Thursday, September 15, 2011

Jim Henry - Author of Antiquity Calais: Standing at Armageddon (Universal Life Force Series)

Hi Jim Henry.  Where were you born and where do you call home? Born in Troy, N.Y. while my folks were camping. I call Greenfield, Mass. my hometown, and presently live in Lakeland, Florida.

What is the name of your most recent book and if you had to sum it up in 30 or less words, what would you say? Antiquity Calais Ascending Olympus.

Satan is not pleased with Leviathan Avalon, which creates a rift in the forces of darkness. Antiquity Calais must decide who is his first adversary.

If you gave some of your characters an opportunity to speak for themselves, what would they say? Antiquity would say put your faith in the Creator. Gillian would say she will follow Antiquity wherever he goes, even to the lowest depths of hell. Sherman would say keep smiling! Mundoo would say it is not wise to challenge a 20-foot-tall Algonquin god.

Do you have plans for a new book?   Is this book part of a series? Yes, there are two books out, and I am writing the third. The first is Antiquity Calais Standing at Armageddon, Ascending Olympus is the second, and the third is Antiquity Calais and the Children of Light, which is actually a two-volume book. Other books in the series will include Antiquity Calais and the Wrath of the Cryptids, The Sojourners' Quest for Antiquity, and Antiquity Calais and the End of Days. I may add others if the inspiration strikes, but those are the books planned now.

What or who inspired you to write?  And how long have you been writing? I wanted to write as soon as I learned to read, which would go back to the early 70s. My early works surrounded time travel, so I suppose H.G. Wells was an early inspiration. Later, I became enamored with the Harry Potter books, which I have read to my son, so J.K. Rowling has been an inspiration as well.

How did you come up with the title and cover design? The focal point of Antiquity Calais Ascending Olympus centers on Antiquity's relationship with the Greek gods, who were banished from Earth thousands of years ago. Many of the former Olympians took up residence at the summit of Olympus Mons on Mars, where they could stay out of trouble. So the picture on the cover is an actual photo of Olympus Mons, which NASA allows people to use if proper credit is given (which I have done). The title flowed out of the connection with the gods.

Have you based any of your characters on someone you know, or real events in your own life? Well, yes. The first book in the series was actually written as part of therapy, after my life was nearly ended by a drunken neighbor. My counselor said I would never get past what happened if I could not confront him, but for legal reasons, I could not do so in person. So I modeled the villain, Leviathan Avalon, after him, and there are many similarities between Antiquity and myself, though there are obvious differences between the real people and the characters.

What books have most influenced your writing most and why? Although this series is not purely about witchcraft, J.K. Rowling inspired my son, and I wrote the first book for him (second book for my daughter), so Rowling was an inspiration.

Is there an Author that you would really like to meet? Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, among many others.

Do you prefer ebooks, paperbacks or hardcover? Most of my books are paperbacks, but I do not have much of a preference. I am a utilitarian kind of guy, so if I can read it, it works for me.

Where do you prefer to buy your books? Independent bookstores and Amazon.com

Are you a self published (Indie) Author? Yes. I publish these books under the auspices of Full Moon Over Bunganut Publishing.

Have you ever read a book more than once? Oh yes. Many times.

Is there a particular movie that you preferred over the book version? Nothing is springing to mind, but I can say that I enjoyed all the Harry Potter books and movies, but the movies were simply different than the books.

What book are you currently reading and in what format (ebook/paperback/hardcover)? I am reading Antiquity Calais Ascending Olympus to my son, and it's saved on my hard drive as a PDF.

What book do you know that you will never read? I honestly cannot think of a book that I would not consider reading.

Are there any new Authors that have grasped your interest and why? Zee Gorman, author of the Altethlon Chronicles. I thoroughly enjoyed her first book, and am anxiously waiting the release of the next book in the series.

Is there anything you would change in your last book and why? As I have read Antiquity Calais Ascending Olympus to my son, I have found a number of small typos that are making me crazy. I had a habit of occasionally leaving off the quotation marks at the end of a quote. That bugs me, because I should have caught errors like that as I proofread and edited.

Who designed the cover of your book? I used the cover generator at CreateSpace.com, but I made the decisions regarding images, style, etc.

Do you have a book trailer? Yes, I have done book trailers for both of these books. I do not know how much they have generated in actual sales, but that is probably a function of my lack of marketing expertise more than on the quality of the trailers.

What are your thoughts on book trailers? I believe all the tools at our disposal should be used, and I have enjoyed creating the trailers for these books.

Do you have any advice for other writers? "A writer writes, always," - Throw Mama from the Train.

What is the best advice that you have ever been given when it comes to writing? A book is not finished until it is finally published.

Do you write under a pen name? Not presently. I have in the past, but none of those books were published, and when I decided to publish these books, I wanted the credit!

Do you ever write in your PJ’s? I don't wear PJ's, so that would be no.

What are your pet peeves? Students who do not read my comments and corrections when I turn back essays to them.

Cats or dogs? Dogs.

White wine or red? Red.

Coffee or tea? French Vanilla Ice Coffee from Dunkin' Donuts.

Favorite food? Probably pizza.

Vanilla or chocolate ice cream? Chocolate

What do you normally eat for breakfast? Whatever we have.

What are 4 things you never leave home without? My keys, my wallet, myself, my son.

Laptop or desktop for writing? I have used both, but presently use a laptop, and I love it. Portability is awesome!

Where and when do you prefer to do your writing? I do most of my writing at night, often in bed.

If you were deserted on an island, who are 3 famous people you would want with you? Teddy Roosevelt, J.K. Rowling and Richard Bach.

One of your favorite quotes -"We stand at Armageddon, and do battle for the Lord," by Teddy Roosevelt, at the 1912 Progressive Party Convention in Chicago, Ill.

List 3 of your all time favorite books? One, by Richard Bach, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling, and the Time Machine, by H.G. Wells.

List 3 of your all time favorite movies? Defending Your Life (Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep), Indian Summer, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

An actor you have a crush on -No one presently, though I have had crushes on Mary Stuart Masterson and Kelly McGillis when I was younger.

What is a movie or TV show that you watched recently and really enjoyed? Just watched Unstoppable on HBO yesterday, and enjoyed it.

Where can your readers stalk you?



Twitter: @antiquitycalais
Is your book in Print, ebook or both? Both
Image of Jim Henry
Jim Henry is the author of Antiquity Calais: Standing at Armageddon, the first book in the Universal Life Force Series. He is presently editing the second book, Antiquity Calais Ascending Olympus, and has started writing the third book in the series, which is untitled at present.
Jim teaches for the University of Phoenix Online. Previously he worked as a journalist for eight years, and also worked in municipal government.
The first chapter of Antiquity Calais: Standing at Armageddon came to Jim in the form of a vision while receiving an energy therapy treatment. The vision was so clear, so real, and so powerful that Jim knew right off the bat he had to write about it.
Universal Life Force is also known as Reiki, and Jim is a level one Reiki practitioner. The theme of using energy for creative (and destructive) purposes pervades this book, and is central to the series in general.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the invite to this really interesting post. Hopped over from twitter and enjoyed your sharing.

    ReplyDelete

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