I tend to write the type of books that I like to read, which are typically thrillers where capable but flawed reluctant heroes are plunged into a desperate situation.
Simon Jenner – 09 June 2013
The Back Flap
In the morning, he’s struggling to remember. By the evening, he’s struggling to survive. John Smith’s risk avoidance policy just expired!
Waking up beside the gorgeous Savannah Jones, John is shocked to learn she was for hire, and he can’t pay the price – a thousand pounds or broken legs. In desperation, he turns to best friend, Mark, for the money. Only one problem – Mark has a dagger in his back.
John and Savannah are plunged into a dangerous world where wits and adrenaline are their only weapons and trust in each other their only certainty. As the body count mounts, they discover Mark wasn’t the person John thought, and his terrifying invention may well end up killing thousands, John and Savannah included.
A race to recover the missing invention pits the unlikely pairing against ex-SAS psychopath, Gregory Fisher, a man who will stop at nothing and kill anyone in his way to wreak revenge against the Government who stole his livelihood.
When Smith and Jones team up, the result is explosive.
Ethan Justice: Origins is a fast-paced, action-packed, character-driven thriller, guaranteed to make you laugh out loud, cringe, cry and cheer.
About the book
What is the book about?
Ethan Justice: Origins pits the wits and adrenaline of an underachiever and a beautiful escort against a psychotic soldier in a race to secure a terrifying invention that could kill thousands. It is a fast-paced, action-packed, character-driven thriller, that I hope will make readers laugh out loud, cringe, cry and cheer.
When did you start writing the book?
18 months ago.
How long did it take you to write it?
4 months.
Where did you get the idea from?
I had an idea for a story where the protagonist was an underachiever and not your typical hero type. I wanted to put him in a situation where he was forced to show what he was made of against all odds. So I sat down and started writing and it just grew from there.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
After the first draft, I completely rewrote the main antagonist in the first person as I wanted to get into his head more and this really helped.
What came easily?
I wouldn’t say that any of it was easy but I enjoyed writing the scenes between John Smith and Savannah Jones. I let the characters tell me how their relationship progressed. The action scenes were fun to write as they literally fell onto the page (or the screen!). I’m a huge movie fan and I could just see it all playing out in my mind’s eye.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
I always take characteristics from people I know and mix them up and see what comes out. People that annoy me, I tend to rename, disguise a little, and turn into victims that my antagonists then bump off. It’s highly therapeutic.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
My writing style is not knowingly influenced by the books I read but I’m certain that unconsciously all writers pick up techniques and idiosyncrasies from their peers. The more I write, the more I question the best way to deal with issues, such as dropping in back story, so I then go back through the books I’ve read lately and see what others do. Most of the time I get three different answers from three different books but that makes me feel better about doing whatever I feel works best for my story.
Do you have a target reader?
I tend to write the type of books that I like to read, which are typically thrillers where capable but flawed reluctant heroes are plunged into a desperate situation. I hope there are a few other readers out there that, like me, who want to see characters go on an action-packed journey where they achieve more than they thought possible, whilst enjoying a bit of dark humour along the way.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
It’s relatively unstructured – I start with an overview of the antagonist’s plan and motivations. I then outline the first two or three chapters and see how the hero reacts. I’ll then plan the next two or three chapters and keep going until it’s finished.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
For the two or three chapters that I do outline, I tend to go scene by scene, jotting down the main points that I want to cover, but I don’t stick to it all the time. I rely on the story unfolding in my head as I write it – the outline is just there to get the juices flowing and to refer back to if I get stuck.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
I write quite slowly rather than scribbling away and editing heavily later. I don’t go back to do a full edit until the end though.
Did you hire a professional editor?
When I first released Ethan Justice: Origins it wasn’t professionally edited, nor did it have a professionally designed cover, but once I decided to pursue writing as more than just a hobby, I took the decision to invest in both and I’m glad I did.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
No, but I’ve heard that others do and I might just give it a go. I tend to listen to music at quite a volume though, so either my wife will complain or I won’t be able to hear myself think!
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
I did up until three years ago. Nowadays I wouldn’t ever consider putting my work into another’s hands.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
Who has the time to wait to hear back from agents/publishers? This industry is hard enough without having to rely on others who might not have your best interests at heart. With Amazon doing everything they can to make self-publishing so easy, it seems crazy to lose some control over your work, to have to wait months or years to see your book published, and to receive lower royalties. There doesn’t appear to be an upside to being traditionally published.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
Originally I did do the cover myself but have since had it redesigned by a professional and am very pleased with the improvements.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
I had been winging it but recently decided that just wouldn’t do. Being a self-published author is a business and so I needed a plan. I read somewhere that there are three things a marketing plan needs to cover: (1) getting readers to your sales page, (2) getting readers to buy once they land on your sales page, and (3) getting readers to come back and buy more of your books in the future. So I’ve been focusing on marketing ideas that will move me forward in each of these areas, such as doing author interviews(!), revamping my book description to be more appealing and approaching book bloggers for reviews, and thinking about how I can entice readers to sign up for my mailing list so I can keep in touch with them. Whether it will all come together remains to be seen.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
I think I realized too late that marketing was going to take more than buying a few ads here and there. I wish I had worked on my author platform and networking with readers and other authors from the start, rather than waiting for the book to be published.
About You
Where did you grow up?
As a civil engineer, my father moved from project to project throughout the north of England and Scotland. When I was eight, he started work in the Middle East and so I was sent to boarding school in North Yorkshire for the remainder of my school years. That was quite an experience – the slipper, the lumps of porridge, the bullies – not one I’d put my 12 year old son through, but certainly one that was character building.
Where do you live now?
In the UK with my wife and son, and our extremely soppy German Shepherd.
What would you like readers to know about you?
I love to watch tennis with my wife and movies with my son when I’m not reading or writing. I’m quite a dab hand at DIY although I’ve had my fair share of accidents with several crushed fingers, a few electrocutions, the odd tumble from a ladder. As well as DIY injuries, I was quite accident prone in my youth causing my parents to race back from the Middle East when I burnt down their house having left a chip pan on as well as fracturing my skull when I thought it would be clever to climb onto my friend’s bonnet as he was driving. I’m naturally sarcastic and enjoy keeping fit in a one month on, one month off type pattern. During the ‘off’ season, I am not health conscious at all and when I struggle to button up the trousers, I know it’s time for change.
What are you working on now?
The second Ethan Justice book, Relentless, is being edited. This time around Ethan and Savannah end up in a dangerous cat and mouse game of pursuit and survival when they cross paths with Richard Windal, a cool, confident and highly influential yet psychotic entrepreneur.
I have also written a few thousand words for my third action thriller about a man who has fallen on hard times in the current financial crisis. He gets recruited as an assassin to pay the bills. But all is not as it seems!
End of interview:
For more from Simon visit his website, follow him on twitter, or like his facebook page.
Get your own copy of Ethan Justice: Origins from Amazon US (paper or ebook) or Amazon UK (paper or ebook).
Or even better, for those who have read all the way to the bottom and would like a free e-book copy of Ethan Justice: Origins, the first 10 people to contact Simon using the contact page on his website and tell him you were sent there from The IndieView will receive one.
