Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a former federal archaeologist, newspaper reporter and world traveler who got infected with a love for people from other cultures and learning about ancient cultures thanks to my Dad getting a UN job many years ago. That led me to attending college in Paris and Tokyo. When I began writing SciFi novels at age 38 I naturally included characters from other world cultures. Plus I’ve long wanted to explore the ‘what happens?’ element in First Contact with Aliens! As an arky with some awareness of the time depth for human culture, I write novels where Humans are the New Kids On The Block who encounter pre-existing Alien cultures that are ‘running things’ in the Milky Way galaxy. Just seemed logical to me in view of how many stars and planets there are in our galaxy, and how Life seems to pop up everywhere, even in boiling water, ice, rock or even near-vacuum! My first novel was Retread Shop, which Warner Books released in 1988. Since then I’ve written 13 more novels that include three series, even though many of my novels are standalone stories. Thanks to the internet and Amazon I can now be an Indy author-publisher who can control the cover art, book blurbs and other details of the novels I put out for SciFi readers. I love relating directly with readers!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest novel is Earth Vs. Aliens. It tells the story of Jack Munroe, crewman on a comet hunter spaceship that makes First Contact with ‘Keystone predator’ Aliens in the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto. When his crewmates die in a trap set by the Rizen aliens, Jack and his buddy Max begin an anti-Alien crusade that defies the social orthodoxy of Earth’s Unity government and puts their lives at risk. The idea for the story came from my idea that Aliens traveling star-to-star might only be ‘social predator’ peoples who evolved from predatory animals, like tigers and sharks, who take over new star systems as part of their Hunt Territory. Oh, all the Aliens are meat eaters too! Subject peoples are considered ‘herbivore’ folks who are not allowed to travel to other stars. I figured Humans, being contrary critters, would never accept Alien control. The story I ended up with was so much fun that I have three more novels planned in this series!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yeah. Obsession. When I’m writing on a novel I am anti-social and non-communicative to a fault! I write 9 hours a day and keep on writing chapter to chapter to chapter. I love following my characters and being surprised by how the characters sometimes ‘take control’ of the story and do stuff I had not planned. A big reason I write my novels is to find out how they end up!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Lots of authors in philosophy and in fiction. I give credit to Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, James Blish, David Brin, A. Bertram Chandler, Anton Chekhov, Arthur C. Clarke, Samuel Clemens, Charles Dickens, Alan Dean Foster, Bret Harte, Robert Heinlein, Ernest Hemingway, Zenna Henderson, O. Henry, Franz Kafka, Rudyard Kipling, Ursula K. Le Guin, Murray Leinster, Larry Niven, Andre Norton, Edgar Allen Poe, Jules Verne, A. E. Van Vogt, H. G. Wells and James White for showing me how to write good tales! As for books, I credit Brin’s Uplift series and Foster’s Humanx Commonwealth as inspirations for the galaxy-scale stories I write.
What are you working on now?
Genecode Illegal, which is Book 2 in the series that began with Little Brother’s World. This series has no Aliens in it but does look at a future Human colony world where Earth is forgotten and the genetic engineers or ‘genedocs’ are in charge. In this world, your worth as a person is based on your ‘genecode, which is tatooed on your forearm at birth. The story follows the adventures of two older teens, Sally and Little Brother, who are determined to change their world’s culture that judges people based on their ‘genecode’. Oh, there is also a romance/love story that evolves between Sally and Little Brother.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Well, I rely on social media venues like Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Twitter and Amazon’s Meet Our Authors forum where you can have good chats with both readers and fellow authors. Of course I have put together an author page at www.tjacksonking.com where folks can read interviews about me, read reviews of my novels, see the cover art for all my novels and find links to ebook and print book purchase sites.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read a lot. Write a lot. Make your first draft as close to a final draft as you know how. Find a beta reader to give you empathetic feedback. Attend genre conventions to connect with fellow readers and authors. And be professional in all that you do in public and in private.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Forget about selling your book to Hollywood and focus on telling a good story that will transport readers to another world.
What are you reading now?
Sister Hoods, which is book 4 in the Portals series of paranormal detective stories written by P. L. Blair, an outstanding author who should have been picked up by a New York publishing house long ago! She is one of many outstanding Indy authors whose novels I enjoy reading, in between writing my own novels.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Writing book 5 in my Vigilante series, which is titled Alien Vigilante. This series, which began with Star Vigilante, has been my most popular SciFi series.
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?
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. On Human Nature by Edwin O. Wilson. Kim by Rudyard Kipling. A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
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Awesome interview!