The following is an interview with award-winning author Jess Lourey regarding the upcoming release of the YA novel, The Verdant Cage, with Entangled Publishing’s new Mayhem imprint. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Lourey about her creative process in bringing the story and characters to life on the page, what readers may take away from the story’s themes, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: Congratulations on the upcoming release of The Verdant Cage! What are you most excited for readers to experience with this dystopian thriller?
Jess Lourey: What I love most about dystopian YA, from Parable of the Sower to The Hunger Games to Iron Widow, is how they work on two levels. On the surface, you have a story that absolutely transports you with its immersive world-building, propulsive plot, and characters that leap off the page and work themselves into your bones. But just below that immense entertainment, those stories present a cautionary tale about the world we’re allowing and a future we might still be able to change. I hope readers find the same thing in The Verdant Cage, which is set in Minnesota in a not-so-distant future where extreme wealth disparity and government mandated “othering” have reached their pinnacle. I also hope readers experience hope at the end of the book. When we find our people, the impossible becomes attainable.
BD: How would you describe your creative approach to bringing this story and characters to life on the page?
JL: The Verdant Cage is my 25th traditionally published book, and I’ve been an outliner through all of them. My outlines are a three-four-sentence summary of 80-100 scenes, and then I move those 80-100 scene summaries around, adding and subtracting information to create a tight plot. I did the same for The Verdant Cage, but I also did three things differently: 1) I traveled the world to research walled communities so I could make Noah’s Valley, the book’s setting, realistic, 2) I did mountains of research into the potential sociological and economic outcomes of US society as we know it, and 3) I had a wonderful editor, Madison Pelletier, who is also a sociology and story geek. We bounced so many ideas off one another, and the book is better for it.
BD: At Fanbase Press, our #StoriesMatter initiative endeavors to highlight the impact that stories can have on audiences of various mediums and genres. How do you feel that Rose’s story may connect with and impact readers, and what, if any conversations do you hope that it might inspire?
JL: Rose Allgood is a 17-year-old deeply skilled Apothecary who is also socially isolated and awkward due to something she experienced as a child. She’s raised to believe in blind obedience to the system within Noah’s Valley, but a murder makes her question everything she thought she knew. She is all of us waking up to the realization that what we once believed may no longer be true and maybe never was. I would love for the book to spark conversations about how terrifying it is to question systems—especially when it means difficult conversations with the people you love who are supporting those systems—but also how rewarding it is to discover your found family and to fight for the most vulnerable.
BD: What makes Mayhem the perfect publishing partner for The Verdant Cage?
JL: I was drawn to Entangled, the publisher of which Mayhem is an imprint, because Liz Pelletier, the head of Entangled, is a brilliant marketer who creates gorgeous books. Once I signed with them, there was a bit of a rocky road to getting The Verdant Cage out there, but it all became worth it when I was assigned Madison as editor. Her insight and ideas took the book to the next level, and she has been a champion for it since day one.
BD: Are there any other projects – past or current – that you would like to highlight for our readers?
JL: Everything I write is about secrets—the poison of them, the relief at bringing them to light. I’m best known for my true-crime-inspired thrillers, and I would love readers to check out The Quarry Girls and Unspeakable Things, both based on crimes that hit close to home. I also have a gothic thriller with a touch of magic coming out May 2026. It’s called The Blackthorn Women, and if you liked Practical Magic, you’ll love that one.
BD: Lastly, what is the best way for our readers to find more information about The Verdant Cage and your other work?
JL: My website at www.jesslourey.com and my VIP Reader Group on Facebook called Lourey’s Literati are the best places to get the scoop—latest projects and covers, giveaways, and fun events.
