Ask the Author: Kirk Jones
Answered Questions (2)
Kirk Jones
Don't write to publish. Not at first. Not for a long time, maybe.
Take the time to enjoy writing without the knowledge that not dropping a follow-up book for a few years will cost you a bit of whatever following you've built up. There are only two points in an author's life where they write truly free of immediate influence:
The first time is before they've been published.
The second is when they find a steady schedule and a steady set of homes for their work.
It is a long time between point A and B, generally. so write what you can at point A while you can.
Take the time to enjoy writing without the knowledge that not dropping a follow-up book for a few years will cost you a bit of whatever following you've built up. There are only two points in an author's life where they write truly free of immediate influence:
The first time is before they've been published.
The second is when they find a steady schedule and a steady set of homes for their work.
It is a long time between point A and B, generally. so write what you can at point A while you can.
Kirk Jones
It probably started when someone showed me one of those Darwin Awards books. It just seemed so cruel, mocking people for dying as a result of ignorance.
When it comes right down to it, consumer culture evolves so fast that we're almost always kept in a state of ignorance about the functions and dangers of new products. But behind the scenes companies are making calculated risks, releasing products they know might kill.
You take that one step further-imagining corporations who intentionally hope to kill a small amount of the civilian population-and you've got the world's most passive aggressive, boring serial killer. That's ultimately what Die Empty's protagonist is. The world's most boring serial killer, murdering from behind a desk in the most mundane of states among the most mundane socioeconomic class in America.
The idea in its early stages was explored in a very short story I wrote for Pill Hill Press. I think the anthology was titled "Told You So." That was the first time I explored the concept, but not to satisfaction.
When it comes right down to it, consumer culture evolves so fast that we're almost always kept in a state of ignorance about the functions and dangers of new products. But behind the scenes companies are making calculated risks, releasing products they know might kill.
You take that one step further-imagining corporations who intentionally hope to kill a small amount of the civilian population-and you've got the world's most passive aggressive, boring serial killer. That's ultimately what Die Empty's protagonist is. The world's most boring serial killer, murdering from behind a desk in the most mundane of states among the most mundane socioeconomic class in America.
The idea in its early stages was explored in a very short story I wrote for Pill Hill Press. I think the anthology was titled "Told You So." That was the first time I explored the concept, but not to satisfaction.
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