Below is an indie author interview with YA fantasy author, JD Mitchell. Below Mitchell shares her experimental writing process, nostalgic stories about her life, and offers some great tips for submitting your book to agents. Check it out below, and be sure to follow JD Mitchell on social media and consider buying her book, Rise of the Sons.

About the Author and Book

Author Name:   JD Mitchell

Links:

Facebook

Twitter

Author Page

Amazon

Book Title: Rise of the Sons

Genre: YA Fantasy

Book Summary: It’s the female protagonist version of Percy Jackson. Except the creatures and villains are based in Celtic mythology.  

Excerpt from Rise of the Sons:

It was a cloaked person. No… not a cloak, it had leathery wings. What Ali had taken for knives where large claws on its hands and feet. Strands of dark hair cascaded out of sparse patches from its scalp, framing what would otherwise be a gray human face except for the mangled dark beak where its nose should be. It was a bird-hominoid with black eyes.

What in the Nightmare on Elm Street is that!

Talking Shop

What is a fun or strange source of inspiration that ended up in your book?

My husband has alopecia, an autoimmune condition that results in hair loss. I gave the principal love interest (Leigh) alopecia because I wanted kids to see a hero that was imperfect. Leigh has this condition, but he never lets it define who he is. His character mentions it a few times during the story, but I never wanted it to be a focus. We all struggle with different things during our lives, but we are more than just one characteristic.

How long have you considered yourself a writer? Did you have any formal training, or is it something you learned as you went?

I wish I had formal training in the form of an MFA! I take classes as I can, but I have a day job, so I do my best to balance both. Maybe someday I will have the time and money, but for now I take classes as I can, and I am hopeful to find a mentor.

What is your day job? How, in any way, does it relate to your life as a writer?

My human resources knowledge was handy for reaching out to agents (I was so close to landing an agent! I made it to the last stage before they passed). A lot of it is relatable to resume and interviewing skills. When I post an opening for my company, I receive 500-800 resumes. I do not have a computer to weed through those; I do it myself. So, my interview folder is a slush pile. As a writer, your entire goal when submitting to an agent is to stand out from the slush pile aka “resume inbox.” You need that person to say, “this story has promise.”

I know from experience when a resume stands out and why. So, I applied that principle to my queries. Here is the trick. Find the keywords important to the agent and put them in your query letter. Mr. Smith, I noticed you have a passion for fantasy novels involving mythology… This sounds like a no-brainer, but I know from resume experience that 90% of people do not do this. Then you must have impeccable grammar.

For those of you job hunting, here is a life pro tip. Have a cover letter. Trust me! You can include those handy keywords conveniently located in the first three bullet points of the job posting. If you don’t have the exact experience, this is when you say, “I haven’t managed XYZ, but I assisted with this function of XYZ.” I know someone is reading this and thinking, cover letters are dead, no one reads them. If the job posting asks for one, they want to know if you can write. That is the reason. It is not because we are evil. If you cannot send a grammatically correct cover letter, then you cannot send a grammatically correct email.

I am now convinced my comments are riddled with grammatical errors. To cover myself – those who cannot do, teach.

How well do you handle criticism, either while writing, editing, or reviews?  Do you ever use that criticism to change your story?

Gloves off! That is a policy I had with a previous writing buddy. Now I belong to the Indiana Writers Center and I am part of a critique group. I cannot complement them enough for the way these folks have changed my writing for the better. I will keep attending because I know I need to keep learning and improving. My strategy during these critiques is to keep an open mind. If you are hearing the same thing over and over, you need to evaluate that aspect of your story and make a change.

Often critiques lead me to better plotlines! One of the major action scenes in Rise of the Sons came about from feedback. A peer in my group said, “Oh I get it, you’re going to blow up the tunnel.” I remember sitting there thinking, dang it! He is right! I need to do that!

Do you focus on word count, hours spent writing, page count, or another way to measure your daily or weekly progress?

Yes.

I have tried every approach. After going through the submission process with agents, I’d say you should focus on word count because agents and publishers care about word count.

“What If” Scenarios

If you could have one person that you admire, living or dead, read your book, who would it be?

Maria V. Snyder, the author of Poison Study. There were a few years when I did not have the time to read for leisure. I was earning my master’s in human resource management and studying for the PHR. My fix to this was audible. I remember driving to work and listening to her story unfold. I thought, I want to write like this! About six months later she was teaching a master class at Fyrecon, a convention in Salt Lake City, and I signed up. She is genuinely an exceptional human! Her research goes beyond reading up on a subject. She takes classes on medieval weapons or fighting techniques, so she understands the movements of how her scenes need to play out. Maria – if you see this – I am a willing mentee!

A wealthy reader buys 100 copies of your book and tells you to hand them out to anyone you wish. Who do you give them to?

Kids. Reading was an enormous part of my childhood. I wish I could ensure all children had access to better educational opportunities. That includes reading stories for fun.

You are transported into your book for one day. What role do you play? How do you alter the events of the story?

I would be an inconsequential side character, most likely hiding from the bizarre and dangerous monsters my characters encounter. There is a reason my protagonist is stubborn; she possesses the courage I lack!

You’re offered a contract to rewrite your book in another genre. Which genre do you choose and why?

A western. I think it would offer a lot of opportunities to put a unique spin on Celtic mythology. The Tuatha de Danann could be law enforcement, and the Sons of Carman would be the gunslinging outlaws. I imagine there might be a lot of tumbleweeds, and someone’s honor would be disrespected every few chapters. The monsters might even have a Tremors feel to them. It worked for the tv show Firefly.

You’re given $10,000 to spend on marketing for your book. How do you spend it?

Hire a professional marketing team. I think many other authors would understand this sentiment. It is fun to learn how to go about marketing your novel, but it is eating into my writing time!

Just For Fun

One year of your life you’d like to do over.

1999. Specifically, the summer just prior to my fifteenth birthday. My best friend lived up the hill in an adjacent neighborhood, so it was easy to ride my bike to her
2000. house. This was the tail end of the wide-legged jean trend and yes, in addition to that questionable fashion decision, my pants frequently caught in the gears.

If we are being polite, I would call her a latchkey kid, but as an adult I’d describe that situation similar to having absent roommates. Regardless, their absence gave us freedom, which was invaluable at that age.

During the day we would sit on her roof, listen to the radio, and talk about boys. At night we treated the walls of her room as a canvas, painting whatever struck our fancy. Looking back, it was such a simple summer, but I have such vivid memories. The way she flicked her cigarette over the side of the roof, listening to the Lit’s “A Place in the Sun” album, and sneaking out for midnight rides in her older brother’s rusty blue convertible. I remember the roof was disintegrating in certain places and held together by duct-tape.

I would just like to relive those days again. Everything felt simple. The world is never perfect, but the only concern that infiltrated our lives was Y2K.

One bucket list item you’ve completed and one that’s still on your list.

I published my first novel. It was self-published but still a life goal. The ultimate accomplishment for me is walking into a library and seeing something I have written on the shelf. Most writers I know spent their childhood in a library, and I imagine they feel the same.

Favorite time of/part of your day.

After COVID started, the mornings became my favorite time of day. I replaced my commute with sipping coffee and writing or editing.

Favorite place you’ve visited/place you want to visit.

So far, the British Virgin Islands have been my favorite destination. It’s beautiful! I’d love to live on a boat, island hop, write, and eat all day every day.

I planned to visit Italy in May 2020, but that has been postponed because of COVID. My travel bucket list: Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Morocco.

Food you’d like to win a lifetime supply of.

Chocolate? I do not think this requires an explanation.

On a more serious note, I love trying new cuisines! I lived in Chicago for about three years and gained 20 pounds from trying everything and anything. But, if I had to pick a food category, I could live on middle eastern food for the rest of my life.

Favorite Halloween costume ever.

This is embarrassing, but I embraced it when it happened, so I will share. In my mid-twenties, I dated a chef. He wanted to do a couple’s costume that was food themed for his friend’s Halloween party. I am more of a vampire or marvel character type of person, but relationships are mutual concessions and compromises, so I agreed. On a related note, I am crafty, and I can sew.

He picked a pea and a peapod. I thought cute, can make this. Using foam and green fabric, I made a green sphere for his costume. Basically, he was a green beach ball. I am the shell part of this equation, so I crafted a giant peapod shell with a short steam at the apex. It was a few inches above my head and went down to my knees. To this day, I cannot tell you why I lacked foresight about how this costume would turn out. I resembled a giant female organ.

We won the costume contest.

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