Fantasy Book Critic: SPFBO Champion's League Interview: J.D. Evans

J. D. Evans writes fantasy and science fiction romance. After earning her degree in linguistics, J. D. served a decade as an army officer. She once spent her hours putting together briefings for helicopter pilots and generals. Now she writes stories, tends to two unreasonable tiny humans, knits, sews badly, gardens, and cultivates Pinterest Fails. After a stint in Beirut, J. D. fell in love with the Levant, which inspired the setting for her debut series, Mages of the Wheel.

Originally hailing from Montana, J. D. now resides in North Carolina with her husband, two attempts at mini-clones gone rogue, and too many stories in her head.

Looking back to when you entered SPFBO, did you ever imagine your book would take the top spot? What made you take the plunge and submit?

No, I didn’t expect to make it past the first round. I mostly submitted as a kind of “haha! Romantasy exists” sort of attitude.

How has life changed since winning SPFBO? More book sales? Wild parties? Paparazzi at your grocery store?

Not really much has changed. The one big positive thing that came of SPFBO for me was interest from Podium to produce the audiobooks, which has been great.

Many champions talk about the pressure of following up a winning book. Did you feel that? How did it shape your next projects (if at all)?

When Reign & Ruin won I already had several more books in the series out, so I didn’t feel that particular pressure. It was nerve-wracking to have it thrust into an audience that was maybe less a fit than a more romance friendly audience. But in general, readers have been really fair with it, even if romance isn’t their thing.

There are nearly 3,000 SPFBO entries out there. What, in your opinion, helped your book climb to the top?

I don’t know that folks will love my answer, but luck. So much of reading is mood, preference, and timing. The reviewers that got my book were open to, or in the mood for a more romance heavy fantasy. On a different year, it might not have even made it past the first cull. I think what I want people to take away from that is timing – right place, right time – has as much to do with success as good writing does. So don’t be discouraged.

Imagine your main character finds out they’re competing in the Champions' League. Are they thrilled? Terrified? Confused? Demanding a rewrite?

Naime is the main protagonist of Reign & Ruin, and she is a composed thinker. I think she would be examining the blogs, the competition and have a run down of how she thought things would go and wouldn’t have a lot of emotion attached to the outcome.

Every author has that “this is never going to work” moment. Did you? How did you push through and keep writing?

Every single book. I keep thinking maybe I’ll gain confidence but I never do. Now that my series has more readers I’m convinced I’ll never live up to their hype. Be an author, they said. It’ll be fun. I don’t know that I have any magic advice. You just have to do it anyway. We all have dark moments, and challenges and interruptions. At some point you decide, “I’m going to do it” or “I’m not going to do it”. Keep putting one foot in front of the other (one more sentence). That’s it. That’s the secret.

Apart from your own novel, is there a past SPFBO book (any year, any entry – doesn’t have to be a winner or a finalist) you’d hype up to readers - maybe one you loved or thought deserved more of the spotlight?

All the books in my year were very good. Our scores were so close. Krystle Matar deserved that win as much or more than I did, so definitely go read “Legacy of the Brightwash”.

What’s the project currently on your desk - and is it behaving, or making you question all your life choices?

Bird & Blade is the next installment in my Mages of the Wheel series (of which Reign & Ruin is book one) and I have never had a book behave. This one and I fight daily. I hate it. It hates me.

What’s one piece of writing advice you completely ignore - and one you swear by?

I don’t put a lot of agonizing thought into my first sentence. I see people spend all kinds of energy over that and I just…don’t. I swear by – write through the writers block. What you write when you aren’t feeling the muse is exactly the same quality as what you write when you ARE feeling the muse, or can be made that way in editing. Years down the line, you will not be able to tell what you wrote when you felt inspired and what felt like pulling teeth to write.

Win or lose, your book’s in the top 10 of nearly 3,000. But personally, what would be your proudest writing achievement - published or still locked away on your hard drive?

Ice & Ivy is book four in my series and I really loved the FMC in that one, and some of the themes I tried to incorporate. A lot of what I had built in the first few books came together in it. Now if only I could beat my current work into submission.