AoW: An Interview with JL Bryan

About a year ago I came across a really interesting book, called Jenny Pox (read my review), by an Indie Author I'd never heard of before, JL Bryan. While I haven't read all his work since then, Jenny Pox has stuck with me as a very clever and unique addition to the YA Horror genre. I was lucky enough to be able to read his newest book, Nomad, which is due to release this Friday... And I really mean lucky because it is phenomenal.

In celebration of JL Bryan's awesomeness I have decided to make him the Author of the Week, and he decided to take the time to do an interview with me.

When did you first realize you wanted to write?

I've been writing stories since elementary school, and had pretty well made up my mind that I wanted to write them for a living by the time I was seven or eight. I wrote my first novel-length story when I was 12, I think.

Any pearls of wisdom you want to share with other aspiring writers?

Read very widely and write every day. Work hard to develop your craft. Everything else is details and luck

What are your favorite books? What are you reading right now or most recently?

Right now I'm reading MIND ON FIRE, a biography of Ralph Waldo Emerson. I typically read more nonfiction that fiction, as it feeds my imagination more.

Any sneaky lessons in your books that you hope the readers will learn? What do you want readers to take away from your writing?

I don't really try to work in lessons. I'm not didactic, I'm not out to push a certain viewpoint. Fiction is a good way to explore questions that don't have any clear answers, so that's what I'm usually doing.

How much research do you typically do for a book?

Tons, partly because I enjoy the research. It might take a few hours of research to get one sentence or one paragraph right--to find the one or details that really adds something to your story.

Out of all of your books, is there a character that you relate the most with or which one is most like you?

I think all the characters have some of me in them, but I'm not sure that there's one that's most like me. Certainly there was a strong emotional connection with Jenny from the Jenny Pox books.

Can you tell us a little bit about your new book Nomad, which is due to release on July 26th? It's pretty different from your most recent works; was it hard to leave the worlds of the Paranormals and Songs of Magic to write something new?

Nomad is a story about a young woman who travels back in time fifty years (to our year, 2013) to try and prevent a dystopian future. I definitely don't have trouble trying out new stories and ideas. I'm not very good at sticking to one specific genre at all, which is what you're supposed to do if you want to sell a lot of books.

Where did you get the idea for Raven, your main character? Can we expect to see more of her in the future? Will we get to learn a bit more about Eliad, the mysterious boy from an alternate future?

I enjoyed writing Raven because she's a little bit of a sensitive soul who grew up in a harsh, violent, decimated sort of world. I really don't have plans to write sequels right now, but that doesn't mean there won't eventually be a sequel. It all depends on what I get inspired to do.

Thanks for having me visit your blog, Regan!