An Interview with J.L. Stewart

Native New Yorker and an Active Duty component of the United States Army stationed at Fairchild AFB, WA, the works of Ray Harryhausen, Robert Jordon, Robert Wise, Howard Hawks, and L. Sprague De Camp are just some of the influencers for J.L. Stewart.

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

Avarom and The Black Riders: The title and the character of the book came weeks into writing the synopsis for the book. Use of the phonetic language and the characteristics of friends aided in the personality of each character as well as their names.

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

The Avarom Saga first started off as a love letter for a young woman some years ago. It was told that if such a letter were to be written such as any other she would dine and dance the night away. A short letter of a page and half was written of which she wanted more. Then it morphed into five pages. Granted, she did go out to dinner but she still wanted to hear more about this particular character. Hence the tale of Avarom and his adventures were born.

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

Poetry was done for awhile, though unpublished.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

The most rewarding part is hearing the reviews. Good, bad, or indifferent, it makes no difference just as long as it’s in-depth and honest. One can learn from the reviews and thought processes of others.

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

The music that would go well with the Avarom series would be anything Celtic-sounding with a page from the Lord of the Rings soundtrack.

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

What is hoped that would be a good takeaway for the average reader is that their love of fantasy is fulfilled. That their need for a good sword and sorcery tale of the high adventure life has been sated.

What new writing projects are you currently working on? Or, other projects that are not writing?

The fourth book in the Avarom series is in development: Avarom and The King of Servitica. There are some other projects and they can be found at www.AvaromRedQueen.net.

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

Working with Atmosphere Press has been great and I will continue to work with them until they pass me off to another publisher. Their communication is on a level that I’ve never experienced with any other self-publishing firm. Their staff is never too busy and will answer any and all questions in great detail. To anyone thinking of going with Atmosphere Press, prepare for a fulfilling and gratifying time with your book from submission to published author.

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