Interview With Author Josh Payne
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a currently serving member of the Australian Army, husband and father to two young boys. I’ve always been an avid fantasy and sci fi reader, but began writing because of a hungover bet back in 2015, and discovered I had a passion for creating stories. I’ve written under a hootchie in the jungle on international activities, and aboard warships, continuing through meeting and marrying my wife, and the birth of our two boys. In fact, many of the characters and places in my first novel, A Bastard’s Birthright, were inspired by the people and experiences I’ve had whilst travelling with the Army! For a long while, A Bastard’s Birthright was my primary focus, but to maintain my motivation during the rewrites and edits, based on feedback from beta readers and a professional manuscript assessment, I started an additional project as well. Starting in 2022, this in turn quickly morphed into a short story anthology series, Valor and Violence, which I have been uploading on the website Royal Road, to gauge audience buy in and gain feedback. I am currently working on the sequel to A Bastard’s Birthright and expect to have the first draft completed by June 2024.
I live in Townsville, Australia, with my four cats, three dogs, two kids and my wife.
If you want updates on how my writing projects are going, check out my author website at jepaynebooks.com and join the mailing list or come talk smack with me on Discord!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
A Bastard’s Birthright. Back in 2015 I was sharing an apartment with my best mate. One Sunday morning we were recovering from the night before and deciding what to do for the day. Opting for something a bit different from the norm, we made a bet to see who could write a novel first. He started on a military sci fi epic, and I wrote the first scene of A Bastard’s Birthright. The bet ended up falling by the wayside, but by that point I had already invested too much time into the story to drop it. The rest, as they say, is history!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
In terms of planning vs. pantsing, I’m a bit of a plantser, but I do most of my thinking about plot and scenes when I’m at the gym or listening to music. It has a tendency to moderately derail my broad outlines, but I have a lot of fun doing it and that’s what matters, right?
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Uh, all of them? But I would say two of the biggest inspirations are Derek Landy with the Skulduggery Pleasant series and Brian McLellan with his powder mage series’. Beyond contemporary fiction, I’m also fascinated by mythologies from all over the world, and if you read any of my fight scenes it’s impossible not to notice the impact Dragon Ball Z had on me as a kid. It was formative.
What are you working on now?
The sequel to A Bastard’s Birthright, currently titled A Bastard’s Burden. Concurrently I’m plodding along on a separate novella/novel series about an ancient greek historian who gets roped against his will into a mercenary company that specialises in things that go bump in the night.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m still figuring that out. My main effort has been on publishing Valor and Violence, my short story/novella/novel spin off anthology on Royal Road so people can have a look at my writing style and meet some of the characters in A Bastard’s Birthright before buying the book.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the book, first and foremost, but look online for advice on promoting your work and building a reader base. There’s no reason to learn everything yourself when there is plenty of people out there who have walked this path before.
Also, don’t write to make money. Most authors will only ever achieve modest success. Sucks, but it’s true. As long as you enjoy writing and sharing your stories with whoever you can, you will enjoy the journey regardless.
Also also, don’t listen to unsubstantiated advice from random wannabe authors on the internet. We’re a very unreliable bunch.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Keep putting one foot in front of the other, and you’ll get there eventually.
What are you reading now?
I usually have a few books on the go at a time. At the moment I’m reading:
The Kwaidan Collection by Lafcardio Ahearn
Epic Tales: Aztec Mythology from Flametree Publishing
The 1st Gotrek and Felix Omnibus by William King
Paradise-1 by David Wellington
What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully keep promoting my debut novel and find some readers who like my work while finishing the first draft of the sequel.
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?
Probably the four I’m reading at the moment!
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