Interview: Behind the Scenes of "The Final Book"

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Published: Friday, 04 August 2017 10:22

Written by HUD

Jaidis Shaw of Juniper Groove Books fires off a few questions about The Final Book: Gods–from favorite characters to who would play the leads in a movie–and then things get random.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

It will force you to contemplate your own life and either reinforce, or contradict, everything you hold to be sacred—we need more of those uncomfortable thoughts in our society.

Who was your favorite character to write and why?

Pom Hork. I really enjoyed writing this character as she’s incredibly powerful, confident, and sultry while at the same time has these deep undertones of uncontrollable rage and jealousy. She has matured in recent years—earnestly committed to improving herself and transcending beyond her temper, though it’s a constant inner battle. You can feel her teeth grinding while “doing the right thing”—she’s trying so hard to lead by example. However, when William pushes her a little too far, hell hath no fury…

Have you experimented writing in other genres? If so, which one(s)?

My first book was a compilation of personal essays that were based around music, movies, and tv shows. Kind of like a memoir, but you didn’t really need to be interested in or care about my life to get something from it. The Final Book is straight up supernatural, sci-fi, fantasy—it’s much different than anything else I’ve written, but I really tried to ground it in history and philosophy. Doing so added a sense realism to the mythology—bring the Gods down to earth.

Right now I’m working on this super-sugary bubblegum-poppy LA-starlet-meets-starving-artist love story… with a devastating twist. I love it and I’m super excited for it. My writing is all over the place—and I like that.

Do any of your characters have qualities/characteristics that are similar to yourself?

Everyone thinks that I’m Josh—I didn’t realize I had so many Dionysian tendencies, haha. Yes, I put a lot of myself into Josh just because we have a similar profile—I know what it feels like to be disenchanted with society, single, and looking for a bit more meaning. However, Josh is playing up big stereotypes that represent who his character is really based off of—and that should not be confused with me, haha.

Read more: Interview: Behind the Scenes of "The Final Book"

Jones' Formula For Best Sellers

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Published: Thursday, 27 July 2017 21:54

Written by SW Hammond

Here’s a much different way of looking at art and storytelling—perhaps a method that your editor or writing group may never have considered, or succinctly explained.

I’m going to share with you a formula created by Dr. Todd Jones that explains what makes good art and literature. Jones is a celebrated philosophy professor with a significant background in anthropology.

Jones’s BeDE Theory of Art Criticism:

Art or literature’s only function—the only thing it is good at doing—is creating beliefs, desires, and emotions (or BeDE for short). Art fails at doing anything and everything else.

The BeDE theory is designed to tell you which works of art are comparatively better than other works of art in its class, based on how well it performs its function of creating beliefs, desires, and emotions within its audience.

What makes something “art” is a social fact—such as the concept of money or Tuesday. Society agrees that “x” is art, and therefore it becomes art.

Read more: Jones' Formula For Best Sellers