Accomplished Indie Writer Jamie Sedgwick has graciously given some of his time away from writing to answer a few questions for us. This is the result of an email interview that took place over December.
Jamie’s books have been featured here on Chilli Tween Reads before look for links at the bottom of the interview.
Your stories are quite unique, you seem to be able too mix differentstory elements together with great success (like high fantasy andsteam punk). Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?
I’ve been trying to think of a way to answer this question without getting too convoluted, but I don’t think I can. The simple and direct answer is that the books I’ve read and the genres I’ve enjoyed in the past have influenced me. Of course, nothing is ever that simple.
Part of my writing style stems from my slightly ADD personality, which I’ve discussed in my blog. My approach to writing is to do everything in my power to keep the story interesting to me, and hope that my effort pays off for readers as well. A number of reviewers have mentioned that I pack a lot of story into a book -a lot more than most authors do- and hopefully, that makes the stories pack a punch, so to speak. So far, it seems to work.
Before I start writing though, I usually start with the character. When I began writing “The Tinkerer’s Daughter” I had no idea where the story was going to go. I just knew that I had to tell the story of this poor orphaned girl who didn’t have a chance at life. The entire world was against her, but she was pure and dedicated, and a little naive, and because of that she overcame everything the world could throw it her. I knew that the time and setting would be the verge of an industrial revolution, but the political revolution that came with it was completely organic. To be honest, I was probably influenced by Japanese anime more than high fantasy or steampunk, but I followed Breeze and that was where her story took me.
In my newest novel, “Hank Mossberg, Private Ogre,” I thought about the character for several years before I finally wrote the book. I just had this character stuck in my head. He was a big, green hulking figure in a trench coat and fedora, like Mike Hammer or Dick Tracy meets The Incredible Hulk. The character was there, but I didn’t quite know what to do with him for a long time. Eventually that evolved into something simple and unique: A fairy tale murder mystery.
Most of my books are like that, to some extent. They draw on things familiar, but become something new and different
2 Comments on An Interview with Indie Superstar Jamie Sedgwick, last added: 1/23/2012
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Thank you for bringing such an in-depth interview alive, Jamie and Dale! It's a pleasure to delve into the thought process of other indie authors.
I love reading author interviews, its always fascinating hearing about how others come up with their grand ideas. But it's also interesting to see how each author responds to the numerous challenges facing Indie writers as well. Thank you for your comments Laura!