First of all, come to Jason Greensides’ relaunch party if you’re reading this on September 30! It’s on Facebook and will include author takeovers, book giveaways, and lots of fun. Click here to check it out and join!
We are excited to announce the relaunch of Jason’s debut novel and help him celebrate, especially with his new cover that drips ambiance. His writing style is engaging, his story entrancing, and he’s passionate about books. What more can you ask of any author? He’s also got another book in the works, but that’s a secret…
On with the interview!
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Question: The Distant Sound of Violence is your debut book. Love the name, and congratulations! How long did it take you to plan it before you began writing it?
Answer: In a sense I’ve been planning the book my whole life, I just didn’t know it. In terms of sitting down and compiling all the research notes, character and story ideas, themes etc., that took three months.
Question: The description of The Distant Sound of Violence sounds like the book focuses on the journey of the characters rather than their destination, which is intriguing. Would you say this was a conscious literary decision or just the way it ended up going?
Answer: This was a conscious decision. I love literary fiction, and I’d always set out to write a novel which focuses on character, theme and emotion, rather than plot. Not to say that the plot wasn’t there, in fact for the first half of the novel I wanted a driving plot to carry me through the second half, which does become more literary, focusing on the consequences of Nathan’s life decisions, particularly his homelessness, and the way his decisions overshadowed his life. I would say I write commercial literary/contemporary fiction. I know the character’s internal life is the thing most important to me, however, I still want the text to be transparent – I want the reader to forget they are reading.
Question: As a work of literary fiction, do you use other art (i.e. books, movies, music, etc.) in your book, whether as references or motifs?
Answer: I do at the research stage, after that I try to forget any of those other things exist.
Martin Amis is one of my favourite authors, and when I write I have a strict ‘no reading Amis policy’ because I’ll just end up emulating his style. In general, of course, I’m influenced by my favourite films and books, as I’m sure most writers are. Important films to me are the New Hollywood films of the 70s, as many of them are concerned with characters living on the edge of society (e.g. Taxi Driver, Badlands, The Conversation), as well as more recent indie or character-driven dramas, such as Monster, One Hour Photo, Les Amants du Pont-Neuf. In terms of fiction, authors such as Joyce Carol Oates, Paul Auster and Michel Faber are in influence, particularly in terms of style and the types of characters they write about – again, outsiders.
Question: What do you think makes your work stand apart from other works in your genre?
Answer: The Structure. The Distant Sound of Violence is a novel of two halves: the first is fast-paced and easily accessible, almost putting it in the Young Adult genre. The second half, however, is slower, brooding, more overtly literary. You might say in the first half I’m really trying to get the reader to enjoy it and get caught up in the drama, and the second half is like, Hey, you came this far, please indulge me a little here… Also, the first half is set over a few months, the second half spans seventeen years.
Question: What inspires you to write? Music? Other books? Real life events? Just an incredible imagination?
Answer: It’s hard to say what inspires me to write, because if I wasn’t writing I’d be doing something else creative. But it’s mainly the books I’ve read, those few key books you get lost in, the ones that keep you up at night, that obsess you in your working day. I’d love to write that kind of book, if possible.
Question: Do you plan your writing out with outlines, character development exercises, and other pre-writing activities? Or do you just write as it comes to you?
Answer: I ask myself key questions about the characters – What does the character want? What do they actually need? What is their main conflict? I’ll do a few sketches with them that don’t encroach on the story I’m about to tell, do a little back story, and a few other details. I’ll visit locations if possible and take photos. In terms of plot, I’ll come up with a vague outline, with a few key events I know I need to navigate to. I certainly don’t like to know all the answers before going in, I want to discover something myself, something I didn’t know was there or was going to happen. That actually happened quite a few times during writing The Distant Sound of Violence, and it’s one of the things I really loved about writing it. There were times when I’d slap my head and actually say out loud, Oh my God! I had no idea that was going to happen! Because as the writer if you don’t know what’s going to happen, then it’s more likely the reader won’t either. On the other hand, my second novel, which I’m still on the first draft of, has a stronger mystery element from page one, so I need more detail about where I’m going this time. It’s safer. You need an idea of where you’re going, generally; research is like packing for an incredibly long journey, one where you should take a map. How detailed that map is is where all writers differ.
Question: If you could write anywhere in the world – in a fictional or nonfiction place – where would you write?
Answer: It depends on the story. At the moment I’m writing London-based novels, so where I am now in west London is fine. I can write anywhere, and have. I’ve been standing on the train platform waiting for the tube after work, pen and A4 paper in hand, scribbling away, getting weird looks from other people. Strangely a lot of background noise like crowds of people and traffic can work for me; silence can be louder than any of those things. Having said all that, the Arctic tundra appeals.
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Bio
Jason Greensides has a degree in Video Production and Film Studies and has made several short films, two of which have been broadcast on television, but it’s writing fiction he always returns to.
He’s interested in ‘outsider’ types, those operating on the fringes of society. This inspired him to write his first novel The Distant Sound of Violence. It’s about a group of kids, one in particular, Nathan Dawes, whose philosophical obsessions and criminal connections have all but made him an outcast at school.
Jason is now working on his second novel, another coming-of-age mystery, but on coffee breaks he tweets and blogs about the mysteries of writing, life and the cosmos.
Website: jasongreensides.com
Amazon: mybook.to/TDSOV
Facebook: facebook.com/jasongreensidesauthor
Twitter: @JasonGreensides
Pinterest: pinterest.com/jasongreensides
Goodreads: goodreads.com/Jason_greensides
Josh de Lioncourt was born and raised in California and enjoys writing projects in a wide variety of fields, including fiction, music, software, blogging, and tech articles. As a blind enthusiast of Apple products, he has written on Apple accessibility for Macworld and Maccessibility. He hosts or participates regularly on several podcasts in various genres, and writes and records music with Molly, his other half. Josh enjoys the works of Stephen King, the music of George Michael, Masters of the Universe, and Los Angeles Kings hockey.
Joshua began crafting the world for his dark fantasy series, Thrice Nine Legends, in 1999. Melkorka, the first book of the series, was published in 2015. The sequel, Dyndaer, will be released in January 2016. He is also the author of the A Midwinter Sellsword and Gladiators and Thieves in the Hawkhurst Saga. His story, Grimsdalr, is inspired by the tale of Beowulf. Joshua currently lives in Alaska with his wife and children.
who serves the mighty Highborn. Unwittingly, his masters forge a copper dagger capable of destroying the Ash Tree. Drawn along on the quest to remedy the mistake of his masters, Branimir becomes the most unlikely of heroes in an inimical world of magic and mayhem.
As a child, I loved to read, whenever and whatever I could get my hands on. I started to write my own “Nancy Drew” type mystery in fifth grade. As a student, I studied Biology in Vermont, Sciences and Literature in college and eventually became a physician. I enjoy writing mysteries that contain medical and light spiritual content. Either way, a good murder mystery is always fun.
people started dying or showing up in the emergency room under mysterious circumstances. Dr. Amy Daniels is a trauma surgeon, who recently moved to Rocky Meadow after a family tragedy. There she meets Father Michael Lauretta, a psychologist priest who counsels troubled clergy and pastor of the famous Rocky Meadow Retreat House. Together, they save lives and souls and try to solve a mystery before they become the next target of a greedy killer. Will they be able to put a stop to this deadly rampage? The unexpected conclusion awaits in The Bench.
in murder at the local soup kitchen in Burlington, Vermont. As their intricate relationship develops, they are drawn into a sinister plot as FBI Special Agent Marcus Cain pursues a deadly internet activist group, known as Shepherd Force. They soon learn, the cybercrime organization will stop at nothing to retrieve an illegal flash drive worth millions of dollars.
desperate to ward off her greedy, possessive boss, who follows her to Vermont and intends to steal the treasure.
father while a young boy, second-generation FBI Agent Declan Parker is called to investigate a simple complaint. Quickly discovering a dark undercurrent, Declan is unexpectedly drawn into the world of David Stanton, a man in the final stages of planning the bloodiest mass shooting in history. The lines between “the good guys and the bad guys” become irreconcilably blurred when, during the course of his investigation, Declan stumbles into the midst of a broad, sinister agenda, the aftermath of which will forever change not only his own life, but the lives of all Americans.
the same person as before they left. In my opinion, it is not so much about the circumstances of someone’s life but more about the way they allow the circumstances to affect their lives. Of course, how a soldier deals with trauma may have a lot to do with his or her life before going to war. In the case of Bolten, he grew up fueled by hate and intolerance. When he thinks he was unfairly treated by his military superiors, he decides to seek revenge on innocent civilians.
