Author Interview: Jamie Maltman

Jamie Maltman writes historically-inspired fantasy, and as an avid reader is a co-host on the To Be Read Podcast.

He recently released Book II of his Arts Reborn series, Blood of the Water, which follows the return of opposing forces of artistic creation and elemental destruction to a world where echoes of ancient Greece and Rome mix with the fantastical. The series starts with Book I: Brush With Darkness, and Book III is expected late 2014.

His work will also be featured in the upcoming anthology Beyond The Gate: Stories in the World of The Dream Engine, based on the work of Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant.

When Jamie isn’t reading or writing, he’s probably enjoying time at his home in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada with his wife and two young sons, playing some kind of board or computer game, or watching basketball or Doctor Who.

Interview

What’s your story? How did you get into writing?

I’ve always been telling stories, and used to turn every possible school assignment into writing those stories down. After more than a decade of university, consulting and business where I got away from it, I fell back in love with telling stories when I started taking my young son to the library. Once the stories started to flow, I had to write them down and I never want to stop again.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Read a lot. Write as much as you can. Get people to read it. Read more about writing. Write more. Repeat over and over. You can only get better when you’re writing.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a novella set between the second and upcoming third book of my Arts Reborn series. Instead of a multiple 3rd person point of view full novel, it’s taking one non-viewpoint character from the second book and following her shorter story.

What has been the most challenging part of publishing or marketing your book?

Consistently writing more. I get excited about trying new things, whether it’s editing, publishing, web, social media or something else new… so I have to really discipline myself to make sure I’m always moving forward with my next project first each day, then get to the other stuff.

What has been your favorite part?

Being able to share these stories and having people enjoy them. Most of my teachers humored me, reading my fantasy stories when they preferred classics of English lit, but now to have people who really connect to my characters and ideas giving me feedback, that’s the best.

What gave you the idea for your current work?

The overall series mashes together my love of ancient Rome, my love of art and what if’s about what would happen if creativity was connected to magic, and how that would fit into this society and affect people.

This specific novella came out of a conversation with my developmental editor and beta readers from book 2. They really enjoyed two of the characters and asked me if I’d be writing more about them… which would go a little off the track of the overall series arc. I had already started writing book 3, but after I went back to my notes after a bit of a break, it was clear that one section at the beginning of the book didn’t really fit with the overall flow of the book, but would be a great opportunity to let some of the other characters shine in a side story outside (and before) book 3. I talk out loud to myself when I’m plotting/brainstorming the next book, and on one particular drive downtown by myself, I started outlining points from the character’s point of view, and suddenly it hit me that it would be the most natural in first person. Which I’ve never done before. But I think it will work. I’ll be hiding behind the couch when I give it to my wife as my first reader, hoping that she doesn’t hate it.

If you could be any character in the book, which one would you be?

My answer in this one would be different from the rest of the series. Normally I’d choose Simon with his good heart and ability to work magic through his drawing and painting. But he’s having a rough time to start this book so I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. Kallara, a teenage girl with a magical singing voice gets to have a lot more fun in this book.

What other books have you written and/or are working on for the future?

The first two books of my series, Brush With Darkness, and Blood of the Water, are already available, as well as a tie-in backstory short story of one of the characters, Elysia. I also have a story appearing in Beyond The Gate: Stories from the World of the Dream Engine, coming out this fall. That one is set in China more than 1000 years ago, answering some what if questions on the other side of the world. I already know I want to continue that story in at least a novella, but it could extend into a series.

What’s your favorite quote?

Short one:

“If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right.” — Henry Ford

I’ve always focused on figuring out how I can do something, rather than why I can’t.

Long one:

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” — John Lennon

What’s your favorite supernatural creature?

I tend to like specific creatures, not types as a whole. Aslan from Narnia would probably be my favorite ever, or the Cheshire Cat. These days I’m quite partial to Zeno in my current series, a magically created flying horse with a fun personality. He doesn’t speak, but readers love him.