now? But yeah,
I I am a light attendant in my day job. And so like some
of the newer stuff that I'm working on is like exploring that industry, but
still with like the same undercurrent of exploring like mental health and similarly like addictions
and like how you can't outrun your problems. So that's kind of like the
direction that I'm hoping to pivot to in addition to keep writing about teenagers and
young adults. Oh my god, you got to come back to this show
anytime in the future, Jazz what I was always going to be open for
you. Yay, thank you so much. I would love that. Will
you'd be brilliant today? Okay, you too, you as well. It
was such a pleasure chatting with you.