Check out this author spotlight for Jason DeGray!
You can find all his links furthest down the page, and don’t forget to check out his books!
1. Hi! Welcome to my humble blog of all things bookish! I would like for us to start by getting to know you. Give us a short bio, please!
Jason enjoys road trips, beautiful spring mornings, sitting outside at coffee shops, and searching through dusty bookstores for hidden treasures. He lives, laughs, and loves in New Mexico USA and is always looking forward to his next adventure.
2. To get to know you just a little bit better, I’d like to ask you some this or that questions. Answer 5 of these and explain why you chose this or that, or maybe an entirely different alternative!
Tea or coffee?
Coffee, by all that is holy, coffee! Coffee has become an integral part of my life. In college, a group of friends and I would meet at this all night diner and write bad poetry, drink coffee, and talk about nutty things. It’s been with me ever since.
Ninjas or pirates?
Ninjas. They are awesome. They are sneaky. They know martial arts. They wore masks before it was the “new normal.” And one of my favourite comics, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, has ninja turtles.
Pen and paper or computer/phone?
Typewriter. I started writing on a typewriter a few years ago when I noticed the computer becoming more of a distraction than a tool. It was actually hindering my writing process. I found this old typewriter at a thrift store and cleaned it up. I’ve been using it since. I love it. It writes exactly what I tell it to, doesn’t make coloured, squiggly lines appear, and doesn’t tempt me to tab over to youtube for a quick “research check.”
Book or ebook?
Book. I don’t read ebooks. I can’t read off a screen like I can read an actual book.
Hero or anti-hero?
Hero. These are the characters that inspired us to achieve great things. Who taught us lessons about our humanity, about compassion, about empathy. These are the characters who challenged us to be our best and get back up when you get knocked down with a Kryptonite hammer. I don’t get the same thing from an anti-hero.
3. When you look for books to read, what trope or type of story will always catch your attention?
I like real characters. And I like characters that either start out low, or are brought low at the start and have to strive toward some goal. Hero’s Journey type stuff. I’m also a sucker for old pulp stories and scifi. I’ll read those all day long (and usually do).
4. What do you write? Tell us about your current projects and the latest happenings!
I write speculative fiction mostly. I have written a collection of plays (a few of which were preformed), poetry, essays. You name it and I’ve probably tried to write it at some point. My current book is 3vE, a post-apocalyptic noir about a world on the brink of destruction. The main characters Jacob, Nate, and 3vE each come from a different place but are drawn together into a web of deceit and conspiracy that seeks to bring about the evil corporations’ end game for humanity: immortality for them, death for everyone else.
Before 3vE, I had written two novels in my Ruined Man series. The first novel, The Ruined Man, was a finalist in the 2017 NM-AZ Book Awards. TRM was a paranormal detective series. But I’m currently talking to a new publisher about it since my old publisher suffered the dreaded Curse of 2020 and is no longer operating.
5. What is your most recent release? Give us a short presentation, cover, and a link for where to buy it!
3vE
Corporate Denver is a futuristic cesspool of crime, depravity, and excess. Those with Status have access to the world’s depleting resources, those who don’t struggle to keep one step ahead of death.
Integration Technologies consultant Jacob Riley wades through the dystopian morass hunting people whose cybernetic enhancements have glitched and turned them into raving monsters. But a unique job opportunity sends this former family man on a quest to do something he swore never to do: help the elites who oppress him.
When he meets 3vE, a hybrid genetically modified human who escaped from a corporate lab, everything he believes and holds dear is challenged as he plunges headlong into the shadows of a dying earth, racing to stop the ruling elite’s endgame for humanity.
It’s available on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/3vE-Jason-Degray/dp/1734070587 and also Barnes and Noble, and a lot of other bookseller sites too.
6. What real-life inspiration do you draw from, and what are your primary fictional sources of inspiration (books, authors, films, music, etc.)? Name a few!
I’m fascinated with the Zeitgeist, the spirit of our collective society. The trends that ebb and flow from it, the effects it has on our personal lives and attitudes, how it shapes our reality and how we see ourselves. This is where I get my real life inspiration from. Of course there are people at a coffee shop who say or do something noteworthy, but those are just character notes really. Fictional sources are a lot of Philip K. Dick, Robert E. Howard, and Clive Barker. Each one of these authors is not like the other, but they all are powerful writers with amazing voices and vivid imaginations. For 3VE, I got back into my cyberpunk kick. Read a lot of William Gibson, watched The Matrix and Johnny Mnemonic and all the 90’s B movies in the genre I could find.
7. What is your writing routine?
If you have one, give us the run-down! First, I make a pot of coffee or espresso. I take out my typewriter and get started. I do all my initial writing on my typewriter. I’ll move over to coffee shops to get editing done and type the final draft on the computer. I also get up and pace a lot when I’m working through a scene. It helps me think.
8. If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice as you started out on the path to become an author, what would it be?
Listen to Dr. Cook when he told you if you were really going to be a writer, get used to writing for the trashcan. And become a better salesman.
9. Last but not least: where can we find you? Drop those links!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jasondegrayauthor
Twitter: @infinityjones
Instagram: @trmnovels
