10 Questions with Jeremy Brown
1. Out of all of the jobs you have held, which is the most interesting?
a. My current job as a Content Manager and Lead Writer for the video game Heroes of Newerth is by far the most interesting. Every day I get to create characters, write origin stories, tweak heroic abilities, and solve problems like “Is this magical female turtle warrior sexy enough?”
I have had other interesting jobs, like pharmaceutical validation documentation professional and editor for an engraving magazine, but those were interesting in a different way, as in: “I’m interested to see how I can get through the day without jumping off the roof.”
2. Who has been your biggest influence as a writer?
a. The Master: Elmore Leonard. I had an epiphany about first-person narration and tone the first time I read Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, but Mr. Leonard’s writing showed me it was possible to have fun with characters in any situation, and of course his dialogue is better than anything in existence. If Elmore Leonard had written the Bible, there would be no holy wars. Everyone in the world would just walking around nudging each other, saying “Now we’re getting to it, uh?”
3. Are any of the characters in your Woodshed Wallace series based on real life characters?
a. I have actors in mind when I’m writing but the characters aren’t based on any real people. I’m sure there are shared tendencies and attitudes with people in the MMA world—Banzai Eddie’s ability to rub people the wrong way and not give a shit shares some space with Dana White (who I love)—but I didn’t take any real people, slap a new name on them, and toss them into the book.
I do have some minor characters, usually fighters mentioned in passing, named after friends of mine but they share no characteristics. My friends are too sane to fight.
4. Who is your favorite writer?
a. Mr. Leonard always holds that title, but I go through phases of who I like to read based on what I’m writing and researching, or if I’m on vacation, etc. Right at the top of the list is Steven Pressfield’s fiction and non-fiction. The War of Art is an absolute must-read for anyone who wants to create something, and Gates of Fire makes me cry every time I read it.
I love Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series and have re-read the entire thing several times. John Sandford never fails to pull me in and make me laugh, and Lee Child drives me crazy with how perfect his Jack Reacher is for the genre. How I wish I’d invented him.
5. If you could watch a fight between two people who have ever lived, who would you choose?
a. This is a tough one. The key to a great fight is two people with something to prove/something on the line and the overwhelming desire to be in the cage mixing it up. So it wouldn’t be any fun watching someone who had no interest in the fight get beat on, e.g. Gandhi (see Fight Club).
Of course styles also make fights, so two people with opposing styles would be a bonus. I’d say Chuck Norris vs. Royce Gracie, both in their prime. Chuck gets to wear jeans and cowboy boots and Royce gets to wear his gi.
6. What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?
a. Rapid dialogue with two people on the verge of escalating the tension into physical violence, usually with one person eager to make the leap and the other trying to defuse the situation.
The quick back-and-forth keeps the scene moving and having just two people minimizes the need for tags like, “Darwin said.” If the character’s voice is there (see Mr. Leonard), the tags are redundant anyway.
I hate writing exposition and try to keep it short. With every word I’m thinking, “This is where they stop reading.”
7. What made you start writing?
a. I dabbled in it from my early teens until college, when I got my BA in English with an emphasis on creative writing, but that doesn’t answer the question what made me start writing. That was a combination of a friend of mine reaching out to me for a new series Scholastic wanted to do (which eventually became Crime Files) and the fact that not writing at all had finally become more miserable than trying to write.
I had to start writing for the Scholastic project because they paid me and I had a deadline—two very helpful motivators—and I kept writing after that because I realized how much I loved it and never wanted to go back to how it felt to not write. So I kept it rolling, and the stories I needed to share continued to show up. So far they’re still coming, and I think as long as I respect the Muse by putting my ass in the chair and listening they always will.
8. Is there any subject that is off limits for you as a writer?
a. Violence toward animals is repulsive to me, and I think it’s a lazy plot device. A few of my stories have required a hint at it, and I always look for a way around it, but I believe the story already exists and it’s my job to write it down. To shy away from what the story requires cheats the story and the reader.
I also don’t approve of sexual violence toward women as entertainment. It is unnecessary and lazy.
9. If you could pick one other author to collaborate with on a novel or story, living or dead, who would it be?
a. I would say Mr. Leonard, but he was so talented it might drive me insane to collaborate with him. His process was also very different than mine, and I’m not sure I could ask him to slow down and explain why he put a scene here, a line of dialogue there. It would be like playing with Michael Jordan, with him going, “Why don’t you just put it in the hoop every time?”
Working with Lee Child or James Patterson would be great. They have a masterful understanding of hooks, inciting incidents, and plot structure, and getting my work in front of their readers would be huge. Lee and JP read this blog, right? Call me guys.
10. Who would win in a fight, Bruce Lee or UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones?
a. I, Jeremy Brown, am fully aware the statement I am about to make will offend the martial arts gods and earn me a one-inch punch upon my arrival in the next realm.
I think Jonny Bones would destroy Bruce Lee. He’s too big, too strong, too long, and too well-rounded for Lee. Lee would have to dart in and out to land any strikes, and eventually Jones would grab him, throw him into the rafters and elbow/choke/smash him until the ref stopped the fight.
Then he would bow to Lee and take him out for ice cream, because that’s what martial artists do.
a. My current job as a Content Manager and Lead Writer for the video game Heroes of Newerth is by far the most interesting. Every day I get to create characters, write origin stories, tweak heroic abilities, and solve problems like “Is this magical female turtle warrior sexy enough?”
I have had other interesting jobs, like pharmaceutical validation documentation professional and editor for an engraving magazine, but those were interesting in a different way, as in: “I’m interested to see how I can get through the day without jumping off the roof.”
2. Who has been your biggest influence as a writer?
a. The Master: Elmore Leonard. I had an epiphany about first-person narration and tone the first time I read Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, but Mr. Leonard’s writing showed me it was possible to have fun with characters in any situation, and of course his dialogue is better than anything in existence. If Elmore Leonard had written the Bible, there would be no holy wars. Everyone in the world would just walking around nudging each other, saying “Now we’re getting to it, uh?”
3. Are any of the characters in your Woodshed Wallace series based on real life characters?
a. I have actors in mind when I’m writing but the characters aren’t based on any real people. I’m sure there are shared tendencies and attitudes with people in the MMA world—Banzai Eddie’s ability to rub people the wrong way and not give a shit shares some space with Dana White (who I love)—but I didn’t take any real people, slap a new name on them, and toss them into the book.
I do have some minor characters, usually fighters mentioned in passing, named after friends of mine but they share no characteristics. My friends are too sane to fight.
4. Who is your favorite writer?
a. Mr. Leonard always holds that title, but I go through phases of who I like to read based on what I’m writing and researching, or if I’m on vacation, etc. Right at the top of the list is Steven Pressfield’s fiction and non-fiction. The War of Art is an absolute must-read for anyone who wants to create something, and Gates of Fire makes me cry every time I read it.
I love Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series and have re-read the entire thing several times. John Sandford never fails to pull me in and make me laugh, and Lee Child drives me crazy with how perfect his Jack Reacher is for the genre. How I wish I’d invented him.
5. If you could watch a fight between two people who have ever lived, who would you choose?
a. This is a tough one. The key to a great fight is two people with something to prove/something on the line and the overwhelming desire to be in the cage mixing it up. So it wouldn’t be any fun watching someone who had no interest in the fight get beat on, e.g. Gandhi (see Fight Club).
Of course styles also make fights, so two people with opposing styles would be a bonus. I’d say Chuck Norris vs. Royce Gracie, both in their prime. Chuck gets to wear jeans and cowboy boots and Royce gets to wear his gi.
6. What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?
a. Rapid dialogue with two people on the verge of escalating the tension into physical violence, usually with one person eager to make the leap and the other trying to defuse the situation.
The quick back-and-forth keeps the scene moving and having just two people minimizes the need for tags like, “Darwin said.” If the character’s voice is there (see Mr. Leonard), the tags are redundant anyway.
I hate writing exposition and try to keep it short. With every word I’m thinking, “This is where they stop reading.”
7. What made you start writing?
a. I dabbled in it from my early teens until college, when I got my BA in English with an emphasis on creative writing, but that doesn’t answer the question what made me start writing. That was a combination of a friend of mine reaching out to me for a new series Scholastic wanted to do (which eventually became Crime Files) and the fact that not writing at all had finally become more miserable than trying to write.
I had to start writing for the Scholastic project because they paid me and I had a deadline—two very helpful motivators—and I kept writing after that because I realized how much I loved it and never wanted to go back to how it felt to not write. So I kept it rolling, and the stories I needed to share continued to show up. So far they’re still coming, and I think as long as I respect the Muse by putting my ass in the chair and listening they always will.
8. Is there any subject that is off limits for you as a writer?
a. Violence toward animals is repulsive to me, and I think it’s a lazy plot device. A few of my stories have required a hint at it, and I always look for a way around it, but I believe the story already exists and it’s my job to write it down. To shy away from what the story requires cheats the story and the reader.
I also don’t approve of sexual violence toward women as entertainment. It is unnecessary and lazy.
9. If you could pick one other author to collaborate with on a novel or story, living or dead, who would it be?
a. I would say Mr. Leonard, but he was so talented it might drive me insane to collaborate with him. His process was also very different than mine, and I’m not sure I could ask him to slow down and explain why he put a scene here, a line of dialogue there. It would be like playing with Michael Jordan, with him going, “Why don’t you just put it in the hoop every time?”
Working with Lee Child or James Patterson would be great. They have a masterful understanding of hooks, inciting incidents, and plot structure, and getting my work in front of their readers would be huge. Lee and JP read this blog, right? Call me guys.
10. Who would win in a fight, Bruce Lee or UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones?
a. I, Jeremy Brown, am fully aware the statement I am about to make will offend the martial arts gods and earn me a one-inch punch upon my arrival in the next realm.
I think Jonny Bones would destroy Bruce Lee. He’s too big, too strong, too long, and too well-rounded for Lee. Lee would have to dart in and out to land any strikes, and eventually Jones would grab him, throw him into the rafters and elbow/choke/smash him until the ref stopped the fight.
Then he would bow to Lee and take him out for ice cream, because that’s what martial artists do.
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