Meet Author J Edward Neill

 
     Today it's an honor to introduce you to the gifted J Edward Neill in my, Author Spotlight, post. Jeremy is a US based indie author of fiction, sci-fi, philosophy and has published short stories for Kindle's galaxy-wide.
   
    If that's not enough to be going on with, he is also a talented painter, bringing canvas alive with his imagination and use of color. He has been writing for the last sixteen years and has an extensive catalogue of titles to his name including a series of dark fiction of which he is the co-author. His first book Down the Dark Path was published in 2013 and he has agreed to giving us a look into his world.

Q & A

• What came first, the writing, or the painting? 

  
  

      Definitely the painting. As a much younger man, I attended art school, which admittedly I enjoyed far more than any other classes. After graduation, I started a t-shirt business and painted huge banners for local music acts. My crowning achievement: a banner I created for the heavy metal band, Slayer. Nowadays, hardly a night goes by without painting being involved in my life. It’s just so very relaxing.

A snapshot from my studio, aka my kitchen

• What made you decide to write solely for the adult market?
   
  

      Good question! When I began my writing journey, the market lay smack in the center of the Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games era. Everything seemed to be for young adults, and little of it appealed to me. I decided I’d do my best to offer alternatives to the prevailing popular themes of the day. To make my rebellion a reality, I went straight for epic dark fantasy. And by ‘dark’ I don’t mean sexual. I mean adult themes such as war, sacrifice, betrayal, et cetera. These are central to my most popular fantasy novel, Dark Moon Daughter

• Have you faced any particular challenges writing multi-genre?
   
  

      Yes. And I embrace them all. I recently jumped straight out of a sci-fi series and into a pair of philosophical memoirs. I think I threw my audience a curveball with the leap from ‘star-destroying space vampires’ to ‘an author drinks wine and writes about his childhood.’ And that’s OK. Bouncing from genre to genre has proven to be more fun than I’d ever hoped. I encourage everyone to try it. Just be careful not alienate your readers.

• What age group would you say your work is likely to appeal to?
   
  

  I’ve got a two-part answer…

      My fantasy, sci-fi, and horror books will likely appeal to the 18-35 crowd. These works contain enough action, character development, and plot twists to engage readers looking for a straightforward good time.

      For older readers, I recommend my Coffee Table Philosophy series. Questions about science, philosophy, and morality tend to appeal to those of us already drowning in fiction books.

  
  

• How do you decide on your titles?

    I hear plenty of authors talk about the challenges of deciding on book titles (and blurbs.) As for me, I enjoy the process. I usually design the title and blurb long before getting into the meat of writing the book. I try to nail down the central themes of whatever I’m working on, and then I make a list of potential titles. For my latest sci-fi book, Shadow Forever, I allowed my readers to decide the name. It was fun to hear their feedback!

• 101 Reasons to Breakup, was the last title to be released in your series of coffee table philosophy books. This was book number thirteen, will you be adding another title? Or, do you have a new WIP that you want to share with us?
  
      I'll definitely keep adding to the Coffee Table series. 101 Reasons to Break Up has been a big success (selling to book stores in England, of all places) and so I’ll likely pen a Part 2 before 2017 ends. I’ll need more stories to do it…since all the break ups are real.
  
      As for my current WIP, I'm about 30% finished with, Eaters of the Light. It'll be the last book in my big sci-fi series. I'm having a riot working on it.
  
  

  

  
  
  

• Most authors have favorite characters, can you introduce us to one of yours?
   
  

  You asked for one. I’ll give you two. 

      My first is Mia from the short story, Let the Bodies. She’s just a little kid living in a dangerous city, but her bravery is unique. Some of my readers might not realize it, but she makes a cameo in another book, The Circle Macabre. Poor little Mia. She doesn’t know how doomed she is.

      

      My second is Archmyr from the, Tyrants of the Dead series. He’s about as bad as an antagonist can be, and yet he’s still very human. He makes the best of a bad situation…and then makes the worst of a perfectly good one. SO fun to write.

  
  

• Jeremy, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to let us into your creative world. But, my readers would never forgive me if I didn't ask you to tell us a little about your journey into the world of writing?
   
  

      It all started on a dark and stormy…

  Actually, now that I think about it, the desire to tell stories has always been with me. As a little kid, I recall inventing worlds with characters to populate them. I suppose my creative spark was stoked to a flame when my Uncle John presented me with a full set of Dungeons & Dragons books for Christmas (the full story appears here.) At that very moment, I knew I needed to tell stories for the rest of my life. Big stories. Epic stories. Tales of our world and every dimension in-between.

  And here I am many years later, still at it. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to stop.
  

  
  
  

  Also, I’m inspired by my son, who made me wear this sombrero!

  
  

Reach J Edward at his website – Down the Dark Path

…or at any of these fine locations:

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Society6

More of J Edward Neill :
101 Questions Humanity Coffee Philosophy
Darkness Between the Stars (Eaters of the Light Book 1
Paintings
Tessera Guild

Cherishing a Daydreamer Forever

    Like many millions of David Cassidy fans, I was saddened to hear he had passed away this week. Hearing his songs  on the radio and TV made me feel like a teenager all over again.


    I had barely become a teen, when I began to adorn my bedroom walls with his pictures, one wall being solely dedicated to him. One Christmas I received a life size poster of the star, which I placed just at the correct height on the wall so I could look him straight in the eye, tell him how much "I loved him" and that "one day he would be mine." The problem was, every wild fan thought exactly the same.

    Although I was never lucky enough to see him in concert due to lack of finances, I did join the fan club and buy all his singles. The single 'Could it be Forever' I can remember taking to an English class, as we were asked to submit words by songwriters that we believed had true meaning. Can I say more?

    Unfortunately, the poster had to be discarded when I finally got married, many, many years later. My partner thought three was a crowd. However, I never lost that little space in my heart for David and may he R.I.P.


   

The Child in Me

   

    Christmas, which is mainly celebrated within western culture, can be a very magical time whether you are young, or old. The trees, the lights, the sparkling decorations and glittering tinsel adds to the mystique.

    In my town yesterday the Christmas lights were switched on and Santa even managed  to drop in for a flying visit, to the delight of the local children.

    I've been busy editing over the last week, however, the child in me wants to over indulge in the sentimentality of this annual celebration. Therefore, I have taken to watching a Christmas movie most days, sometimes even two I'm ashamed to say.

    I wonder what my daily doze will hold for me today? Will it be a rom-com, star an intoxicated Santa,  wayward elves, or over-worked reindeer? Who knows? But, it may make nostalgic watching.

    



    

    

   

The Mystery of Life

As I watch the sea lap gently against the shore

I cannot help but wonder, if to life there is more?

We don't know why we are here

In this place, or at this time

There has been many before us

And there will be countless after

Will one day the mystery be revealed?

To me, to you and to all

                                                                                        Christina Rowell

The Swing

Edinburgh, birthplace of Robert Louis Stevenson

    As a child I used to love to go to the public park with my aunt and uncle. I wasn't interested in the slide, or the merry-go-round, that always made me feel dizzy and sick. I only wanted to be pushed on a swing. The metal chains that suspended the seat clunked, clicked and squeaked, as I was pushed high into the air. On each push upwards, I tried to grab hold of the elusive clouds, or catch sight of my gran's house which lay over the field behind.

    That's why today on the anniversary of the birth of Robert Louis Stevenson, I chose his poem, The Swing. It brings back so many fabulous memories of my childhood.

The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing

Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing

Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall

Till I can see so wide

River and trees and cattle and all

Over the countryside

Till I look down on the garden green

Down on the roof so brown

Up in the air I go flying again

Up in the air and down!

Robert Louis Stevenson 
                      13 November 1850-3 December 1894

#RLSDay #onthisday #OTD

A Garden Without Butterflies

    Childhood memories of the lazy, hazy, day's of summer, stay firmly in the forefront of my mind. The smell of fresh mowed lawns and the scent of the flowers tickling my nose. Butterflies and bees flitting from flower to flower, pollinating the plants as they went.

   Young sparrows, and robins feeding like kings on the abundance of insects that lived in every nook and cranny of our garden. Pesky flies and wasps gate-crashing the impromptu  picnics that were spread upon a green and white checkered tablecloth on the back lawn.

    It seems that the insect world whether you love them, or hate them, are slowly depleting. We humans are destroying nature's pollinators and sources of food for our wildlife, with our chemical insecticides and pesticides.

    It's sad to think that future generations of children may never know a garden with butterflies.
  
    "What's a butterfly garden without butterflies?"

                                                            Roy Rogers