Page Turning Books: Author Interview

Author Interview – Simon Jenner

What is your favorite quality about yourself? Wow, this is a toughie. Is sarcasm a quality? Since I can remember, people have always had trouble telling whether I am being serious or joking. I admit that sometimes the line is blurred, even to me. Yes, I do have a sarcastic streak, a mile or so long, running right through me. Is it a quality? Yes. Is it a good one? Sometimes, when it makes people laugh. Would I change it? Never.

What is your least favorite quality about yourself? It would probably have to be my lack of tolerance. I’m not good at accepting failings in others despite the fact that I know I’m nowhere near to being perfect. If I could change this, I know it would make me a happier and better person. Of course, it would be easier if all the other bastards could just stop being so bloody annoying!

What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why? My favorite quote comes from the bible: John, chapter 15, verse 13. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

To me it epitomizes the best in man and gives us all a target to aspire to. There are many throughout history who have lived true to these words so surely they can inspire us to at least try harder in everything we do.

What is your favorite color? Blue. Not a pasty pale blue but the dark blue of denim. There is no other colour worth mentioning, except for maybe a relatively dark green which I guess comes second. Pink is for girls, red is too harsh, brown is dull and yellow is too bright. We want blue, we want blue!

What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general? It’s got to be focus, every time. Some people call it writer’s block and others call it brainstorming. Still more call it procrastination or mulling. It’s really just lack of focus and when it hits, it can be devastating to a book’s progress. The worst thing is, the longer it goes on, the more you want to do something else. Any writer who hasn’t been hit by this writing phenomenon is lucky indeed.

Can you tell us about your main character? My main character is John Smith, a talented underachiever, who is forced into a life-threatening adventure against his will. He lives a most uneventful life knowing that if he doesn’t try, he won’t fail, and when he is thrown into a world of sex, murder and deceit, he discovers where his true talents lie. Becoming Ethan Justice, he shows us that heroes aren’t born but a product of circumstance.

Who is your publisher? I’m still self-publishing digitally, although I do have a children’s picture book in print and Ethan Justice is planned for paperback very soon. I can’t imagine allowing control of my work and earnings to be in anyone’s hands but my own.