Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a mother, a grandmother. Everything else is up for grabs as I seem to totally redefine myself every seven years or so to keep from being bored. How many books? Dozens. Most of which I have burned. I am currently working on book five of “The Black Bead Chronicles”, but am constantly penning short stories that I plan on developing into longer novels in the future.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The book that I have finished and am getting ready to publish is called “Trade Fair: Book Four of the Black Bead Chronicles.” The series began as a nubbin of “what if” twenty years ago in a short story that ended badly for everyone. The question I asked was – what if evolution took a different route and animals used psychic abilities to hunt instead of tooth and claw? I have rewritten it a few times and then wrote “Black Bead” which found a perfect balance between terror and innocence.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I think amazing thoughts behind the wheel of my car. Things pop into my head and I spend the rest of the day stealing moments to manically write it into a file before the juices dry up or the next amazing thought erases the first.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have read all the classic sci-fi authors. Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, Dick, Le Guin, Herbert, Ellison, Vonnegut, McCaffery, Cherryh, … the list is endless. I have been reading sci-fi/fantasy almost exclusively since I was twelve.
What are you working on now?
I am 56,000 words into “Dunauken – Book Five of the Black Bead Chronicles.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I take advantage of my Kindle Promo days to offer the first book for free so that readers can try out my writing and see if they like the series. Hopefully they do, and will support my writing by purchasing the remaining books. I also advertise through Facebook and Kindle, and have gotten quite a few downloads that way. Sales are slowly trickling in for the second book in the series. Books three and four will be coming out in 2016 so I look forward to offering those to my readers!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
The only way to learn your craft is to write. Write what makes you happy. Write what you want to read. There are a lot of people who want to tell you how to write, what to write. Ignore them.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Harlan Ellison: To say more is to say less.
What are you reading now?
Ender’s Game for about the 20th time.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a half dozen short stories on my blog that interest me enough to want to expand the storyline and do a little world building.
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?
Good god. I shudder at the idea. There would be no time to read. I would be busy building a raft.
Author Websites and Profiles
J.D. Lakey Website
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