The Great Tree of Iris: An Author Interview with Jess Skultety

Today we're joined by indie fantasy author Jess Skultety to chat all about her debut, The Great Tree of Iris, including how she balanced seven(!) POV characters, why bisexual and plus-size representation is so important, and what she's learned on her journey so far.

The Great Tree of Iris releases on the 21st of October, so be sure to get your pre-orders in now!

---

Thank you for joining us, Jess! Could you start by introducing yourself?

Of course! I’m a thirty-something fantasy author (this is my debut novel!), poet, and quilter who lives in New Jersey with my husband and our adorable cat. I’m always up for eating chocolate peanut buttery things, walking around art museums, writing at the coffee shop, and going to open mics.

We would love to know more about The Great Tree of Iris and what inspired you to write it!

Like so many people, I’ve always wanted to write a book. I’ve always loved epic adventures, especially those where women do badass things. Like, Lord of the Rings is my longtime obsession since childhood, but there are so few women (though Eowyn always stuck with me).

You know how life gets busy? I told myself that, over my one week off over the winter holidays from work, I would make time to draw a map of a fantasy world. It was all the things I wanted to see, like an “exact location unknown,” an enormous sunflower field (plot point!), a huge mountain range, waterfalls, and a moon-shaped island. The map barely changed since that first day, even the names. The story started to come to me then (the big plot twist in the middle of the book, and that it would be a sapphic romance).

What drew you to the epic fantasy genre in particular? 

Definitely my longtime love of Lord of the Rings, paired with reading The Priory of the Orange Tree for the first time and seeing the beautiful queernormative world Samantha Shannon created. Also, there were QUEENDOMS(??!) (there’s one in my book, too). Seeing ordinary people get swept up into not only world-saving deeds but also their own change and healing is everything I could want in a story.

The Great Tree of Iris is basically Lord of the Rings, but what if women and nonbinary people saved the world (and a couple of great guys)?

One thing I could do without in fantasy is the big wars, so that’s not a part of my book (though there is some action).

And what do you love most about including romance in this genre?

Who loves a love story? Me. Since I’m a late-blooming queer woman myself, I knew from the beginning that I wanted the MAIN CHARACTERS to be queer and have a sweeping romance as they try to find the pieces to a hidden prophecy. The world is also queernormative, and there are queer romances everywhere you look. There’s just something beautiful about homo/trans/biphobia not existing and people being able to love who they love freely without possible negative consequences based on their identities.

With a map-crossing quest including everything from magic to dragons, what did the world-building process look like for you? Is the setting inspired by any places, real or fictional?

As I talked about earlier, the map was the starting point. After that, I wrote several short love stories based in the world, which I might publish as a fun side project sometime. Then I had to go back and create the world: how did it form? How does the solar magic system work and how did it get created? Where did all these dragons come from? Where are people believed to go when they die? Why does this one city have two clock towers, and what drew the two sides of the city to grow apart and still come together?

In terms of real life inspiration, the main one is from the first scene I ever wrote on that first day, when my 30-year-old main character, Lia, stands on a bridge in the middle of a hidden elven city. I drew the euphoria of that moment straight from my own experience of standing on the Charles Bridge in Prague in 2011 when I studied abroad. It was one of the few times in my life that felt magical in some kind of otherworldly way.

Are you a plotter or pantser, and did any additional, perhaps even unexpected, research go into this book?

This question will always make me laugh. I’ve done it all; I’d say I’m best known as a plantser (which some dude online told me wasn’t possible). My method of writing three books now is this: pants through the first half or so because I’m in love with an idea, reach the inevitable “uh oh” point, go back, and plot the rest of the book (not without a lot of wringing of hands). I hate plotting, to be honest. I love writing on vibes until I absolutely cannot anymore. That’s what makes writing fun for me.

Can you tell us a little bit about your characters? Which, if any, do you identify with most and why? Which, if any, do you identify with most and why? 

There are 7 POVs in The Great Tree of Iris (and I’m proud to have done it in 120k words!). The main character, Lia Tovar, is a lot like me (tall, fat, 30-something, people-pleasing eldest daughter who has trouble recognizing what love is), because I never see myself represented in literature. It was difficult to show her journey sometimes because it made me look at the harshest parts of my own self/life and my own healing journey.

To be honest, I identify with all of them a bit. Sol (Lia’s younger sibling) has all my yearning for adventure. Rhael is so curious about everything, like me. Rory (the main love interest) loves purple and has confidence I yearn to have. Icarion is a tattoo artist (inkdelver) and pours his love into everything he makes. Aishagi the Wind Wizard commands a room in a way that I feel like I can only do now at my age. And Hippa the dragon uses baking to cope with the sad parts of her life.

We love them already! Which characters do you hope your readers will connect with the most?

It’s hard to answer that one! Everyone seems to have a different favorite so far (though most people fall in love with Hippa the dragon especially). I guess I hope everyone finds one character they relate to.

How did you manage to balance and interweave so many personalities and dynamics? 

It wasn’t easy to create the enormous map of their overlapping stories. It took a lot of time. I have timelines and charts and all sorts of materials made over the year and a half I was writing. But writing the individual scenes–most of the time, it came together easily. It’s funny because when you write a book, you get to know the characters, and then at some point, you know them REALLY WELL. I always felt like I knew them a little bit, and since I pantsed a lot of the book in the beginning, they always surprise me, too.

Lia and Sol were easy to write because their older/younger sibling dynamic was based on my sister and me. They are foils but in the end, they matter so much to each other. This book is also a huge family and friendship story, so on top of the romances, there’s a lot going on!

The story features a diverse range of representation, with an almost all-queer cast and also mental illness. Why was it important to you to include this in your books, and, especially, centre a sapphic romance including a bi character?

Representation is so important to me. I live in a diverse world, so why wouldn’t I make my fantasy world diverse? There’s also an unfortunate long-standing problem in books (especially fantasy, imho) that everyone is assumed white and able-bodied unless said otherwise. I was very intentional about providing at least minor details about skin color for every character, for example. In terms of mental illness, I have dealt with anxiety and depression myself, including panic attacks, and it was important to show realistic versions of this in my book (for example, nothing gets cured at the end with magic! Shocker!).

In terms of sapphic romance–well, there just aren’t enough adult fantasy books with sapphic romance yet, let alone developing between main characters. I don’t think there will ever be enough, ha, but I wanted to contribute my own stories to the genre. I’m bisexual, so it’s important to me that it’s not labeled as a lesbian romance. Bi-erasure is real and so, Lia is also bisexual.

Is there any additional representation that you’d like to see or write more of in the future?

I’ll always write bisexual characters! My next book (temporary title: Pirate Princess) is a bi for bi sapphic romantasy with a bi awakening. Super fun to write and absolutely based on my own bi awakening (though sadly I did not fall head-over-heels in love with a sassy pirate).

What made you decide to pursue indie publishing rather than traditional?

I queried for a bit, but ultimately, the wait time was too long for me. I decided to take my book into my own hands. It has been a huge learning curve, but I keep telling myself the next one will be easier, because I’ll have a better idea of what I’m doing (and I’ll already have a business, website, etc.).

With this being your debut, have you come across any surprises or challenges in writing or publishing so far? How have you overcome them?

The biggest challenge has been to expect the unexpected. Whenever I think something is simple (like publishing a page on my website), there’s something that has to be done in the background, for example, to make it work better. But ultimately, the work will get done and the book will get published (SOON!).

We’d love a hint about what readers can expect from you after The Great Tree of Iris! What are you currently working on?

As I mentioned, Pirate Princess is underway and in developmental edits, and I’m hoping to publish in 2027! I’m also working on my first poetry collection, likely for release in 2026, about being a late-blooming queer person, healing, and accepting and even loving my big body after a lifetime of living in a society that does not love it.

Our podcast focuses on media we’re currently loving. Are there any books, shows, movies, or games you’re enjoying at the moment? Any recommendations for our audience? Bonus points if it includes sapphics!

I’m finally watching Gentleman Jack (sad sapphics/lovesick lesbians) and absolutely loving it! Why can’t every period show have sapphics? I recently read A Restless Truth by Freya Marske, a sapphic mystery at sea, which I really enjoyed. I’m excited to read The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri soon (sapphic). My favorite authors, Samantha Shannon and Alix E. Harrow, are also coming out with books this fall, and I’m chomping at the bit for those. Finally, I am more than ready for Season 2 of Hazbin Hotel at the end of October (sapphic and musical and just a whole lot of fun!).

---

About the Author

Jess Skultety (she/her) is the author of THE GREAT TREE OF IRIS, an epic romantic fantasy (October 2025), as well as a poet and quilter. Her favorite writing subjects include strong women, found family, sapphic relationships, queer joy, and crafting. She is proudly bisexual and lives in New Jersey with her alpha reader husband and cat-shadow-writing buddy. jessskultety.com, @jesskultetyauthor on Instagram and Threads.

Preorder The Great Tree of Iris here (signed paperbacks with goodies for a limited time) or here on Amazon (ebook). The book will be available from all major book retailers on October 21, 2025.