
Today we’re joined by James L. Weaver, author of the adult thriller Poor Boy Road, the first in the Jake Caldwell series. Released this week – congratulations James! – it already seem to be a hit with readers.
Let’s start at the start! What were you like at school? Were you good at English?
I was a good student overall, but could have been excellent if I’d really applied myself. I did well in English when the subject appealed to me, but I vehemently hated Shakespeare and poetry and fared poorly in those areas. 10th Grade did result in my first true creative writing endeavour – some fantasy tale about a knight and a monster that is embarrassingly bad. I think it’s still stashed in my basement somewhere. I had a creative writing class in college at Kansas State University taught by a woman named Nina Hajda who was an aspiring writer herself. Her praise and encouragement helped spark the idea that I had at least some measure of ability.
Do you write full-time or part-time? Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?
I write part-time, usually between the hours of 10 pm and midnight. I have a full-time job, two active kids who keep my wife and I running around, and a handful of television shows I refuse to give up. I usually sit at our kitchen table with my laptop and write. Sometimes it’s a paragraph, sometimes a chapter, sometimes three or four chapters. There are times when I know what I’m spewing sucks and I give up for the night. I’d like to say I write every day, but it would be a lie. If I’m stuck on a plot point, I might let it stew for a day or two before the resolution reveals itself.
How do you think you’ve evolved creatively since the first thing you wrote?
I’ve studied the craft and read a hell of a lot more by people who do it well than when I started. I thought you could just sit down and pound out a story and the agents would come running! Maybe that’s true for the select few, but I learned a ton reading Stephen King’s book On Writing and Don’t Murder Your Mystery by Chris Roerden. I’ve learned that you can outline and plot all you want, but the story will take you where it wants go – fight it at your peril.
The book is part of the Jake Caldwell series, tell us a little about it?
I absolutely love authors who write about the same character in different settings and adventures. John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport, James Patterson’s Alex Cross or Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. I love finding the Easter Eggs they drop referring back to previous tales. You can read them as a stand-alone novel, but you grow with their characters and can’t wait for the next one to be released.
So, this is the first of the Jake Caldwell novels. The “sequel” Ares Road is set in Kansas City and will be a faster paced book. We’re targeting a 2017 release though I would love to get it out by Christmas. I’m tinkering with some plot ideas for the third book, but I love that I can literally take Jake and put him anywhere in the world in any circumstance and spin a tale without having to rely on what happened in the book before. I find that non-linear track very attractive.
Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors? What book/s are you reading at present?
I try to read as much as I can because I think it keeps your writing fresh. There’s a handful of authors whose books I will either pre-buy or get as soon as they hit the shelves. In addition to Sandford and Child that I mentioned above, Stephen King is a must buy for me and I’m dying for Gillian Flynn to release another book. Her stuff is amazing.
I just finished an outstanding book called All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer. Fantastic imagery and story-telling. I’m currently reading an advanced reader copy of A Falling Friend which is set for an April release from Lakewater Press.
If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?
Ooooh, good question. You can’t tell, but I’ve been sitting here drumming the keyboard for a good couple of minutes trying to come up with a good answer. My favourite all time book would probably be The Stand by Stephen King so I’ll go with that. King is such a master of setting a scene and telling the tale that blurs the line between the natural and supernatural.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers? Do you have any tips for readers or advice for other writers trying to get published?
Step One: Find something you want to write. If you try and write what you think others will want to read, it will show.
Step Two: Write it, spend a little time pulling your hair out in the editing process, then put it away for at least a month or two. Then go back and rewrite it.
Step Three: Give it to someone who will give you an honest opinion. I wrote a blog on it several months ago, but you have to have multiple people who will tell you what sucks, what’s unbelievable, what’s awesome, what connected with them and what fell flat. Nothing’s worse than getting back your book and all they tell you was “It’s good”. That doesn’t help me!
Step Four: Polish from your reviewers’ feedback. Kill those darlings!
Step Five: Find an editor. Nothing’s worse than reading a book and having to edit it in your head. I’ve stopped many a self-published novel because I can’t get into the tale for mountain of little things a good editor would have caught.
Step Six: Start shopping for an agent or publisher. Just as you would with your novel, have someone you trust critique your query letter.
Step Seven: While you’re waiting for the pre-printed rejection letters to hit your mailbox or the agents not to respond at all, enter your work in writing contests. You’ll get great feedback and you never know what could happen or what doors it will open.
The most important thing is DON’T GIVE UP!
What about non-literary entertainment? What are your top rated television shows?
I love to work-out and run. As for TV, this can be a little controversial and I’m sure I’ll get a “How can you leave XYZ off your list?” But, my best all-time television shows are: The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, The Shield, Breaking Bad, Friday Night Lights and Battlestar Galactica (the new one, not the campy 80s one). If you haven’t binge watched any of those, do so now…and buy Poor Boy Road so you have something to do while your Netflix or Amazon Prime is buffering.
Favourite All-Time Movie?
The Shawshank Redemption.
What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful? How can readers discover more about you and you work?
Tell other people about it! Tell them you just read Poor Boy Road and it blew your socks off! Seriously though, if you like it, post a review on Amazon or Goodreads. If someone tells me about a book, I do look at the reviews and see what kind of feedback it’s received to see if I want to invest my diminishing free time on it. It also encourages the author to write more. We authors are a self-doubting bunch at times and need a little positive reinforcement to keep the juices flowing.
Shoot me an email at weaverbooks@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @WildcatJim2112. I do have another book out there called Jack & Diane – a coming of age tale that anyone who grew up in the 80s will enjoy and relate to. I also have a blog called weaverwrites.wordpress.com that I need to post more on.
Fantastic! Thanks so much, James. We’ll be sure to read and review Poor Boy Road as soon as possible.
If you want to purchase your own copy, here might be the perfect place to start Amazon.co.uk