Check out this author spotlight for John W. Wells III!
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!
Hello! My name is John Wells, I love long walks on the beach, and candlelit dinners… Okay, I am only joking… Well, not about the long walks on the beach, or the dinner. But that is because I’m a San Diego Native, and who doesn’t love the beach and food? Let’s see, about me. Well, I am a nerd with a wild imagination. I love fantasy and the supernatural, which is why I write about them. When I was in the third grade, I picked up my first animorphs book and I haven’t left the genre since. It got so bad, that I even thought I was an animorph for a period of time… I wish I was joking but I am not. I truly did. I am a Storyteller, I love telling stories in all forms, books, plays, movies, I love a good story. I am also a loving dog dad of two beautiful pitbull mix breeds (thought one looks more pit than the other). But enough about me, let’s talk about you! No, seriously, I think that’s all I can think of right now.
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!
Cat or dog? I love both. I am an animal kind of guy. But I own two dogs so I am going to go with them.
Library or museums? Library… You can just do so much there… read, study, nap. I’ve done all of the above.
Witches or wizards? Wizards… totally going to be a wizard so I can shoot lightning from my fingertips like Gandalf.
Ninjas or pirates? I’ve always liked Ninja’s because of stealth… But pirates have more fun.
Plotter or pantser? I am a total plotter. I have learned the hard way that pantsing does not end well for me.
3. When you look for books to read, what trope or type of story will always catch your attention?
I am a sucker for the underdog. I love a sympathetic character learning how to rise up and overcoming unimaginable odds.
4. What do you write? Tell us about your current projects and the latest happenings!
Well I write YA Urban Fantasy, and I am super excited about the release of my second book, The Heir of Ambrose which releases in March. My first book was released not too long ago and I am still very proud of it. And my third book will be released at the end of this year.
Here’s a little synopsis of the book series!
Kalib Andrew’s, discovers that maybe his life isn’t as normal as he thought it was. Not that it was ever really “normal” to begin with. He is the adopted son of the mayor, a detail that he never quite felt comfortable sharing, mostly because he always suspected that he was his adopted parents, the Donovan’s, “Humanitarian purchase.” Adopting the underprivileged African-American kid was good for their image. But when strange things start happening in town, like, a creepy-smelly-shadow-demon-thingy appearing out of nowhere and trying to kill him on the street during his walk home from work one day, Kalib starts to think that maybe there’s more going on in town, than he originally suspected. And furthermore, he starts to wonder if maybe, somehow, whatever was going on in town, had something to do with him.
5. What is your most recent release? Give us a short presentation, cover, and a link for where to buy it!
I will see that the Release closest to now is the release of the Heir of Ambrose! The second book in the series. This book releases March 7th and I couldn’t be happier about it! Legend has it that “Ambrose,” the first Magicborne, was behind the annihilation of the Angel Warriors. Now, Kalib fears that the mysterious Heir of Ambrose is determined to fulfill his predecessor’s vendetta both against him and his kind. And when citizens of Hainesville suddenly begin to vanish he becomes more convinced than ever that this heir is coming for him. But the real question that Kalib is struggling to answer is… Should he let him?
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 pull from every aspect of life. I have pulled from my own familial and friendship relationships. I have pulled from mythology, and history. I am not sure if I have a primary form of fictional inspiration. But I do love a good fantasy show or book. Rick Riordan, is a good source of inspiration. Harry Potter as well. The TV show Supernatural. Even the Bible!
7. What is your writing routine? If you have one, give us the run-down!
I normally wake up early in the morning between normally between 4am-and 6:30am and I start writing everyday. I believe in putting words on a page. So the most important thing I can do is write. Normally, before I start working on a story, I will outline and I try to outline until there is nothing else to outline. This is a new thing I am trying, or else my ADD will take me every place it can take me while writing the story, so I am trying to focus that in by outlining to the minute detail, we will see how that will work on my upcoming books. And then I just write, everyday, I aim for 2k words a day, hoping to up that a bit this year. Maybe 3k or 4k but I don’t want to set unattainable goals, I want to allow myself room to grow.
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?
FINISH! Just keep writing. It took me entirely too long to finish my first book, not because I was slow, but because I didn’t keep writing. My advice to myself would have been to finish the book. Outline. And then write.
9. Last but not least: where can we find you? Drop those links!
