November 2017 Group Read Author Interview: J. J. Mainor (Part 2)

[Quantum]

(For Part 1, see https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...)

Thank you, J. J., for taking the time to participate in our interview and help people get to know you better.

Members: If you have any follow-up questions for J. J., please feel free to post them.

Tell us about your writing. (cont'd)

If you needed to make a choice in your literary career what would it be: glory and literary recognition or lots of sales and steady income?
To answer this one, I will simply point out that if I was in it just for the money, I would be writing romance/erotica since that seems to be the biggest category among indie books these days. Of course I do this right now for the money, but I don't wish to make that choice. Science fiction is a middle ground where you're not going to get rich as an indie, but you don't have to compromise and hide behind a pen name because you're too embarrassed to have friends and family find out what your write.

The visual is encroaching on the written word. Do you think the written word will retreat and disappear or remain steady?
This debate probably raged all through the 20th century with the development of movies, and later TV. If there was a danger of this, books would have disappeared long ago when illiteracy rates were high and people had the choice to go to the theater.

Any valuable marketing tip(s) for fellow authors?
I honestly don't have any marketing tips other than maybe think about your strategy before spending a dime. Too many people might get hooked into those promising to "reach 10,000 Twitter followers" before they realize who those "followers" really are. Frankly any advertising outlet needs to be scrutinized. Something else to consider is that successful entrepreneurs of the past have found success by thinking outside the box and creating products and services others didn't think about. Your marketing strategy might consider that idea as well, and though I don't have any specific suggestions, you might find more success on a small idea that yields few results rather on a standard strategy that yields greater results, but sucked up all your profits after you pay for it.

Do you have a WIP and what’s exciting about it?
Currently I don't have a WIP. Admittedly I find myself needing a bit of a break. However I do have a couple ideas spinning in my head. In keeping with my need to be different, the idea I'm currently thinking about takes the standard of the hero trying to save the galaxy from the evil empire out to conquer/destroy everything and turning it around so that my hero is a foot soldier in that evil empire. That has been done before with such a hero seeing the evil of his side and changing sides, but I'm not even going there. Instead the hero is someone just doing a job, fighting in a war he doesn't believe in, one he gets no benefit from, and one he can't get out of - even if he wants to change sides, the other side would kill him on site before giving him a chance. Instead, he finds purpose where there is none, and oddly enough for him, he finds he's more at home, more at ease fighting people he doesn't want to fight, killing people he doesn't want to kill, than he ever felt back on his own world. What I'm thinking of is a scenario where he finds an uneasy internal peace in a horrific situation. In my head, I'm trying to balance how much of the story focuses on the inequality of his own world with the "action" of the war story, and so as not to glorify the war, the narrator will be that character relating his experience years after to the very people he was at war with - that he's returned to the "battlefield" hoping to make peace with his guilt while helping those he was at war with understand why they were targeted years ago and heal as a society themselves.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
All I can say is write. Society changes so rapidly, advice that might have worked even a couple years ago isn't as good today. So many authors chase the coveted Bookbub promotion today, but in 5 years we may see that fade away. The only thing that remains consistent is to write - that and look for your opportunities where no one else might be chasing them.

Which writers inspire you?
It's hard to say because this is similar to the question asking you to name your heroes. And I just don't have specific heroes. Maybe it's the flaw in my generation in general - we grew up during a time where for the first time, every major figure seemed to fail and disappoint. Richard Nixon set a precedent that every President finds themselves mired in their own scandal; business leaders seemed to wreck corporations in the 80s when investors would engage in hostile takeovers, sell off the assets for a profit, and leave the surviving company in the dustbin of history; athletes were no longer the sports heroes they used to be after the steroid scandals came to light in the 90s; even Milli Vanilla taught us we couldn't trust our music. I suppose I admire people for specific accomplishments without putting them on a pedestal.

What are your recommendations for reading and why? For example, which book do you consider a must-read (apart from your own, as it's a must-must, of course -:))?
This one is what you'd call a door-stop, but definitely The Bright Black Sea by Litka. Also Radio Hope by Sean McLachlan - this one is a PA story, but the complexity of the society is different from what I tend to see.

What non-writing-related things would you like to say about yourself.
It might seem hard to believe from some of the long-winded posts I make, but I really hate talking about myself. Right now, I don't really have many hobbies. There is a patch of woods behind my home that I go wandering through almost daily - it never seems to get old for me. I live on the edge of Raleigh, NC, and going back to that not liking things others seem to, I don't seem to enjoy a lot of the attractions around here. The State Fair just ran last month, but in the time I've lived down here, I have never been. There are a few museums downtown that are interesting, and I have been to the NC Museum of Art a couple of times - they do have some rather impressive items in their collection. A few hours to the west are the mountains, and I have been out there when my brother comes to visit, and I keep telling myself eventually I'm going to visit some of the wilderness parks out toward the coastal regions. I think for the most part, I tend to be all work so the "outings" are not something I engage in as much as I probably should.

I'm also not as well traveled as most. Growing up in Rhode Island, I have taken several road trips through northern New England, and went into New Brunswick Canada a few times. My brother lived for a time in Jersey City, NJ, so I have spent time in New York. And he came down for a visit back in January and wanted to see the destruction from the wildfires in Gatlinburg, TN, so we went out there and spent a day.

As for achievements, I'm not sure I have many. I was an Eagle Scout, but I was no athlete, so I didn't play sports. As a kid, I never really did much to stand out. My father tore me down every chance he could, so even when I took personal pride in some small, unremarkable accomplishment, he always managed to destroy that. When you go into adulthood, it seems everything is guided by work, so all I was ever focused on was a job. Even then I always found myself stuck with weak and jealous leaders. Not that every boss, or even most are like that, but my luck was that no matter what company I worked for, the good ones would come and go, and without fail, I found myself working for someone whom you could never figure out how they got the job, let alone kept it; and they would stick around - they became permanent fixtures, and these are the "leaders" I tend to demonize in my stories. These people too tear down their strongest assets and favor the weak ones that are more like them - I never had that opinion by myself, there were always others as mind-boggled as I was. All my life, achievement was something demonized, so you hold it only in your own mind, not on some trophy shelf or wall of fame.

Where can readers connect with you?
I know it doesn't seem like I'm on all that much, but you can connect with me on
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...
twitter: https://twitter.com/jjmainor
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...
and of course here on Goodreads

[Nik]

Cool, honest and elaborate answers, which provide a lot of insight into J.J.'s work, views and goals

[J.J.]

Good god! I had no idea I went on so long as to need two threads...