Let's start off with something simple. Who are you?
I'm CJ Cook. By day I'm a Science teacher, and by night I'm a writer, reader, and atrocious player of the violin.
Could you tell us a little bit about your work in progress?
Okay, well my current project is a three-part series, which I'm calling the Daeva series. I'm about halfway through writing the second book now. The series has been described by a writer friend of mine as 'dystopian paranormal fantasy'.
Basically, a century prior to the start of the series, humans came to accept vampires as fellow citizens, something that you might have seen before in a few other books (Anita Blake and Sookie Stackhouse come to mind). It was at this time that The Silver Dawn were formed; an anti-vampire church, who prophesised that accepting vampires would bring about the apocalypse. Unfortunately, they were right, and an apocalyptic plague spread across the Earth, wiping out nearly all of the human race.
The remaining survivors banded together to form a new city, the city of Gloria in France. Under the leadership of The Silver Dawn, the city has slowly grown, protected against the vampires who they are now at war with by a special barrier of The Silver Dawn's creation. However, humans within the city have started to gain supernatural abilities, and whilst the general public are initially quite freaked out about this, the army is more than eager to recruit these people (Daeva, as they have come to be known) into their ranks.
The first book follows the journey of Mikhail, a young solider with the ability to project emotions onto others... to alter what they are feeling. He, along with four other Daeva are about to graduate from the military academy and enter into active duty. Mikhail is quite a withdrawn person at first, but through his interactions with Ash, his roommate and fellow Daeva, we begin to see him open up. It's a story of friendship and love, and overcoming your fears. But there's also a darker side to it; one of betrayal and conspiracy as Mikhail soon finds out there are secrets that people will do anything to try and keep hidden, about his ability, and also about the world they live in.
What is the first story you remember writing? What was it about?
Oh dear... do I have to say it? I need brain bleach just thinking about it. The first story I wrote was an incomplete Naruto fanfic, featuring Naruto as a vampire hunter, and Sasuke as a vampire. It's probably best I leave it at that.. there were some awful adult-themed cliches in that story.
Are you more of a “plotter” or a “pantser”?
Pantser. I usually know where I'm starting and how I want the story to end, but I discover the rest as I go along. I like the excitement of not know what's going to happen next, and discovering new things about the plot and characters. Sometimes the story goes off in a completely different direction and that's fine by me.
All writers need encouragement. Who first encouraged you to write, and who is it that encourages you today?
After my brief foray into fanfiction, I was encouraged to write by a good friend of mine in Australia who decided he was going to write his own novel. Nowadays, my encouragement comes from other aspiring writers who I do novel/chapter swaps with.
Which authors have had a significant influence on your writing?
Charlaine Harris and Jeff Lindsay. Also Tolkien, because without him I probably wouldn't have gotten into books in the first place.
What music, if any, do you enjoy listening to while you write?
Depends on the scene. I have a mix of gothic metal, rock and electronica that's usually on shuffle for most of my writing.
What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses as a writer?
From the feedback I've recieved so far, I would say my greatests strength is character empathy. My weakness is probably fluff words; such as had, that and very.
What do you hope to achieve with your writing?
I write fiction with non-straight main characters. (Note that I didn't say I write gay fiction.) I would like to see more books out there, with main characters who aren't straight, that aren't immediately classified as gay interest. To me the idea of the gay fiction genre should be reserved only for erotica. Why should a book be segregated based on the sexuality of its main character? It shouldn't.
What was once traditionally a print medium is now rapidly branching out into many digital formats. What do you think of this trend?
I think it's quite exciting. A whole new path has opened up in front of us, especially for people who want to self-publish, and for those that put in the work it can be more rewarding that traditional methods. And that idea of the ebook is great too; no more carrying around heavy books that get tatty over the years.
What was the last sentence that you had to re-read over and over again because of its awesomeness? What struck you about it?
"He'll discover being human means more than being a human." This is actually from a friend's query, but is definitely one of the most awesomesauce sentences I've read for a long while. I like it because just that one sentence sums up the plot so perfectly, and it's quite a thought-provoking sentence. What does it really mean to be human?
What book(s) have you recently read that you would recommend to the readers of this blog?
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. I'll admit I only picked this book up for research into the fantasy genre (and more specifically thieves and assasins), but I was hooked from the beginning.
Selfish and Perverse by Bob Smith. Funny, sexy and a compelling read. What more could you ask for? Alaskan Salmon? Well, it's got that too.
What advice do you have to other aspiring authors out there?
You can always improve, as long as you're willing to learn.
An apocalypse destroys the entirety of human literature, apart from the work of three authors that you can magically save with your wizardry – what do you save from imminent destruction?
Charlaine Harris, Jeff Lindsay and Robin Hobb.
Our time is at an end. For our curious readers, how can we follow your progress?
You can follow me on Twitter @shiki_boy (just watch out for the occasional drunken tweet). Info on my yet-to-be published novels, along with some excerpts are at http://officialcjcook.net and I also have a blog at http://shikiharu.blogspot.com
***Are you an aspiring author willing to do an interview for my little blog? If so, click here.***
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