|
 When
C.E. Murphy talked about loving Staked, I knew I needed to
read that book. I wasn't disappointed. I loved it from cover
to cover, and sent J.F. a fan letter asking for an
interview.
He's an exceptionally nice
guy, and I'm very glad I sent that first email. I've
reviewed both
Staked and
Revamped this year.
J.F. Lewis lives in
Birmingham, Alabama with his patient wife, two adorable
sons, an ornery Akita, and a very hyper Labrador-mix puppy.
He decided that he wanted to be a writer when a supposed
creative writing teacher questioned his sanity and suggested
therapy.
Staked was his first novel. J spent eight
wonderful years working in comic and game stores and is
currently employed by AT&T.
An avid reader, J also enjoys
sushi, popcorn, lukewarm sodas, and old black and white
movies. His two favorite activities are singing lullabies to
his kids at bedtime and typing into the wee hours of the
morning. Fortunately, like the protagonist of his Void City
novels, the author takes very little sleep.
J is a member of the
SFWA,
where he volunteers as editor for their
Pressbook pages. He is also a
Codexian and a member of the
League of Reluctant Adults. Check out his forum on the
League
here.
 Is
Eric based on a real person? How about Tabitha?
Nope. None of the characters are really autobiographical or
based on people I know; though technically, I believe all
characters come from somewhere inside the author, from some
piece of the writer’s psyche, even if it is a piece that’s
been turned upside down, inside out, roughly sampled and
blown out of all proportion.
You worked in comic and game stores – what games did
you like to play? LARP or Tabletop? (yes I’m a Gamer)
That I did. Working at the Lion & Unicorn was a great
time. I miss that place. I’m not a big LARP person. I
prefer running cinematic unisystem or the old West End Games
D6 system, though I’ve played in all kinds of systems. I
like roleplay versus roll-play, though I also have a
tremendous fondness for board games, really tactile and
unique stuff like the Looney Labs icehouse pyramids
(Volcano!) or the Cheap Ass Games that James Earnest used to
do.
Fang the Stang – fantasy or reality? Have you owned a
Mustang or do you want to?
Fantasy. My current dream car would be one with a working
heater and A/C. An iPod jack would be nice, too. I
wouldn’t mind having a classic Mustang in the garage, but
I’d need someone to maintain it for me as I’m not a car guy
or much of a Mr. Fix-it.
Eric’s relationship with Greta is a lot of fun. She’s
quite the little monster. What made you add her to the
family?
I wanted Eric to have someone to care for, someone who in
many ways is exactly what Eric thinks he has become. That
and I’ve always been fascinated by the bond between fathers
and daughters (I have two sons, but no daughters). And
she’s great fun to write. A vampire with an eating
disorder? C’mon there’s tons of material in that alone. J
It may not surprise you that there’s a lot more Greta in the
third book…
How did you get involved with the
League of
Reluctant Adults? Any good gossip you can share?
I’m tempted to give a League-style answer. Something
beginning with Mark ambushing me in a men’s restroom and
Jackie having to rescue me, but really, I got an email from
Mark pointing out that Amazon.com said Happy Hour of the
Damned and Staked went well together. He asked me to do a
guest blog.
The guest blog went over well, so they decided to let me
hang about.
I can’t wait for the Third book in Void City. Will
there be more past that one?
Given my druthers, I’d like to write another few books
focusing on Eric and the gang and then let them rest a
little bit while I explore a different corner of Void City
before coming back to check in on them. That said, as
long as I have good ideas for books and folks are willing to
buy them, I’d be happy to write the Eric stuff.
Will we ever find out the secret of Talbot?
Does Talbot have a secret? ;)
It seems there are half a
dozen Anita Blakes per Harry Dresden...How do you feel about
all the attention the Urban Fantasy Tough Chicks get
compared to the boys?
Who doesn’t
like Urban Fantasy Tough Chicks? I like to think I have a
few in the Void City series as well. (Or at least, they
keep turning up on the cover art.)
What's the last book you read? Any recommendations?
See. Now
this is when I’ll get accused of having a memory like
Eric’s. I think it was either Hands of Flame by C. E.
Murphy, Pump Six and other Stories by
Paolo Bacigalupi, or
Heroes Die
by
Matthew Stover. I enjoyed them all… Catie’s in
particular, but it’s been a month or so since I had time to
read something that wasn’t published by the phone company.
I’ve been reading a lot of K.J. Parker which is kind of epic
fantasy with no magic. And I’m looking forward to reading
the most recent books from my fellow leaguers over at the
League of Reluctant Adults…
I’d recommend
C. E. Murphy’s books to anyone, and if folks haven’t read
the first five Amber books by
Roger Zelazny, they should.
Which
big summer movie are you waiting for?
My big
must-see movie of the year was
WATCHMEN,
but I’ll want to check out the
Star Trek
movie and
Wolverine.
I’m sure I’ll wind up at a few G-rated movies with the
kiddos. Lately though, I’ve been seeing most of my movies
via
Netflix. (I finally got to see
Cloverfield.)
Was it
weird to write first person from Tabitha's POV?
-
Should it
have been? J
To be honest,
I had to keep reminding myself that whether or not I
enumerated them in a given scene, Tabitha has tons of
different thoughts going through her head; she’s always
thinking. There are times that guys literally aren’t
thinking about anything, but women’s brains don’t work that
way, not most of the time… or I don’t think they do. Ladies
have very busy headspace.
and lastly the Lipton
Questions:
1.
What is your favorite word?
underpants
2.
What is your least favorite word?
Whatever. (Seriously, I really
think that’s my least favorite word.)
3.
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Music, bald men singing well in
musicals, really cool old places, and Disney World.
4.
What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Thoughtless
negativity and getting kicked out of church.
5.
What sound or noise do you love?
Electric
guitar is nice.
6.
What sound or noise do you hate?
Chewing noises.
7.
What is your favorite
curse word?
The “fire truck” word.
8.
What profession other than your own would you like to
attempt?
I’d love to do voice work for
cartoons.
9.
What profession would you not like to do?
I’d be an astonishingly bad
stripper.
10. If
Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you
arrive at the
Pearly Gates?
He’d just smile and wave me in. |
