Interview with Jamie
Jamie recently was interviewed by the blog, Urban Fantasy Investigations after the release of Wicked Folk.
Q. What can you tell readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview?
A. I have a guilty pleasure. I enjoy reading paranormal romance novels. I’m grateful for the advent of e-book readers where the people around me can’t easily know what I’m reading.
Q. What do you enjoy doing on your down time?
A. When I chose to name my publishing company, I settled on the name Fickle Dragon. To those around me the adjective fickle was of no surprise. I am the epitome of idea-of-the-month and have a wide variety of hobbies. Things I commonly return to are; bike riding, wood working and building little metal creatures by tacking random iron objects together with my welder.
Q. What is your Favorite part of writing?
A. I’m a long form writer, primarily. That is, I prefer writing novels over short stories. There’s a moment in the story, about two-thirds of the way through, when I turn the corner. It’s the moment when the story turns from building up to working on resolution. I relish that moment and often stop writing for a day or two and reflect on the story to make sure I’m satisfied I’ve told the story I’m interested in.
Q. Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?
A. Two years ago, I negotiated my day-job’s work hours from forty down to thirty-two. I’m grateful that I work for a company that would allow me to do so. As a result, I permanently have Fridays available for writing. This is the start of my writing week and I wake up on Friday morning at 06:30, feed the animals (cats and dogs), make coffee and breakfast and find my way into my office. My goal is always the same, I’ll write a chapter (for me about 3,500 words) that day, no matter what. I then endeavor to write at least one more chapter between Saturday and Sunday and hope to get a run at one more chapter during evening hours.
Q. What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?
A. My entry to Urban Fantasy was Butcher’s Dresden Files, love that guy. Kim Harrison’s Hollows series is amazing. Obviously I can’t skip mentioning Ilona Andrews, Carrie Vaughn, Alex Craft, Faith Hunter, Kami Garcia, Charlaine Harris, and many more. Recently I’ve been reading through Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series.
Q. How would you pitch Witchy World to someone who has not heard of it before?
A. The Witchy World series follows our unlikely hero and modern day wizard, Felix Slade. Felix knows better than to meddle in the lives of witches, but he’s drawn into their lives by visions and an unwillingness to stand idly by as dark forces threaten. It is in Wizard in a Witchy World (book 1) where Felix meets the love of his life, Gabriella, a beautiful witch who finds herself threatened by werewolves. In Wicked Folk, (book 2), a young witch is hunted by a demon and Felix discovers he has few answers for such a powerful being.
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about the world that Witchy World is set in?
A. Witchy World is set in current day, where the general population has no idea of the paranormal or fantastic. As the series progresses, we discover that there are clues all around us as to the existence of the paranormal and the fantastic but people mostly ignore them and even excuse the evidence around them.
Felix, our wizard hero, was orphaned at an early age and raised by a witch and her coven. His separation from them was caused by his emerging powers and the danger he then posed to his foster family. Witch World starts up when Felix moves to a new town and attempts to build his own life, on his own.
Q. Do you have a favorite scene in Wicked Folk (Witchy World Book 2)?
A. Absolutely. The opening scene where Lace, the beautiful young witch from the book’s cover, discovers that her magically inept uncle is summoning a demon in the barn. As you can imagine, the demon escapes and it’s nothing but trouble from that point forward.
Q. Which one character out of all your books was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?
A. Maggie, Felix’s shape-shifting sister. She’s irreverent and loves to call people out when they most need it.
Q. What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?
A. I’m constantly working on new projects and switch between science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy and mystery. I haven’t started work on the next Witchy World installment, but you can be assured it’s not far off.
Happy Reading — Jamie
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
