Author #Interview: Let’s Chat with #IndieAuthor J.S. Harman!

Welcome back, my fellow creatives! I’m thrilled to continue sharing some lovely indie authors I’ve met in our community–it’s so great to connect with folks again. This month, please welcome the sci-fi author, J.S. Harman!

Let’s start with those bygone childhood days. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

I began writing stories around the age of ten, and I think my favourite part of my first story was when my teacher read it and singled out a line they found funny in its absurdity. I don’t think most of my writing is nearly as humorous as I’d like it to be, but this was my first experience in my words giving someone an emotional response – even if it was bemusement! That, and how proud my parents were.

I’ve been chasing that high ever since!

When it comes to your reading experiences with science fiction, what’s your favourite under-appreciated novel?

Oooh, I’m not sure I have an underappreciated favourite, but I would like to mention both The Forever War and Old Man’s War – two books that, while they aren’t inspirations for Dark Sands, are really enjoyable and witty. I also think they both do a great job of translating the densities and complexities of hard sci-fi into ways that are really accessible for people to grasp.

I’ve tried reading Dune twice now and gave up both times (once it was a paperback in teeny tiny print, and the second time was an audiobook that couldn’t make up its mind about having one narrator or a character cast). Have you ever gotten reader’s block?

Oh absolutely. I know it’s a bit of a sin, especially as an author, but I DNF books all the time. Reading is time-consuming, and time is so precious, so if a novel is poorly written, in bad taste, or just not my thing, I’ll often put it down at around the 100-150 page mark. That said, I have soldiered through J.R.R.Tolkien’s masterpiece The Lord of the Rings over the last six months, wherein I experienced reader’s block several times. While his prose is phenomenal, so much time is spent on… well… not that much, especially during The Fellowship of the Ring. However, outside of this, I’ve read a couple of other books in the span of just a couple of days each! Funny how things work, isn’t it?

*GASP!* HOW COULD YOU! I do get it, though. I’ve recommended Diana Wynne Jones in the past, and some folks dug her, but others didn’t. I wonder if this comes from our love of our story-words in these genres. After all, when it comes to fantasy or science fiction, the writer’s got to do a lot of serious world-building and descriptive writing in order to immerse the reader, and that can lead to us getting lost ourselves. How do you balance making demands on the reader with taking care of the reader?

I might be a bit controversial here, but I am very much in the ‘soft’ worldbuilding camp. I think the best way to immerse a reader is to provide vivid (but concise) descriptions of the space each character occupies, which is something I’ve worked hard at!

While fleshed out and immersive worlds are fantastic, I’m of the opinion that excessive worldbuilding can be rather disruptive to the flow of a novel. I much prefer experiencing little snippets that reveal the world through the dialogue, action and plot of the story – and I would say the kind of readers I am looking for are people who are eager to get straight into the action! Think of the original Alien movie – we get hints all throughout of Weyland-Yutani, the androids, and the greater mythos behind the Alien, but never does this film stop to drown us in exposition.

That said, I have quite a fleshed out idea of the world of Dark Sands in the back of my mind (and planning documents) – but I use this more to sprinkle in the breadcrumbs throughout the novel, rather than risk slowing the pacing.

What kind of research do you do to build your worlds, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Again, I might be a little different in this sense, where I don’t do a whole heap of research before I begin. I am a terrible planner – my attempts to meticulously plan out an entire novel end up ridiculously contrived – so I ‘pants’ my way through my novels. I’m very comfortable with this style, and have found it greatly improves my writing, but what it means is basically every writing session I have several tabs open while I research on the go!

I’m with you on the pantsing! I find myself coming up with worldbuilding ideas as the plot moves along, and THEN I go back to flesh those ideas out more. Names are tricky, though. I have a good name book, but then I also have fun messing around with bits of Wisconsin to help me create some names. 🙂 How do you select the names of your characters?

Haha, Sci-Fi authors have some great methods when it comes to this. For my leads though, I just choose names that I like, that may not be quite as common in the current age. Some of the side characters though, are just regular names with a letter or two substituted out!

I definitely have some struggles staying inspired when my kids battle one another (or their school principals). What is your writing Kryptonite?

Oh, there can be so many! Firstly, I am in ongoing awe of anyone who balances writing with a day job AND family commitments! Mine is disappointingly simple, in that it comes down to mental energy – that utterly fluid and mystical commodity.

Many writers will swear that they can only write ‘when the inspiration comes’, and may go weeks or months in between, but for me, writing has always been a little bit of a grind. A beautiful, meaningful one, but one that requires accountability and momentum, that has to be forced a little bit, and gets easier the more that I do it. But getting started, oh boy, that can be hard!

It sure can! Okay, let’s finally get to the big deal here, and that’s your debut novel, Dark Sands. What first inspired Dark Sands and your Dark Worlds Saga?

Wow, many things! It did actually start as a dream, like most of my writing (I often joke that my conscious mind is incapable of creative or original thought). But outside of that, I wanted to set out to write a story that is a total ESCAPE from the lives we all live and know – a story of exploring the unknown in a way that, in our lifetimes, none of us will probably get to do. Thematically, I wanted to tell a story that captures that universal feeling that many, if not all of us encounter in our twenties, of life just not turning out the way we thought it would, and our constant questions of our value and place in it. I wanted to write a story that was interesting, engaging, and hopefully, captivating.

You’ve also published some short fiction as you prepare to release your debut novel. Can you share a little about your short stories, “The Void,” “The Cold,” and “The Last”?

Oh absolutely! These short stories are all very close to my heart, for many different reasons. All of them cover deeply existential themes that mirror my various intellectual and emotional struggles of my twenties, including the seemingly inevitable deterioration of society (The Void), the tragedy of the birth and death lottery (The Cold) and the purpose of life itself (The Last).

That said, all of these stories have clear differences in the way I’ve gone about them: The Void is a dark satire, written in first person, present tense, with a genderless protagonist, The Cold is a doomed romance, first person & past tense, and The Last is what I’d describe as ‘apocalyptic catharsis’, written in third and, for the first time in my career, second person.

All three of these 10-minute reads are free and available on my website jsh-writes.squarespace.com – and can be accessed through my bio on my Instagram!

In your opinion, what is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?

Well, it’s impossible to get through this question without the extremely hot topic of generative AI coming to mind. Like many writers, I believe this has no place in writing, and think that, in ALL contexts, the use of generative AI must ALWAYS be communicated, whether it be in advertising, the creative space, or just in making a meme. That said, the publishing industry is something I haven’t had too much exposure too due to setting out to self-publish from day one, but something that sucks is how difficult it is for newcomer authors of genres that aren’t crime, thriller or romance to get a look-in at the pitching table!

Thank you again for this lovely chat, Jesse! Let’s close out with some inspiration. What are common traps for aspiring writers, and how can they avoid them?

It’s hard to answer this question without touching on ‘Imposter Syndrome’. Basically every writer ever, trad-published or otherwise, encounters the idea that they are ‘not worthy of the title’ at some point early (and potentially all the way through) their career, and I was no different. Learning how to challenge, quieten, and live with these inner critical voices is essential – and by extension, learning what I what I might loosely label the ‘Cycle of Perfectionism’.

It tends to look something like this:

‘I must prove myself as an amazing writer, therefore my writing and story must be perfect, and I must not write unless I am extremely focussed and energised, or if I do write, I must edit and rewrite it for several years until it is eventually good enough’.

Every published writer started somewhere, and I can almost guarantee you, that place wasn’t very good. I’ve only written one book, so don’t consider myself an expert in even the remotest sense, but if I had to give one piece of advice, it would be this: Embrace the rough edges and the flaws of your art. That is what makes it art. And whatever you do, keep going, and keep believing. These are skills that you practice, so keep practicing and keep working!

Is there any final information about your upcoming novel that you’d like people to know?

There’s something out there… In the sands…