Lee Rozelle
Author Interview - Lee Rozelle
Author of Ballad of Jasmine Wills
A zany twist on the Southern Gothic, BALLAD OF JASMINE WILLS is a wild and heartfelt tale of abduction and revenge, body shaming and media fame. Lee Rozelle’s debut novel is the story of overweight banker Jasmine and her kidnapper, the enigmatic reality TV mastermind Preston Price. Trapped inside an egg-shaped studio in the secluded backwoods, Jasmine is tortured with haute cuisine, brainwashed with self-help videos, and badgered with cardio exercise routines for her growing mass of livestream fans. Filled with flashbacks of adolescent nuttiness and ennui in the 1980’s, BALLAD OF JASMINE WILLS goes bizarro to explore links between reality TV and the real, intervention and exploitation.
Author Interview - Lee Rozelle
Author I draw inspiration from: I am always inspired by the art and methods of film director David Lynch. In terms of process and worldview, he is the type of person I aspire to be more like when I write.
Author Interview - Lee Rozelle | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book: On a long, empty road listening to a long, fulfilling audiobook.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: I think I would take a risk and hang out in a stuck elevator with the monster from Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN. I would talk to him about fathers, body shaming, and positive affirmations. If possible, I would give the monster a big hug and then perhaps take him out for pancakes.
Author Interview - Lee Rozelle | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: When I was five, I wrote a one-page novel titled "The Killer Headhunter" by folding a piece of paper twice and writing inside the fold. I took great pains to draw a decent looking killer headhunter on the front page. On the back, I scribbled "This book is about a great novel." I was an author then, but then forgot about being an author for a decade or so. And then I wanted to be an author again.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: Gnarly, creased paperback
The last book I read: THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by Stephen Graham Jones
Author Interview - Lee Rozelle | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer: laptop, legal pads, and notes on drive-thru napkins
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: I would love to be BFFs with Ignatius J. Reilly from A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES. He and I would get on quite well, I think.
Author Interview - Lee Rozelle | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: I fear I might have gone into law or vinyl siding installation.
Favorite decade in fashion history: The era of neanderthals, Pleistocene Epoch
Place I’d most like to travel: Tallapoochee County, Alabama
My signature drink: Snake Handler IPA
Favorite artist: Beck
Number one on my bucket list: Experiencing of moment of complete tranquility and peace.
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Author Bio: Lee Rozelle is the author of nonfiction books ZOMBIESCAPES & PHANTOM ZONES and ECOSUBLIME. He has recently published short stories in COSMIC HORROR MONTHLY, SOUTHERN HUMANITIES REVIEW, HellBound Books' ANTHOLOGY OF BIZARRO, DARK DOSSIER MAGAZINE, STEEL TOE REVIEW, and the SCARE YOU TO SLEEP podcast. His story 'Mandibular Fixation' was recently published in the anthology SHADOWY NATURES by Dark Ink Books, and his academic horror tale 'Foundling' can be found in IF I DIE BEFORE I WAKE, Volume 3. His debut novel BALLAD OF JASMINE WILLS hits the streets December 10, 2021.
