Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing stories since I was a kid, but I didn’t finish my first novel until about three years ago. To date I’ve written and published fifteen novels and a novella.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
BOUNTY: An Urban Fantasy Novel, is the third book in my Solumancer Cycle. It’s a story about a young wizard in near-future Detroit who battles the supernatural creatures crossing into our world from distant fantasy realms. Like most of my books, it was inspired by the hours upon hours of tabletop roleplaying games I’ve played.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Writing in itself is an unusual habit. Taking on multiple personalities and making them talk to each other? That’s not normal.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’m not one of those people who scours the book lists for little-known authors with cult status. I pretty much follow the crowd. Case in point, I’m a huge fan of King, Tolkien, Martin, Gaiman, etc.
What are you working on now?
An offshoot trilogy from my main epic fantasy series, a sci-fi trilogy I’m writing under a pen name, and the fourth book in the Solumancer Cycle, SPIRAL.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I got a BookBub once. That was pretty cool. Otherwise I’ve been trying to write the first few books in a series and then release them back to back with only the occasional run of promos. So far that has worked out pretty well for me.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write mainstream stuff first and save your artsy-fartsy stuff for later when you’ve got a solid backlist established. Give it your own twist, of course, but keep your genre-blending to a minimum. People like books that are like other books they like. Also as mentioned above, be willing to write multiple books before releasing. This gives you time to work through some of the stuff you may not ‘discover’ during your writing process until later books. Know your ending. Try outlining, even if you’re a discovery writer (pantser). If that doesn’t work for you, at least know your ending. You can write a lot faster if you know where you’re going to end up.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just keep swimming.
What are you reading now?
The Frostborn series by Jonathan Moeller. I’m currently on the fourth book, The Master Thief. It’s pretty good so far. Normally I get super bored reading tedious epic fantasy like Wheel of Time, and I find myself getting annoyed by the majority of self-published books, but these are passable with solid (if repetitive) writing, plenty of action, and solid, straightforward story lines.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Trying to stick with the series I haven’t finished instead of going off and working on new ones. I have six series, and I’ve technically only finished one of them. So yeah, I have ADD when it comes to going deep.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
A Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings (three-in-one edition), the Bible, and my writing notebook.
Author Websites and Profiles
J.C. Staudt Website
J.C. Staudt Amazon Profile
J.C. Staudt Author Profile on Smashwords
J.C. Staudt’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account