This isn't the usual sort of book that I feature on my blog but I have heard nothing but good things about it, especially if you look at Goodreads, so I cannot wait until I get some reading time to get stuck into this and see what it's like for myself.
Anyway, let's go!
ACT ONE – all about you…
He has worked mainly in sales, marketing and customer relations after discovering he was pretty good at talking and ill-suited to manual labour.
An avid reader, film buff and gamer, he has always loved a good story and decided to finally let his long suffering creative beast out of its cage. His debut paranormal novel, ‘Selfish Beings’ is a direct result of feeding said beast and giving it a generous amount of “prowling around” money.
In his free time he enjoys arguing on the Internet, avoiding anything that requires going outside for prolonged periods and preparing for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.
1) Have you always been a writer or is it something you fell into?
I fell into it really. I have been trying to write a screen play since high school and have never finished one. I wanted to take a story idea all the way through to the end and decided to switch formats to achieve that.
2) Do you have a particular writing style or ritual?
I need to have background noise when I write. I like to hear music, talking and explosions whilst I’m wordsmithing. Lots of coffee helps too.
3) Is there a book or an author that has influenced you in your writing? Or perhaps one piece of advice that has stuck with you that you’d like to share?
I read a lot so I’m sure on a subconscious level I’ve been influenced by quite a few authors and their books. I couldn’t pick just one but if anyone compared my writing style to that of the authors I enjoy then that would be a huge compliment.
My favourite piece of advice on writing has to be “You cannot fix what is not there.”
4) Can you tell us three things about yourself that we probably don’t already know?
- I can’t whistle, roll my tongue or click my fingers.
- I watch “Revenge” and go to great lengths to keep my mates from finding out.
- I punch the Broccoli when I go to the supermarket because I don’t like it. I’ve been doing it since I was a child and no-one has pulled me up on it yet.
My laptop, phone, PlayStation 3, TV and microwave. They make life easier / more enjoyable and constitute the majority of my worldly assets.
6) With Christmas already behind us, we turn our attention ahead to the year ahead. Did you join in with the madness of choosing New Year’s resolutions for 2014?
No, because I never keep my New Year’s resolutions. I was going to make a resolution to keep future resolutions but I knew where that train was heading…
ACT TWO – all about your new release…
There's no place like home...
Unless, like Kaarl, you are a demon and your home is Hell…literally.
While the rest of Hell enjoys cruel games, Kaarl is looking for a new challenge. So he makes a deal with the devil himself: time in the Mortal Realm in return for human souls…
The Mortal Realm offers a taste of freedom he could never experience in Hell and Kaarl jumps at the chance to fulfill his dream. But gathering human souls comes with a cost and as more and more souls lose their way, Kaarl realises that he is creating Hell on his beloved Earth.
Now to save the Mortal Realm, Kaarl’s going to have to switch sides…
7) Congratulations on your recent release of Selfish Beings; what was your inspiration for writing Kaarl’s story?
Thanks! I loved the idea and the potential it had. I also needed to prove to myself that I could actually finish a story.
8) Did the story flow from your finger tips or did some scenes take a bit of cajoling?
It flowed from my finger tips and then the cajoling came during the re-writes. I had a fantastic editor for that so it was kind of like the pottery scene from Ghost in a non-romantic, clay-less way. It also took a lot longer.
9) I see Selfish Beings is your debut; how long did it take for the initial spark of the story to make it onto the page and then onto the publisher’s desk?
I annoyed people by talking about it for two months, wrote it in three and spent another four months on re-writes / edits. It was originally part of a larger arc, one of the many mistakes I made as writer new to the craft. I needed to make some major changes to finish Kaarl’s story in one novel.
10) Do you have a favourite paragraph or sentence from your story that you would like to tantalise us with?
This is the protagonist giving his father, a Demon Lord, a crash course in the modern Mortal world.
“With no more questions forthcoming, Kaarl began showing Mastema the wonders of the Internet. His father asked to see its most vile and corruptive elements first and Mastema was not disappointed. After only half an hour, Mastema stopped him and stared at the screen. Of all the things one could do with a hedgehog, a garden hose, a bottle of milk and a willing woman, he would never in a million years have come up with a situation like the one he was watching.”
11) Over to you; what can you tell us about Selfish Beings, to make us rush out and buy it?
It’s a brand new twist on Heaven and Hell filled with humour, a great cast of characters and it even has a few moments that might make you think about things in a different light. Easy to get into and hard to put down, you won’t regret following Kaarl and the twins on their journey to take your soul.
12) What can we expect from you next? Is there something you are working on right now?
Right now I am working on a second novel set in the same world. Kaarl and the twins are back and facing off against Lucifer’s daughter and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I have the plot down for a third in that series but there is also a paranormal horror story I really want to work on when I get the chance.
QUICK FIRE ROUND – it’s pop quiz time…
13) Plotter or pantser?
Pantser turned plotter
14) Digital books or print books?
15) Tea or coffee?
Coffee
16) Extrovert or introvert?
Extrovert
17) Facebook or Twitter?
18) Christmas or birthday?
Christmas
19) Morning person or night owl?
Creature of the night
20) Sweet or savoury?
Savoury
And that’s a wrap!
Thank you so much for taking part, Jordan, I wish you every success with your new release.
To discover even more about J L Morris, and to keep up with his latest projects and shenanigans, you can visit him at:
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Buy it now…
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Released: 14th November 2013
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