It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's an Interview With Author Ian T. Healy!

An all around nice guy, Ian T. Healy is also one of the hardest working and most inspiring writers I know.  He manages to work full-time at a J.O.B, cook, spend quality time with his family, and be incredibly productive in writing.  In short, he embodies that which many of us hope to achieve.  Not only that, but for those of you on the fence between self-publishing and traditional, he has a leg in each world, running his own imprint, Local Hero Press, for his self-published titles in addition to be traditionally published.  You can read more about his experiences with dual publishing here.

With the release of his most recent novel, The Archmage, Ian stopped by The Warrior Muse for an interview.

Tell us a bit about The Archmage.

The Archmage is a sequel to the novel Just Cause, starring the super-speedy Mustang Sally along with the rest of the Just Cause superhero team. In it, I explore the use of magic in a superhero setting. In this case, a character named Wolfgang Frasier has been slaughtering other mages around the world and taking their power for himself. He’s gotten so powerful that there is only one other mage remaining besides him, the hero Stratocaster, who is a member of the Lucky Seven hero team that Sally trained with at the beginning of Just Cause. If Frasier manages to kill Stratocaster, his power becomes absolute and he could plunge the entire world into darkness, becoming its total ruler. This is, of course, his goal. Sally and the other heroes have no choice but to try to stop him, even though his power is so great that he can call armies of the dead out of the ground and turn anyone captured to his side. There’s a nifty bit of time travel thanks to magic going awry that sends the team back to the 1870s, and of course some great intrigue and epic, cinematic battles. At the same time, Sally’s relationship with Jason is growing much more complex and suffering growing pains all its own.

What is Local Hero Press?

LHP is an imprint I created specifically for the release of my novel-length work and collections. I didn’t want to simply release them under my own name as the publisher because with such a wide variety of genres under my belt, I wanted something to tie them all together. This way, if someone buys The Archmage, likes it, and looks to see what else LHP has to offer, they might discover Blood on the Ice or Pariah’s Moon or Troubleshooters.

You do write in a variety of genres. Tell us about some of them.

I don’t like to be pigeonholed, so I don’t force myself to stay in one genre if I’m interested in writing in a different one. This goes against common wisdom of building a brand, from what I’ve seen on the internet, so I’m forming my own uncommon wisdom instead. That again ties back to the LHP imprint by creating a common thread beyond just my name. I follow my muse, so I’ve gone from superheroes (Just Cause, The Archmage) to funny science fiction (The Milkman), to cyberpunk (Troubleshooters), to fantasy/Western (Pariah’s Moon), to urban fantasy sports (Blood on the Ice), to religious symbolism (Hope and Undead Elvis) and even more. And if my agent sells The Guitarist, I can add “Mainstream Young Adult” to my genres.

You have an agent? But I thought you were self-published.

I do have an agent, Carly Watters of PS Literary Agency in Toronto. She represents my Young Adult work only, and when we discussed the possibility of her representing me, we both agreed that she could still effectively represent a portion of my work and I could still effectively release my speculative and adult fiction without interfering with one another. I am, in fact, searching for a second literary agent to represent The Oilman’s Daughter, the epic steampunk/space opera that I coauthored with my dear friend Allison M. Dickson.

What’s it like working with another writer so closely on a project?

I’m not sure I have anything better to compare it to than a successful marriage. We worked very closely together on the project (two time zones separating us notwithstanding!). We had complete trust with each other, and were able to discuss what should have been extremely divisive and difficult issues not only with calm heads, but with a sense of joy that only two opposing viewpoints between dear friends can bring. The best thing about working with someone like that is going back through the manuscript and not being able to tell exactly who wrote which parts. That’s just awesome.

That does sound like a great experience!  

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is your productivity. What is your secret for finding time to write and making it happen?

My secret for finding time to write is to always be writing, whether or not I'm actually performing the act of putting words onto a page. James Thurber told this tale, which exemplifies my own philosophy quite nicely: I never quite know when I'm not writing. Sometimes my wife comes up to me at a party and says, 'Dammit, Thurber, stop writing.' She usually catches me in the middle of a paragraph. Or my daughter will look up from the dinner table and ask, 'Is he sick?' 'No,' my wife says, 'he's writing something.'" That's me, totally.

About how long do you typically spend on your stories (short and novel length), from conception to publication? 

Short stories I tend to write in no more than a couple of days. When I get one of those ideas, it becomes pretty much all-consuming until I finish it, so I work pretty fast. Novels for me range wildly from taking only a month to several, depending upon how hard I'm working on them and how many other things are going on in my life and my writing/publishing business. I'd say that three months is the average time I spend writing a novel (NaNoWriMo tends to skew that average shorter).

I'm afraid it's time for the last question: What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Write. A lot. Write some more. Then, for variety, go for a walk. Then write some more when you get back. Show your writing to your friends and family. Ignore what they say about it. Show your writing to someone who doesn't have any reason to sugar-coat their criticism. Take it like Kevin Bacon in Animal House and cry out "Thank you, sir, may I have another?" Then go write some more. Talk to writers further in the process than you are, but don't become a drain. Write some more. Go to conferences. Write some more. Read industry blogs. Write. Turn off the TV. Write. Are you sick of writing yet? If you are, then you're not a writer. Take up a new hobby, like badminton or philately. If you're not sick of writing, try to write so much you'll make yourself sick of it. If that doesn't work, keep writing. Also, learn how to edit, critique, market, produce and publish your own work, query your work to agents, editors, and trade publications. Learn everything you can about the industry and recognize that you will never get to stop learning. And you will never get to stop writing. What, you're still here? It's over! GO WRITE!

Thank you for stopping by on your book tour, Ian!

The Archmage, book 2 of the Just Cause Universe series, launches from all online retailers on September 1, 2012. Exclusive signed editions can be purchased directly from Local Hero Press.

Find Ian on Twitter as @ianthealy, and follow Local Hero Press as @LocalHeroPress.

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorIanThomasHealy and http://www.facebook.com/LocalHeroPress

Author website: www.ianthealy.com

May you find your Muse.

The Best of Both Worlds: A Guest Post by Author Ian T. Healy

I met Ian at last year's Pikes Peak Writer's Conference. He was friendly, calm and seemed confident in a setting that I found mildly overwhelming. That was the first thing I noticed, other than his hair (obviously). Most people I saw at the conference looked about as frazzled as I felt, but he seemed to be having a great time.

Since then, he has become the word-wielding slave master that makes me feel bad if I'm screwing around on Facebook without having written or edited anything that day. Not because he is actually telling me I should be writing, or in any way trying to make me feel ashamed, but because he is always working on something, despite being a dad and having a full-time job. He cheerfully posts snippets of his current works in progress and updates what he's working on. If you want real, positive encouragement, I recommend you add him on Facebook. Everyone needs someone to kick them into gear in some way or another, right?

Since that meeting, Ian has self-published several novels and short stories in e-book format, which you can find on Amazon and Smashwords. He has also traditionally published a book through New Babel Books, entitled Just Cause:

Some superheroes can fly, or lift great weights, or shoot lightning bolts. Mustang Sally runs. A third-generation superhero, Sally's life changes forever when she fights and loses to the notorious villain Destroyer, who killed her father just before she was born. She dedicates herself to tracking him down so she can even the score. When all you can do is run, you'd better be fast, but can even the fastest girl in the world run quick enough to save her teammates' lives from Destroyer and his growing parahuman army?

Ian is one of the few authors who has experience in both self-publishing and traditional publishing, and one who hasn't chosen sides in the war that rages on the battlefield of publication preference. He agreed to write about the best of both worlds on his Just Cause Live Blog Tour (for other stops, including interviews and guest posts, go to his blog and look in the top left corner).

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The Best of Both Worlds:
Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love Dual Publication


I've been rejected more than anybody I know.

That's not to say I'm any kind of record-holder. I'm sure there are writers out there whose Rejection Collection is more than a thousand strong, but let's face it—if you've earned that many rejections, maybe writing just isn't your strong suit.

That being said, the story of how Just Cause found its way to publication involves well over 140 rejections (that was the number where I stopped counting). I've recounted how the initial story came about in other posts of this tour, but to recap, I wrote it as a way to get my foot in the door with Del Rey so I would be asked to write Star Wars novels. I realize that's an odd reason to write a novel, but like so many other great discoveries throughout history, it seemed like a good idea at the time. This was 2004, when I was barely scratching the surface of what it meant to be a modern writer, and the truth is that I knew next to nothing about revising, editing, querying, etc.

Is it any wonder I earned all those rejections?

Unlike many other writers, I didn't keep trying to massage Just Cause. I kept writing other books, like sequels (which I know you're Not Supposed To Do if the first book hasn't been published). I discovered NaNoWriMo and over the years have added eight more novels to my catalog than I might have otherwise. I experimented with "self-publishing" in 2005 with my NaNo book The Milkman. iUniverse took money from me and that was the first time I really learned the lesson that money should flow to the author, not the other way around.

I finally landed an agent, who couldn't sell any of my work, and eventually her failing health drove her to retirement. Her replacement likewise couldn't sell any of my work, and eventually her health issues drove her to retirement as well (Note: along with my next agency contract, I'll require a note from the agent's doctor). At the beginning of 2011, I found myself without an agent and something like two dozen completed works gathering dust on my hard drive.

I decided to publish them as ebooks. Just Cause, renamed Mustang Sally by then, was one of the first ebooks I released. It, along with a few superhero short stories, formed the backbone of my early library. And by then, those works had been revised and edited, because I learned a lot in eight years of beta reading, conferences, and paying attention to the Right Sort of People (those who have been published).

What I did worked, because I attracted the attention of a small publisher specializing in superhero fiction, named New Babel Books. The Editor in Chief wanted to acquire the entire Just Cause universe. I was pleased to accept the offer. Right now I have three more books under contract with them and one more under consideration. I have plans to write at least fifteen more novels set in the JCU, and as long as New Babel is happy with them and I'm happy with New Babel, we'll keep working together.

At the beginning of 2011, I was hiding my ebook library from potential agents. Now I'm flaunting it. I know what I'm doing now, and it's important that they see that if they can't (or won't) sell my work, I am perfectly capable of doing it myself. Publishing doesn't have to be an either-or proposition. You can be successful working both sides of the fence.

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Ian Thomas Healy is a prolific writer who dabbles in many different speculative genres. His superhero novel Deep Six: A Just Cause Novel was a Top 100 Semi-finalist in the 2008 Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award. He’s an eight-time participant and winner of National Novel Writing Month where he’s tackled such diverse subjects as sentient alien farts, competitive forklift racing, a religion-powered rabbit-themed superhero, cyberpunk mercenaries, cowboy elves, and an unlikely combination of vampires with minor league hockey. He is also the creator of the Writing Better Action Through Cinematic Techniques workshop, which helps writers to improve their action scenes.

His goal is to become as integral to the genre of superhero fiction as William Gibson was to cyberpunk and Anne Rice was to urban fantasy. The first book in his Just Cause Universe series, JUST CAUSE, is available now from New Babel Books.

When not writing, which is rare, he enjoys watching hockey, reading comic books (and serious books, too), and living in the great state of Colorado, which he shares with his wife, children, house-pets, and approximately five million other people. His ebooks can be found on Smashwords, Kindle, Nook, iBook Store, and other online retailers.,

www.ianthealy.com
www.facebook.com/authorianthomashealy
www.twitter.com/ianthealy

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Thank you for coming by, Ian, and for your informative guest post! Good luck on the rest of your tour.

Any questions for Ian?

Teaser Tuesday 10/25/11

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I'm doing two teasers today since I'm reading two different books (okay, three, but I haven't picked the third one up this week, so it doesn't count).

First, on my Kindle, this is Blood on the Ice by Ian T. Healy. I want to preface this by saying that if you like this teaser, you can download this book for free from Smashwords, Kindle or Barnes and Noble until Halloween (I think that's the date).

"If this was ten thousand years ago, he'd be a barefoot caveman hunting wooly mammoths on a grassy plain with nothing more than a spear and balls the size of coconuts. Our story, though, takes place in a more modern time, and instead of a spear, he's wielding a hooked stick of graphite with a wicked hundred and thirty-five degree curve at the lower end."

The blurb from his website:

When a talented new player joins the perennially-losing sub-minor-league hockey team, the Fighting Aardvarks, it marks the beginning of a winning tradition. But things aren’t as they seem, and players begin to change. First line center Hammie learns the truth: the Aardvarks are becoming vampires, and it’s up to him to stop them before the infestation spreads beyond just the team.

The second teaser is from Skinwalker, a Jane Yellowrock Novel, by Faith Hunter, p. 24:

"I took up the snake that rests in the depths of all beasts. And I dropped within."

From the back:

Last year Jane nearly lost her life taking down a deadly family of vampires who preyed on the helpless local populace. Now, after months of recuperation, she's back and ready to fight again. Except this time, she's been hired by those she's trained to kill - vampires.

Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind - a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires - and hunts the undead for a living. But now she's been hired by Katherine Fonteneau, one of the oldest vampires in New Orleans and the madam of Katie's Ladies, to hunt a powerful rogue vampire who's killing other vamps.

Amidst a bordello full of real 'ladies of the night,' a hot Cajun biker with a panther tattoo who stirs her carnal desire, Jane must stay focused and complete her mission...or else the next skin she'll need to save may be her own.

What are you reading?

May you find your Muse.