Interview with Jerry Lambert, Author of Forever Twilight (The Dark Emeralds)

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Forever Twilight (The Dark Emeralds)?

The Dark Emeralds series is a southern gothic tale of betrayal, murder, and a household caught up in two curses. It takes place in dual timeline and centers around tragic events at a mansion deep in the Louisiana bayou country in 1850. Over the years, readers have often asked me questions about that part of the book, and I felt it was something worth exploring in a way that would take the reader further into those ill-fated events, but also so new readers might be inspired to read the rest of the series.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

As a writer I think it is a good idea to read a wide variety of genres and I do have pretty eclectic reading tastes depending on mood. Of course I think you are going to read the genre you write in because ultimately you are going to write the kind of book you would like to read. A writer’s understanding of plotting and pacing a particular genre comes from reading it and then finding new ways to add your own take on the genre.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

I am about to start Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Next I have a stack of classics that I want to re-read, such as Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, one of my favorites.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

There is a scene in Forever Twilight that where two characters see each other for the first time out of context of their daily lives and begin to realize that they do have things in common. At first there is friction, that leads to conversation, that leads to a realization of a mutual attraction. Two people, away from their normal societal settings, and free from those rules in the natural beauty of nature. I love the dichotomy of that scene where two people from different stations of society allow themselves to transcend those barriers in order to have a real conversation that leads to more. I wrote the book around a setting that I know well from my own childhood growing up in the south. I set that scene in a glade in the woods near a spring-fed pond that was reminiscent of my family’s property where I grew up.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

Yes, I have a few. One thing is that I take myself to lunch on Mondays. I sit down at one of my three favorite restaurants with my laptop and earbuds. They automatically bring me a glass of sparkling rose, because I am a creature of habit, and then I start writing. If you follow me on social media you have probably seen at least one pic of this lol.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Don’t talk about it, do it.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

I would hope that they would remember that a gilded cage is still a cage. Nothing is better facing your fears and gaining your freedom even at the expense of other people’s opinions of you.

Jerry Lambert is the author of the new book Forever Twilight (The Dark Emeralds)

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