Jess Porto grew up in the Adirondack region of upstate New York and subsequently moved to a handful of other states, including Illinois, Iowa, where she graduated from high school and attended Iowa State University, then to South Carolina, Florida, and North Carolina.
Jess graduated from Southwest Florida College with an Associate of Science degree in interior design. After various positions in retail, construction, and design, she is currently the marketing director for her longtime employer in Florida and works from home in North Carolina, which allows her more time for writing.
Moon Mountain, her debut novel, is currently available for order at various retailers in hardcover, paperback, and eBook formats.
We were thrilled to be able to interview her, and we hope that you find her answers as insightful as we did.
TSM: To start off, can you tell us a little bit about your debut novel, Moon Mountain?
JP: I’d be happy to! Moon Mountain is the first book of a New Adult mystery/thriller and urban fantasy trilogy set in the 1990s in North Carolina. The story is told from the first-person point of view of Morgan Thomas, a college student living in the small country town of Moon Mountain with her best friend and roommate, Sheridan.
Strange things happen after Morgan attends a Halloween party and encounters a costumed stranger who behaves oddly. Later that night, she wakes to find herself lying on the forest floor with no recollection of how she got there. She safely finds her way home, but this bizarre night is only the beginning of her problems. She soon faces haunting dreams of the forest, a murder mystery, a dashing detective, and a family with dark and nefarious secrets.
TSM: Moon Mountain is set in the fall of 1997. What encouraged you to set the novel during that time? What about that time period made for a good story?
JP: I was a ‘90s kid, and that decade has a special place in my memories. I also liked setting the story in a period where cell phones, social media platforms, and other communication sources were not so prevalent. It can still be done, but keeping an element of mystery between characters and situations in today’s world is tougher while keeping the story realistic. The mystery and intrigue are heightened when these technologies are not at one’s fingertips 24/7.
TSM: Moon Mountain is the first book of the Moon Mountain Trilogy, with Isle of Stars to be released in winter 2024 and Blue Sun Bay to be released in fall 2024 or winter 2025. When you started writing Moon Mountain, did you have the entire trilogy planned out already? What made you decide to write the trilogy?
JP: I confess that initially, I hadn’t planned out much beyond the first book! I knew it would be a series of some length, but I didn’t have it all mapped out yet. Everything after Moon Mountain was still a wisp of an idea. Once Moon Mountain was finished, which ended with a harrowing yet hopeful cliffhanger, I started on a rough outline for the second book. Once that was completed, and I’d started on the manuscript draft, I had a good idea of where I would go with the third book and that it would be the end of the series—a trilogy once completed. But I haven’t begun the manuscript for the third book yet, so that could change!
TSM: You have lived in a number of different states throughout your life so far, so how has your vast geographical background influenced your storytelling and writing?
JP: One of the most significant benefits of having experienced different climates and locales is bringing various scenery and senses to my stories, no matter where they are set. It may not be vast compared to someone that has traveled the world, but I have experienced the frigid and long-lasting, snowy winters of upstate New York to the hot and balmy weather of southwest Florida, and I can bring them to life in my writing.
One of my greatest wishes for those who read my books is that they can vividly picture and feel the scenes—as if they were there. One of the distinctive components of books is that you can transport yourself to that world, but it’s of your making. Compared to a visual medium (like movies or series), you decide what those scenes, characters, and sensations look and feel like using the guidance of written words. You have ultimate control; you’re the director. I think it’s a particular sort of connection to books that not many other mediums can elicit and why people are so drawn to these fantastic worlds authors have created—because they become your worlds.
TSM: You have also had various jobs in retail, construction, and design. How has your background in these areas influenced how you write?
JP: One of the most essential influences would be human interaction. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I believe you pull all aspects of life experiences into your writing. No matter your job or career, you most likely interact with others to some degree. Problem-solving, working under pressure or deadlines, etc., are elements within most books, just as they are woven within most persons’ backgrounds.
TSM: Moon Mountain is a mystery and thriller novel that also seems to have some fantasy elements in the mix as well. How do you write a variety of different genres into a single work? How do you balance each of these elements and seamlessly integrate the genres so as to not overwhelm the reader?
JP: When I started Moon Mountain, I didn’t approach it as to what genre or genres I wanted it to be in, and maybe that wasn’t smart in terms of turning writing into a business, but it was purely about the story; what I wanted it to be, and what I wanted the reader to feel while immersed in it. I knew I wanted it to be full of suspense and mystery, and the touch of fantasy allows you to take the plot beyond the constraints of the ordinary world.
I love epic fantasies and science fiction tales with unique worlds you can get lost in. Still, there’s something about mystery-filled, suspenseful stories with whispers of the paranormal or supernatural. Where the characters live in a regular, mundane world (where magical creatures like ghosts, vampires, witches and warlocks, werewolves, and zombies are the stuff of stories and nightmares, nothing more) but begin to experience phenomena or situations that are abnormal and how their instincts lead them to question what’s real and what isn’t, all building up to the revelation that everything they thought they knew about their world was wrong.
I carried that concept into Moon Mountain. Morgan’s just a regular college kid from a humble background, trying to figure out what she wants to do—just trying to get by. She has no special hidden powers, no secret past or family secrets that come hurtling into her life, throwing it into chaos. As strange things happen to and around her, she initially tries to explain them away with logical reasons, as most of us would. But as these events progress and a growing sickness plagues her, she reaches a point where she can no longer ignore her instinctual fear that something isn’t right, that something beyond her level of understanding is happening.
TSM: What are some of your favorite mystery novels that you have read? Who are some of your favorite mystery/thriller authors that have inspired you?
JP: I enjoy the works of several modern mystery/thriller authors, but the classics have inspired me a great deal—especially detective fiction. The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, The Big Sleep and the entire Philip Marlowe series by Raymond Chandler, and the Hercule Poiret series by Agatha Christie. I’m also a lover of classic movies, which may have something to do with it, as many of these books have also been adapted into incredible films.
TSM: With a novel as complex and filled with twists and turns as Moon Mountain, it’s clear that some level of planning and outlining was involved. What was the planning process for Moon Mountain like? Did any new ideas occur to you when writing the novel? If so, how did you decide whether to stick to your initial plan or to go with a new, spur-of-the-moment idea?
JP: I’m very detail-oriented and organized (maybe to a fault), so I started by outlining the first book, chapter by chapter, scene by scene, and tried to ensure that all the plot points and details connected and flowed. When you write something in tens of thousands of words, there will be some inconsistencies, but the goal is to try to catch most if not all. The small details can make or break a reader’s overall satisfaction with a book. Some may not notice minor inconsistencies, but many readers may pick up on them, disrupting the magic of remaining immersed in the story.
Once I began writing the first draft, some elements did change as I went. Like many authors, once I start writing, there’s a natural flow to scenes and characters, and I let it guide me. Some ideas I had during the outlining phase may not work anymore, or their place on the timeline of events must change. Ultimately, whether it’s fiction born from the everyday world or a magical one, you want the reader to believe those characters and scenes are real. If characters don’t act in a way that seems natural, realistic, or in line with their personalities, readers pick up on it. No matter what situations they encounter, if their reactions and actions seem like real people are making them, it will be an engrossing story.
TSM: With Moon Mountain being the first book of a trilogy, I can assume that not all of the novel’s threads are tied up by the end. How did you decide what threads to tie up and which ones to leave open for the sequel? How did you manage to maintain a sense of closure at the end of Moon Mountain but still leave room for the sequels?
JP: I’ve always loved a good cliffhanger! But that relationship tends to be love-hate because it creates an emotion-filled excitement to discover what happens, but if the next book in the series hasn’t been released yet, then there’s the impatience that you must wait a while longer to find out. I understand that frustration as a reader, but I also can’t deny it keeps me hooked and thinking about the story for a long time.
Moon Mountain ends with a cliffhanger, with questions still unanswered. The first book is solely from Morgan’s point of view, and I hope the reader feels they have traveled on this mysterious and terrifying journey alongside her and have shared her happiness, desires, fears, and pain. They know as much as she does and, without making this a spoiler, just as things seem hopeless by the end of the book, the last chapter is meant to bring that hope rushing back. One that will leave the reader on pins and needles to find out what happens next. Morgan’s story isn’t over… far from it.
TSM: What do you wish you knew about writing and publishing novels before you started writing and publishing novels?
JP: I try not to look back with the what ifs, as I’ve found that writing is a never-ending learning experience-slash-lesson and, instead, let my mistakes and what knowledge I’ve gained come with me into the next book’s publishing journey and so on. With each book, the path will become a little easier—but never easy. There are probably more things than I’d care to admit that I wish I’d known before and during my journey to publishing with Moon Mountain regarding writing, storytelling, and marketing. But it was a novice author’s first full-length novel, and I’m sure it could’ve gone much worse! A few of the important lessons I take with me are to take my time, to keep faith and confidence in myself, not to expect perfection because there’s no such thing, and to not compare myself to other authors and writers.