Please Welcome Vic Jones to Lorelei's Muse

Vic is a fellow writer who likes to write poetry, fantasy, science fiction, and pretty much anything. He has been working his craft pretty much like the rest of us, in between moments when we are not working. I've been able to nail him down for a few questions today so we can get to know him better.

First, tell us a little bit about yourself, where you are from, and where you live.

I live in Redding California. I grew up in a small town that is about 110 miles north of Redding but it is still in California. When I left home I spent several years in Phoenix Arizona and six years in the US Army.

How and when did you become interested in writing?

I first started writing poetry about 31 years ago. I was in my teens but never saw any market for poetry so didn’t try to do much with it.

What were your first stories like?

I first attempted a novel after reading a Zebra (I think the company is now defunct) book (Romance) and deciding that if something that poorly written had been published by a commercial publisher I could do at least that well.

I tried my hand at a Sci-Fi story that is still sitting in parts on my hard drive. I then took a hiatus from all writing until I found Author Nation.
Actually I started a Blog at Blogspot in 2006 (it can be read at http://aethernotespolyblog.blogspot.com/

Did you have encouragement by a teacher, or friends to continue?

When I was a sophomore in high school one of my teachers noticed what I referred to as a doodle with words. She said it was an interesting poem. Until then I thought poetry had to be lyrical or at least have a meter. She encouraged me to write and that year I did several haiku style poems and a few others (all lost in the dust of time…) I continued to write poetry on and off even now.

Have you had obstacles in the way of publishing?

I honestly have never thought I had any chance at being published by what is now considered to be the traditional route. I’m not much of a salesman so I don’t know how I’m going to do on a nontraditional publishing route but I decided that I want to hold a book that I have written.

What is your inspiration to keep writing?

Self-defense! I read huge volumes of writing and cannot afford to buy as much reading material as I would like to, so I write new stuff for my own entertainment.

What genre do you write mostly?

I write eclectically the same way I read. If it interests me then I have at least given it a whirl. My current projects are a medieval style fantasy and an urban fantasy. I have a hard Sci-Fi project started but don’t have time to do the research necessary for it. I also have been working on and off over the past two years on a collection of quips and quotes. They are all what might be considered short wisdom sayings. The title of this one is Lessons from The Hard Knocks School of Life and I consider each quote or quip to be a lesson.

I understand you have a book about to be published, can you give us a synopsis of it?

The project that I have closest to completion is Castlebound which is a medieval fantasy. It is not set on Earth or if it is earth it is earth as it never existed. Magic works in Castlebound and the heroine is bound by magic to a castle because she is the princess.

How long did it take you to write it?

Approximately two years though that was the first draft. The bulk of it was done in 2008 when I experienced a layoff from my regular job. During that time I wrote up to 1000 words a day. Therefore in 40 days I had approximately 38,000 unedited words in a loose novel that just needed to be fleshed out and have an ending. I spent the next 20 months adding to the story and polishing bits of it.

Did it take a while for you to find a publisher for it, and how hard or easy was that for you?

I am not intending to even try to sell this one to a traditional publisher. I am working with Letting The Ink Dry www.lettingtheinkdry.com/ to get an edit done so that I feel that the book is as good as it can be.

What are your writing aspirations for the next year/what do you hope to accomplish in that time?

Hopefully Dana at Letting The Ink Dry and I will feel that we are ready to go to the presses with Castlebound. I would also like to find some markets for my poetry and to that end I’m going to be entering some competitions. Beyond that I have an outline started for a sequel to Castlebound that is not yet titled that I have been working on.

What is Vic Jones’ typical day like?

Like most aspiring authors I have a day job. I do enjoy what I do and barring winning the publishing lottery will probably continue to work as long as I’m able to work.

How many hours on an average do you write in a week/day?

I try to do a little writing every day but as it is a hobby I don’t worry too much about a production schedule.

What is it about writing you like the most?

I like discovering other worlds and the way that characters come alive for me.

I understand you have a blog?

My blog is at http://aethernotespolyblog.blogspot.com/ mostly I’m posting poetry and an expanded version of Lessons from The Hard Knocks School of Life. I also post short pieces on any other subject I find interesting. It is a eclectic collection of my writing about what interests me from moment to moment.

Where can people find out about your book, and when is it's publishing date?
The website for my novel(s) will be www.author-vicjones.com/ I don’t have a firm date for Castlebound but have every hope that an e-book or other format will be available sometime this year.

Thank you, Vic. And I wish to put in that Vic's niece is his artist who has done the rendition of the book's cover above. She's very good, and I think the cover conveys the main plot of the story line.

We will be checking in with you from time to time.