To find out more about Jeremiah Lang or his stories, check out his website. Now, without further ado, on to the interview:
(Jesse Rice): Hello Jeremiah Lang, it's nice to have you here today.
(Jeremiah Lang): Thanks, Jesse. I'm glad to be here. I'm really looking forward to this interview.
(JR): Let's cut straight to the chase: You've written a novel recently. Can you tell us a little bit about it?
(JL): Well, I call it a Sci-Fi/Mystery/Spy hybrid. It's a story about an FBI agent named Jonathon McFarland, whose work may have gone a little too far, into the realm where it strains his relationship with his son, Jason. Much of the book focuses on their relationship, with the main conflict being one of trust. Because when Jason stumbles upon a mysterious conspiracy involving a mad scientist and his FBI henchman, Jason starts to suspect his father may be involved...
It's an exciting tale full of danger, mystery, and wicked cliffhangers.
(JR): What inspired you to write this novel?
(JL): Well, last November(of 2012), a lot of friends on the ToO(The Town of Odyssey, an online forum dedicated to the audio drama Adventures in Odyssey) were participating in NaNoWriMo, a contest of sorts to write 50,000 words in a month. I wanted to participate, so they told me to come up with a plot quick, so I could join. Well, I didn't think up my plot until mid-November, so I decided to save it for next year, although I actually ended up starting in early December, because I just couldn't wait.
(JR): Why did you choose the science fiction genre?
(JL): I chose it because it's absolutely my favorite genre. Whenever someone asks me where I learned to write, I tell them that I learned to write by reading. Sci-Fi is the genre I read the most, so it just made sense to write a science fiction book.
(JR): Have you ever considered writing anything other than science fiction?
(JL): Considered, yes. Done? No. No matter how hard I try, it seems like all of my plot ideas are science fiction in some way. I do have plans for an AIO fanfiction, but that's about it.
(JR): When did you start writing?
(JL): Well, that depends on if you mean "When did I start writing?" or "When did I start writing well?" If you mean the former, I suppose that would be about 6 or 7 years ago, when I started writing a story called "Shadow of the White Crow". Unfortunately, the book was not so awesome as its title. It actually was pretty awful. Not only that, but I also lacked the motivation to finish it. I started writing its sequel when I was only about 6 chapters into it. I never finished either.
(JR): What is the hardest part about writing for you?
(JL): Hmm... there are a lot of hard things. One of them being coming up with chapter titles. But that's a dumb one, so I'll choose another one.
One of the things that I really strive to do as a writer is to find the right balance between planning and spontaneity. While I think planning is very important, I also think that too much of it makes a book stale and predictable. It also, of course, goes the other way. Too much spontaneity can make a book too fast-paced and disjointed. It's a very fine line to walk.
(JR): Do you have a favorite book or series?
(JL): Yes, I do indeed. The Missing series, by Margaret Peterson Haddix. It's such an intriguing plot. I wish I could rave more about it, but I don't want to spoil the first book for anyone who wishes to read the series!
(JR): Do you have a favorite author?
(JL): Once again, I have to say, Margaret Peterson Haddix. I call her my "writing role model". I love the way that she just draws you in, with just a slight hint about what might be going on, and how she slowly unravels things, until you finally get to see the big picture. And the way that she describes the setting of a scene is superb. You can just picture everything in perfect detail, and somehow she doesn't even dwell on describing things. It's just a series of subtle hints that slowly build a picture inside your head. It's just plain amazing.
(JR): Is there anything you'd like to say about your upcoming stories?
(JL): Hmmm, what to tell... Well, I currently have four planned books, all of them sci-fi. Well, one of them, not so much sci-fi, but sort of. Two of them are the last two books of The Impossible trilogy. Book 2, titled Time is of the Essence, is currently in progress, with a prologue and 8 chapters written so far. For those of you who have read Point A to Point B, I plan to do a lot more with Jake Reynolds in this book. I'm also adding in a Jonathon/Sabinski backstory. There's a lot of new stuff in this book that I think readers will really like. Different ways of looking at characters, the showing of a weakness, things like that. I'm really excited about the direction it's going.
As for the other two, they are stand-alone novels. Each of them currently has a tentative title, and I suppose here I ought to mention something I'm planning to do with all my books' titles: The titles you've heard are both commonly used phrases. Well, that's exactly what I'm planning to do with my titles. Each one is an overused cliché. It's just a fun little pattern I decided I should use. Anyways, back to the stand-alone books. One is the story of a boy whose parents are convicted criminals. The boy, nearly fourteen, now lives on the streets. On his fourteenth birthday, he encounters an mysterious old man who seems to know everything about him... and his parents. The second book is about an unaging boy... I can't really tell you more than that, because I honestly don't know more!
(JR): Sounds Interesting! Thank you so much for being here today, Jeremiah.
No comments:
Post a Comment