1.- Could you introduce yourself to Jamreads’ readers?
Hi everyone! I’m Jasmine Kuliasha; mom, runner, reader, and author of the new romantic urban fantasy book: THE MIDNIGHT PACK (book 1 of the Jericho James series)! I was born in Peru but I grew up in Guatemala, and consider that my home (y sí, también hablo español). I’ve lived in 4 different countries, and had a career in robotics before switching to writing full time. 

2.- When did you start writing?
Ever since I was a kid I was writing short stories, and during college I kept a notebook of story ideas. After I graduated college, on my days off of work I would write! The story I started working on right after college is actually still something I’m keeping in mind for a future book, someday. But, I didn’t decide to pursue writing full time and start on the Jericho James series until I left my career in robotics at the end of 2020. 

3.- How did the first idea for the character of Jericho James appear?
Lots of inspiration went into Jericho James! I grew up loving movies like James Bond and Mission Impossible, and my favorite book series was The Dresden Files. I always love a smart-talking, quick-thinking, sassy character that gets both into and out of a slew of unlikely situations, but the only characters doing that (at the time) were men. I wanted to see a woman doing all of these things, too. One day I had this really vivid idea for a creepy scene; where a woman was stuck in a house with a group of men, and one of them was after her… and I worked backward from there. Who was she? Why was she in that house? Who are these mysterious men? And so, Jericho James was born.

4.- What made you to start pursuing publishing?
I wrote THE MIDNIGHT PACK for me, fully expecting to be the only one who read it. In fact, I had just finished the Court of Thorns and Roses series, and couldn't find anything else to read. And when I got an idea for a scene, I wrote it down, then decided that if I couldn’t find the book I wanted to read… I’d write it myself. So I did, and I loved it. 
Then I shared it with some friends, who loved it too. One of them (Deidre, who the book is dedicated to) encouraged me to submit it to agents for publication! 

5.- Could you tell us how The Midnight Pack ended up being acquired by Orbit?
You may have heard that when you enter the query trenches, it’s a vast ocean of “no”. And that’s an under-estimation. It’s a whole world of NO, which can get demoralizing after a while. I’d decided on a certain number of queries to send, and once I’d reached that amount I would stop. But, before hitting that number I was getting pretty discouraged, so I decided I’d stop anyway. THEN something amazing happened: New York Times Bestselling Author Breanne Randall reached out to me on Instagram. 
She told me that she loved my story idea, and not to let the no’s get me down. She told me to keep going. 
So I did.
And my YES was in the very next group of queries I sent out! Orbit has a publishing division that accepts un-agented queries, so I was able to submit THE MIDNIGHT PACK directly to them. If you read the acknowledgements, I thank Breanne Randall there. You never know how a little bit of encouragement might change someone’s life. 

6.- How much time have you spent working on The Midnight Pack, from first draft to the finished book?
I started writing it in 2021, but from getting from the first words on page, to the final draft, to querying, to publication was a four year process! 

7.- You decided to give a quite scientific approach to the Midnight Pack. How did the idea worked together with fantasy? What was the thought behind this approach to lycanthropy?
What a great question! I love the idea that there are still mysteries in the real world, and going further, what if all the supposed cryptid sightings were actually true? After all, okapis were considered cryptids until 1901. What if there really were werewolves? How would that work? Then from there I thought about the different ways that could make sense. I landed on an RNA virus, like rabies, but to ground it in reality I researched the effects of other diseases—like brain altering prions–-to make it sound more plausible by association. Then I double checked it all with my super-smart-sister-in-law, (who is a research Doctor working on brain disease) and she helped make sure the vocabulary and descriptions were all correct. 

8.- What does Jasmine Kuliasha like to do in her free time?
Aside from playing with my kids, I like to read and write (surprise, surprise), and I’m a huge movie buff. I also love running, and I just started training for my biggest challenge yet: a 5k, 10k, half marathon, and full marathon on back-to-back days for a total of 48.6 miles over 4 days! 

9.- Which books would you recommend to people that enjoyed The Midnight Pack?
Ooh, I recommend the Dresden Files series, which was my introduction to the urban fantasy genre. Other books with similarly supernatural vibes would be: Sunshine by Robin McKinley, and the Sookie Stackhouse series, by Charlaine Harris. 

10.- What can we expect from Jasmine Kuliasha in the future?
So many fun things are in the works right now, I am beyond thrilled! 
I’m almost done writing Jericho James 2: BIGFOOT CONFIDENTIAL. 
I’m also in the final edits of a top-secret-manuscript (code name: Project Coffee). 
And, I’m working on a short story for the Once Upon a Book Club 2025 winter anthology! 
I have so many more stories to tell, though, so stay tuned for further updates.