The author Jessica DeLand

Hello, I'm Jessica DeLand

Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy Author

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About Me


I got my A.A. in fine art at Clark College, but graduated from Brigham Young University–Idaho with a B.A. in English focused on creative writing and editing. In that time, I had several works published in Clark College's Phoenix literary magazine, working as the Head Literary Editor for the 2010 edition, and the prologue for this manuscript was accepted into the 2012 National Undergraduate Literature Contest. I later won goscribbler.com's 2021 Synopsis Contest, one of my YA contemporary fantasy stories was published in Small Shifts: Short Stories of Fantastical Transformation in 2022, and this manuscript was a finalist for the 2022 Killer Nashville Claymore Award for Best Juvenile/YA. I was also a bimonthly goscribbler.com blogger from 2021-2022, and I made it to Round 2 of the NYC Midnight 500 Word Challenge in 2023. I'm currently a full-time mother of four young children in McKinney, TX, and I recently learned I'm both a quarter Chinese and ADHD. My hobbies include reading, fine art, car karaoke, sewing, crocheting, watching movies and select anime, and co-op gaming of all kinds with my kids and husband.

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Published Works


The Slime That Binds Us

YA Contemporary Fantasy

Short Story

Published 2022 in Small Shifts: Short Stories of Fantastical Transformation

Buy it here

A boy who can turn into a snail must decide between his reputation and his conscience when a girl needs help only he can offer.

Works In Progress


Wake (Maelstrom #1)

YA Contemporary Fantasy

First in a Planned Double Trilogy

Currently Querying

Forced to live with fantasy-alien fugitives on Earth until they recover their leader's magic from inside her, a ballerina with a panic disorder turns spy for the universal police to gather intel for a rescue, but then bonds with her kidnappers and doesn't know who to trust.

WAKE is a clean, YA contemporary fantasy novel complete at 97,000 words, genre-blended with mystery and a kiss of science fiction. A Curse So Dark and Lonely meets Cassandra Clare, it's a story of courage, trust, and connection layered with humor and a slow burn romance. The prologue was accepted into the 2012 National Undergraduate Literature Conference, and the manuscript was a finalist for the 2022 Killer Nashville Claymore Award for Best Juvenile/YA.

Bound (Kitsune Bound #1)

YA Contemporary Fantasy

First in a Planned Trilogy

Currently Drafting

When a girl tormented by mythological creatures only she can see saves the life of a kitsune, they must discover a way to break the resulting curse tying them within feet of each other.

Stooge (Agnes and Thrux #1)

YA Contemporary Fantasy

First in a Planned Trilogy

Currently Drafting

A universal police assassin helps her magic-using targets escape after learning dark secrets about the organization she works for.

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