IWU Blog Tour – J M Harrison
Today, I'm hosting the lovely and kind JM Harrison! Her debut, Chosen, is FREE at the Smashwords Summer Sale until July 31st. I'm looking forward to reading it! Have you picked it up, yet? She could use some reviews….hint hint 
Do you pull from your own life for your writing?
My main characters lose their mother at a very young age and that loss colors their lives. While I wasn't so young, my mother died when I was 20. There have been many times in the years since that I've wished I could ask her about things going on in my life. I have teenagers too, so some of their behaviors have found their way into Dynan and Dain.
How often do you write? Do you set word count goals? Do you reward yourself if you meet them?
I write whenever I can, whenever there's time, even if it's a minute or two – if the muse is there. I don't set word goals so much as scene goals, or event goals, and I write to complete the battle scene or the love scene or the running the transport pod into the cliff wall scene. I might have a bite of chocolate or a scoop of ice cream.
What jumpstarted the idea for "Chosen"?
It evolved. I stumbled into a scene while writing the last book of the series. In a quiet moment, two of my characters were talking about all the things that had happened to them, and as the scene progressed the thought came in that I was really writing the end of a story I hadn't yet told, and that's when I 'found' the beginning. It was fairly unexpected.
What's it about?
On an epic level, Chosen is about society's loss of connection with its past through mistakes of censorship and secrecy that have kept the truth from the light. It's about one family and their connection to a massive struggle between good and evil and how their survival is paramount to the stability of the entire universe. At its heart, Chosen is about facing tremendous hardship and finding the courage to get through it. It's a story of perseverance, doing the right thing and standing up for what you believe in. My characters are tested to an extreme degree, and it's about how they handle themselves, good and bad.
How do you market your work? Have you noticed any pay-offs at specific outlets?
Chosen was epublished June 28. The paperback is coming out soon. So I'm really at the very start of promoting. I'm on twitter. I have a blog. I'm on the Indie Writes Unite blog tour. I'm doing the summer sale on Smashwords and offering Chosen for free (so run and get it!). Free has really boosted the downloads, so that's good. I promote when I can and don't sweat it too much.
Who is your favorite character in your book and why?
There are six versions of my protagonist, Adiem, who have six distinct personalities that even have disagreements with one another. One is maniacal-crazy. One is kind of pleasant who seems at first blush as completely reasonable even when he's talking about imminent death. One is cruel; suck the soul out of you evil. Sounds weird maybe, but it was fun to write them.
What's coming up next in your world?
Right now, I'm working on Myth, book two of the series, which only needs a couple of chapters reconfigured for continuity. I'm really hoping to get it out the door by the end of August, but that might be completely unrealistic since August is right around the corner. I just started grad school, so my time is much more severely limited now. And then this fall, I'll hopefully be getting a position as a special education teacher. That's all from my world! Thanks for the opportunity to appear on your blog!
Here are the links to all things Chosen! -
Jolea's Website
