"Wow! I have an adoring public? Neat-O! Well, I guess I shouldn’t leave them wondering then, should I? Wouldn’t be right. Not at all.

"I come from a very small family. No, not as in short either. My mother is short, though. I think it’s all the coffee she drinks. Stunts your growth, you know. I’ve known my mother all my life. Funny how that works, eh? She’s been there through it all. I’m just glad you didn’t send her an interview sheet. Oh, the stories she could tell!

"I live with my grandfather, to whom Stolen Tome is dedicated. I could not have asked for a better role model in life.

"Then there’s my younger brother… the guy who gets paid to travel all across the country. Yeah, stinks to be him, I tell you. Seeing the nation on the company dime. Sure, he has to work on computer systems while he’s there, but come on! Seriously though, he’s my best friend and always has been. We’re as close as two brothers can be.

"And one more person I can’t forget. Er… wait… what’s his name again? *scratches head* Oh, yeah, right! Tyler! He’s like the little brother I never had. He came into our lives through strange circumstances when he was 4, but has lived with my mother ever since. It’s true what is said about 'kids keeping you young.' As long he’s around, I never have to grow up and still have an excuse to play with all the new, cool toys!"

"It happened at some point during the writing of Stolen Tome. I can’t pinpoint an exact time or place or even spot in the novel when it happened. Something clicked in my brain that said 'Hey, you have a pretty good story here.' And the people who are reading it as you write it seem to like it. Congratulations! You must be a writer!

"The official moment when I knew I was, in fact, a writer occurred when I had a short story of mine accepted for publication in an anthology. That’s when I could tell people that I was a real life, honest to goodness, professional--and paid--author."

"Indeed, I do. It depends on what I am writing. My lighthearted and funny works come across quite different from something intended to be dark and creepy. Even so, I think my style remains intact. The presentation--or voice--merely changes as needed."

"I consider myself fortunate that I didn’t get a lot of writer’s block while working on Stolen Tome. I had a story right there in front of me that simply needed to be told. It was just a matter of putting it to paper. I had an amazing group of people who helped keep me focused, as far as getting it all out there, in the correct order, and with all the little nuances included.

"As for the rejection letters . . . ah, yes! Those proved to be some of the best motivation I could have received. Most were the standard, generic form letters. Boring! But a few others that I got were actually helpful. Some explained why my work was turned down--various reasons from various places. But there were a couple that were tremendously useful and encouraging even though I had been rejected. Those in particular made me realize that I could get published, all be it with some more work. And when one gets THAT notion … well … it’s hard to be too discouraged."

"This is very difficult question to answer for several reasons. First, and this is sure to surprise people, I didn’t mean to write a novel when I started. That wasn’t how it began. It evolved into a novel as I worked on it in its original form. But as it turned into a novel, I did set it as a goal to get it written as such. After I had finished the novel, my new goal was to get it published.

"The best trick I had to keep writing was my job at the time. Without getting into details, let’s just say that it allowed me a lot of time to write when I was on the clock. *grin*

"It was easy to stay focused on the goal of getting published. I knew that Stolen Tome was something that could be published. It was a matter of finding a publisher willing to give a new face a chance. And that’s what I was fortunate enough to find here at ePress-online."

"Yes, I do belong to a writer’s group. It started when I was employed at one of our local libraries. (Note: This was NOT the job mentioned previously.) Patrons had tried to form writer’s group several times, but they always had fallen apart for one reason or another. I was asked by my boss at the time, as well as several people interested, if I wanted to organize a library 'sponsored' writer’s group. I had no experience with it whatsoever, but after some research on the trusty internet, I agreed to give it a shot. It started back in October of 2006 and continues to this day. Originally, we met every other week, but we had to cut it back to once a month because of scheduling conflicts with several of our members. We met at the library until my termination from there back in April of 2007. Currently, we meet at different locations. We have come to be known affectionately as 'The Outcast Writer’s Group' since we are no longer welcome at the library. In a way, the different settings make the meetings more interesting and entertaining. Plus, it helps us get our group out there and visible to others who might be interested."

"Wow. You aren’t making this easy on me, are you? This one is going to take a bit of explanation.

"As I said earlier, I didn’t start off with the intention of writing a novel. It happened by accident. How?

"The story presented in Stolen Tome and its sequels comes from a pen and paper role-playing game campaign I was running for a few friends. We had been playing weekly for about a year or so when one evening we decided to just sit back and reminisce about all the funny things that had happened, how the story came to be, some of our favorite moments, etc. One of my players made a comment in passing about how the storyline for the campaign and the characters would make for a good novel. Now, as someone who has been gaming and running campaigns for far too many years to admit, I had heard this sort of thing from different gaming groups before. Let’s face it… anyone who’s ever played RPGs for any period of time has either said that or heard someone else say it. At the time, I didn’t think much more of it. But, I did agree to backtrack and start a journal of events that chronicled a lot of the storyline and the characters.

"After I had written about ten pages… something sort of clicked. I went from simply hitting the high points and the funny little incidents that were the favorites of my players and myself to turning it into an actual story. As I wrote it, I e-mailed it to my players so they could read it and comment and add ideas or suggestions or even correct things I might have remembered incorrectly. They helped to shape a lot of the story, especially the characters and their unique personalities. And I can assure you that Axel, Morgan, and Mafina as the characters you read in Stolen Tome very much mirror the characters of Axel, Morgan, and Mafina that my players ran in the campaign. There were several times when I had to fill in some background dialogue and actions that didn’t happen during the campaign. And on more than one occasion, my players would correct me on how their characters acted or spoke or gestured in the scenes I had written. 'No, Axel wouldn’t do this . . . he’d look this way at the person. Morgan wouldn’t say that . . . she’d say this . . . and then make her point by doing this. . .' Things of that nature. In a very weird way, it was as if I had a filing cabinet of information for each of the major characters in the novel. If I wasn’t sure how to approach what a character would say or do, the player behind the character was a phone call or e-mail away. Talk about making a writer’s job easier!

"And I’ll tell you what . . . without those players and the development of the characters and all of the fun and enjoyment they brought to the table, there is no way I would have been able to write a story like this. That’s why they get a nice and much deserved mention in the acknowledgements of the book. They helped make the characters as interesting as they are."

"As for the creatures . . . those came from a plethora of places. I drew a lot of inspiration from the monster books most people use for their gaming. I would see a creature, like what was presented in the book, but then take it and add a little twist to the creature to make it more unique to the world of Ethynia. In that way, I think readers will still be familiar enough with the creatures that show up, but also get a little something different at the same time.

"The other background characters were occasionally patterned after certain traits of people that I knew. I worked with a tremendous supervisor whose last name was Steinmiller at the one job site. What better name could you use for a bartender? He was more than a little humored that I included a mini-tribute of sorts in the book. There are also a lot of obscure references that most people might not 'get'--some wrestling related, some sports related, some pulled from other avenues of entertainment. I didn’t look at anything as 'off limits' when I wanted to do a parody or tribute in some way, shape, or form. Chapter 14, 'Dinner and a Show,' might be the best example of that."

"I know exactly which chapter and character you mean, Shar. In fact, I remember when that section of the particular chapter came up in our editing discussions. I was worried that it might need to be chopped down a bit. Imagine my surprise when it was suggested that I add to it! And then I remember how I spent days . . . DAYS!!! . . . re-writing that section so that I got it just right. Strange how such a background character could take on such an important place to a writer. So it goes, though, when you’re doing a tribute to something or someone that you appreciate and enjoy as much as I did that character’s real life counterpart."

"Yes, it is intended as a series. The Silver Staff (current working title) continues the story of the characters from Stolen Tome. I had originally thought the entire campaign might comprise one novel. Little did I know when I started that it takes a little longer (and a lot more words!!) to turn a good story into a real novel. Since Stolen Tome was my first attempt at a novel, I had no idea how much more there is to writing than there is to running a pencil and paper RPG. With all of the storyline my players and I have done, it’s safe to say that there are at least two more books worth of material for this story arc. I can’t say for sure how many books, because while I have the storyline planned out, sometimes it takes me longer to develop it in novel form than it did in gaming form. So many more factors about which to worry! When running a game, you don’t necessarily need to know exactly what the bad guys are doing away from the main characters in the campaign. Not so with a novel! I found that writing in the bad guys’ material sometimes takes more space and time than covering the main characters. And do you want to know a secret? *leans in closer and whispers* I have found that I enjoy writing up the antagonists’ portions of the story almost as much as covering those goodie-goodie characters and their little exploits. It’s something a little different, you know?"

"The main inspiration was simply my enjoyment of telling a story that people seemed to enjoy. It’s also one of the reasons I enjoy gaming so much. Come up with something different and challenging, then see if it captures the attention of the audience. If so, then you take the idea and run with it. If not . . . oh, well. Back to the drawing board and try something else. Sooner or later you hit on something that you like and that others do, too. I don’t really write for myself. It’s something that I do to amuse and entertain others. I just so happen to enjoy writing and seem to have been blessed with the ability to do so."

"I try to set aside some time every day to write. It’s not always a specific amount. Sometimes it’s a half an hour, sometimes I’ve sat down at the computer and typed for hours. It varies on what else is going on in my life and the responsibilities I have. But I always try to sit down and write something every day, even if it’s only a few lines or reviewing old chapters and fixing them."

"I have thought a lot about it. However, this being my first venture into the world of marketing a novel, I am being a little on the cautious side at first. I’ve been privileged to have access to other published authors out there, some new and others who have been around a while. The subject of marketing is always in the discussion it seems. What I’ve learned thus far is to not go ridiculously into debt and spend outrageous sums of money on promotion right away. Spending hundreds of dollars on advertisements sounds like a good plan, but based on what I’ve been told, the return is not as big as one would think--especially for new authors.

"That said, I do still plan on finding unique and innovative ways of marketing Stolen Tome. I have a few ideas floating around at the moment, contacts that I’ve made with libraries and schools and other avenues to reach readers. I’ll keep you posted on those as details are worked out."

"I spend some time working on short stories. Nothing grandiose. Those are usually my 'breaks' from working on the novels. It gives me a couple of days away from the big projects, but still keeps me focused on writing and being creative. There’s also an RPG I have designed (not based on the novels, sorry!) that I tinker with now and again. It’s something that I work on and that I’d like to get published, but it’s on the backburner as long as I’m working on novels from the World of Ethynia."

"Japan. I’ve always wanted to visit Japan. Oh, wait. That’s not what you meant, is it? Too bad! That’s my answer and I’m sticking to it!"

"The dream of being a 'real, live, published, professional, author' is the obvious answer. It’s something that every writer strives to achieve. Other than that, as long as my work provides entertainment and amusement for those readers who are smart and daring enough to pick it up (flattery does work, right?), that’s a dream come true in and of itself.

"Oddly, my favorite memories from the writing process mostly involve the gaming sessions. But there are a few others. A friend of mine who wasn’t involved in the gaming side, but enjoyed reading fantasy asked if he could read it in its early stages. When he came back to me with it the next day and said 'You have a lot of talent for writing and could go places with this,' that’s one that sticks with me. And then there are the hours of editing and writing and re-writing and tweaking and adjusting things with my players in the context of the novel. It was always a blast to sit around with them and work out some of the kinks that can be caused when turning a gaming scenario into something that would work for a novel. Although a few creative liberties had to be taken to make the characters and storyline work as a novel, I can assure the readers that the story itself remains VERY true to the way it happened in those gaming sessions. Right down to some of the hilarious one-liners and ridiculous things the characters tried."

"My friends and family were very supportive throughout the whole process. My gaming friends were tremendous in so many ways, helping me recapture all of the fun and excitement of the story, not to mention the characters’ personalities and quirks. My family also had nothing but nice things to say during the development and writing of Stolen Tome. But, hey, that’s what families are supposed to do, right?"

"I am such an eclectic person."

"Did you make these questions harder based on me, Shar?"

"I should have known. *mutters*

"Well, I am completely and utterly addicted to hockey. I love to watch, play, talk about it, anything. I follow just about any and all sports, in general. Hockey and football are my two favorites, though. I’m also an avid golfer and bowler. I play tennis. Heck, you name a sport and I’ve either tried it or would be willing to give it a shot. I will also admit that I love video games--mainly sports and RPGs. I also collect a myriad of strange things, including but not limited to: Legos, wrestling memorabilia, toys from the 80’s (Voltron and M.A.S.K. anyone?), Japanese video games, and classic video games and consoles. And I could sit and watch episodes of MST3K all day."

"I’m not sure I would do too much differently at all. Each and every step was a learning process for me. And to be honest, I enjoyed learning the ins and outs of writing as I went along. It probably made the road longer and harder, but in the end, I think I learned a lot more like that.

"If I had to pick one thing, maybe I’d take back that promise of sending M&M’s I made to a certain editor as a celebratory gift when Stolen Tome went to press."

"I know the bureaucrats out there don’t want to hear this or admit it, but let’s face it here . . . we are moving in the direction of a paperless society. Yep, sooner or later just about everything will be done on computer and in electronic format. I think the fact that e-books have taken off so much only proves the point. The advantages to the reader are numerous: it’s cheaper, easier to access, you can get it RIGHT NOW without having to wait for the book to arrive, you can carry it with you on just about any portable device, just to name a few."

"Sure, I could go with the old standard 'Don’t give up! Keep trying! Don’t stop writing!' and all that stuff. But that’s not me. For writers just starting out, my best advice is not to give up . . . er . . . wait . . . maybe that silly little rah-rah speech is me! Nuts. Seriously, though, when you are writing or already have something written, it’s easy to get discouraged when your work isn’t accepted for publication right away. But you can’t let it get to you. The publishers out there aren’t attacking you or your work personally (at least not most of the time!). Sometimes what you have written just doesn’t fit exactly the sort of material for which they are looking at the time. It happens. A lot of getting published is good timing and fortune. Right place, right time. But it also does require working on what you have written. If you are fortunate enough to get feedback from publishers in your rejection letters, be open to the ideas and suggestions and changes they provide. Yes, it’s YOUR story, but sometimes you do have to adjust and tweak things to make it work. This is coming from the voice of experience, right, Shar? *sigh*"

THE STOLEN TOME
by J. Brian Jones

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308 pages, 6" x 9"
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