Author Jak Lore!
So as a follow-up to the amazing time at CODCON, I interviewed Jak Lore, a fellow author at the 'Con. His book is called The Last Demon Hunter, so ready your holy symbols and Angelic lore...!
Hi Jak - thanks again for taking the time to be interviewed! Let’s begin with telling us a little bit more about who Jak Lore is.
When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
A. High school. I always wrote just as an escape from my boredom. When I was done with my homework, or test, or whatever the task was, I broke out my notebook and started to write. I had a separate notebook to write in. I never really thought anything about it as I had always done that, but when I entered into, probably the 8th grade, a few people were interested in what I was always doing. I let them read it, thinking they’d get bored after a few pages, but they didn’t. They kept reading, even after I wanted the book back. They wanted to be kept up with what was happening with the story. After a while, I thought about writing something a bit more serious. Maybe try to actually publish something. I wrote something completely separate from my original work and there was interest in it. I decided to keep pushing it.
How did you develop the idea for The Last Demon Hunter?
A. After deciding to write something seriously, I wanted to write something different. I wrote sci-fi at the time and wanted to try something a little more serious and maybe darker. I was a fan of the Jason and Freddy movies so decided to write a horror story. It was meant to be a simple slasher story with nothing supernatural in it, but I found some boredom in that. While I wanted to keep it mostly “realistic” I started adding a little supernatural stuff. It started with the killer being a Satanist instead of the generic nut job. He had some supernatural abilities, which I realized would be hard for the police to counter. He needed opposition, hence Angel was born. He had no powers per se, but knew how to deal with the situation. It just grew from there as I developed those two characters.
Which characters were the most fun to develop? Which were the most challenging?
A. That’s a little harder to answer. I’m not sure there was a character I had the most fun developing, but there was a relationship I enjoyed a lot. I enjoyed writing the interaction between Rebecca and Úna. The most challenging was probably Michael. He had a different personality before the story even started, which I had to understand so his actions and thoughts made sense. Getting that across is also a big challenge.
What are your plans long-term for your writing? Do you have additional/different works in mind?
A. Continue writing as long as I can. I would like to devote more time to it, but right now that’s just not feasible. I have so many other ideas I want to put down on paper, and so much research that needs to go into it. I have the next two or three books in the series planned out, just not outlined yet. Beyond that, I have a lot of ideas of where I want to go and for how long. There are some short stories I want to write, as well as different genre’s I want to work on.
As a fellow author, I share the challenge of getting the word out on my works. What have you had to do to win broader exposure and branding for your books?
A. Facebook hasn’t been as great of an avenue as I thought it would be, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up on it. Conventions, until recently, have been my biggest exposure. Amazon Ads has helped some and recently I took to Twitter and that seems to be expanding my reach more.
This question will start off sounding like an old joke – a person walks into a bar (or convention or bookstore) and bumps into Jak Lore – what would be your elevator pitch to showcase your work?
A. The Four Horsemen are a neutral entity. They don’t care which side actually wins. Ever wonder what would happen if they were forced to pick a side? In this series, that’s exactly what happens and showcases how all sides deal with this decision.
As an author, it’s sometimes difficult to finally say a product is finished, no matter how many times you review or edit. Is there anything you would go back and change in your stories? Where there ideas you had in mind and then decided NOT to include?
A. I’d honestly be afraid to touch it at this point. If anything I would have changed the POV of the first book. It’s in 3rd person where the preceding ones are a mixture of 1st and 3rd. I think it tells the story much better this way, switching between the two POVs with interludes.
I have a 5 year old son, and structuring time around him can be challenging! I’ve lost count of the times he nearly pressed the delete button on something I was working on…how do you find time to write your stories?
A. That must be nerve wrecking. I have a slightly different problem. I work overnight, so energy becomes my biggest enemy. I want to write but find I have a hard time getting the energy to focus. The key I find is to get adequate sleep. There are mainly two times I get to work, that’s in the evening when I wake up and on my lunch break. If I’m not well rested, there’s nothing getting done on my lunch break. In the evening, coffee is my friend. It helps make me alert enough to sit and focus on writing for an hour or two before I head off to work. That’s how the first book was written and most of the second.
Do you have a certain method you use when you write – i.e., a certain room, music, mood, etc., to help get you in the right writing frame of mind?
A. I’ll write anywhere, but prefer a quiet, clean place. Music helps a lot. I listen to a lot of Within Temptation, Evanescence, and Nightwish. I have a few playlists on Youtube that I listen to depending if I’m writing, plotting, or doing combat.
What are you reading right now?
A. Currently, I’m trying to finish Atlas Shrugged. That thing is huge. I want to read the Art of War after that.
Where can readers go to find out more about Jak Lore?
A. There’s a couple places you can go. I can be found on Facebook/Jak.Lore.Author where you’ll find updates about events I’m attending and uploads of pictures I’ve taken at those events. I’m also on Twitter @authorjaklore and have an author page on Amazon and Goodreads.
Thanks Jak, for sharing some of your time!
Hi Jak - thanks again for taking the time to be interviewed! Let’s begin with telling us a little bit more about who Jak Lore is.
When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
A. High school. I always wrote just as an escape from my boredom. When I was done with my homework, or test, or whatever the task was, I broke out my notebook and started to write. I had a separate notebook to write in. I never really thought anything about it as I had always done that, but when I entered into, probably the 8th grade, a few people were interested in what I was always doing. I let them read it, thinking they’d get bored after a few pages, but they didn’t. They kept reading, even after I wanted the book back. They wanted to be kept up with what was happening with the story. After a while, I thought about writing something a bit more serious. Maybe try to actually publish something. I wrote something completely separate from my original work and there was interest in it. I decided to keep pushing it.
How did you develop the idea for The Last Demon Hunter?
A. After deciding to write something seriously, I wanted to write something different. I wrote sci-fi at the time and wanted to try something a little more serious and maybe darker. I was a fan of the Jason and Freddy movies so decided to write a horror story. It was meant to be a simple slasher story with nothing supernatural in it, but I found some boredom in that. While I wanted to keep it mostly “realistic” I started adding a little supernatural stuff. It started with the killer being a Satanist instead of the generic nut job. He had some supernatural abilities, which I realized would be hard for the police to counter. He needed opposition, hence Angel was born. He had no powers per se, but knew how to deal with the situation. It just grew from there as I developed those two characters.
Which characters were the most fun to develop? Which were the most challenging?
A. That’s a little harder to answer. I’m not sure there was a character I had the most fun developing, but there was a relationship I enjoyed a lot. I enjoyed writing the interaction between Rebecca and Úna. The most challenging was probably Michael. He had a different personality before the story even started, which I had to understand so his actions and thoughts made sense. Getting that across is also a big challenge.
What are your plans long-term for your writing? Do you have additional/different works in mind?
A. Continue writing as long as I can. I would like to devote more time to it, but right now that’s just not feasible. I have so many other ideas I want to put down on paper, and so much research that needs to go into it. I have the next two or three books in the series planned out, just not outlined yet. Beyond that, I have a lot of ideas of where I want to go and for how long. There are some short stories I want to write, as well as different genre’s I want to work on.
As a fellow author, I share the challenge of getting the word out on my works. What have you had to do to win broader exposure and branding for your books?
A. Facebook hasn’t been as great of an avenue as I thought it would be, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up on it. Conventions, until recently, have been my biggest exposure. Amazon Ads has helped some and recently I took to Twitter and that seems to be expanding my reach more.
This question will start off sounding like an old joke – a person walks into a bar (or convention or bookstore) and bumps into Jak Lore – what would be your elevator pitch to showcase your work?
A. The Four Horsemen are a neutral entity. They don’t care which side actually wins. Ever wonder what would happen if they were forced to pick a side? In this series, that’s exactly what happens and showcases how all sides deal with this decision.
As an author, it’s sometimes difficult to finally say a product is finished, no matter how many times you review or edit. Is there anything you would go back and change in your stories? Where there ideas you had in mind and then decided NOT to include?
A. I’d honestly be afraid to touch it at this point. If anything I would have changed the POV of the first book. It’s in 3rd person where the preceding ones are a mixture of 1st and 3rd. I think it tells the story much better this way, switching between the two POVs with interludes.
I have a 5 year old son, and structuring time around him can be challenging! I’ve lost count of the times he nearly pressed the delete button on something I was working on…how do you find time to write your stories?
A. That must be nerve wrecking. I have a slightly different problem. I work overnight, so energy becomes my biggest enemy. I want to write but find I have a hard time getting the energy to focus. The key I find is to get adequate sleep. There are mainly two times I get to work, that’s in the evening when I wake up and on my lunch break. If I’m not well rested, there’s nothing getting done on my lunch break. In the evening, coffee is my friend. It helps make me alert enough to sit and focus on writing for an hour or two before I head off to work. That’s how the first book was written and most of the second.
Do you have a certain method you use when you write – i.e., a certain room, music, mood, etc., to help get you in the right writing frame of mind?
A. I’ll write anywhere, but prefer a quiet, clean place. Music helps a lot. I listen to a lot of Within Temptation, Evanescence, and Nightwish. I have a few playlists on Youtube that I listen to depending if I’m writing, plotting, or doing combat.
What are you reading right now?
A. Currently, I’m trying to finish Atlas Shrugged. That thing is huge. I want to read the Art of War after that.
Where can readers go to find out more about Jak Lore?
A. There’s a couple places you can go. I can be found on Facebook/Jak.Lore.Author where you’ll find updates about events I’m attending and uploads of pictures I’ve taken at those events. I’m also on Twitter @authorjaklore and have an author page on Amazon and Goodreads.
Thanks Jak, for sharing some of your time!
No comments have been added yet.
