Author Interview with Jean Davis

Today, I’m delighted to share with you an interview with dystopian writer, Jean Davis!

Hi Jean!

Tell us about yourself.

I live in West Michigan with my musical husband, two nerdy teenagers, and two attention-craving terriers. When not ruining fictional lives from the comfort of my writing chair, I own and operate a sign and graphics business to pay the bills. Being self employed has its benefits, such as taking writing breaks, casual every day, and no one can say purple hair is not in the employee manual. During the rare times I am away from a computer, I devour books and sushi, enjoy the offerings of local breweries, weed my flower garden, and pick up hundreds of sticks while attempting to avoid the abundant snake population who also shares my yard. My novel A Broken Race is available from Caffeinated Press, and my short fiction has appeared in the The 3288 Review, Bards and Sages Quarterly, Theian Journal, Acidic Fiction’s Corrosive Chronicles anthology, The First Line, Tales of the Talisman, and more.

And how do you think an alien, who is unfamiliar with humans, might describe you?

Grey with a dash of rainbow and perpetually distracted.

And your debut novel, A Broken Race, recently released! Congratulations! What’s this novel about?

Joshua is a Simple. He dutifully follows the orders of the domineering Williams who keep their people fed and safe from the Wildmen who live outside the fortress. His loyalty is challenged when he discovers that the Williams force their few surviving women to breed with the soldiers and slaughter any offspring they deem unworthy. He’s only a step above unworthy himself.

Incensed by this knowledge and enticed by promises of freedom from a Wildman prisoner, Joshua struggles to figure out just who is good and who is bad. The women deserve to make their own choices, but they don’t like Simples and they are armed with knives. The soldiers deserve to know their sons are being killed but they have horrible tempers and guns. The Wildman wants his freedom but his people have killed fortress dwellers many times in the past. The Williams know he’s up to something and punishment will be exacted as soon as they catch him.

When two bodies turn up and Joshua is the prime suspect, he must quickly decide who deserves freedom, knowledge, and to hold power over the fortress because he really doesn’t want to die.

As a dystopian writer myself, I’m always interested to hear why you chose this genre. Was it an instant decision?

I grew up in the 80’s. Those of us not distracted by preparing for college just assumed our future was going to be a dystopia of some variety thanks to the movie industry and Russia. Dystopia has always been a favorite genre of mine, but this was my first foray into writing it. Most of my work is fantasy or sci-fi, and I wanted to try a different angle.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of A Broken Race?

One month. A Broken Race was written during NaNoWriMo in 2009. 50K in thirty days. The novel did get shorter during editing and then a little longer during the last pass. It was my first and only NaNo novel that was drafted beginning to end in the thirty days. That was my main goal that year.

What was the most frustrating part of the editing process?

I may be an odd one, because I actually enjoy editing. My first drafts consist of getting the words out. I don’t plan or plot. So editing is all about organizing, polishing the gems, and sculpting the wordy clay into a story I enjoy reading again and again.

Tell us about your writing cave.

We moved into the house we designed and built one year ago. In this house, for the first time in seventeen years (because kids), I have my own writing room. I recently purchased a comfy chair where I can put my feet up and get lost in the words. Writing posters are hung on the walls and all my favorite paperbacks and trinkets have homes. The hardcovers get to be on display upstairs. My room also includes a large desk and not as comfy chair where I can spread out all my notes and printed drafts during the editing phase. There’s even an extra chair for when my daughter is inclined to join in the writing frenzy.

Do you listen to music when writing?

I like silence. Absolute silence. Quiet keeps me focused. I keep earplugs next to my comfy chair. Why? My son is an avid gamer, and I can hear him yelling two floors above me when things get ugly. And the musician husband, his practice room is just down the hall from my room. Then there’s my daughter’s cockatiel. At least the dogs are quiet.

What’s next for you, writing-wise?

I’m currently working on Bound in Blue, Book 3 of The Narvan, a space opera series. I hope to have that first draft wrapped up by the end of March and then spend a little time on polishing up Sahmara, a fantasy novel that’s been in the resting drawer for a few months since the last draft. Then it’s onward into short story writing month in May. I keep busy.

As a writer, what’s the funniest thing someone has ever said to you?

“So you got a story published in a magazine? That’s awesome! What do those pay, like two, three hundred dollars?”

That would indeed be awesome, but generally speaking, uh, no.

Have you got any advice for aspiring writers?

Find the time to sit, write, and most importantly: finish. Rinse and repeat.

A Broken Race is available in e-book or print.

Find all my published works and follow my writing adventures on my blog.

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