Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been a storyteller since the age of 5. I would stay in my room for hours playing with my toys, creating movies and T.V. shows to play to myself or when my cousin came to visit. As a teenager, I become heavily involved with comic books, and since I’m an illustrator, I started writing and drawing my own comic books! I didn’t start taking my writing seriously until 2006 when I got the idea for a movie, which then became my first and only book thus far, Angelites. Besides that, I’ve been married for 10 years, raising two boys, I enjoy swimming and have been told that I’m a lot of fun at parties! 🙂
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is Angelites – Body of Persons Empowered. I have to say the whole title because I previously released Angelites back in 2013, credited with my real name. However, little did I know that there’s already an author with my name, in which he got credited by Goodreads for my book! It was a hassle to straighten out but ultimately it did get resolved. Therefore, to avoid repeat drama, I adopted my pseudonym, Jan Eleven. Also, the first Angelites was published with a ton of mistakes made by the editor I hired. I was forced to pull it off the market and rewrite, which took forever due starting a family and working a full-time job. What inspired me to write was reading so many superhero stories where the origin of their powers all became redundant. At the same time, I was getting tired of going to the movies and watching action stars doing unbelievable stunts and walking away with just a scratch! The idea just kind of hit me to write an action story with super beings who got their powers in an unorthodox way. Does that make sense?
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I would listen to classic soul music to write my action and fighting scenes! Why? I have no idea. I also listen to hip hop music when writing dialogue. That is because I want the reader to feel my words and me being an MC in high school I wanted to make sure the right words were used to get that feeling in my chest on the paper. I also pace and skip in my living room, mouthing out my ideas before I write. My wife would catch me from time to time and look at me like I’m crazy!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
For suspense and hard-hitting characters, I’ve been influenced by James Patterson books, namely the Women’s Murder Club series. My favorite one is The 3rd Degree. I look creating anthologies like Harry Potter, Twilight and Left Behind. The idea of bringing so much life to your characters by putting them in several stories that wraparound your grand arc is so exciting and makes me feel like I’m creating my own universe.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a short story, which should be done around the time of the holidays. This story will serve as a teaser for the next book I’ll be working on next year. I hope to use this to draw in a new class of readers plus raise awareness for Angelites, hoping to increase sales.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is all still new to me, but the one site I’ve used is Amazon. I’m just now realizing that there are so much more platforms I could use to attract readers and get my book into the market. Before coming to Awesome Gang I had used Inkitt, which has gained me a few followers already.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes: patience, patience and patience. My mistake when I first released Angelites was announcing a release date before the book was finished. Everything was rushed, which is why I didn’t properly research good editors and the cover I designed was mediocre at best. Books are not written overnight. Just make a plan on when to write, goals on how many words to write a day and spend your energy telling your story perfectly. Authors can write hundreds of books because it’s their livelihood, but some became millionaires because of one.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve been given was whenever I have an idea for a story to write, make sure you have a beginning and an end first! Once I’m satisfied with those things then filling the void is the easy part. Still hard work but at least you have room to change and edit how many times you want because you already know where the characters are going.
What are you reading now?
Right now, I’ve been reading stories for my kids at bedtime. The one story that has actually grabbed my attention is The Terrible Two. So far the story is interesting and has clever jokes.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Besides the short story I’m writing and the novel next year, I’m not sure. Guess I’ll keep promoting and pushing my current products to see how far I can go. By next year I should know which avenue my writing should be traveling in.
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?
For the art, I would take Danger Girl graphic novels because I’m such a fan of J. Scott Campbell. For stories, perhaps Mankind: Have a Nice Day because I’m a wrestling fan and I love reading someone’s journey to success, sort of like a boost to keep my morale up when I start to doubt myself. I would take a Batman graphic novel, probably The Killing Joke, still runs chills up my spine!
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