About James Quinlan Meservy:
I am James Quinlan Meservy
Fantasy Author Extraordinaire,
Creator of Creatures,
Embellisher of Events,
And Firebrand
“Stories that Kindle Imagination"
James Quinlan Meservy loves literature! His favorite genre to read is classic literature (Charles Dickens is his favorite author).
He lives in Southeast Idaho with his wife and children, and spent his childhood moving all across northern Utah. He considers his home town to be Mendon, Ut, a small community near Logan, Utah in the Cache Valley.
What inspires you to write?
My writing inspirations frequently come from brainstorming sessions with fellow authors and my dreams. Once I have a dream about an idea, I know I have a story to write.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
My favorite author is Charles Dickens.
Other favorites include Mark Twain, Tessonja Odette, Stephen King (not his horror work, his fantasy and sci-fi work), Cris Pasqueralle, Brandon Sanderson, and JRR Tolkien.
Tell us about your writing process.
When I first started writing, I was a complete pantser. I strongly believed in Stephen King's "digging up a dinosaur fossil" theory that he explains in his non-fiction book "On Writing.
My recent project, the Dragon's Deceit series, is an epic fantasy, and my author coach is teaching me about story theory, writing to a theme, and as a result of that, I am using the outline software Plottr to give my story a light outline.
Once I have my story idea, I sit at my computer, put in ear plugs, read inspiring literature, pray to my God for clarity and direction, and write.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Only all the time.
The character who is the loudest about everything is Amanda Adams from The United.
When I am writing a new story, I have several interviews with my characters.
For example, at present one of my works in progress is the final book of the Realm of the Light series. I keep trying to schedule an interview with Arctyrus Hunter, but he only gives me one word answers to my questions, if he answers at all, and I need to rely on his wife, Kestrel, and other minor characters for the details that Arctyrus refuses to relive.
What advice would you give other writers?
My best advice for writers is to read.
Read everything and anything.
Of course, focus on the genres you write and the genres you enjoy to read, but I have been amazed at how much I can learn about the writing project by reading new genres and new authors.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
When it comes to publishing books, I am a hybrid author. What I mean by that is I have some titles that are published with a publisher, and I have other titles that are self-published.
How I came about that decision is a bit of boring story, but here it is.
After I signed the contract to publish The United, The Realm of the Light Book 1 with Cosby Media Productions, I had this idea for a stand alone short story about a couple camping the wilderness and seeing a jackalope. The story was short, had nothing to do with The United, or the world of the Realm of the Light, and I wanted to use it as my reader magnet. So I found a friend to help with the cover, another friend to help with the editing, and published Jackalopes myself. After that, I just started believing that every story has a publishing path of its own. Some projects I can promote better with a publisher, others I can do better myself.
So, my advise to new authors is to really understand your personal goal in publishing each individual story. Is it to make money? Is it to have a reader magnet? Is it to learn how to market a book yourself? Is it to just be creative and forget about it?
Then explore the different options you have to publish, and decide which publishing path helps you fulfill your publishing goal and go for it.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think more and more authors will choose to self publish their books on more platforms that just Amazon Kindle.
I do not believe Amazon Kindle will go away, I just believe that we as a literary culture are trending away from traditional publishers, and Kindle Unlimited, and more toward wide distribution of ebooks.
What genres do you write?: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Poetry, Contemporary Literature
What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
James Quinlan Meservy Home Page Link
Link To James Quinlan Meservy Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
