Interview with JT Clay
Tell us about your publishing journey…
I’ve been writing unpublished novels for years. I won an Hachette / Queensland Writers Centre manuscript award in 2008, then got serious. I dropped to part-time salaried work and learnt more about my craft. I didn’t get that book published, started two more, and never finished them. They weren’t terribly good.
A previous version of my zombie novel won an Olvar Wood Fellowship award in 2010. I rewrote it and pitched it to Joel Naoum from Momentum and my agent, Alex Adsett, at GenreCon 2012. A Single Girl’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse was born.
What do you love about being an author?
I love spending time with the people I make up. It’s a mental illness, but the therapy’s fun.
What part do you dislike about being an author?
Rejection is hard but inevitable if you want to get published. And unlike other industries, you don’t know if rejection means you’re not yet good enough, you’ll never be good enough or you’re unlucky.
If I go for ten interviews in my day job, I expect several offers. If I don’t get them, I know my application isn’t right or they were the wrong jobs to apply for.
But if I pitch a novel ten times and don’t get an offer, I still have no idea whether it’s any good.
What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Read critically. Learn your craft. If you want to write professionally, take it as seriously as any other career.
If you could have dinner with a literary character – who would it be and what would you eat?
Ford Prefect. He makes good cocktails and egotism is so relaxing. I’d eat salted peanuts, just in case.
Zombies are everywhere! What do you do first?
Activate my Z-Day plan. If I told you what was in it, I’d have to pretend you were infected, then kill you.
My partner and I have scenario-tested this plan. It’s a winner, except domestically. His geek skills and military training combined in a perfect storm of lone survivalism. Apparently, step one isn’t going home to see if the girlfriend’s okay.
What was the last book you read and what were your thoughts on it?
Psmith Journalist’ by PG Wodehouse. He’s a funny author who makes jokes without sex, swearing or unseemly violence. Must be a knack. This gem, written in the early 1900s, paints a sweet portrait of gangland New York and features affectionately racist terms that I won’t repeat, because I don’t want the hate mail. It’s interesting to see how G-ratings change over time.
What’s the one question you’d dread on an interview?
“What is your greatest weakness?” As a narcissist, I don’t have any.
You have a time machine, which era do you go back to and why?
The 1920s. Hedonism, PG Wodehouse and legal drugs. Not that I do drugs. Drugs are bad.
I’m writing a time-travel farce set in Auckland in the 1920s, so I already have the time machine, at least mentally.
If you were to cast your book, who would play the leads?
I have unusually poor facial recognition skills and I’m unable to distinguish actors from the roles they’re playing, so I can’t name any for you. I’d cast Buffy’s large and awkward cousin as the female hero.
You free a Genie from a lamp, after wishing away all those zombies from the previous question, you have 2 wishes left, what are they?
Clearly, there’s only one response to this. First, I’d wish for an endless supply of wishes. Next, when I saw the effects, I’d wish to reverse all those wishes I made, except maybe the zombie one. Because fairy tales are wise, right?
What’s your favourite TV show, and why?
I loved the first few series of Chuck, because we abandoned action comedy romance in the 80s and I miss it. And Game of Thrones, which is a condensed version of the best bits from the books (and no, I didn’t finish the series, so don’t tell me what happens). Also, of course, Buffy.
Where can fans find you online?
Website: http://jtclaywriter.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JTClayWriter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/JT-Clay/175079716020186
http://momentumbooks.com.au/books/a-single-girls-guide-to-the-zombie-apocalypse/
I’m a digital virgin, so be gentle with me.
Filed under: Interviews with other authors Tagged: interview with author, JT Clay, Momentum Books, Single Girl's Guide to the Zombie Apocolypse, writing advice, zombies
