Featured Interview With J.D. Cunegan
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m a 2006 graduate of Old Dominion University who’s been writing — in one form or another — since I was in middle school. I grew up loving comic books, and that love influences my storytelling even today — despite the fact that I write in prose instead of in panels and word balloons. Some of the most fantastical stories can be some of the most hard-hitting and honest, telling truths about life through the lens of the impossible and the extraordinary. I live in Hampton Roads, Virginia — near the Chesapeake Bay — and much of my time not devoted to my day job is otherwise taken up in books.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I read my first issue of X-Men when I was 11 — it was during the Chris Claremont/Jim Lee — and that was what sparked the need to create it. I began writing my first stories after that, eventually graduating from terribly-written and horribly-drawn X-Men fan fiction to only marginally better original stories featuring original characters. Many of my characters have grown as I have over the years, and I’m as comfortable with who they have become as I have with who I’ve become — especially Jill Andersen, the main character of my debut novel Bounty. I created her when I was 15 years old, and she is now by most prized creation.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I still read comic books to this day — primarily superhero books, but as I’ve gotten older, I find my tastes have expanded. I don’t limit myself to a certain genre — I’ve read and loved murder mysteries, supernatural epics, romances, eroticas, spy thrillers… you name it, I’ve probably read something like it. More than anything, I derive inspiration from television shows — in large part because I discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel when I was in college, during a low point in my life, and those shows re-ignited my creative spark. Without those shows, I probably never make it far enough to write and publish a novel.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My debut novel Bounty, which I self-published in June, is a murder mystery/superhero/sci-fi hybrid story of Baltimore homicide detective Jill Andersen, who also doubles as the costumed vigilante Bounty. The novel details a murder case that ties back to her origin as Bounty and threatens to expose her secret. In August, I self-published a short story called Boundless, detailing Jill’s first night as Bounty.
In January, I’ll publish Blood Ties, the second novel in the Jill Andersen series. I’ve also begun writing the third novel in the series, titled Behind the Badge, and I have two other on-going books from separate genres that I hope to have published by the end of 2017.
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