Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I live in Colorado and am an active dude in my sixties. I come from a family of brainiacs, and they’re either avid readers, writers, or both. I crave creating, like I’m parched, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to fully satiate that craving, and the more out there the idea, the better I like it. I’m ever on the lookout for the supernormal.
I’ve written five books since about the mid-eighties. One came very close to publication the conventional route, while others found literary agency representation, but never a publisher.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Mythion is the latest book, and it’s a culmination of many disparate threads of idea, thought, concept and inspiration over about a 15 year period. I’m huge into science fiction for all the reasons most are, but also because you can always stretch your own imagination and creativity into limitless extent as the writer and creator of characters in an endless cosmos.
There are little known, hidden, esoteric elements to the planet Saturn I wanted to share with the world, of course in fictional form, and so the germination of all ideas and concepts revolved around that in the building of this book.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to stick to the literary imperatives. Some might think it’s snobbish, but the truth is they tend to force you into spare, vigorous, and exhilarating writing. If I have a habit, it’s that I like to set the scene through evocative imagery, tropes, and archetypes instead of explaining in almost laundry list style the visual and atmospheric elements in which characters play out their roles.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many, it would be hard to name them. Some of my favorite books are those from which I found no influence, but certainly the fire to create something on par with them. A few standouts are the same as many folks: Dune, The Hobbit, The Count of Monte Cristo, Arthur C. Clarke, Gary Jennings, Norman Spinrad, Tai Pan, Shogun, Slaughterhouse Five, Catch 22, and that list does indeed go on.
What are you working on now?
The sequel to Mythion, and I plan to uncork some ideas that people will find more head-spinning even than Mythion, and it’s a huge and mind-bending book.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Sites like this one work to reach readers instead of a general public. Podcasts are great with the personal touch. Well orchestrated ads on Amazon can work very well. It’s a process, like everything, and you have to be mindful that it’s R & D as much as anything else.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Seek the highest level of literary quality of which you are capable. Habituate yourself to the rules of great writing, what I call “literary imperatives.”
So many “would-be” authors who, for example, wind up in MFA programs, go in thinking they’re all that. They’re not. And if their professor is a good one, he or she will do everything in their power to bring them down to earth. You either write because you think you’re a prima donna, or you write to sell. If your book is about you and your sad friends, maybe you and your friends will enjoy it in your reading evenings together.
Make SURE your lead character is likable and relatable to start, even if you disclose bit-by-bit that they’re “not so likable.”
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Write within your experiential means. That way your tone of voice remains authentic.
What are you reading now?
Between books right this second, but I’m likely going to open “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” by Jennifer Egan.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m founding a creative lab and publishing concern for content creation through all avenues of storytelling, such as card games, video games, standard book publishing, VR, movies, TV. The world is hungrier than ever for quality content across all platforms, and we want to feed them.
What is your favorite book of all time?
Hard to say, since at least five would qualify, but “The Journeyer” is what popped in when I saw this question.
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Jason Davis Website
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