Author Interview: James Quinlan Meservy

Check out this author spotlight for James Quinlan Meservy!

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!

Mornin! I am James Quinlan Meservy

Fantasy Author Extraordinaire,

Creator of Creatures,

Embellisher of Events,

And Firebrand

“Stories that Kindle Imagination”

I am from Cache Valley of Northern Utah, presently reside in Southeast Idaho, have a degree in Archaeology, and while I am not writing books, I am either working as a forklift operator in a dehydrated potato warehouse or am spending time with my family.

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. The colors, the cool air, the relaxing time after the business of summer.

Cat or dog? Dog. Cats are spawn of darkness.

Tea or coffee? I can’t stand the smell of coffee, so I have never drank it. But I do love a good herbal tea, my favourite it hibiscus.

Morning or evening? Mornings are nice, but I tend to have more energy in the evenings, so I guess evening.

Library or museums? Funny question. The author in me always loves a library collection. But the anthropologist is me loves museums, so both, I guess.

Hunter or gatherer? Both. Civilization grew from the use of both hunters and gatherers working together in a larger community.

Witches or wizards? Hmm, that depends on the definitions we are using. Are we talking Harry Potter, where female magic users are witches and males are wizards, or are we talking Middle Earth were wizards are from a distant world and witches are just fakes?

Ninjas or pirates? Ehh, give me a good wizard over either.

Mountains or beaches? Mountains, I am hydrophobic after all.

Plotter or pantser? As an epic fantasy author, I need to plot at least a little, but my preferred method is to pants, so I am learning a hybrid method of using both technics.

Standalone or series? A good standalone always make me wish there was a second book, however, sometimes a series ruins an otherwise great standalone, I am thinking specifically of The Final Empire, Mistborn Book 1 by Sanderson. I loved The Final Empire, thought it was one of the best books ever written. But I was not a fan of the rest of the Mistborn series or the Wax & Wayne series.

Book or ebook? It does not matter, so long as I can read.

Hero or anti-hero? Anti-heroes. They seem to always have better character development.

3. When you look for books to read, what trope or type of story will always catch your attention?

When I look for books to read, I usually focus on the list of Indie Published titles that the authors requested I review on my blog. When I look for books to listen to, I usually focus on classic titles, fantasy reads, or Star Wars reads (Legends over new canon.)

4. What do you write? Tell us about your current projects and the latest happenings!

I write mostly fantasy. My current WIP is called Dragons’ Deceit, and in my mind, it was created because I asked myself what would Orwell’s classic 1984 look like if Big Brother were a dragon. And I just ran with it.

5. What is your most recent release? Give us a short presentation, cover, and a link for where to buy it!

My most recent release was Shades of Mortality, The Realm of the Light Book 4.

HeatherAnn Parkinson’s parents sacrificed everything they had to save HeatherAnn’s life. However, where darkness exists, darkness persists. Now their battle is hers. Can she learn from their sacrifice, or will her fate be the same as her parents?

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!

Real life inspirations? I only really have one. My dreams. If I can dream it, I can write it. If I can’t dream it, I can’t write it.

Fictional sources of inspiration?

My favourite author is Charles Dickens. Every time I read, or reread a Dicken’s classic, I not only get inspired to write stories myself, but also learn something about world building.

My list of fictional sources of inspiration would not be complete without Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. In my Realm of the Light Series, my character Amyrith Hunter, was inspired by my favourite literary character, and original literary crush, Eponine. I have a couple generous characters in my novels, whose generosity was inspired by the Bishop in Les Mis. One day I hope to write something that impacts the life of the reader as much as Les Miserables impacted mine.

7. What is your writing routine? If you have one, give us the run-down!

I strongly believe that I was inspired by a loving Heavenly Father, and His Spirit, to write in the first place. And I feel I write my most inspired when I feel the Spirit of God in my heart, so to start my writing session, I put in ear plugs, read a page of scripture to help me feel inspirations and block out the noise and distractions of life, and then I write.

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?

My greatest advice I give to other authors is to read. However, I had that advice given to me by Stephen King in the form of his nonfiction book, On Writing. It is wonderful advice and has served me well over the years. So, my first piece of council I would give myself is to keep reading, and read more than I did. My second piece of advice is to stop fighting the drive to write. The inspirations, dreams, and stories that come to my mind are a blessing, not a curse. The stories don’t have to be good in the first draft. That is what editing is for, the stories that are plaguing your dreams are really blessings that just need to be written out. You can always perfect them through the editing process later.

9. Last but not least: where can we find you? Drop those links!

WordPress:

https://jqmserv.wordpress.com

FB Author Page:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/James.Quinlan.Meservy/

Twitter:

https://mobile.twitter.com/JQM_Serv

Pintrest:

https://www.pinterest.com/jqmserv

Instagram link:

https://www.instagram.com/jqmserv

Amazon Author Link: