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J. R Tomlin – Interview With The Author
She paused with a piece of meat halfway to her mouth. “So, Jessup—”
“What? You’re not paying me to talk—”
She grinned. “What if I paid you?”
He narrowed his eyes and considered her, sitting there so cocky. “There’s no amount of coin that can buy my conversation.”
She stuffed the meat into her mouth and dug in her pack.
“How about a diceri?” She tossed him the gold coin over the fire, and he caught it easily in midair.
“All right, maybe I’ll talk to you—but you aren’t getting much for that.”
Warrior’s Duty
When did you first become interested in writing?
I think I wrote my first piece, a poem, when I was about 8 years old.
What style of writing do you use most?
I’m not sure what one would call my style, gritty? realistic?
Has your style changed from when you first began as an author?
Yes, definitely. One grows and changes over time.
In what way do you usually put down your ideas first?
I always work on a computer.
What made you choose that medium?
Because it’s how I’ve always written; it’s comfortable for me.
Do your ideas come from life or imagination?
Imagination, I suppose. I write fantasy mostly and you don’t see a lot of two-headed monster wandering down the street.
Tamra leaned back against Jessup’s bare chest. Looking around his stark cabin, she smiled. The room was bare except for his narrow bed, a table, and two chairs, yet the scent of pine and a fire on the hearth gave it a sweet smell. Being here almost made her forget her responsibilities at the keep. He slipped his arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck.
“Don’t you ever shave?” she grumbled.”No.” He smirked and rubbed his rough cheek into the nape of her neck.
She reached up to push her fingers through her tousled blond hair. Warrior’s Duty
If fiction, how do you choose your characters, if fact, how do you choose the subject?
I just go through the characters I have in my head and write about the one that seems ready. The story has to be right for the character. The subject and the character are too closely related for me to separate them.
Who is your favourite author?
I love GRR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire. I’d like him even better if he would write faster.
What is your favourite piece of work by yourself?
Warrior’s Duty, the novel I included snippets from.
How much time (on average) does it take to complete a work?
A novel? Several months to a year. Short stories, it just depends.
How well do you take criticism?
Usually pretty well and if I don’t I grit my teeth until I can manage to.
What do you do to overcome a ‘block’?
I don’t. Don’t believe in it.
Between the ranked masses of the soldiers stalked the mammoth ixich. Its scaled black body towered three times the height of any man. As it walked its two heads glared ahead, teeth snapping and dripping venom.
Each of its four arms ended in a fist empty of weapons except for its sword-like talons.
Tamra heard Cedrian shout an order; the horns blared to hold. She screamed at Daritha for the archers to fire on the creature.
The Sharenta stood with arms raised high, surrounded by an eye-searing light. Warrior’s Duty
How do you know something is ‘finished’? Is it easy to walk away?
It’s never easy to walk away. There’s an old saying that a story is never finished, just abandoned.
Have you had been published?
Warrior’s Duty published by Swimming Kangaroo Books,
Talon of the Raptor Clan co-authored with C. R. Daems published by Epress-Online Publishing,
Seeds of Healing (short story) currently in Lorelei Signals.
Have you any publications planned for the future?
Scales of Justice co-authored with C. R. Daems will be published next year by Double Dragon Press and I am currently shopping a solo novel to agents.
What are your plans for the future?
I’ll continue writing.
What advice would you give new authors?
It is a very, very tough industry. Expect a lot of rejection but the best thing any author can do is read and follow Heinlein’s Rules.
Again Jessup’s arrow found its mark in one of the ixich’s maws as it careened toward him. At the last second Jessup spurred his horse to dodge the creature. His mhorse reared in terror and began a lunge. The ixich barreled into the mount. It screamed.
All three went over the edge of the cliff. They heard the ixich’s roar of rage. The horse gave one last scream of terror. The sound stopped. All was silent except for the distant cry of a hawk. Warrior’s Duty
Have you done any courses to help you?
I have a BA in English and a minor in History so that probably does help.
What do you do to market your work?
I don’t do a lot of marketing. It’s a part of the business I’m not comfortable with and I’m still not sure that anything a writer does makes any difference anyway. I do blog and post on some forums which have links to my novel on Amazon. Occasionally, I do an interview–like this. But I’m not as happy talking about myself as my characters.
Do you use social networking in your day to day life?
I blog at jeannetomlin.blogspot.com
Are you interested in collaborating with artists?
Any art is up to the publisher which I’m perfectly happy with. Generally, that’s outside the remit of the writer.
She reversed her swing to draw a killing blow, backhanded, across his belly. She wiped drops of blood off her face to see Cedrian smash his shield into the side of a scout’s head. The man turned to run. Cedrian slammed his sword into the back of the man’s bull neck.
Tamra turned to look for a new opponent. Another charged at her, steel glinting in the firelight. Sword clashed upon sword. In a quick move the scout curled his blade over and around Tamra’s, pushing hard so that she recoiled with an oath, a line of scarlet dripping down her neck. Warrior’s Duty
Have you got hobbies?
Several. Horseback riding but I don’t have a horse any more so that’s been cut back, sword fighting (not fencing which is quite a different thing), and hiking.
Where are you based?
Oregon
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