Featured Interview With A. Russell Jones
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in Knoxville, TN, and now reside in High Point, NC by way of Champaign, IL and Houston (Conroe), TX. I’ve been reading since I was very young–a skill I made sure to transfer to my children at very young ages as well. I’ve had a plethora of jobs–everything from delivering newspapers, to restaurant work, sales, zookeeper, teacher, programmer, technical writer and editor, and now novel author. I’m interested in all sorts of things, particularly music, programming, science, history, and of course, reading and writing.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My sisters and I didn’t get allowances when we were small; instead, we earned money largely by writing research papers, memorizing poems and prose, and memorizing and performing music. All that early practice made school relatively easy. Until recently, I wrote mostly technical content, such as research papers, Master’s and Ph.D. theses, interactive computer-based training lessons, programming books and articles, and so on. I’ve found writing fiction to be both similar and very different. The mechanics are the same; the process is radically different.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have so many “favorite” authors that it’s impossible to list them all; however, among them are Jane Austen, A. S. Byatt, John Fowles, John Irving, John Kennedy Toole, Umberto Eco, David Lindsey, Michael Gruber, C. M. Bennett, George R. R. Martin, Philip Jose Farmer, Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clarke, Lewis Caroll, Arturo Perez-Reverte, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jose Saramago, and so many others. I read and enjoy both fiction and non-fiction; I’d have to say that my readings have swung toward the latter in the past few years.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book, “Rabbit’s Foot,” is a novel of luck. I’d like to think it’s a deep exploration of luck; it provides the setting and story, but leaves a great deal up to the readers. I’d say that the biggest problem in writing it was dealing with time. The two main characters, Tom Meacham, an author down on his luck, and Bethany (Bethy) Belsen, a girl who’s lucky–but not for herself–only for people in her immediate vicinity need to meet, but their lives follow different timelines. Coordinating their timelines was tough.
Buy the book on Amazon.