Check out this author spotlight for Jamie McFarlane!
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!
I’m Jamie McFarlane aka James Greenwood and I’m a multi-genre author who is probably best known for writing thrilling science fiction adventures. Having graduated with a MS in Mathematics, I focused my first career on software development. Later in life, I discovered the revolution occurring with Amazon and other independent author platforms and my life changed direction almost overnight.
With kids having moved out of the house, I discovered if I wrote on nights and weekends, I could finally fulfill a lifelong fantasy and publish the stories that had previously just been rolling around in my head. I was as shocked as anyone when readers who I had never even met started reading my books and even more importantly asking for more. Well, if ever there was a feedback loop I wanted part of, that was it. Five years later, I set aside developing software and started writing full time, never to look back.
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!
Winter, spring, summer or autumn? Autumn is my favorite season. The summer’s heat is gone but there’s no reason to head inside. There’s nothing better than tromping through the woods with my wife and my dog running around like a lunatic (for clarity, just my dog doing the running).
Cat or dog? Dog. I’m all about having a companion who will jump in the truck and get dirty down by the river or just to run out and grab a cup of coffee.
Tea or coffee? I like both, but I’d struggle to live without coffee.
Morning or evening? Morning brings the promise of a whole new day. I love that hour before sunrise when everything is still possible.
Library or museums? Library. I’d read all day if given the option. When I got Covid, my biggest concern was loading my Kindle.
Hunter or gatherer? I’ve been a hunter and recognize the value but it weighs on you. We spent a whole lot of time searching the woods near our cabin for mushrooms this last year. I enjoyed that a great deal.
Witches or wizards? Wizards with long gray beards and pipes filled with mysterious plants.
Ninjas or pirates? Pirates. Yar!
Mountains or beaches? Mountains when I was younger, beaches with drink service now that I’m older.Plotter or pantser? So far down the pantser path I can’t even respected a three bullet outline.
Pen and paper or computer/phone? Electronics are my thing. I find writing with a pen laborious but can type nearly as fast as I can think.
Standalone or series? Series all day long. If a character doesn’t have to live with her decisions, it’s just less interesting.
Book or ebook? eBook for sure. I’m just tired of paperbacks slapping me in the face when I fall asleep.
Hero or anti-hero? I love them both, although most of my anti-heroes turn out to just be well disguised heroes.
3. When you look for books to read, what trope or type of story will always catch your attention?
I get stuck on coming of age tropes. I love to read how a younger person’s decisions shape their life story and how that growth helps them overcome challenges previously overwhelming.
4. What do you write? Tell us about your current projects and the latest happenings!
I’ve written YA Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Action Thriller, Gamelit/LitRPG and Science Fiction. Currently, I’m finishing up Book #20 in the Privateer Tales series, which I’ve been writing for 7+ years. I’m also working on a LitRPG – Wizard Prince. Both of these will be available roughly around April.
5. What is your most recent release? Give us a short presentation, cover, and a link for where to buy it!
Junkyard Raiders – Junkyard Pirate #5.
Dumped on a backwater planet, heroic old vets will risk everything to take a stand against vicious alien invaders.
Link: https://fickledragon.com/junkyard-amazon
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!
Today, Star Wars is so overdone it’s hard to understand just how exciting it was when first released. I remember being completely blown away by the movie. I still draw inspiration from those feelings.
Robert Heinlein, Jerry Pournelle, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov were the authors I read as a kid.
More recent inspiration was the TV show Firefly. Seriously, why did they stop making that show?
7. What is your writing routine? If you have one, give us the run-down!
I write on Wednesday and Thursday with the stated objective of writing 3, 1100 word scenes each day. The day does not end until that’s completed. If for some reason I don’t get my words in, I’m back at it on Friday. I don’t allow excuses from myself on this. This stems from a knowledge that if I keep this pace, I can produce four 24 chapter books each year.
8. If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice as you started out on the path to becoming an author, what would it be?
Get started earlier.
9. Last but not least: where can we find you? Drop those links!
I’m not the best socialite in the world. https://fickledragon.com is my website. I blog sometimes. https://facebook.com/groups/JunkyardInsider is my reader’s group. https://facebook.com/JamieMcFarlaneAuthor is my author’s page. If you really want to know what’s shaking, though, I’m all about my email newsletter. Sign up for that at my website.
