Author Interview with J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison
Today we are chatting with J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison. Always a pleasure to chat with Jim. Let's see what he has to share with us today.
Q: Tell us what your books are about.
A: I’ve written three books so far. Well…one of them is a graphic novel, but I think that still counts. They are in three different genres—superhero, fantasy and horror—but all three of them are comedies. So I guess, while the plots and worlds of the books differ pretty widely, they are all about the same thing—finding humor in unexpected places and situations. When life is hard or sad or unfair, a sense of humor is the best defense and the most reliable source of joy.
Q: What are your writing plans for the future?
A: I’m currently working on the second book in my epically silly epic fantasy trilogy, Fish Wielder. As I’m writing Fish Wielder 2: A Fish Out of Water I’m also jotting down notes and snippets for other books I’ve got in mind. In particular, I’m mapping out the plotline of a science fiction novel, a sequel to my graphic novel, and a couple of children’s books. And, of course, there’s the third book in the trilogy, which is all plotted and outlined and ready to go. So, I guess my writing plans for the future are to keep writing.
Q: Any advice you would like to give to aspiring writers?
A: I kind of hit it at the end of that last answer. Keep writing. The major thing that separates an aspiring writer from a published writer is the act of writing. So, if you want to write, start writing stuff and then keep at it until it’s done. Don’t worry about it being perfect right off the bat, don’t worry about your audience yet. If you’ve got a story in you and you want to get it out, write. I have an artist friend who draws my book covers—the amazing Herb Apon. He sometimes sits with me in my booth to autograph his cover art at comic cons and writing festivals and things. At every event we’ve attended together, someone has commented on what a talented artist he is, lamented that they have no talent, and asked how he got to be so good. His answer works for artists or writers. He says, “If you want to get good at something, do it. I’m not a particularly talented artist, so I draw all the time. It’s not something most people are just born able to do, but like anything, you improve the more you practice. So I practice all the time. I’m constantly drawing things, and the more I draw, the better I get.” My version of this advice is write. If you think you aren’t a great writer, write more and you’ll get better at it. If you have trouble finishing, remember that everybody does and use that knowledge to stick with it. Write, write, write, write.
Q: When you were young, did you ever see writing as a career or full-time profession?
A: Yes! Absolutely. When I was in first grade, my teacher (Miss Rainwater—I’m not making that up), had us write down what we wanted to be when we grew up. I put, “I am gong to be a wrytr.” My spelling has improved somewhat, but my vision has remained constant.
No. That’s a blatant lie.
After trying to write my first fantasy novel when I was 13, I realized that writing was hard. So I thought maybe I’d be a cartoonist. That proved to be hard also. When I got out of high school, I took a gap year to try to start a gaming company. But starting companies was hard too. So I went to film school to learn how to be a movie director. After college, I worked in film as a sound recordist, an editor, a screenwriter, a producer, a director and an animator. I even started my own production company and made a feature length comedy horror film. Then I got into animation full time. Then I wrote and directed some TV shows. Then I became a brand consultant. From there, I stumbled my way into writing a comic book series that got turned into a graphic novel. AND THEN I finished my first book.
Q: People believe that being a published author is glamorous, is that true?
A: The life of a published author, such as myself, is one of continuous jet-setting, champagne sipping and rubbing elbows with other celebrities. I start most mornings in the late afternoon, when my butler brings me a cold Dr. Pepper (chilled to within a degree of its slush-point) and a slice of crispy, thin crust, cheese pizza, light on the sauce. If I’m feeling inspired, I may dictate snatches of my next book to a secretary for an hour or so while I lounge pool-side or get a massage. Then I usually eat a large slice of spice cake in the back of my limo whilst my chauffer drives me to my private jet or a fabulous party.
No. I can’t speak for other authors, but things are not glamorous for me. I have kids to get off to school in the morning, dogs to walk and then a fulltime job to get to. I squeeze in writing during lunch, or after the kids are in bed, or while I’m sitting in my car outside my older daughter’s horse riding lesson or on a bench while my younger daughter has soccer practice. When I rent a booth or a table at a local comic con to promote my books, I pack my little car so tight with boxes of books and promotional T-shirts and things that the hatchback will barely close, I can’t see out the back window and the passenger front seat is as full as the back seats. I haul everything myself, set everything up myself and I get all dusty and dirty and sore and tired. I generally run my booth on my own, except when my artist friend, Herb, comes to sign promotional posters, and then I sneak off to use the bathroom or grab a slice of pizza. And when the con is done, I break everything back down myself and haul it back to my office myself, and I get all dusty and dirty and sore and tired again. It’s not particularly glamorous, but it is rewarding. I love books and I love writing and I love talking with folks who’ve read my books.
Q: Do you believe attractive book covers help in its sales?
A: I’ve mentioned my artist friend, Herb Apon, a couple of times already because his work adds so much value to my books. There’s that old adage, “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” Old adages are generally reminders of things that everyone knows already, but which we have to remind ourselves about over and over again because we generally do the opposite. People judge books by their covers. That’s often how they decide what to pick up, what to look at more closely and, ultimately, what to read. A good cover draws people in and invites consideration. A bad cover can do the opposite.
To be clear, the best cover in the world won’t help a terrible book very much. In fact, it might even hurt a bad book because readers, drawn in by the amazing art, might find themselves feeling disappointed or betrayed by the writing. But a bad cover will hurt a good book by turning people off before they have a chance to read anything.
Q: Have you ever marketed your own books yourself?
A: Absolutely. This is a necessary part of being a writer today. Even if your publisher is promoting your book, you have to market it as well. There are so many books published every single day, and you aren’t just competing with them, you are competing with every book that has ever been published and every book that is going to be published. So it’s important that you market and promote your book as much as you can afford in terms of money and time. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms make an easy place to market. I try not to be a salesman about it, but I do try to market and promote my books as often as I can. For example, I travel frequently for work. Whenever I’m travelling, I’ll wear a promotional T-shirt with the title of my book on it. I always bring four or five copies of that book with me, and when someone mentions the shirt (it happens at least once on every trip), I give them a copy of the book. It’s surprising how impactful this seems to be. I’ve gotten some great reviews on Amazon and elsewhere from folks I met in airports and to whom I gave free copies. A fair number of them have even joined my mailing list (which is another great marketing tool you can and should be using). And, of course, I attend comic cons and writing festivals and signing opportunities. My schedule doesn’t allow me to go far, so I keep track of the events going on around my home city and I go to as many as I can.
Q: Given the chance to live your life again, what would you change about yourself?
A: I’ve read enough fantasy and science fiction to know that this is a trick question. If you ever have the opportunity to go back in time and change some aspect of your life, DON’T DO IT! It never turns out well and sometimes it even results in the destruction of the entire world.
Seriously though, I have been phenomenally lucky in life. I’ve blundered my way into a fun job, a happy marriage and the opportunity to write. I could not have arranged things better if I’d tried, so it seems like it would be foolish and ungrateful to tweak the past. Sure, some stuff has been hard, and some moments have sucked and there are certainly things that, in hindsight, I could have done A LOT better. But it’s too easy to spend too much time worrying about mistakes of the past or achievements in the future at the expense of the moment you’re actually in, which is the only moment you ever really have.
All that noted, if I had the chance to live my life again, I would not have been so disdainful of my uncle for his bright red sports coat when I was sixteen. At the time, I thought it looked dorky and embarrassing, but now I realize how totally cool it was. Also, I would not have misplaced my bowling ball.
Q: Do you need to be in a specific place or room to write, or you can just sit in the middle of a café full of people and write?
A: That depends. When I’m first starting a story, or sometimes even a new chapter, I need a quiet place with no distractions and a big chunk of time. The world and the characters are too fragile for me to sustain if there’s anything to pull my attention away from them—and I need time to build up a head of steam and get the words flowing. But once I’m going, and particularly when I get to the point where I’m refining what’s already been written, then I can (and do) write anywhere. My preferred starting place is in the loft at my home. I can climb up there and cocoon myself in my story. As I get further into a book, I often find myself writing behind the wheel of my car (don’t worry—only when safely parked), or jumping out of bed at two in the morning to write a few pages, or (one time) even at the roller rink where my kids were skating.
Q: What’s your favorite movie which was based on a book?
A: Movies based on books are very tricky. There’s so much more detail that I draw out of reading a book than what I get from a movie that they almost always disappoint at least a little bit. And when they change things or leave plot points or characters out, or worse, make up new bits or characters, I’m often outraged—or at least slightly peeved. My daughter has a great philosophy about movie adaptations. She says, “You’ve got to think about them like they’re just fan-fiction, dad. They don’t wreck what you’ve read—they’re just someone’s interpretation of the story.”
But my favorite movie based on a book is Fight Club. I liked the movie way MORE than the book.
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Fish Wielder by J.R.R.R (Jim) Hardison
Epic Fantasy/YA
Fish Wielder Series (Book 1)
Fiery Seas Publishing
August 23, 2016
Fish Wielder is kind of like Lord of the Rings, set in Narnia, if it was written by the guys who made Monty Python and the Holy Grail while they were listening to the music of They Might Be Giants.
In ancient times, the Dark Lord Mauron cooked the most powerful magic chocolate dessert ever made, the Pudding of Power. One thousand and two years later, the evil leader of the Bad Religion, the Heartless One, is trying to recover the lost pudding in order to enslave the peoples of Grome. Only the depressed barbarian warrior Thoral Might Fist and his best friend, Brad the talking Koi fish, have a chance to save the world of Grome from destruction, but that’s going to take a ridiculous amount of magic and mayhem. Thus begins the epically silly epic fantasy of epic proportions, Fish Wielder—book one of the Fish Wielder Trilogy.
About the Author:
Fish Wielder is J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison’s first novel novel (He wrote a graphic novel, The Helm, for Dark Horse Comics). Jim has worked as a writer, screen writer, animator and film director. He started his professional career by producing a low-budget direct-to-video feature film, The Creature From Lake Michigan. Making a bad movie can be a crash course in the essential elements of good character and story, and The Creature From Lake Michigan was a tremendously bad movie. Shifting his focus entirely to animation, Jim joined Will Vinton Studios where he directed animated commercials for M&M’s and on the stop-motion TV series Gary and Mike. While working at Vinton, he also co-wrote the television special Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy with actor Paul Reiser.
Jim has appeared on NBC’s The Apprentice as an expert advisor on brand characters, developed characters and wrote the pilot episode for the PBS children’s television series SeeMore’s Playhouse and authored the previously mentioned graphic novel, The Helm, named one of 2010’s top ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens by YALSA, a branch of the American Library Association. These days, Jim is the creative director and co-owner of Character LLC, a company that does story-analysis for brands and entertainment properties. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his lovely wife, two amazing kids, one smart dog and one stupid dog.
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