Sunday, October 26, 2008

J. Walt Layne



Author Pen Name: J. Walt Layne

Author Interview Questions:

CA: What genre(s) do you write?

JWL: I guess you could say I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, I’ve written a legal thriller (Frank testimony, featured here), co-authored a Cthulhu Mythos tale, a trilogy of espionage/ techno thriller screenplays, and I’m currently working on a series of old school pulp detective novels, written in the hard boiled style.

CA: Why do you write the stories that you write?

JWL: This is a good question, I’m never happy with the way I answer it. In some cases, I’ve resurrected stories forgotten or in progress, or tied them together to help out a writing friend, as in the case of The Coming of T’Loal (more on this later). In another case, with Frank Testimony, I didn’t even know the story was inside me until I got a prompt from a flash fiction group I belong to, I blew that flash, but 40 days and 144,000 words later I had a novel, my first work over 100,000 words.
It isn’t always clear to me why I am writing a story, sometimes not until long after it’s done. Writing is a compulsion with me, and when I sit down to write I can usually tune in to the muse within a couple of paragraphs and then it just sort of takes care of itself.
With the pulp series, I think it is a combination. I love the pulps and have wanted to do some detective stories for a while. I think this is part tribute to my favorite writers; some of it is just a fascination with the language, and curiosity at whether or not I can actually pull it off. All in all I guess I write the kind of thing I hope I’d like to read.

CA: Tell us about your most recent release:

JWL: Frank Testimony is the story of Frank Burchill. The road to death row at the notorious Parchman Farm Penitentiary is long and difficult for Frank. He inherits a fortune when Mae, the woman he loves dies, but throws it away in the blink of an eye to square up with the guy who killed her. Bobby Lee Russell the antagonist in the book is that mean kid everyone knows from grade school. He’s mean because he’s ignorant and unsophisticated. He never grows out of it and becomes the perfect recruit for the grand old hate club. I set the story in the rural town of Bedford in Nathan County Mississippi; I like to think that the location is a very important character in the story.

CA: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

JWL: Oh, I’ve been writing stories since I learned to spell the words. I had and entire bookshelf full of notebooks and legal pads full of stories I’d written through the years and actually lost a lot of it during various moves and purges of excess stuff over the course of my younger years. I started thinking seriously about writing and being a writer when people who didn’t have a vested interest in not hurting my feelings were telling me that my stuff was solid. When other writers said so, it really meant something to me and I wanted to write more.

CA: Who or what was your inspiration for writing?

JWL: I think somewhere inside me is a very angry person who needs a lot of therapy. My inspiration aside from that voice I refer to as the muse, comes from mileage, life experience, walking a lot of miles in my own boots, and having a lot of overbearing influences in my young life telling me what I couldn’t do and assuring me that I’d fail… They were right; I sucked at doing it their way.

CA: What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

JWL: Ha, I’m a mad man… I get up early and write before work, sneak in some time to write at work, take my laptop and write before class, and then if I’m not too exhausted after helping kids and myself to homework I write before bed time.

CA: Your book is about to be sent into the reader world, what is one word that describes how you feel?

JWL: Excited and maybe a little scared. I’ve had several people who’ve read it email me and tell me how much they like the story, including two of my professors. I don’t expect everyone will like it, but that’s the beauty of being human beings, everyone’s taste is different. I do hope that people read it all the way through before they pass judgment.

CA: What was your biggest challenge in writing your book(s)?

JWL: Time- I have four full time commitments family, work, school, and writing. Luckily my wife and I own our business. Before I left my job to help build our business (Independent Accounting & Bookkeeping Service, Inc) I would sometimes write through the night and then try to work on no sleep… It was crazy. I certainly never suffer from writer’s block, if anything I have more trouble turning it off so I can get some rest

CA: What do you like to do when you're not writing?

JWL: Spend time with my wife and kids, I read a lot, I like movies and we watch the crab show on Discovery. We do lots of family stuff, it’s the second marriage for both of us and we are making the most of it. We have three girls between us (hers, mine, and ours) and we do as much as we can with them, building a good crop of stories to tell the grandkids, which better not get here for another 20 years. Cooking, my wife and I love to be in the kitchen together. We believe that teaching the girls to cook helps them learn responsibility. They’ve made everything from dill pickles to chicken enchiladas.

CA: How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?

JWL: I’ve completed maybe a dozen novel length stories, and I’ve published two of them… My current favorite is Frank Testimony, my legal thriller. It came about in an odd way, and I guess that’s why I’m attached to it.
I belong to the writing community at http://www.zoetrope.com/; I used to participate in a couple of flash fiction offices there. In the more active of the two, there was no flash planned for the weekend of new years (2006). Another member of the office, posted a challenge, the prize was going to be publication in her online magazine The Redrum Tavern (no longer online). The prompt was Death. As I mentioned earlier, I really blew that flash, but I managed to write my best work to date… Happy accident that.

CA: Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

JWL: I like to think that my characters are themselves, born entirely from my imagination, but I know that the influence had to come from somewhere. Most all of my characters have their own distinctive voice and personality, very few of them have I sat and done painstaking character studies on. I like for them to live and breathe so you can get attached to them, so when I kill them off you’ll genuinely feel bad for them and want to keep reading and see the antagonist get his, or hers.

CA: Do you have any advice for the aspiring writers out there?

JWL: Yes, absolutely. If you want to write and publish your work to sell, you have to read and write a lot. Don’t be afraid of writing the wrong thing. It’s a dumb idea, but I hear new writers say it a lot. I had a professor who dearly loved reading and writing, a PhD and lots of hours of post doctoral study on writing… She couldn’t write because the rules were in her way, she said she envied the ability to just write on impulse… I told her the same things I’ve said here- read and write a lot, don’t be afraid of writing the wrong thing… There is no right and wrong when it comes to telling your story. Right and wrong come into play when you are talking about grammar, and diction, and structure. You’ll know when they do; if you’ve done this part wrong it will hit your ear like nails on a chalkboard. The first draft is for the writer, tell the story, and let it unfold, listen to the story as it plays in your mind and just type or write it out…. In the second draft you tighten up the language and the grammar. This is where you’ll spackle over any small pits to answer any vague questions. You’ll know if something doesn’t work when you proceed through this. Then print a copy to farm out to a few people to read. I like to give each reader a different color pen to make notes with on the hard copy, if they’re reading it from a word document, then the comments tool is brought into use. You’ll get there, its all trial and error.

CA: How can a reader contact you or purchase your books?

JWL: Readers and fans, if I have any (READ ADORES THOSE WHO LIKE HIS WRITING) can contact me through my website at http://www.jwaltlayne.com/ or www.myspace.com/crimewriterguy to purchase Frank Testimony please go to www.lulu.com/jwaltlayne

CA: Is there anything you would like to add?

JWL: Yes, I’d like to thank you for the opportunity to share with your readers about myself and my writing. I’d also like to thank my wonderful wife, Paula for all the most precious gifts in my life.

CA: J. it is always a good thing to thank your wife, more men need to learn that! And thank you, for taking time out to hang out at the blog with me this week!

2 comments:

Zulmara said...

Love this notion of writing as therapy...que cool are you...

ADELANTE!!!

Zulmara

LeighSavage said...

Great interview...I really liked how you talked about your writing process I can totally relate.

I've sent a myspace request...


I wish you the best of luck...Leigh