Featured Interview With Jim Melvin
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
First, thanks so much for providing this service to writers! I know it’s a lot of work for you, but it means so much to anyone not named J.K. Rowling. 🙂
I was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., but spent most of my life in the Tampa Bay area of sunny Florida. I now live in Upstate South Carolina in the foothills of the mountains, a beautiful place to write, to say the least.
I am a long-time journalist who has worked in a variety of capacities at several large newspapers, including the St. Petersburg Times (now called the Tampa Bay Times), the Greenville News and the Charlotte Observer. But though I have supported myself and my family as a journalist, I consider myself to be a novelist trapped in a journalist’s body.
As for pets, I have had many in my life, including dogs, cats, birds and guinea pigs. But right now, I have just one beautiful black cat named Woody (he wandered out of the woods by our house and adopted us), and he is so awesome my wife and I have decided to stick just with him so that we can pay him all our attention.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I wrote my first novel when I was 21 years old and Jimmy Carter was president. Sarah’s Curse was an artsy murder mystery bursting with passion and intensity. I shopped it around to various publishers and got no bites, but I wasn’t particularly concerned at the time. It’s usually the second novel that hits it big, right? So I went about the business of writing it.
At this point in my life, I was in love with J.R.R. Tolkien (and still am), so I decided that my second novel would be a high fantasy. My roiling imagination gave birth to a character named Torg, and he was to be king of a band of desert warriors called Tugars. I made up these names just because they sounded cool.
Needless to say, I was full of zest and excitement — but not necessarily of worldliness or maturity. Over the next several years, every time I sat down to write about Torg I’d get a few pages in and then hit a wall. Each time, my excuse was that I was just too busy. I already was married, raising a family, and working a challenging job at a big newspaper. That’s a lot for any young person to handle.
Years turned into decades. As I said, I wrote my first novel at 21. It wasn’t until age 45 that I wrote my second one — book 1 of what turned out to be a six-book, 700,000-word epic fantasy titled The Death Wizard Chronicles. And my how things had changed over the course of that time. George Bush was president, for one thing. I was remarried and had five daughters, the youngest three of whom were adopted from Cambodia. But most importantly, at least as far as my writing career was concerned, I finally had developed the worldiness and maturity to bring Torg and the Tugars to life at the level of quality they deserved. After almost 25 years of starts and stops, The Death Wizard Chronicles was born for real.
Hopefully, before President Obama’s final term is over, the series will become a best seller. 🙂
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My three favorite authors are J.R.R. Tolkien (LOTR), Steven Erikson (The Malazan Book of the Fallen) and Stephen Donaldson (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant). Tolkien will always own my heart. I also love John Updike (Rabbit Run remains the single most brilliant book I’ve ever read). Erikson is the most creative author I’ve ever read. Donaldson is pure poetry in motion.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is titled Healed by Hope, and it is the sixth and climactic installment of The Death Wizard Chronicles.
The concept of karma and the art of meditation play key roles in the symbolic aspects of my work. While deep in meditation, Buddhist monks have had recorded heart rates of fewer than 10 beats per minute. My main character takes this to the extreme. In an original twist never before seen in this genre, the Death Wizard is able to enter the realm of death during a “temporary suicide.” Through intense concentrative meditation, Torg stops his heartbeat briefly and feeds on death energy, which provides him with an array of magical powers.
For those of you who are just interested in a fun and entertaining read, don’t let any of this dismay you. Though my series has a lot going on between the lines, it is fast-paced and action-packed, nonetheless. I describe The DW Chronicles as a cross between Tolkien and King – Tolkien because it contains many aspects of epic fantasy, King because it’s pretty darn scary and rough. The Death Wizard Chronicles is a classic tale of good versus evil, with lots of action, monsters, and magic. It also contains a compelling love story.
Book 1 titled Forged in Death is currently available for free on Kindle. So that is the link that appears below. The series must be read from book 1-6. Each individual book does not stand on its own.
Here is a synopsis of Forged in Death:
Only a Death-Wizard can die. And live again.
Only a Death-Wizard can return from death. And remember.
Only a Death-Wizardr can tell the world what he’s seen.
For a thousand years, none have rivaled the power of Torg, the Death-Knower wizard, as he ruled his people and kept peace on Triken.
Now a new threat has suddenly arisen. The evil sorcerer Invictus is greater even than Torg, and his greed and ambition threaten to engulf the land in eternal darkness. When Invictus imprisons Torg in a horrifying pit bored into the solid rock of a frozen mountain, the fate of Triken hangs in the balance.
Torg becomes freedom’s final hope, but first he must die to earn the victory.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles