Musician and author Jessica James brings Glitter Bats back for more romance in latest book
Music was a first love for romance author Jessica James, so it’s fitting that her books have chronicled the love lives of the members of Glitter Bats – a fictional pop punk band with a cult following and blossoming resurgence.
“At the start of the pandemic, I was really missing making music with people,” James said. “I have a background in music. I actually have a bachelor’s of arts in music from Eastern (Washington University) and I was really missing the collaborative spaces and the community, and so I was kind of inhaling any art I could get my hands on about music.”
On Jan. 16, James will be in conversation with romance author Bethany Bennett at Auntie’s Bookstore, where they will discuss “For Our Next Song,” romance in general, take audience questions and sign books.
James’ first book in the Glitter Bats universe – “For One Night Only” – tolvd the “second chance romance” of lead singers Valerie Quinn and Caleb Sloane. She wrote this during National Novel Writer’s Month in 2022 and sold the book in fall 2023. Her latest tells the “friends to lovers” tale of keys player Jane Mercer and drummer Keeley Cunningham.
Both books have bisexual main characters, but Jane’s character has to deal with a lot more baggage.
“I had this line and ‘For One Night Only,’ where I wrote that Jane’s family was the scary kind of religious, and that kind of informed her character for me a lot,” James said. “I think for a lot of queer folks, there’s a lot of additional baggage when it comes to sexuality. And it’s not just it’s not just for queer folks, like a lot of people who grow up in certain religious spaces are taught a lot of shame around sexuality and attraction and their bodies, and I think that romance as a genre can be very healing for people.”
James has been writing for a decade, and loves the romance genre, because “I love that we’re guaranteed a happy ending,” James said.
“I think that that’s the great appeal for a lot of people, is if you’re picking up a romance, especially a rom com, you know you’re safe,” James said. “You know you’re going to feel good at the end. Even if the characters go through a lot, they’re going to end happily, with the person that they’re obsessed with.”
In writing the book, James said she listened to a lot of Paramore, Panic! At the Disco, All American Rejects, 5 Seconds of Summer, Avril Lavigne and Yellowcard.
“I did not base ‘For One Night Only’ on Paramore, but they came up in my research as a band that had relationships in the band, that had affected the band,” James said.
She added that she’s always listening to Taylor Swift, “just because I am a bit of a Swifty,” James said.
Music has been part of James’ life since she was 5. James grew up in Cheney, was part of her church choir and has performed in various choirs since, including Mid-Columbia Mastersingers, while she was living in the Tri-Cities. She met her husband, a fellow student, while in EWU’s music department.
“Music was something I tried not to major in but couldn’t stay away from,” James said.
Though she hasn’t been in a pop punk band herself, she drew from her own experiences of performing to write her books.
“I drew from personal experience of what it feels like when you’re on a stage, how music can fill up all of your senses – feeling the rhythm, the feel of the keys,” James said. “I really tried to make it as authentic from my experience as possible.”
Megan Dhein can be reached at megan.dheinline@gmail.com.