Interview with JA Andrews

I’ve got an interview today with the author of the Keeper Chronicles, JA Andrews. Her books are a great match for Benjamin Ashwood fans, and during the interview I realized we have almost the exact same influences. A rare occurrence of it all making sense… Each of the series she lists as inspiring to her, I currently have on my shelves!

My favorite quote from the interview, “Growing up, I loved science, math, and writing. No one ever, at any time in my life, treated writing as a possible career path. I was as likely to find the wardrobe into Narnia as I was to ever pay bills from writing.” I think that’s a sentiment that almost every author can relate to. But JA (Janice), is well on her way to paying her bills, and a lot more. And by the way, the boxset for her Keeper Chronicles series is one of the best reviewed fantasy titles on Goodreads, and it’s only $0.99.

I’m bringing you guys gold. PURE GOLD!

Let’s do this interview.

AC: Hi JA, mind if I call you Janice? Thanks for joining us today! My readers may have heard of you from your Keeper Chronicles series, but in case they have not, can you tell us a little bit about those books?

JA: Thanks for inviting me! The Keeper Chronicles are an ode to my deep love for the classic fantasy books I grew up on in the 80’s and 90’s. They have Keepers (storyteller/mages) who travel with gruff dwarves and flighty elves and run into the occasional dragon. Not a cuddly sort of dragon, more like cousin-of-Smaug dragons. I’m a big fan of the old fantasy tropes, and I wanted to see if I could write a book that uses them in ways that feel familiar, but is also full of life. I have had my books compared to some Benjamin Ashwood series, if that means anything to you.

AC: Nice! As my readers know, I’m also a huge fan of classic fantasy stories, and my love of “90’s Fantasy” is what led to Benjamin Ashwood. What inspired you to write your version?

JA: When I started writing, I found myself missing a sense of… something like wonder in the books, movies, and TV I was seeing. I realized that all my favorite stories have that… whatever-it-is in them

By the time I’d written an entire series that tried to capture that whatever-it-is, you’d think I’d have figured out a better name for it. But mostly I describe it with fluttery hand motions and an expectant expression that doesn’t translate well into type. So I write to capture the whatever-it-is. 

AC: A two parter — What series from the 80’s / 90’s are your books most like, and if it is someone different, which author do you admire the most? Aka, who’s got “whatever-it-is”? 

JA: Excellent question. My first fantasy love was the Belgariad by David Eddings. I had never been so swept up in a story, or so invested in characters as I was the first time I read that series. Anne MacCaffrey’s Pern books, Dragonlance, and Raymond E Feist’s Magician books are more favorites of mine. I think what they all had in common was a freshness and wonder to the worlds and the magic their characters were discovering, and so I do think my writing is a bit like those.

AC: The boxset for the Keeper Chronicles series has some of the best reviews I’ve ever seen! 4.59 stars on Goodreads.com, which is a lot better than any of my books! What is it about this series which you think engages readers so thoroughly?

JA: I would pay a lot of money to know the answer to this question, because then I could lay to rest the lurking fear that I’ll never be able to repeat it. From the reviews, readers seem to connect emotionally with the characters, which I’m thrilled about. I think this is the unexpected result of the fact that I have very little visual imagination. 

When I’m writing, I don’t see the story, I hear it and feel it. So my descriptions tend toward the emotions in the scene as opposed to the visual. In fact, my rough drafts have so little visual description that my critique partners probably have “Describe what this looks like!” Programed as a shortcut on their keyboards.

On an unasked for and barely related tangent, my lack of visual imagination is paired with a lack of visual memory. I cannot remember what people look like. I can recognize them, but I can’t picture them. Even people I’m REALLY close to are hazy in my mind’s eye. So I have this terrible fear that someday I’m going to be the sole witness to a crime, and the only way I’ll be able to describe the criminal is with something like, “He had a heavy presence. And his hair was angry.”

AC:  Noted. I will be sure to plan any of my future crimes to take place in your vicinity. It’s funny you say that about visualization, though, because I think I’m the same way. I have to admit that I very rarely am self-aware enough to think about these things. In my Benjamin Ashwood series, I never bothered to describe the main character, Ben. It was a bit on purpose, to allow the readers to feel more comfortable putting themselves in his shoes, but also because he had no strong physical characteristics in my mind. I’d dreamed of his actions, rather than his face. A good thing we are not writing romance… Anyway, let’s get a little specific on writing craft. When building your characters, if you’re not assigning eye-color, what are you doing to formulate these imaginary creatures we’re going to want to follow for several books?

JA: That’s interesting about Ben, because now that I think about it, I have no idea what he looks like. Which is not unusual for me, EXCEPT I feel like there was a freedom to his character. Like I could make him look like whatever I wanted, instead of feeling like I’d just forgotten you said about him, which is what I usually do.

When I am creating characters, it’s usually based around whatever is broken inside them. Which is cheerful. I like my characters to all have some sort of deep ache that they try to ignore during regular life, but the story just keeps shoving it in their face. I generally have a good emotional picture of all my characters, and how they act, just not what they look like. “I’d dreamed of his actions, rather than his face” is a perfect description.

AC: Ok, enough of this woozy floozy writing craft! Let’s get to the invasive personal questions ;) In your bio, you say you’re an unemployed rocket scientist. You’ve got to give us the backstory on that!

JA: Growing up, I loved science, math, and writing. No one ever, at any time in my life, treated writing as a possible career path. I was as likely to find the wardrobe into Narnia as I was to ever pay bills from writing. And, as a girl, everyone was thrilled to help me move toward the sciences. My father is an engineer, so it seemed like a logical path to take. 

Unfortunately, not too far into engineering school, I realized that while science was fun, a large part of engineering involved deciding how thick a bolt had to be to keep a bridge from collapsing. Which didn’t really grab my fancy. 


Except aerospace engineering. I already had a deep love for fantasy worlds by this point, and working in space is the closest we get to a fantasy world in real life. Yes, there are the same physical laws, but when you have no atmosphere and gravity is weak enough that it’s more of a suggestion than an irresistible force, everything changes. There is such a fantastical aspect to designing things that can travel in such a bizarre environment. 

The only problem, which probably wasn’t surprising to anyone but me, is that there isn’t a huge demand for rocket scientists in the work force. So I ended up taking a job as a telecommunications engineer for a few years until we had our first baby and I could bail on engineering and do anything else at all. 

My husband is a physician, though, and since “rocket scientist” is one of the few things that trumps “doctor”, I feel like the degree has been put to good use. 

AC: And now you’re in Montana with a young family?

JA: We do live in Montana, and I’m torn between saying my children are young, and weeping about the fact that they’re about to move out and leave me. In actuality, they’re 8, 10, and 13. So probably somewhere in the messy middle. I homeschool them and find them to be among the most interesting people on earth.

Also, I write my books specifically so that my kids can read them if they want. So even though they’re written for adults and deal with complex issues like grief and guilt and whether our lives are turning out how we’d expected, they have a solid PG rating. The violence is minimal and there’s no sex, mostly because they tend to be very light on romance.

AC: Being able to stay home and write is the dream for many budding authors, but with little kids in the house, it can also be a nightmare! And I only say that because my guys are 7, 4, and 2 now, and they are nightmares… Can you tell us a little bit about your schedule, and how you manage your work / life balance?

JA: Thankfully my kids are getting older and more independent. I’m thoroughly impressed with authors who can write with tiny, volatile energy balls running around their house.

That being said, I do get most of my writing done early in the morning. A happy side effect of homeschooling is that no one needs to be out of the house early, so kids sleep in and leave me alone until usually sometime between 9 and 10. My productivity does take a nosedive after that, though.

AC: Outside of family and writing, what are your hobbies, and what would you do if suddenly you found yourself with twice as much time?

JA: This made me laugh hard enough that a child stopped by to see what was so funny. Between homeschooling and family—and a husband who works from home as well—I have no hobby besides writing. But I love getting to write, so probably with twice as much time, I’d write twice as much. I’m not sure if that makes me dedicated and focused, or obsessed, but there it is.

AC: Now that the Keeper Chronicles are complete, what’s next from you, Janice?

JA: I’m about to publish the first book in a new series that takes place in the same world, several hundred years before the Keeper Chronicles. It’s called the Keeper Origins, and, unsurprisingly, tells the stories of the first Keepers. If the stars align, I hope to have the entire trilogy out within a year. My practical inner voice has a lot of snarky, skeptical things to say about that goal, but I try not to listen to her too often.

AC: And that’s all I’ve got for today. Reminder, JA’s boxset is one of the best fantasy reviewed titles on Goodreads, and it’s only $0.99 on Amazon. What else do you need to know?? When you’re done reading that, you can find out more about her at: https://www.jaandrews.com.

Interview with Jeff Wheeler

I’m very excited today to share an interview with Jeff Wheeler. If you got my books on Amazon, then you’ve almost certainly heard of him. The guy lives at the top spots on the fantasy charts! Even when my last series ended up in an obscure subgenre called gaslamp — which no one has ever heard of — I found Jeff there waiting… I had to talk to the guy.

He has an expansive catalogue, which you’ll learn more about in the interview, but if you can’t wait to read all of that, the best places to start with the books are The Wretched of Muirwood or the soon to be released The Killing Fog (preorder). The Wretched of Muirwood is classic Jeff, the Killing Fog is new Jeff. If you liked Benjamin Ashwood, then Muirwood could be a good fit. If you liked the Cartographer, then his Harbringer series is a closer match — though Jeff isn’t as dark & dirty as I am. And if you trust nothing I say and want to skip to his best-selling series, it’s Kingfountain.

Actually, just read the interview…

AC: Hi Jeff, thanks for joining me today. My readers likely know you best from your Kingfountain or Muirwood books, but you’re pretty prolific. Before I lost track, I think I counted 29 titles across several series! Can you tell us a little bit about the different series and your new one coming out?

JW: When the writing bug bit me, I decided early on that I didn’t want to be confined to just one world and only tell stories in it. Most readers know me for my Muirwood series and Kingfountain series, which take place on two different worlds, and then the Harbinger series which creates conflict between both of them. Most of my books have a medieval feeling to them, except Harbinger which has a more Steampunk vibe. My new series, The Grave Kingdom, is something totally different and takes place in a world with Chinese mythological elements.

AC: You had a few books out beforehand, but you really got going with the Legends of Muirwood series back in 2013. It was published by Amazon’s fantasy imprint, 47North, and if I have my timing right, that was just shortly after 47North got started. How did you end up with them, and were you nervous about starting with a new imprint?

JW: I originally self-published the Legends of Muirwood series, launching all three books simultaneously after multiple rejections. It was on the market at the time 47North was born and was picked up by their editor, David Pomerico, who had been recruited from Del Rey to help with acquisitions. David was interested in those books as well as the Mirrowen series which I had started writing after finishing Muirwood.

AC: Ah, I didn’t realize it was self-published first! Amazon is rarely known as a book publisher, but thanks to their retail presence, marketing prowess, and a savvy selection of authors, they’ve grown into one of the largest. Can you tell us a little bit about what it’s been like working with them?

JW: Having spent most of my career at a tech company, I really understand Amazon and where they’re coming from as a disruptor in the publishing scene. What I really wanted was a long-term partner who would continue to innovate and not just sell books the traditional way. It was a perfect match, and I’ve enjoyed the partnership, especially their ability to turn out my books as fast as I can write them. It means they’ve been open to testing aggressive launch schedules and all that it entails. But what most people don’t really understand is their unparalleled ability to match readers with writers they’ll love. No other publisher can do it the same way.

AC: The book publishing and retailing businesses have seen huge upheaval in recent years, and just about everyone predicts more is to come. What changes do you expect to see happening in the next 5 years?

JW: It’s true that change always happens. We’re already seeing more of a shift to audiobooks than in the past, and I think that trend will only accelerate. People just don’t have as much time to sit down and read as they used to. The ability to listen while driving or going to the gym and then being able to switch to reading a digital version at the same spot is something that is helpful. With services like Kindle Unlimited, we’re seeing another huge shift in the industry that will have long-term implications. But I don’t foresee an end to reading. Yes, books compete with TV shows, movies, videogames, listening to music, and other forms of entertainment, but it’s not going away any time soon. People crave an escape from the pressures of daily life and the ability to immerse themselves in words. That won’t change.

AC: Let’s get back to your books. With so many different series, I’m curious about what inspires you. We can’t cover them all, so how about we start with your upcoming March 2020 release, The Killing Fog?

JW: The idea for The Killing Fog originally came during a family cruise to Alaska. That’s where the plot and world building started, but things really exploded when I was invited to the International Writing Conference in Beijing in 2018. I got to spend a month in China and really immersed myself in the lore and culture of that country. But like all of my series, it’s the story that drives it. The emotional connection I feel to the characters and what they’re about to go through. The setting is just part of the ambiance. What really matters, to me, is the human experience. I chose fantasy as my genre because while I love history and majored in it during college, I didn’t like feeling constrained to follow things that happened. Most of my books are based on obscure historical details that I then re-vamped into something new.

AC: Back in my corporate days while I was writing the early Benjamin Ashwood books, I traveled extensively for work. A lot of the places I visited made their way onto my pages. Sharp-eyed sleuths deduced I was in Hamburg, Germany while writing Book 3, for example. I love traveling, and I love finding places in this world that slide naturally into a fantasy setting. Can you tell us the most magical place you’ve visited, and have you drawn from that for your books?

JW: I'm definitely inspired by places I've been. Sometimes little things like hiking the redwoods of California ended up in my books. As for the most magical place I've been, it was probably a river walk in the Sierra Gordo mountains in Mexico. The water was so pristinely clear it seemed like a magical fountain. The river walk led to a massive grotto with waterfalls. That location ended up in my Harbinger series. I still get chills when I think about it. 

AC: You’ve also mentioned that your work is strongly guided by your faith. Can you tell us some about that, and how it reflects in the themes you write?

JW: When I was working on the craft, it seemed to me that the Grimdark fantasy genre really took off. I grew up with Terry Brooks, David Eddings, and Weis and Hickman which all feature noble characters trying to defend against the forces of darkness. I wondered if I would have to change what I wrote about in order to find an audience, but I shouldn’t have worried. I write what I like to read and have found that the audience for less gritty material is still alive and well and grateful for an author they can share with their parents as well as their kids. I don’t think those themes (I call them Virtus) will ever go out of style and have been foundational to epics since the tales of Arthur and his knights.

AC: I believe Brandon Sanderson is another devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints? Tell us the secret, is there something about the religion which makes one an excellent epic fantasy author? 

JW: I won’t say that we’re all excellent epic fantasy authors, but there are more of us than you may know (Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Mull, Charlie N. Holmberg, Emily R King, Orson Scott Card…). There isn’t a special training we all get, but if you consider the history of the religion and its founding, it does seem fantastical. A farm boy from upstate New York has a vision? He’s led to golden plates with ancient hieroglyphics on them? All that’s missing is Gandalf and a quest! I think members of my Church have great imaginations and the Church encourages us to develop talents and try to contribute to the world. One of the articles of our faith says, “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” We’re encouraged to pursue higher education, excel in our chosen fields, and be examples to others. I spent over twenty years working on the craft before getting published with 47North. It might look easy, but it’s really just a lot of hard work.

AC: Can you talk a little about your journey to becoming a full-time author?

JW: The spark was lit while I was an 8th grader growing up in California. I wrote five novels while in high school, all of which were terrible. I’ve always wanted to be a full-time author, but I knew as most people do that I needed a job to pay the bills. It was my missionary training for my church that qualified me to start working at Intel in their training department. I thought of it as a part-time job just to put myself through college and it ended up being a career. But I was always writing stories during that time. Last November, I published my first non-fiction book about my 20+ year journey as a writer called “Your First Million Words”. It goes through all the ups and downs during those years and I hope it inspires people to stick with it.

AC: It’s incredible to think of the changes that have happened in our industry over those 20 short years. Sticking with it will always be good advice for a budding author, but is there anything else you recommend for someone who is just now trying to get into the industry?

JW: My advice would be to train your eye to look at old things in new ways. Publishers aren't just looking for the "next" story that is the same as everyone else’s. Editors and readers crave something new, or something a little different than what they're used to. We reject a lot of fiction in my e-zine Deep Magic because it just feels like something we've already read before. Looking at things with fresh eyes is key and I think a great opportunity for up and coming authors.

AC: And finally, tell us something no one knows about Jeff Wheeler? 

JW: My wife and I have known each other since we were teenagers, so she has an unfair advantage knowing just about everything there is to know about me. When I tell a story from a childhood that she hasn't already heard five times, it's a rare event. So I'll qualify the question with something most people don't know about me. I used to publish stories under the pen-name J.T. Slain back when I first created Deep Magic. It stood for "Jerk the Slain" which was a nickname I got from a friend when I was a dungeon master in high school. This was because of my cliffhanger endings and plot twists that had my friends hating me sometimes. My friend James would see my sly grin after pulling one of those jerky twists and he just came up with the title and it stuck.

AC: And there we have it, the infamous JT Slain, ladies and gentlemen. Remember, you can find all of Jeff’s books on Amazon HERE, you can find him at jeff-wheeler.com, or check out the e-zine at deepmagic.co.

Like good books? Like cheap books?

I’ve teamed up with a couple of really stellar authors to offer a joint discount promotion. All of us agreed to drop the price of the first book in one of our series by 70-80%. Most of these books are just $0.99!

We selected this group because we know we have a lot of shared fans and we wanted to make more. If you’ve enjoyed my Benjamin Ashwood books, then I’m certain you’ll find something to enjoy here. Plus, the price is right!

Multi-Author Winter Book Sale

Find great books from: Michael J Sullivan, Sever Bronny, DK Holmberg, Michael Wisehart, and David Estes. Don’t wait, the sale ends on January 31st!