Author Interview: Jak Lore

We are back again. Sorry for the delay as we have had to take a break from our weekly spotlights and going forward will not have interviews weekly. However, that being said, this week I did get a chance to reach out to Chicago author Jak Lore and discuss his work. Thank you, Jak, for taking the time.

Let’s start with telling us a little about yourself.

Lore: I’m a fiction author. Primarily I write dark fantasy, but am interested in high fantasy and sci-fi as well. No projects up that alley just yet though. I want to finish my first arc before trying something new. For fun I like to game. Magic. Dungeons and Dragons. When I have time and find people to play with. Otherwise I unwind with video games.

Nice, I can definitely relate, though more of a WoW person myself. I always love watching people play Dungeons and Dragons, though I’ve never had the chance to play.

So, what inspired you to start taking your writing seriously?

Lore: That’s an almost impossible question for me to answer. Writing and storytelling is something I’ve always done. But it was always something for myself. I didn’t really share it. High school is when I was inspired to write for an audience. Peers, curious about what I was always writing in my notebook, would ask to read it. I let them, thinking they wouldn’t be interested in it. And I was wrong. They wanted to know what came next. Then teachers noticed and encouraged me. And that’s how The Last Demon Hunter was actually born.

Its’s great to see that you have had so much support. That really helps to nurture writers and to keep us going.

So just how many books have you released?

Lore: I’ve published three books so far. The Last Demon Hunter, Rules of Engagement, and Shadow of War. I’m currently working on my fourth book, Bloodline.

And it looks like they a all books in a series, interesting. I will have to check them out.

So, with your books, do you go through an indie publisher, or do you prefer to do it yourself?

Lore: The short answer? Myself.

The long answer? I tried traditional, way back in the day, but couldn’t get the manuscript even looked at. I really didn’t know what I was doing and had no one to talk to or learn from. This was way back in the early 2000s. I had never heard of indie publishing, and honestly, I’m not sure if it was even a thing yet. I didn’t understand what vanity publishing was and had been taken advantage of by a few of them. Spent thousands of dollars, and had my money, including royalties, just taken.

I learned more about POD and said, “Fine. I’ll do it myself.” And here I am, three books later.

Tbat’s rough and some good knowledge to impart of future writers. Be careful of who you trust, especially when you are first starting out.

With all those books, do you have a favorite?

Now, I’m curious, who are some of your favorite authors? Who inspires you?

Lore: I really like Kim Harrison and her Hollows series.

Wow, I love the Hollows. I know I’m a few books behind, but that series is amazing and always sucks me in, though I never see anyone else talking about it. It’s great to see another fan.

So, what are some of your favorite books then?

Lore:I think my favorite book so far is American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It was the first book that made me cry and I had to put it down for a bit.

So would you say that is your biggest influence in your writing?

Lore: They certainly had an influence. I loved the way they wrote their books. How the characters interacted with each other. The gods, the supernatural, travel, and magic. But another book that had a big influence for its horror elements was 13 Bullets by David Wellington. It was just pure, grotesque, vampire horror, and I loved it.

I might have to check that out. I love a good Vamp book.

Now with your writing, do you prefer to write longer or shorter fiction?

Lore: Longer. I love writing longer fiction.

Are you a Pantser then or a plotter?

(Now, for those of you that are not familiar, when it comes to writing you are usually either a Panster, Planner, or a hybrid of the two. A pantser is normally someone who rights without anything other than a vague plan of where the story is going to go. A planner on the other hand, outlines the story before they begin writing.)

Lore: A little from column A. A little from column B. I start with a lot of disconnected idea, see how they play together. Start developing themes, small plot lines, things like that. Once I have some characters and motivations down, I start brainstorming. This is where the planner in me takes over and has a blast. Once I get the outline down, full plot and all, the pantser takes the helm. I use the outline to know where I’m going, but I often take detours. And that outline will sometimes change as the story progresses. At the end, it’s the same story, ending in the same place, but it’s not the roadmap I started with.

When you are writing, how do you know when you’ve reached the end?

Lore: Can I just say when I get to the end of the outline?

Because I’m writing in arcs, I’ve had to learn how to break one long story into multiple books. One book was a very hard lesson. While each arc has it’s own theme, each book has it’s own theme within the arc. When the story transitions from one theme to the next, that’s where the ending is.

So, how do you come up with your characters?

Lore: Since most of my characters are angels and demons, research. A lot of the major characters, like Baraqyal, come from theology and mythology. I do my best to understand their stories and histories, then see how I can best write them into my series. So if you’re a fan of theology and mythology, you’ll recognize a lot of the characters, even though they will be slightly different.

The human characters have more freedom in their design.

Do you prefer likable characters?

Lore: Not at all. Unlikable main characters can be just as fun to write.

Do you have any upcoming releases?

Lore: Nothing coming up incredibly soon, unfortunately. Shadow of War released a little over a year ago. I took a few months to push it and relax before starting Bloodline. I’m currently working on two book projects and hoping to get their current drafts done before the end of the year.

Now where can people find you?

Lore: You can find me on Facebook at Jak.Lore.Author, as well as X @authorjaklore and Instagram at jaklore.author

Thank you, Jak, for taking the time with me, and for everyone out there make sure to check out his books!