Interview with Jim Galford

[Jim]

1) About me...
Hello all, my name is Jim Galford. I'm a long-time writer, who's been doing sci-fi and fantasy for about 20 years. This year, I finally decided it was time to make the leap into self-publishing after having the surprise of a major surgery that had possible side effects including paralysis and death...it sort of motivated me and reminded me that life is too short.

And since everyone asks, yes, the surgery went fine.

2) About the book...
My book title is In Wilder Lands, a fantasy novel that is the first in a planned line of books, set in the world of Eldvar. Each story is intended to tell of the end days of a great war that ravaged the lands from a different perspective, or from a different culture's involvement. This first book follows Estin, a "wildling" (think humanoid animals sort of like Redwall, but not a children's story).

This story is 198k words and in 6x9" print, it's 456 pages. It's available in print, Kindle, and Nook formats. You can find all three formats and the back-cover summary at my Goodreads page: In Wilder Lands: The Fall of Eldvar

3) About where I get ideas...
This is actually something I brought up in another forum a while back. I'll just start by saying to someone who's never dealt with author's, I probably sound crazy.

My ideas come to me as nightmares. I literally will wake up, remembering some specific point early in the storyline as vividly as if I had just lived it or watched it on TV. I remember smells, fine details, everything. Yes, it freaks me out every time these pop up.

Once an idea appears, I usually grumble and mutter to myself for a few nights of reruns of the nightmare, trying to convince myself it's not worth writing. Then, when my wife threatens to make me sleep on the couch, I'll go and start on the idea. Once I start, then it gets weirder...the dreams will progress, showing me the story that's coming up next. Until I get it all on paper, the nightmares continue.

Not fun, but it gets the job done.

4) Who/what do I read...
I actually don't do much reading anymore. Between writing, my "real" job, my family, my hobbies...yeah, there's not any time for it. Back when I still did read more, it was Donaldson, Tolkien, and any number of random fantasy novels that caught my eye for a day. Sci-fi often pulled me in too, but slightly less often.

5) Next writing project...
I'm torn on this one. The next book in the Eldvar series is about 15% done, but I've managed to get myself distracted on a side-project related to the first book. Not sure what's going to get finished first.