Today on Meet the Member, I'm bringing you an interview from Pikes Peak
Writers President, J.T. Evans. We all know J.T. in his leadership capacity, but
what do we really know about his writing career? Let's find out!Kathie Scrimgeour: How long have you been writing and what genre do you prefer to write?
J.T.
Evans: I’ve been writing on and off
since I was 10 years old. I got serious about my writing efforts in 2006 and
haven’t stopped since then. I prefer to write fantasy, urban fantasy, horror,
and science fiction.
Kathie
Scrimgeour: Do you have anything in particular you are working on right now?
Tell us a little about it.
J.T.
Evans: I just finished up edits on two novels and am editing a
third. For the actual writing part of things, I’m about to launch into sword
& sorcery-style fantasy involving two reluctant vagabonds saving their
neighborhood from a dangerous gang that is preying upon the children of the
area under the direction of a secret cult.
Kathie
Scrimgeour: Have you set any goals for your publication date?
J.T. Evans: For the two novels that I just finished edits on, I’m hoping
one comes out spring of 2017 (Griffin’s Feather – Urban Fantasy) followed by
early fall of 2017 (Warmaiden – Fantasy) for the other. I don’t have a date for
the book I’m about to write as I’m just now getting into it.
Kathie
Scrimgeour: Do you set daily, weekly, or monthly
writing goals? If yes, what are they? What do you do to ensure you meet these
goals?
J.T.
Evans: I used to set word count goals for myself, but if I missed even one day
(or week) of hitting the goal, I’d get discouraged and I found that my
productivity would go down. Some people thrive on word count goals, but I’ve
discovered I’m not one of them. I don’t write every day, but I try to do
something creative each day. When I seriously get into writing a novel, I can
usually do 3,000 to 4,000 words each day, which makes me incredibly happy. I
sometimes will burn a vacation day from the Day Job to sit down and try to hit
10,000 words (or more!) in a day.
Kathie
Scrimgeour: If you have a completed manuscript/story/poem/flash have you
submitted it yet? What have the results been? How do you get past the
"No's"? What do your reject letters say? What best advice, or lessons
learned, have you gotten from them?
J.T.
Evans: As I’ve mentioned, I have a
fantasy novel under contract and a separate urban fantasy under contract as
well. Both are with different publishing houses. The fantasy received over 140
rejections before I found a home for it. The urban fantasy landed almost 90
rejections before someone loved it as much as I do. Writing a novel is the easy
part of this career. Handling the rejections is the hardest part, but it’s necessary
to find the right home. I want a publisher to love my stories as much as I do. Many
form rejection letters mention something along the lines of “reading is
subjective, so my rejection doesn’t mean your work is of low quality,” and
these words are very true. I’m very certain that my favorite book of all time
won’t line up with someone else’s tastes. That’s perfectly okay because it
takes a wide variety of people in this world to keep life interesting.
Kathie
Scrimgeour: What does success mean to you?
J.T.
Evans:
There are different levels of
this. Finishing a story is one success. Selling it is another. Making a living
from writing is yet another one. For me, the validation of selling a story is
success for me. This means that someone else out there in the world agrees with
me that the words I’ve produced are worthy of editing and publication.
Kathie
Scrimgeour: Does success scare you or motivate you?
J.T.
Evans: 100% motivation for me. I’ve
always been driven to excel and improve. Success is just an indicator of that
drive.
Kathie
Scrimgeour: What do you do when procrastination
is winning over writing?
J.T.
Evans: I have to be honest here. I’ve
rarely have this problem. When I realize that I’ve spent the last 10 minutes on
Facebook, I shake my head at myself, close the browser tab, and flip back to my
writing project. Most of my procrastination efforts have been very minor.
Usually it’s a case of I need to step away from the work and let my
subconscious mull things over for a few minutes.
Kathie
Scrimgeour: Writing conferences, workshops, and
critique groups are an important part of the new writer's experiences (and more
experienced writers too!). How have they helped you?
J.T.
Evans: Without the support group that
I’ve found through my past critique group, my current critique group, Pikes
Peak Writers, and others, I would not be writing today. My list of concrete items
of how I’ve been helped would go on for pages, but the number one thing they’ve
done for me is to support me and hold me up when my own self-doubts clouded my
mind.
Kathie
Scrimgeour: Do you attend the events and, if so,
which ones are your favorites?
J.T.
Evans:
I attend as many Write Brains and
Writers’ Nights as I can get my hands on. I usually only attend the Open
Critique when I’m a guest critiquer. I don’t want to take one of the eight
slots from someone else because I already have a regular critique group. As
I’ve already mentioned, the “Tools in the Toolbox” Write Brain has a warm spot
in my heart because of the quality of the presentation.
Kathie
Scrimgeour: Do you have any "self-help for
writers" books that you use regularly? How do they help? Please share your
list of your top 2 or 3.
J.T.
Evans:
I have dozens of them. I used to
have almost 100, but I’ve donated, gifted, or given away many of them that I
won’t get further use from. My top ones are:
1. On Writing –
Steven King
2. Dialogue – Gloria
Kempton
3. 39 Most Common
Writing Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) – Jack Bickham
Kathie
Scrimgeour: Does your reading influence your writing? How?
J.T.
Evans: I’m sure it does, but I can’t put
my finger on it. I don’t write fan-fic, and I certainly don’t intentionally
“steal ideas,” but I’m certain my concepts of what makes a good story is
influenced by what I read.
Kathie
Scrimgeour:
If you met someone who was thinking about starting to write, what advice
would you give them?
J.T.
Evans:
Don’t quit. Follow your passion.
You can’t “find time.” You have to make time to do the things you love.
Kathie
Scrimgeour: What is one (or a few) of the most
important lessons you have learned so far?
J.T.
Evans: Be nice. It goes a long ways in
all relationships. I’ve had doors opened for me that would normally be closed
off because I was nice to someone.
Kathie
Scrimgeour: What expertise in your background do
you draw on in your writing? (e.g. were you a photographer, chef, court
reporter, FBI agent?)
J.T.
Evans: My martial arts background (armed
and unarmed) has served me very well in writing the multitude of fight scenes
that I throw into my stories.
J.T. is all over the internet...check it out!
Interested in being interviewed by Kathie Scrimgeour for Meet the Member? Contact her at kjscrimwriter@gmail.com
About the Author: Kathie Scrimgeour writes under the name K.J. Scrim and has been a member of Pikes Peak Writers since 2013. She has volunteered at the last two PPW conferences and coordinates the Sweet Success column. Kathie is a self-taught writer who delves into fantasy, fiction, and historical fiction. Her debut fantasy novel,The Manx, is scheduled to release later in 2017. She lives outside of Denver with her family, two dogs, and a crazy cat.
J.T. is all over the internet...check it out!
Social media pages:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jtevans.writer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jtevans
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jtevanswriter/
Interested in being interviewed by Kathie Scrimgeour for Meet the Member? Contact her at kjscrimwriter@gmail.com
I so admire your discipline, J.T. May I borrow some, please?
ReplyDelete