An Interview with Jake Brown

Jake R T Brown is a tattoo artist from Essex, England, who turned his hand to writing in 2017 to fulfill a lifelong dream and self-published his first book, The World Spins Madly On. In 2023 he rewrote both The World Spins Madly On and the spin-off, What Goes Up…, and published them with sparkly new cover designs ready for the release of his upcoming sequel, Beneath the Stars.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I’d always enjoyed reading and writing as a child. I loved telling stories and would always write short stories in my early teens. I had an English teacher in high school who very much pushed for me to keep writing. So when I published my first book, they were the first person I went to see and gift a copy. So, huge shoutout to Dr Edison for helping push me to do what I love.

What inspired you to start writing this book?

After I finished The World Spins Madly On, I wanted to write another book but wasn’t really sure what to do. I never expected to write a companion book/spin-off from The World Spins Madly On, but a friend of mine told me I should “write about us,” so I took a look at our friendship group and the crazy things we’d all been through and witnessed as a group and how every decision we’d all made individually had influenced what was happening in everyone’s life around them. So, I took parts of my friends’ personalities and put them into characters that they named, and let it all unfold!

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

The title came naturally while I was writing the book. The book is about the ups and downs of life over a course of ten years, so the idea of the phrase “what goes up must come down” became the premise of the title, and I shortened it to What Goes Up… because it sounded more like a memorable title.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

I might have made a playlist on Spotify for each book I’ve written! But there would definitely be “Go Slowly” by Beforefrances, “Multiverse” by Maya Manuela, “City Grown Willow” by Radio Company, “Pearls” by Skout, and finally, “Dumb Little Life” by Skout.

Describe your dream book cover.

My dream book cover…that’s a difficult one. I think it would be really cool to one day have one of those “Netflix” covers, where the cast of the show version is on the cover, even though I don’t really like buying those versions of books. But that’s how you know you’ve made it, haha.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

So, I am a tattoo artist by trade and I’ve also toured the UK in a pop punk band called Settle For Less, and I’m a comic book creator. So everything I do is full of creativity! I couldn’t imagine doing something that doesn’t get my creative juices flowing!

What books did you read (for research or comfort) throughout your writing process?

I struggle to read while I’m writing. I worry that I’m going to start plagiarising without realising. I tend to focus more on listening to music while I write. It helps me feel the emotions I want to put on the page!

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I’d like readers to see the importance of the love we share both platonically and romantically. That’s the theme of the book, really. It’s a love story between friends who wouldn’t have made it through life without each other, and no matter what mistakes we make, we should all cut each other some slack and do our best to make each other see we’re not alone.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.