Author Interview – T. Jackson King

Question 1: Who are you and what have you written?

I’m T. Jackson King, a writer of science fiction novels since 1988 when my first novel came out. I now live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, tho I’ve lived in 12 US states and visited 49 of them. My most recent novel is Star Glory (Empire Series Book 1).

Question 2: If you had to paint a portrait of any author who would it be?

I’d paint an image of Rudyard Kipling as his YA novel KIM was a favorite of mine when I was in sixth grade and had been reading his works, and scifi novels, for two years already.

Wuestion 3: Why did you start writing?

I began writing scifi novels because I ran out of First Contact style novels in my local neighborhood library. But I began late at age 38. I got published in reverse order, with my first novel Retread Shop (Retread Shop Series Book 2) coming out in 1988, and my short stories appearing in various print mags later. Now, I cannot stop writing cause I love exploring far away worlds where I wish I could travel to meet strange and exotic aliens. However, I earned a BA degree in journalism and worked as a newspaper reporter and editor over the years.

Kwestion 4: Where do you write? Do you have a shed like Roald Dahl, or a special room away from the other people in your house? Personally I write in my pyjamas.

I write in my study in a spare bedroom. I’ve got family pics on the walls nearby, have a window in front of my desk that looks out on our backyard with some hanging bird feeders, and I have several bookcases nearby with reference books and collections of scifi novels, including the classic Ace Double Novels, which I loved!

Question 5: What is the most interesting thing you have learned recently?

Most interesting thing I’ve learned lately is that there are actual microbes that live on electricity, while hiding out inside solid rock. Neato!

Question 6: Have you experienced what psychologists call “The ultimate experience”? Which is the frame of mind when you are writing and everything is flowing perfectly and the creative buzz is so great you lose track of time.

Yes, several times I’ve been in the flow when I begin writing a scene and the next time I look up it is four hours later, and I’ve written 3,000 new words in my current novel. It’s super! Also, I am a working writer who writes five to six hours each day, on a half-time basis. Today after 30 years of writing I am able to write four novels a year, which my readership seems to like a lot.

Question 7: Last question: Are you happy as a writer?

Yes I am very happy as a writer! My other careers were as a newspaper reporter and a government archaeologist, both of which lasted about 10 years each. Now, in writing, there is no retirement age! Tom.

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T. Jackson King’s new book, Star Glory is available now on Amazon.

Check out his website to browse his vast back catalogue here – http://www.tjacksonking.com/

Follow him on Twitter @TJacksonKing