1. Many authors develop an interest in writing at a young age. What first sparked you interest in writing?
When
I was in fifth grade, our teacher gave my class a creative writing
assignment. We were given the first page of a haunted house-style horror
story, which set the scene and introduced elements that we could play
off of in our writing. Each student then had to continue the story from
there, coming up with their own twists and turns. Most of the other
students wrote about a page. I immersed myself in the project and wrote a
gripping 7-page story with action, excitement, secret passages, and a
twist ending. I had so much fun that I asked the teacher for another
assignment.
After
that, I spent my teenage years writing short stories based on my
Dungeons & Dragons adventures. Eventually this led to me taking
creative writing classes in college. Today, I have a bachelor's degree
in Writing Arts from Rowan University, and I'll be earning my Master's
in Writing in the spring of 2015.
2. What difficulties and challenges (if any) have you faced as a writer?
Probably
my biggest challenge is overcoming my issues with self-esteem and
doubt. Like most writers I know, I tend to be plagued by worries about
whether my work will ever be successful. On the other hand, there's also
times that I'm a raging narcissist who is convinced that I've written
solid gold. So, it swings to both extremes.
3. Would you please tell us about the premise of
Radiance
and Manifestation
? How did you come up with the idea?
Manifestation
introduces a world where magic has not existed for centuries. The story
begins with the rebirth of magic, but with unpredictable consequences.
The people manifesting these arcane powers have no idea where they came
from, how to control them, or how to protect against them. Gabby
Palladino, the main protagonist, finds herself trapped in a city that
suffers an unexplained catastrophe, and she has to struggle to survive
while trying to figure out why these supernatural events are occurring
and why she's been caught in the middle.
Radiance is an independent short story set in the same world, taking place just after the climax of Manifestation.
It provides a more up-close-and-personal look at one of the people who
has been altered by these magical forces. Maria Vasquez finds herself
transformed when she is touched by mystical light and she manifests an
arcane power of her own.
I
developed the idea for this series after seeing a number of
post-apocalyptic fantasy stories that introduce a world years or
centuries after a supernatural change. What all of these stories usually
have in common is that the changes to the world and the rebirth of
magical abilities are always part of the history and back story. I wanted
to write a series that shows the initial changes that come to the world
and guides the reader through the entire transformation.
4. How many books do you have planned for the
Manifestation: Arcana Revived
series?
The series will consist of a number of sub-series, as well as short stories, poems, and a novella. Manifestation
is the first book of Series One, which will be a six-volume series that
shows the rebirth of magic, the conflicts that erupt as a result of
these arcane powers, and the changes that take place in the world. The
second series will then focus on the world after the change as people
adapt to the new world and the supernatural forces that have altered it.
Each future series after that will focus on a new, self-contained story
arc that explores different aspects of the setting.
The short stories, starting with Radiance,
are being released one at a time as eBooks. Eventually they will be
compiled into a short story collection that will be available in
paperback and eBook. A poetry collection, with poems inspired by the
lives of the characters and the struggles they go through, will also be
released in the future. At least one independent novella is planned with
its own individual plot, separate from the main story arcs but still
fitting within the world of the Arcana Revived series.
5. Do you have a favorite character (of your own) that tugs at your heart and why?
It's
hard to pick favorites, but the one who "tugs at my heart" most of all
is Gabby Palladino. She's a gentle soul, a poet, and a girl who bears an
impossible burden. Throughout the series she grows and changes,
starting off as a frightened high school student caught in circumstances
beyond her control or understanding, and eventually becoming something
much more. But that's a story for the sequels.
6. Many authors share their ideas with friends, family and other authors. With whom do you share your ideas?
I'll
talk to anyone and everyone about my ideas, but my fellow grad students
in Rowan University's Master's in Writing program are the ones I go to
most often. Many of them have read various versions of my
works-in-progress, especially since many of them were written as part of
my class assignments.
7. What are you currently working on?
I'm in the middle of revising Volume Two, Contamination,
which will be released in 2015. I'm also prepping to begin Volume Six,
currently untitled, which will be written for the 2014 NaNoWriMo.
8. When do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?
Reading,
video games, Star Trek, Doctor Who, webcomics, and a variety of other
aspects of geek culture. I'm also a big fan of steampunk in all of its
forms.
9. Would you ever branch out a write about a different genre?
I
frequently write in other genres for either school assignments or
freelance ghostwriting jobs. I've dabbled in romance, mystery, sci fi,
and contemporary fiction. Though if I were ever to write a serious
project of my own, such as a contemporary novel with no supernatural
elements, I'd still be able to fit it in with the Arcana Revived
world by making it a prequel. For example, three of the short stories I
mentioned that will be included in the collection are "origin stories"
that show the backgrounds of some of the major characters, before the
rebirth of magic. Those stories deal with psychology, family drama, and
romance, each addressed using very different genre conventions than the
rest of the urban fantasy series.
10. How do you deal with procrastination?
I put it off until I can't help it anymore, then I procrastinate as much as I want.
11. Who or what inspired you to write th
ese stories
?
The
stories themselves were mostly inspired by the two main characters,
Gabby Palladino and Tock Zipporah. I had originally written both of them
in separate, independent short stories on collaborative writing sites. I
felt like they had a lot more potential for growth and development than
they ever achieved in those stories, so I decided to put them together
in a novel and see what happened.
At the moment, New Life and New Civilizations, Exploring Star Trek Comics.
It's a collection of analytical essays that explore the often-ignored
world of Star Trek comic books, newspaper comics, and even coloring
books, all of which are fascinating contributions to the Star Trek
franchise. The book contains essays from a variety of authors with
experience with the Star Trek franchise, and it was edited by Joseph F.
Berenato.
Manifestation is available in paperback on CreateSpace and Amazon. You can also get eBook versions of both Manifestation and Radiance on Amazon Kindle. You can also checkout ArcanaRevived.com for updates on the latest book releases.
You can find Jason on his blog, Facebook, Goodreads, or on Twitter @CantrellJason.
No comments:
Post a Comment