Author Q&A with Jamie Jackson

1. Tells us about your writing/ published book(s)

So far I have three published books, with the fourth coming out December 6th, 2022, and then one planned for a June 2023 release, and those are part of my urban fantasy superhero series, Adventures of a Villain-Leaning Humanoid. I also am in the process of getting a fantasy romance Fae retelling of Tristan and Isolde ready for release in around February to March of 2023.

2. Where’s your favourite place to write?

I have an office space in my house right in front of a window so I get to see birds flitting in and out of the bushes right there all day long. During the summer the hummingbirds come by for the feeder.

3. How do you approach starting a new book?

I generally start with a vague idea of what I want to do, such as a story about a superhero, and I just sit down and start writing. There’s very little planning involved.

4. What’s your favourite genre to read?

Fantasy.

5. Have you always wanted to write?

I have. I would say the writing bug bit me in elementary school when we had to write a story for a project.

6. What do you do when you have writer’s block?

I take a break from writing, change up the music, go do chores or other priorities to give my brain a chance to just let it sit. Usually that helps.

7. Tell us about a scene that you loved but had to edit out of your book

In my Tristan and Isolde retelling, I had a POV switch, it involved some loneliness, pining, nostalgia and grief, but it was too short to justify leaving it in there.

8. Do you like reading the same books you write?

I do! I read a lot of fantasy and all its subgenres.

9. Do write under a pen name? If so, tell us about how you chose it

I do not. I decided I would use my legal name because I put in all that work to create the books in the first place, I’m putting my name on that cover.

10. How do you choose your book’s title(s)?

So for the Adventures of a Villain-Leaning Humanoid I decided to go with a theme, and that was negative emotions and alliteration of the titles, and the reasoning for this was the Greek mythology retelling (the gods were not nice) as well as the morally grey aspects of even the characters who are supposed to be heroes.

As for the Tristan and Isolde retelling, The Sparrow and the Oak Tree, that title came from a line of dialogue within the book itself, and it just felt like it fit well for this particular fantasy romance.

11. What advice would you give to someone wanting to write their first book?

Trust your readers.

12. Do you do research for your books? If so, what kind of research?

Google. I Google everything. Fortunately for me I have a long history of watching any and all documentaries I can get my hands on, so I already have a lot of information just kind of rattling around in my brain so usually I’m Googling to double check something. And my research involves looking anything up from firearms to whether there’s a medieval word for towel.

13. How do you fit writing into your everyday life?

I get up at 5 am, sit down and write before I have to start getting the kids up for school. Some days that’s all I get to get in, other days I’m writing snippets of scenes between other things from sunup to sundown. I just find the opportunity and time as often as possible.

14. How do you approach ‘world building’?

I go in knowing absolutely nothing about the world I’m about to create and I let it build itself as I go.

15. How do you handle criticism?

I read it, take the time to determine if it has any information I can use to better my writing, and let the rest roll off my back. You can’t take criticism personally in this business simply because it’s all so subjective. What I consider my perfect book isn’t going to be the same perfect book to someone else.

16. Describe your perfect character to me

The perfect character never loses their agency, you might not like the character’s choices, you might think they make a ton of bad decisions that you wouldn’t make, but as long as they’re true to that character, they’re realistic to what that character would do, I’m good with that.

17. Tell me about your current work

Technically I’ve got three projects going at once, the superhero series has twelve planned books, so I’m currently still doing revisions and edits on books 6-12, the first pass for edits on The Sparrow and the Oak Tree is almost done, and then I’m currently in the process of writing another retelling, the plot of which will stay a secret until I finish the first draft.

18. Tell me about your main character

So my main character from the superhero series, Meg, is a woman with the power of fear, who in the first book is used to being a big fish in a small pond, but she has absolutely no interest in becoming a hero. Honestly, all she wants is to be left alone by heroes and villains alike, and then a villain she can’t just scare off shows up and she’s forced to turn to other heroes for help. She’s sarcastic, petty, makes bad decisions out of spite, is a difficult person in general and she knows it. But she’s also fiercely loyal, ruthless when it comes to protecting her loved ones, and won’t ask people to be anything other than what they are.

19. Would you want your book made into a film?

I would be THRILLED if a production company wanted to make any of my books into a movie.

20. How many books do you own?

Last count on the Kindle was over 400 I think. And then I’m sure at least another 50-100 of actual physical books if not more.

I could start my own library I think.

This or That Questions…

Short books or Long books

Both

Romance or Fantasy

Both

Bright book covers or Muted book covers

Both

Ebooks, Paperbacks or Audiobooks

Paperbacks

Writing in the Morning or Evening

Morning

Character Driven or Plot Driven

Character

Finally, what’s the best piece of advice someone has given you about writing, marketing, or just generally about life?

If anyone ever gave me life advice, I’ve forgotten it. Probably the best writing advice I’ve received is to just get the first draft down. You can’t fix what doesn’t exist.

You can find Jamie on Twitter

Author Q&A with Jamie Jackson