We’re Jessi and Marie, co-authors of Unrelenting.
This adult contemporary fantasy is about a woman’s search for her missing sister, which leads her to discover a secret society of powerful magic users.
In 2009, we discovered we had a shared interest in stories with surprising depth and darkness when we met on a forum for Animorphs, a (nominally children’s) book series we both loved as kids. And, let’s be honest, as adults.
That’s where we began collaboratively writing. A few months later, we realized we both lived in Houston. By the time we met up in person, we’d already written thousands of words of fiction together.
Within five years, that number had bounced into the millions. We started with collaborative fan fiction we had no intention of sharing with the world. Eventually we realized, “Hey, we aren’t so bad at this.”
A half-formed idea from a dream became the seed for Unrelenting. We started in 2013 with a few glimpses and scenes — a young woman under an umbrella, a tall man in a black trench coat, a storm brewing over Lake Erie — and began writing. And as the story took shape, we fell in love with the world we were creating. We hope you will too.
About Jessi
Jessi Honard (she/her or they/them) is a queer author whose novels and short stories span the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Her work explores concepts of identity, trust, and belonging. When not traipsing through imaginary worlds, Jessi helps business owners tell their own stories as the co-owner of North Star Messaging + Strategy, a content marketing agency.
Her debut, Unrelenting, is a contemporary fantasy novel co-written with Marie Parks, and was published in 2022 by Not a Pipe Publishing. The novel was the winner of the 2022 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards – Gay/Lesbian LGBTQ title and finalist of the Fiction – Sci-Fi/Fantasy and First Book NM titles. It was also selected as a finalist in the 2020 Book Pipeline Unpublished Contest for Sci-Fi/Fantasy.
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio (O-H!), Jessi currently lives in the Bay Area of California with her partner, where they go hiking and rock climbing every chance they get.
You can follow Jessi on Instagram here and Twitter here.
About Marie
Marie Parks (she/her) spent her childhood playing pretend and exploring the hallowed halls of libraries and bookstores. Come to think of it, she’s spending her adulthood doing the exact same thing.
Marie is a speculative fiction author who dives into themes like social justice, the environment, and the power of families and found families. Her debut novel, Unrelenting, is a contemporary fantasy co-written with Jessi Honard. Unrelenting won the 2022 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards – Gay/Lesbian LGBTQ title and was a finalist for the Fiction – Sci-Fi/Fantasy and First Book NM titles. It was also selected as a finalist in the 2020 Book Pipeline Unpublished Contest for Sci-Fi/Fantasy. Marie was a finalist for the 2021 Futurescapes Award for Most Promising New Author.
Marie grew up in North Carolina, moved to Texas for college (go Rice Owls!), and spent several years traveling full-time around North America in an RV. Now she lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with her two dogs. Her favorite activities — other than writing, of course! — are camping, hiking, traveling, and chowing down on New Mexico green chile.
Visit Marie’s author website at marieparks.com, and follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Jessi and Marie co-own North Star Messaging + Strategy, a content marketing strategy firm.
Stories are best when they’re shared, so we want to share our journey with you. We invite you to join our mailing list here.
Plus, you can support us on Patreon here.