Featured Interview With Author Jeremy James Smith
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I'm a father, husband, writer, gamer. When I'm not writing, I enjoy making things, upcycling old discards into new useful items. My family and I travel the US and Canada as much as possible. We've spent much of the last decade building up a new ren faire into one of the region's premier festivals (see headshot).
We keep dogs, big ones; typically with interesting personalities. These companions are very helpful in our rural, woodsy life.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Oh, my goodness, my whole life! My mother read the Lord of the Rings trilogy to me while she was pregnant, and it never stopped. By four I was reading well on my own, holding deep discussions about the nuances of the Silmarillion by twelve.
Fantastic stories with incredible settings always called to me. I was in high school before people started to tell me I should be a writer; but I didn't have time for academics. I was too busy reading Pratchett, Asimov, and McCaffrey. Too busy playing endless roleplaying games with several groups.
A quarter-century later, I found myself trapped by choice in a rural community, few friends, crappy internet, and an exhausted wife. She needed to nap when I was home from work, which our infant son echoed.
I was lonely.
So in a silent house in the woods, I started by recalling some of my favorite characters from the stories my friends and I told in games. Angus was one of my earliest subjects, and his stories just flowed like water.
After another decade, I joined a writer's group; and there learned about editing and development. Several state conferences in, and I gained major confidence in my ability.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love the originals; Tolkien, Pratchett, McCaffrey as mentioned. Also newer authors like Wen Spencer and Jim Butcher. I had the privilege of a short conversation with R.A. Salvatore a few years back, and I'm still inspired by his advice – which was basically to write. Write it all.
I look to current events, great moments in time, to inspire scenes. Most of the time the social commentary is retrospective; but several times I've played with a situation and fictionalized it, only to see the events come to pass as I wrote them
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Holtgart is my latest release. It is a coming-of-age tale of an unlikely hero – an everydwarf – who finds himself in the middle of a much larger story, influencing major happenings in ways he could not have imagined.
That story continues and develops in my upcoming release, Pickled Marble. Here we see a transformation from a story about individuals to a story of tribes and nations; exploring different kinds of leadership. We meet new characters and find new places, while staying in touch with the names and venues that starred in Holtgart.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles
Jeremy James Smith Facebook Page
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