Have you written any other books?

Jaden Baker is my first published novel. It took six years of planning and problem solving, culminating in a start-to-finish writing session in the Summer of 2010. For more information on how Jaden came to be, read Where Jaden came from: the conception of a story.

Are you writing a new book?

Short answer: Yes, I think so.

Long answer: In the six years that I had Jaden nestled in the dark corners of my mind, I never told anyone that I was thinking of writing a novel. The only time I talked about the book was when I was sure I would finish it, and even then I only told my mom and close friends, who wondered what I was doing all day and night long (I didn’t want them to worry). I did not, however, tell them about the plot, just that I was writing a book.

Secrecy enabled the story to grow and mature on its own, without anyone’s interference. So while I’m always writing something, I won’t discuss any future novel until I’m sure I’ll finish and publish it.

I went into Barnes & Noble and didn’t see Jaden Baker. Why isn’t it in the store?

There are thousands of books published every year, and only so many shelf space in a store. Jaden is my first novel, which makes me a new and unknown author–a little blip on an enormous radar. The best way to get Jaden on the shelves of any bookstore is to start asking about it. If you make enough noise, a store will carry it. They want to make readers happy. And it’ll make me happy, too.

How did you get published?

After careful consideration, and lots of pro-con weighing, I decided to publish the book myself. There are a few reasons for this, but mainly it boiled down to me being an impatient control freak.

Since I’ve been working these many years as a graphic designer, I knew I could design my own cover, typeset the novel, create a website for it, and upload it as an ebook all on my own. Authors are always left with the difficult task of marketing their own book, regardless of how they’re published. So I figured if I could do a lot of what a publisher would do, why should I go through traditional publishing motions, and one to two years later, have my book published and then be left with the task of trying to get the word out?

I wanted to do as much of the work as I could, and I didn’t want to spend that time trying to find an agent or negotiating a publishing contract. I wanted the book published and out into the world as soon as I could get it there. The romance of finding an agent, going through rejections, having an agent accept me, having the agent peddle the book to publishers, lost all of its romance when I Googled “publishing contracts,” “author royalties,” and read about how long it took to get published the traditional way, and how easy it was to self-publish. Publishing it myself means I get to keep all my rights to the book and more of the profits. The book is my baby, I want to keep as much of it as possible.

One thing I didn’t try to do on my own was edit the book. An author should always, always, always have help with editing.

Self-publishing was the right decision for me (and should probably be a blog post at some point), but may not be for everyone.

If you’re interested in self-publishing, or want to glean a little more info as to why I decided to go that way, check out Overcoming the Self-Publishing Stigma.

How long have you wanted to be a writer?

I remember coming to the decision when I was eleven or twelve. When I finally fessed up to my parents that I wanted to write, I’m sure there were a bit shocked, as I wasn’t a big reader. I have few memories of reading as a child (though what I did read I loved: The Hobbit, Around the World in Eighty Days to name a few). But even though I didn’t read many books, I did a lot of dreaming. I made up many of my own stories as a child, which is why I decided it would be best to dream for a living.

Do you have any writing advice?

1. Write a lot. Don’t talk about writing, just do it. Writing is an internal task, taking what’s in your mind and putting it into words on a page. My advice is to keep it as private as you can, don’t brag about it, advertise it, or ask for suggestions from friends on what you’re working on. Trust yourself to do it entirely on your own. You’ll be surprised as to what your mind will come up with for your story.
2. Stop looking for advice. This seems counter-intuitive to this whole answer, but the more time you spend looking for advice from other writers, the less time you’re figuring things out for yourself, or writing on your own. The best thing you can do to get better at any hobby, skill, or whatever, is to do it. Real writers write, wannabe writers talk about writing.
3. Read a lot of different types of books. The one and only book I’ve read about writing is Stephen King’s book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. It’s excellent, and if you enjoy reading and writing, you should pick it up. It’s not really an advice book, just a memoir about what writing is and why he loves it.

Spoiler related questions about Jaden Baker. You’ve been warned.

Where did you get the idea of Joseph Madrid and some of the things he does?

You’re asking/wondering about this because you may be worried for me, yeah? One of my aunts asked me if I’d spent time in a Turkish prison. Madrid is a twisty villain, and one I doubt I’ll be able to top. The short answer is that he came with the rest of the story. If you’d like the long explanation, you should read the blog post about him: Joseph Madrid.

Who or what is Seth?

Good question. I have my idea of who he is, but I’d much rather hear your theory.

I will say this, though: At his core, Seth is a protector. He’s around to keep Jaden safe. That doesn’t mean that Seth is perfect, that’s just one thing that Seth does…

I was confused at the end… Jaden says that Seth said something and that Seth was always right, but then the scene cut away from Jaden. What was he talking about?

If you were to read the book again, you’d find this little “easter egg” in Chapter Thirteen. It’ll be much more fun for you to find it than for me to say it. Trust me

Is Jaden based on a real person?

Goodness no, at least I hope not! Poor bloke. Aside from the whole psychokinesis thing, Jaden seems real because he was real to me. He lived in my head for a long time, and I fell in love with him. I admire his strength, his good heart, sarcasm, quick wit, and thirst for knowledge. I miss him terribly. He was my friend for years, keeping me company. Or maybe he was demanding that I let him out of my head. Depends on how you look at it, I suppose.

Writers write from experience, so what in this story have you experienced?

Fiction writers base a lot of their stories on their imaginations. I doubt that Anne Rice spent time with vampires in Louisiana, or that Tom Clancy has been on classified missions to Columbia, or that Neil Gaiman fell into the gap to London Below. We live in our heads. Writers are observers of people, and creating believable characters is key to a good story. Experiences outside of that are secondary (in my opinion).

Having said that, there are two things I did experience that I included in the novel:

1. I’ve been stuck in traffic on 580 in Livermore, California (I used to live there). Jaden got stuck in traffic going east on 580 after escaping. He, of course, has the ability to move cars out of his way, and then destroys a helicopter that’s chasing him. I had to wait…
2. I love galloping on my horse, regardless of if the other person riding with me doesn’t care for it. Jaden’s mount “Monty” is based heavily on my current horse, Dante, who’s as lazy as they come until a little competition is introduced. Then Dante is a powerful speed machine. But only if he’s racing.

Did I miss any questions? If so, please post in the comment section.