Ask the Author: J.A. Glass
Answered Questions (8)
J.A. Glass
A good chunk of my location inspiration comes from dreams. Though some places that I have been that I frequently draw inspiration from are Salem, MA; London, Great Britain; Alexandria, VA; and the woods of northern Maine.
J.A. Glass
There will be another book after The Watchers! Whether it will grow into a third book has yet to be decided by the story. We already have the outline of the story roughed out and I plan to begin writing it as soon as The Life of a KeyKeeper is published. As far as book titles go we are throwing around a lot of ideas and have nothing set in stone just yet. I will likely release the title of the 2nd book with its cover reveal down the road!
J.A. Glass
If I am feeling out of touch with a story, either because I have a lot of other things going on or I am stressing myself out with it, I will reread what I have already written, the notes on the world I made when world building, the art I designed for the book, etc. I use a lot of different things to get into the "feel" of the book.
If it is a new concept then I usually can't be kept from the computer. I like to know everything that happens in the book/series before I ever type a word. I make outlines and world building notes so that I know the "rules" ahead of time. Figuring those out is incredibly motivating because, for me, it exudes a similar feeling to finally understanding a difficult math problem. There is this "ah-ha!" moment and I just want to sit down and write the whole thing when I have one of those.
If it is a new concept then I usually can't be kept from the computer. I like to know everything that happens in the book/series before I ever type a word. I make outlines and world building notes so that I know the "rules" ahead of time. Figuring those out is incredibly motivating because, for me, it exudes a similar feeling to finally understanding a difficult math problem. There is this "ah-ha!" moment and I just want to sit down and write the whole thing when I have one of those.
J.A. Glass
Right now I am working on The Life of a KeyKeeper, the first in the KeyKeeper series. I was driving home with my fiancé and I was just staring out the window when the idea hit me. I turned to him and said, "Wouldn't it be cool if you had a whole ring of keys but only one door and each key made the destination on the other side of the door different?" TJ humored me and let me bounce ideas off of him the rest of the way home.
The aspect of the Fates and the Scribes came as I was fleshing out what type of story I wanted it to be. I was sitting down with our team to pitch the general concept of the book, and just sort of started spewing all of these ideas at them. To be honest, I had no idea what was going to come out of my mouth until it was already out there. What was supposed to be a quick 20-minute pitch became three hours of me telling them the whole thing, explaining the world, how this and that work; on the spot. The ideas stuck and I went with it from there.
The aspect of the Fates and the Scribes came as I was fleshing out what type of story I wanted it to be. I was sitting down with our team to pitch the general concept of the book, and just sort of started spewing all of these ideas at them. To be honest, I had no idea what was going to come out of my mouth until it was already out there. What was supposed to be a quick 20-minute pitch became three hours of me telling them the whole thing, explaining the world, how this and that work; on the spot. The ideas stuck and I went with it from there.
J.A. Glass
Write it on napkins, in bullets points, tell it to your dog; your story is important and it needs to get out there. Go for it. It is going to be hard and it may take a long time, but in the end it is so very, very worth it.
There will be people who will tell you not to do it, or that you just plain can't do it. Know that they are just afraid because it is different.
Show them you can, prove it to them.
Don't be afraid to take advice from others. In fact, seek it out. You need other people to read your work to improve it. Don't shy away from that.
Always remember: You've got this. It is your story. Only you can tell it.
There will be people who will tell you not to do it, or that you just plain can't do it. Know that they are just afraid because it is different.
Show them you can, prove it to them.
Don't be afraid to take advice from others. In fact, seek it out. You need other people to read your work to improve it. Don't shy away from that.
Always remember: You've got this. It is your story. Only you can tell it.
J.A. Glass
Being a writer is something like being a magician. Writing itself is magic. You can take the reader and make a whole world around them, wrap them in it. You can make anything happen and for a moment, to the reader, it is all very real. That is my favorite thing about being a writer and being a reader.
J.A. Glass
As of right now (August, 2014), I am writing the first novel in another young adult series, The Life of a KeyKeeper. It is a contemporary fantasy following a young woman named Hunter O'Day and how the world around her is changed completely when she becomes involved with a group of people with very special talents called KeyKeepers.
I actually just launched the webpage for the series: www.TheLifeOfAKeyKeeper.com.
On the site is a countdown clock, a little about the synopsis, the cover art for the novel, and a few more little fun things will be added as we approach pub day! :D
We are very excited for it to come out (tentatively) in October, 2014.
I actually just launched the webpage for the series: www.TheLifeOfAKeyKeeper.com.
On the site is a countdown clock, a little about the synopsis, the cover art for the novel, and a few more little fun things will be added as we approach pub day! :D
We are very excited for it to come out (tentatively) in October, 2014.
J.A. Glass
I am really, REALLY stubborn. I will come at it from angle I can imagine, bug my support team for inspiration, talk at my dog about it, and if none of that works then I will take a step back from it, bake some cupcakes or something and then by then I usually have gotten over it. I can get frustrated and impatient with myself but usually some breathing space (and a cupcake) can help to clear that up!
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