A while back I had the pleasure of writing a book review for a fantasy horror novel called Daimonion, by J.P. Jackson.  It was one of the first M/M stories I'd ever read, and the first horror I'd read in years.  As such, it's fantastic to welcome J.P. to ceLEStial books for an Author Q&A. 


​1. What book is next in line on your 'to read' list? What drew you to it? 

See that’s a hard one to answer, because right now I have a string of books I’m reading as a judge for an awards contest, and I can’t very well state what I’m reading! Let’s just say that there have been some great books, and some not very good books. Regardless of the quality of the story, it’s been fun and I’ve been introduced to some ‘new to me’ authors!
 
But if we’re talking personal reading list? I have a couple that are on hold until I’m done my assigned reading:

One Bullet by Casey Wolfe
When Heaven Strikes by F.E. Feely Jr.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
 
What drew me to my personal selection?  Well, Casey is a fellow author at NineStar and I’ve been meaning to read this book for a long time, and it’s had great reviews. I’m looking forward to picking that up!

When Heaven Strikes – I’ve become online acquaintances with the author and after reading reviews and having other friends recommend the book, I really want to give this a read.
American Gods – well, because it’s by Neil Gaiman!
 
2. Aspiring writers often undertake a lot of research about publishers. In the spirit of helping those writers find a publisher that's right for them, could you tell us about your experiences with NineStar Press?  

My experience all started with a Twitter contest.  I pitched my recently completed (at the time) book Daimonion, Book One of the Apocalypse.  When NineStar Press liked the tweet – in all honesty – I knew nothing about them.  After doing a little digging, I decided to submit my book to them, and then I forgot all about it.  Two weeks later I got an email with a publishing contract. I haven’t looked back since.
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Now, keep in mind I’m a newbie in this game. Unlike others who have also been published at NineStar, this is my first novel ever, and I was unbelievably fortunate to get it published.  But frankly, I can’t imagine looking elsewhere. The folks at NineStar Press have been nothing short of amazing to work with, incredibly supportive and have encouraged me to attempt new projects.

3. The Beatles or Elvis?  
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Ha ha ha …oh, that’s funny. Neither! But if you’re going to make me choose one, I’ll say The Beatles.

4. I've read your new speculative horror novel, Daimonion and I got the feeling you undertook a fair amount of research into the supernatural. Was that the case? Did your research play an important part in forming the plot?  

Absolutely. I spent hours creating and developing themes, creatures, backstories, and even a grimoire. Even though my book is based in the realm of fantasy, I still needed it to have touches of realism.  There’s a scene in the book where Dati steals a car from a drunk driver, and the driver argues back (obviously), and Dati punches him in the head, knocking him unconscious. I spent probably two hours online researching if that was even possible, what kind of a punch would do that, how much strength it would take, etc.

The magical elements, well, a lot of that may seem random, but I did a lot of searches to make sure I had the correct elements (colors, plants, crystals etc) for the various spells. I may or may not have a small library of my own to choose from!

As for the demonology aspect – some of the creatures are completely made up, others are borrowed from mythology, and some are well known tropes and demon archetypes. Still I wanted to stay true to them, if not create them in a bit of a different way.

Even the names for all my characters have all been researched. Their meanings all trace back to values that are true to the characters they portray.
  

5. If you could re-make any Disney movie to include more gender and sexual diversity, which one would it be?  

***Rubs hands together with a mischievous little grin***

Okay, see, now this is where you get to see how twisted my mind is.  Funny you should ask me this because recently, my husband and I watched the live action version of Beauty and the Beast, and I was totally captivated by it. I thought they did a fantastic job, but all the while I was watching the movie, I couldn’t help but think Belle’s name should have been Beau, he needed to be some muscular farm hand, and be lured off into the woods to become the Beast’s captive.

Except even when they did fall in love, the Beast still remains the beast.

How’s that for switching things up a little?
I know, I’m weird.
I’m sorry.
I’ll go sit in the corner. Again.

6. Which character in Daimonion would you most like to have a drink or a meal with? Why?  

​Well Master is out of the question – he’s just an asshole.

Jenae would drive me completely insane in five minutes, so no.

I’d actually like to sit down with both Dati and Alyx, but the Alyx after his change (I’m not going to elaborate on that. ;o)  ). Dati is a complicated mess, but I’d want to have the opportunity to touch his tail, and Alyx I find to be young, flirty and dynamic. He kind of reminds me a little bit of myself when I was his age, except he’s way cuter, and well, a redhead. Given their dietary restrictions, I think it would be safer to go out for a cocktail or two instead. I think they’d be a fun pair to hang out with. And the funny thing is that I’ve had imaginary conversations between the two of them about situations that are completely removed from the book – like, what would the two of them sound like grocery shopping.
 

7. What are your writing goals for the next twelve months or so?  

Well, the first goal is to keep writing! I have so many hobbies, I need to start balancing some things. But, beyond that, I have two projects in the works right now both are around the 50,000 word mark. One I want to finish here in the next couple of weeks. It’s quite a bit different than Daimonion, a little lighter (I think), but still has demons and magic and mayhem.

After I’m done that project – I think I’m going to shelve the other one for a while and focus in on starting the second book of The Apocalypse series.  It will be called Nephalem.

8. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts! To finish off, could you let us know how people would go about buying your fantastic new book?  

Oh, wow, well thank you so much for having me! It’s been a pleasure. And by all means, people can find Daimonion, Book One of the Apocalypse in the following spots:
 
Links:
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NineStar Press

Amazon

Kobo

Goodreads

1. The first novel of your series, Ardulum, has been released and the second in the series is set to be released in October. You seem to be really productive! What's your secret to writing these amazing novels so close together? I'm having some real writer jealousy over here…

I wish I had some magic secret. The reality is that I’d been querying ARDULUM on and off for three years. During that time I wrote the rest of the series, just to have something to keep my mind from the querying process. Everything took off after #DVpit, which is how I found Ninestar, but by the time they signed me, I had the second book already written, and the third was being drafted. So, no secret at all! They querying process really is a drag, so spending that time writing can be an unexpected benefit.

In fact, I think I’m probably a pretty slow writer. I can write a 100K or so book in about four months, but that’s just draft zero. It usually takes me seven or so rewrites before it is ready to go to an editor, and those edits can take me another four to six months, easily. Having a full time job really slows things down, too!

2. What's one idea you've seen in a review of your book that either surprised or amused you? Or do you manage to avoid reading the reviews at all?

I love reading reviews! I’m a professor, so I work with peer-review all the time. There is nothing a fiction reviewer can say to me that will break through the callouses built up from the scientific community. BRING IT ON! For ARDULUM, I’m most amused by how people seem to either think it is a very slow starting book, or it runs at breakneck pace. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground. Personal preference just matters so much in terms of how a reader sees your book. That’s a great thing to keep in mind, too, when reading reviews. 

3. Finish this sentence: Don't you just wish books…..

came with pictures. Not a ton, but I’d love it if sci fi books, especially, had a few more illustrations in them. Could be alien species, or sketches of the main characters. Something. Just because I’m an adult doesn’t mean I don’t like a good illustration.

4. What appeals to you about writing Sci-Fi?

I work in a hard science field, so for me, sci fi writing is a chance to play around with all of the cutting edge tech I see on a daily basis, that may not hit the general public for decades. Even better, science fiction allows me to stretch the science, ignore some of the rules, and make something that is plausible yet fantastic. Perhaps the best part is that if I stay within my field, it doesn’t take a great deal of research for me to write a sci fi story. All those years of graduate school had more than one use!

ARDULUM in particular was fun to write, because as far as I know, no one has really explored near-future cellulose use in fiction. So much of the tech in ARDULUM is already here, or just a decade or so off, but seems fantastic in a space setting. I took a number of liberties with the chemistry side of it though, so I’m just waiting for a grad student in my department to come in, set the book down on my desk, and start off on the disordered regions of crystalline cellulose and bond breakage, and how if we had telekinesis that isn’t really how it would happen…

5. What would you like to see more (or less) of in Sci-Fi books, films, shows etc.?

White. Men.

6. Beer or wine?

Gross. Whiskey—single malt scotch

7. What's more challenging: Providing your thoughts for the cover art of your books, or helping to write the blurbs?

I’ll take option C - the frustration of realizing that stock images just doesn’t have enough POC or non-sexualized women to accurately represent the characters in my books. Then trying to suggest a cover image that will be true to your story, but somehow not using the main characters. ARGH!

8. Thank you so much for your time, J.S.! To finish up, one last question. Are you a planner, a pantser, or something in between?

I’m 100% a discover writer. I’ve tried outlining, but I can’t ever keep to the outline. The characters go where and how they want. I usually start with a location concept (tramp transport, moon, etc), then decide on the primary relationship (I like kissing in my books, and I am not ashamed to admit it). From those two points I start writing, and build the plot as I go. 

I once had a reviewer for ARDULUM comment that they didn’t know how I wrote such a complex book. The truth is, none of it was planned. Each layer goes on individually, and each edit works on braiding in the new elements from the last pass. Seven or eight rewrites in, and the book is ready to go out into the world.  

Thank you so much for having me! This has been a delight!

You can buy the e-book here, or the the paperback is available through most retailers.