About Jay S. Willis:
My goal as an author is to create an engaging and fun body of work to sustain a generation through their life as readers of Fantasy: from intelligent chapter books to sprawling epics.
From an early age, I was fascinated by story-telling and wrote my first books in grade school by hand using typing paper packets stapled together for me by my mother. An avid Dungeons & Dragons role-player, growing up in the 80’s obsessed with Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, my reading and writing interests have always skewed toward the fantasy and science-fiction genres.
I am a graduate of both Capital University and Capital University Law School. I’ve been a licensed attorney for more than 25 years. I’m a former Judge and now work as an Assistant Prosecutor. My family and I live in southern Ohio. When I’m not writing I enjoy playing board games and watching movies.
What inspires you to write?
I’ve loved storytelling since I was very young. I have an innate need for immersing myself in stories whether it’s writing, reading, gaming, or consuming television and movies. Part of my brain needs to write. I read and write Fantasy because I long to escape and explore other worlds, get to know other people and cultures, and forget about the real world.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, David Eddings, Raymond E. Feist, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Orson Scott Card, Neil Gaiman, and Neil Peart.
Tell us about your writing process.
I’m an outliner. I do my writing and outlining in Word. My outline is more general, hitting major events, plotpoints and expected character arcs along with my worldbuilding notes. The most consistent part of my routine when I manage to eke time out to write (after establishing a general outline) is to dive in and start from the beginning and work through the story. I tend to write chronologically through my stories for the most part. That’s just how my brain tends to work for some reason. After I get the story going I usually go back and review/re-read the last section I wrote to warmup without getting to deep into revision. I tend to discovery write moving between major events and adjusting my outline later as needed.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I wouldn't say I talk to my characters. However, when I manage to immerse myself in the glorious "flow state" often my characters will take over especially in scenes involving a lot of dialog. I love when a conversation writes itself.
What advice would you give other writers?
Don’t be afraid of revisions and be willing to recognize your writing tomorrow will always be better than it was today. The most important thing I’ve learned on my writing journey was humility; I had to make myself admit my skills weren’t yet up to the task of completing an Epic Fantasy trilogy. Sometimes you need to walk away, write something else and hone your craft before you can move forward.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I suffered through querying editors and agents in an attempt to explore the traditional publishing path. After over 100 rejections for two different books I decided it was time to change gears and learn about self-publishing. The more I learned and analyzed current publishing trends the more it made sense to strike out on my own. It’s a lot of work and by no means easy but publishing my own work allows me complete control and it’s incredibly rewarding. I would advise new authors to strive to achieve your dreams. If that is traditional publishing, go for it. But be prepared to face a lot of rejection. I would also advise new writers to not be afraid to dive into the deep end and go the indie-publishing route. Indie authors are a great community very supportive of our own and there are a lot of resources available. If you want to learn and are willing to put in the time and effort you can publish yourself.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I firmly believe indie publishing will continue to grow, evolve, and gain a larger market share over the next few years. Currently, it’s rare for any author to only be traditionally published and I’m confident that trend will continue. My hope is audiobook production and sales for indie authors will become more affordable and a viable option sooner in the near future.
What genres do you write?: Fantasy and sometimes Science Fiction
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Jay S. Willis Home Page Link
Link To Jay S. Willis Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on BookBub
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
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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.
