Getting to Know You: The RMFW Q&A Project #9

The Getting to Know You Project was intended to introduce RMFW members with short responses to three questions, a photo, and a few social media links. The last post in the series will appear tomorrow.

J. A. Kazimer

Website: http://jakazimer.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JulieAKazimer
Another Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jakazimer/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jakazimer

1. We know the who (that’s you), so will you give us the what, why, when, where, and how you write?

I’ve always wanted to answer with the ‘If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you’ line. But that doesn’t really help when getting to know me as I haven’t killed anyone in a really long time.

So instead, here goes, I write in a few genres. Mainly mysteries and romance. But I’m best known for my F***ed-Up Fairy Tales. I started writing in 2001, found an agent finally in 2006, and sold my first series in 2010 at a RMFW conference. Since then I’ve published over 15 books both traditionally and indie. Currently I’ve been working with a film studio on film adaptations and a mystery series of novellas based on a YouTube personality’s life.

As for when I write, it’s in spurts. I’ll write a couple of thousand words one day, and not write for weeks. The where is usually on my couch, with a puppy on one side and a cat on the other. I write on a computer as I can’t read my own handwriting. Had this been fifty years ago, I would’ve become a doctor.

2. What is one fun thing few RMFW members know about you?

I worked as a PI in Denver for a few years. The least fun part of that is, on a stakeout, you have to pee into a bottle. Being a girl made this career choice not the best.

3. What is your most favorite non-writing activity, the one that gives you the greatest joy?

My dogs. I love those spoiled things to pieces.

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Jim Van Pelt

Website: http://www.jamesvanpelt.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/james.vanpelt.14

1. We know the who (that’s you), so will you give us the what, why, when, where, and how you write?

When I was teaching high school English full time up to 2015, I mostly wrote in my classroom from 3:00 to 4:30 in the afternoon, and then from 9:00 to 10:00 in the evening at home, but now that I only teach in the morning, I write from noon until 3:00 or so. After three hours my brain feels melty and I have to take a break. I do almost all my writing now in a comfortable recliner in my living room where I’ve decorated the wall with science fiction and fantasy art that sets the mood for me; and in the middle afternoon, I’m the only one home, which means I’m also uninterrupted and control the music. It’s practically ideal.

Although I’ve written several novels, about 90% of my output is science fiction, fantasy and horror short stories. I must have a short attention span. Growing up in a house with an aeronautical engineer father who loved science fiction, and a mother who loved to read pretty much steered me toward a love of those genres. Dad took me to the movies when I was little, and Mom bought me books. When I started selling work in the early 90s, they became my biggest fans. They’d buy copies of everything I published to send to friends and relatives.

I started my writing career because I loved what reading did for me. There’s a subset of kids who spent much of their free time reading, and I was one of them. To be able to do for someone else what a good story did for me seemed like the best goal imaginable. I still write partly with that motivation in mind, but I’ve also grown more interested in writing as a challenge in shaping a story and using language. Some stories come out of setting a barrier for myself: Can I write a first person narrative that never uses the word “I”? Can I break the “rule” that a story shouldn’t start with the weather? Can I structure a story like a well-done song? Etc. But mostly I try to make a story come out as compelling on the page as it sounded in my mind while taking a shower.

2. What is one fun thing few RMFW members know about you?

Most of my RMFW friends know the writer side of me, but most don’t know how much I’ve enjoyed my teaching life. There’s a magic in the classroom when the students are excited and I’m jazzed about the lesson. The hardest part of thinking about retiring from teaching is walking away from that. I love writing and being an author, but I don’t know if anything I’ve ever written has changed a life. I’m pretty sure, though, that I made a difference for a few kids in high school.

3. What is your most favorite non-writing activity, the one that gives you the greatest joy?

Fortunately, I married my best friend. I think my greatest joy besides writing and teaching is spending time with her. We both like to run and bike. She’s working on getting me to do triathlons, which will probably happen. There’s a lot of the world we haven’t seen yet that I’m looking forward to seeing with her. Everybody should be so lucky.

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K. B. (Katy) Wagers

Website: http://www.kbwagers.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kbwagers
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midwaybrawler/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkbwagers

1. We know the who (that’s you), so will you give us the what, why, when, where, and how you write?

*waves* Hi all! I currently write holed up in a cave, kidding though I kind of wish that were true. Right now I either write in my office at home or in Starbucks just depending on the mood and time of day. Most of my writing gets accomplished after working hours on the week days and early mornings on the weekends. I write science fiction on my laptop or Surface and carry around a notebook that’s primarily used for plotting and story essentials (character bios, geography, and the like).

2. What is one fun thing few RMFW members know about you?

I’m a Colorado native and grew up on a farm on the eastern plains. We had pigs when I was a kid and I wanted to be a writer from a very young age, with a brief break in my teenage years when I was going to be a rock star.

3. What is your most favorite non-writing activity, the one that gives you the greatest joy?

My most favorite non-writing activity has to be lifting weights. I discovered the joy of fighting gravity a few years ago and there is little else like the feeling of winning against that beast—even if only for a few seconds!

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Thanks to Julie, James, and Katy for participating in the Getting to Know You Project.