Interview With Author James Wymore

Today we meet a man whose life time has been spent seeking loopholes to nature's laws and gateways to other realities. Since he hasn't found them yet (or has and just isn't sharing) he's writing instead. Meet award winning author James Wymore. He's written 4 novels, a dozen short stories, and comics dubbed Parting Shots. He also collects and paints minis for tabletop gaming, as well as, invented his own game to go along with the book The Acctuator, which he co-wrote with Aiden James.

Check out his website http://jameswymore.wordpress.com/

At what age did you first start making up stories and putting them down on paper?

I wrote my first book when I was in high school (16 or so).  I started making up stories before that, but mostly they just got me into trouble.

What was the title of your first (or favorite) work, or name of your main character, or plot synopsis?

My most recent title is Salvation.  The main character, Elwood, wakes on a frozen battlefield when a scavenging couple finds him among the dead. As they nurse him back to health, he is struck with the horrible realization he can’t remember who he is or anything about his past. Taken in by the kind pair, he begins helping with their farm. She even takes him to meet her family, especially her single sister. The ideal life offered in the high mountains of Winigh is shattered when he sees a transport bringing enemy monsters to the shores below. Cut off by high snow on the pass, their fate will soon be the same as the town his company failed to protect in the last battle, if this estranged soldier cannot help them fight off the next wave of invaders. Even worse, the people of the town don’t trust this Selene soldier. He has a strange resistance to their folk magic which some say make him as dangerous as the enemies preparing to destroy them.

Who is an author, or perhaps character, that inspires you? How so?

I love the work of Kurt Vonnegut.  His books seem casual and fun as they progress, but they end with a powerful conclusion that never fails to blow my mind.

What keeps you motivated? How do you keep the words flowing when writers' block is more like writers' Hoover Dam?

I've never had writers' block.  I have so many ideas that I have to choose carefully which ones I spend my writing time on.  Ideas are never the limiting factor.

Do you believe in killing your characters and/or sparing your villains from the horrible death readers think they deserve?

Death doesn't come to those who deserve it in this life, but it is a fact of life.  I don't save anybody from it, though.  I let the characters choose their own paths, but they can't always escape the consequences.

How much of you do you inject into your characters?

There's a little of me in my characters, of course.  Mostly, I try to remove myself from them.  It's fun to explore different types of people in writing.  So I tend to try and make them different from me, so the experience is more fun.

When you get that first inkling of a story idea, how do you polish it by developing characters, setting, plot, etc?

I usually start with ideas or themes.  Once that happens, it leads me to a genre where I start world building.  Usually I start dropping characters in after that point.  Plot comes last because I'm a discovery writer.  Once I set all the players in the world, I just let them run and see where it goes.

Is there a classic work (book, film, music, etc.) from which you can extrapolate your own original story? For example, Beowulf, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Think in terms of Stephen King basing his Dark Tower series from Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.
(This goes beyond the realm of mere fan fiction)

The story that I once felt is most like me is Notes from the Underground by Fyodr Dostoyevsky. Not that I lived through that exact plot, but the character in it has some things about him that shocked me and tuaght me much about myself.

Do you have a magnum opus? 

I have a yet unpublished book which I think will be my magnum opus or my biggest failure.  Not sure which yet.  Currently it's called Elsewise and it's about a guy who wakes up one day to find all the barriers (space, time, minds, etc) are gone from his life.

Do the good guys wear black? Do they always win?

Good guys usually win.  They don't always wear black.  My upcoming book, Exacting Essence, has a Goth girl as the main character.  So she wears black!

How do you deal with over-exuberant fans?

I appreciate them and try to reward their enthusiasm!

Interview With A King Sized Author

For my first interview we'll be sitting down with an author whom needs no introduction, but will receive one anyway. The Mr. King.
You may have seen him at Barnes & Noble book signings, surround by fans and stacks of his work.
You probably saw him at the LTUE convention hob-nobbing with the likes of Orson Scott Card and Brandon Sanderson. 
And if you were there in April at the largest Comic Con EVER you should  have seen him at his booth and on panels. He was hard to miss, right between all the professional cosplay girls and the crowded pre-release video game trailer - well before the Star Wars and Back to the Future booths.
If you missed your chance, he'll be doing it again at the groundbreaking premier Fantasy Con in July.
I consider myself extremely lucky to call him a close personal friend and to able to say we've played D&D together in his basement, my basement, even in conference rooms of the software giant Adobe.
It is my great pleasure to introduce my pen-to-page mentor, Jason King.
Who did you think I as talking about?

These two titles are available now, and he has at least 3 more books currently in the works as sequels to both.

At what age did you first start making up stories and putting them down on paper?

I wrote and illustrated my first books when I was five. I still have one of them. It was my stylish answer to Go-Bots, a cardboard hardback called Ror-Bots.
 
What was the title of your first (or favorite) work, or name of your main character, or plot synopsis?

My first feature length written work was a screenplay I wrote when I was sixteen called Descent. It’s a crime noir featuring a really smart, cool, and insane villain named Victor Reese. I’d like to update it and adapt into a novel someday.

Who is an author, or perhaps character, that inspires you? How so?

Brandon Sanderson of course. I love his work, and feel that I have a claim on him because he is a local author and a member of my faith……and because I have him trapped in my basement.

What keeps you motivated? How do you keep the words flowing when writers' block is more like writers' Hoover Dam?

Passion keeps me motivated. I don’t usually get writer’s block. My struggle is with depression. When I have a bout of it, I lose my desire to write even if I have plenty of ideas. Passion for the art helps me overcome that, and deadlines.

Do you believe in killing your characters and/or sparing your villains from the horrible death readers think they deserve?

My villains usually get their comeuppance, but often their defeat costs the life of one of my heroes. 

How much of you do you inject into your characters?

I try to avoid it, but it inevitably happens, never intentionally. It depends on the character. 

When you get that first inkling of a story idea, how do you polish it by developing characters, setting, plot, etc?

I day dream about it, listen to music, write down notes. Sometimes I outline. 

Is there a classic work (book, film, music, etc.) from which you can extrapolate your own original story? For example, Beowulf, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Think in terms of Stephen King basing his Dark Tower series from Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.
(This goes beyond the realm of mere fan fiction)

This will show just how uncultured I am, but I’d love to take the plot of Final Fantasy 6 and write it as a novel. It has a story that is too rich for a simple videogame.

Do you have a magnum opus? 

Not yet. Although Valcoria may become that. 

Do the good guys wear black? Do they always win?

In the long run, good always triumphs over evil in my stories. Do I have antiheroes? Is that what you mean? Sometimes, but they usually turn into full heroes by the end. I am very much about my heroes growing and becoming better people.

How do you deal with over-exuberant fans?

I would smile at them while calling security. Just kidding. I think you can harness their enthusiasm by turning them into evangelists for your work. Reward them and make them president of your fan club or something. From my experience as an over-exuberant fan, nothing is cooler than a friendly, down to earth author.

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An additional bit of info to speak to the value of his guidance, his 10 year old son just published his first book!