Welcome to Running Wild Press’ first edition of Meet the Author. We’re Elizabeth Nazario and Jodie Wilson, avid readers and aspiring novelists who love a good story and getting to know the scribes behind the words. We are preparing Jack Hillman’s newest novel, Magic Forgotten, for release in September (available for pre-order on Amazon).
So Jodie and I teamed up to interview Jack to ask him about his work.
EN & JW: Tell us about your novel.
JH: Magic Forgotten is an Adult Urban Fantasy set in Eastern PA. It is the story of a paraplegic, freelance writer who has withdrawn from the world only to be dragged back out by the appearance of two strangers in his back yard. They are a Sidhe, the old elves of England, and a human wizardess, a captive of the elf, and they are here to take over the world. The writer and the wizardess have to stop the elf from achieving his plans.
EN & JW: What inspired you to write fiction? What moment in your life can you recall knowing you needed to write.
JH: I’ve been telling stories for as long as I can remember. I think part of this comes from reading books for my whole life. When you are lying in bed in a hospital you have a choice of building models (which I built a LOT of) or reading books. Libraries are cheaper than buying new models every few days. And so it goes.
EN & JW: How did this particular story come about? Did it come in pieces over time? All in one flash of genius?
JH: I’ve been a reader of Celtic mythology for many decades, being Celtic by heritage myself. I think this story started with one of those offhand comments someone said one day, “So where DID the elves go when they left England?” And so I said, “ I know where!”
EN & JW: If you could pick one author to spend the day with, living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?
JH: Samuel Clemmons. We’d probably spend the day trading tall tales back and forth.
EN & JW: What is your writing process like? How did you get from the idea to publication for Magic Forgotten?
JH: A lot of organization, outlining, changing of outlines, and persistence. With some research thrown in to make sure I spell stuff correctly since I’m a lousy speller. The persistence part comes easy since I have to do that all the time just to get up each day and move around.
EN & JW: How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
JH: Far too many.
EN & JW: What is your favorite childhood book?
JH: Glory Road by Robert Heinlein
EN & JW: What are your future project(s)?
JH: A Science Fiction novel that solves the two main problems of generation ships, a horror novel about an alien creature in an old slate mine, a YA SF novel about a kid solving the problems of why an alien planet is trying to kill everyone, an SF mystery novel that brings back Psionics (You, know: All that ESP Stuff), an end of the world novel about the times in Revelations when bugs take over the world. And probably a few more by the time I get that far.
EN & JW: What does literary success look like to you?
JH: The ability to write all day and still pay all my bills.
We want to thank Jack for allowing us and readers to get to know a little bit more about him, the writing life, and his upcoming novel. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get updates on how you can get a copy of Magic Forgotten by Jack Hillman this September.
Happy Reading,
Elizabeth Nazario & Jodie Wilson
Want to learn more about Jack? Glimpse Jack Hillman (& his gear) with this personal interview by Rafael Taffy