09/06/2013
Author Sonya Ray interviews her editor. It's funny to think back to that first set of back-and-forths, and my astonishment when she said, "oh yeah, I have seven books written already." And here I thought my five in progress were impressive....
Let's start June with my rockin' Editor: John Cameron McClain
John and I first met as I was fumbling my way through Twitter. We started chatting back and forth and he discovered that I had a seven-novel series just laying around. He immediately encouraged me to publish my work.
All of mine and John's first correspondents were through my Android! I didn't have internet and I didn't have a laptop. I would write all my notes to him and I think I even did my first review on my phone! John said I was either crazy or very determined!
John is a big part of Sweet Tea. Besides professionally editing my book, I told him some ideas that I wanted for a cover and created a great cover - which will be revealed the end of July - the first of August.
I have learned a lot from John in the last year. He is a great Editor and a great person. The greatest thing about John? His support. He has been supportive from day one and is always encouraging. He is very busy because he has several things going on besides just being an Editor, but he always finds time for his writers and the on-going support is greatly appreciated!
The best thing John has ever said to me so far: "I can see the pony!" After reading Sweet Tea.
A memory with John (so far) that I will never forget: The waterproof shoes :)
Introducing my Editor - John Cameron McClain
Q: First off, tell everyone a little bit about yourself and what you do.
And first off back, Sonya, thanks for having me on! My name is John Cameron McClain. Born in Huntsville, Alabama, lived in various places on the planet. What I do…. Hmm. I live. I live quite successfully, in fact. Here I am, typing away, alive! To stay sane, I write. To stay insane, I edit. Or is it the other way round? I write, edit, and read. I do those things.
Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?
Fortunately for me, a number of friends live in the Bay area where I am located now, and I’ve been doing some visiting here and there. I like hanging out and talking. Other than that, I like checking out new places, doing some yoga, drinking beers, cooking and eating good food, and watching the occasional TV show. I’m currently working my way through Supernatural, which is a (surprisingly) complex TV series. Supernatural references other TV shows, movies and novels, and are constantly breaking the Fourth Wall. For example, in one episode the brothers are thrown into a reality in which they aren’t brothers, but rather actors named Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki. I grew up on TV so I am still drawn to that medium, though I watch a lot less than I used to.
Q: What makes you the happiest?
Other than writing? Had to put that in there, you understand. I love hiking. There’s a meditative quality to walking in a forest or hiking up a hill or mountain, at least the way I was trained. Fresh air, birdsong, the chaos and order of the surroundings, it’s magical. A close second is watching people get better at writing. At least so far, all my writers have shown a lot of improvement from their first works. Knowing I was able to explain something well enough for someone to get it, and learn from it, is priceless. I get really excited when I read a new passage or story and I can see the improvement.
Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I was raised on adventure stories, so I guess I’ve always considered myself an adventurer. My mom bought me a set of Tom Swift (Jr.) books when I was pretty young, and even if the stories were a bit dated, they were about kids with big high-tech toys and nefarious villains to defeat, which is all I ever needed. Those were formative books, I’d say. My grandfather was a flight surgeon for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs, and when I visited my grandparents we always went to the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center, so space travel’s been in my mind for a very long time as well. I did a lot of drawing from when I was ten years old or so, and met up with friends who liked to hang out and draw too. I suppose “Visual Artist” was one early idea for what I wanted to be in life. By the
end of my first round of university, it was animator. By 30 it was English teacher. By 36 it was graphic designer. At 43 I realized I needed to tell stories one way or the other, and started figuring out how to do so most effectively. Here I am at 50, writing books. Not sure how to answer the “when you grew up” part. I’ll let you know when that happens.
Q: Since I am introducing you into the literary world, let’s talk books. What is your favorite book and why?
Ooh, the literary world! I would have had my best suit dry-cleaned if I’d known it was that kind of party. Oh well, I at
least have a bow tie handy.
For the life of me I cannot figure out who can even come close to pinning down their top ten favorite books, let alone their Number One. Though I’m sorely tempted to say Michael Crichton’s Andromeda Strain for very specific, writing-related reasons, I’m going to stay literary (since I have my bow tie on), and go with Thomas Pynchon’s novel Gravity’s Rainbow. As a long-time lover of speculative fiction of all kinds, any story that crosses into Spec-Fic territory is going to pique my interest. I’m guessing I picked Gravity’s Rainbow up because it was Pynchon, and because the story was supposed to be offbeat, but by the time I was through my first read, I was completely enthralled by the depth, scale, and precision of the story. It’s not the easiest of novels to get through—one of many reasons being that it has 400 characters, in 800 pages of story (you do the math)—but Pynchon draws a stunning landscape, and throws some very human characters into it.
Q: Who is your favorite author and why?
Again with the sole favorites! Impossible! Dan Simmons comes to mind, and Emily Brontë, Roger Zelazny, Jonathan Safran Foer, Ursula K. LeGuin, David Mitchell, Mary Roach, H.P. Lovecraft, China Mieville, Robin Hobb…. I mean, come on! Ugh! Umm, let’s go with Samuel L. Clemens for today. The more I know about him, the more intriguing a human being he becomes. The perilous truth about any writing is that the most successful writers dig out painful, hidden secrets within themselves and put them into their stories. When you see the conflicted, loving, cynical genius behind Connecticut Yankee, and The Mysterious Stranger, the stories get this strange resonance to them. You’re hearing this man’s thoughts on paper. And branding himself as “Mark Twain?” Talk about a brilliant marketing scheme! One of my professors at the university pointed out that only Stephen Colbert has come close to creating such a complete alter-ego. Amazing person, amazing stories.
Q: Bragging rights - This is your time to shine! Tell about your kids, spouse, awards, accomplishments - go ahead; brag a A LOT!
Bragging? Okay, I’ll give it a shot. I had earned a few educational credits from my days at Americorps as a volunteer, so I went to the University of Hawaii and took a couple of courses. As it turned out, I ate them up. I devoured the material, gluttonously. I pigged out, and went back for thirds. An A+ in meteorology for a guy who’s science skills are remedial at best! Although I know my life experience helped me greatly in my attempt to succeed at school, I also know that, for example, the semester that I took five English courses—three writing intensive, with some 60 pages of reading a night as well—was a tremendous challenge for me, life experience notwithstanding. I worked really hard for my 3.87 GPA, and I worked really hard on my Honors project, which is why I won Best Presentation Poster, Best Oral Presentation, and Highest Honors for my project. I planted my flag, is what I did. I’m proud of what I did at school, and am very grateful for the opportunity to have studied with such amazing minds. In the end, achievement in what a person really loves doing is the finest reward I can think of.
Q: Please share any upcoming events or future plans that you have:
I plan to keep writing! The Five Watchers is out now, next comes a collection of short stories, then Alliance (zombie-vampire-human novel), then Kamaitachi (the sequel to The Five Watchers), then Devi (sentient robot novel), then Megiddo (last in the Five Watchers series). Short stories in-between. There’s another novel in progress that I started for National Novel Writing Month, but that’s way down the road. I’m trying to stay focused on the next five for now.
The last question is for those who have read Sweet Tea. Please share your favorite part of the book.
Well, I like all of it of course! Unfortunately, it’s hard to talk about my favorite part since it happens fairly close to the end of the novel, and is a pivotal point in the story. Let’s put it this way, the first hints at revelation of Lizzie’s true nature and abilities send the tension in the story way, way up. Lizzie’s characterization at the start is intentionally tricky—she starts out as a nice girl who has some great friends and a rather normal life. By the end, the reader finally understands that things are not what they seem, and that the story is going to become a whole lot bigger as the series goes on. I appreciate a story that builds and builds. All great stories do that.
Follow John on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/jcameronmcclain
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