Today’s guest is Jake Elliot, author of The Wrong Way Down. Stop by Damnation Books today and you can pick up Jake’s book for cheap, the first copy sold starting at FREE. Each copy goes up by 25 cents until it reaches full price or 24 hours pass.
Tell us a little about yourself.
Thanks Tim, just hit me on the head with ‘that’ question. Spotlight on! And … “Elvis has left the building – - -
Truthfully, I enjoy going on road trips. Having no kids, I like to move frequently. I’ve been in Las Vegas for the last five years and it has been very cool, but it is time to find a new place to live. My wife is also a traveler. We met here, and we both agree it is time to go someplace new. We think the east coast will be our next waypoint.
For me, the best way to learn what motivates people is to watch what they do wherever they call home. New England has history. Different places keep different types of people and this is how I create realistic characters. It is this contrast that helps me create something new.
The Wrong Way Down, your debut novel from Damnation Books, comes out December 1st. It’s listed as a dark fantasy with tones of action/adventure. How would you describe it?
It is a sword-and-sorcery-style fantasy novel with dark undercurrents. Two thieves introduce the story by burglarizing a monastery that is hidden deep within a forest. Creeping inside, they murder a priest and steal a jeweled scepter. One thief is ensnared by a trap and the other escapes with the treasure. Unknown to the thieves, the scepter was a holy artifact, and all the thieves involved in stealing the scepter are now damned. This begins the story of their deaths.
Popalia is a young priestess and faith-healer at the monastery. She is a good student, but she is rash, and impatient. Assigned with the task of returning the captured thief to the nearest military garrison, Popalia openly swears to see to the scepter’s return. This is the beginning of heresy.
Wynkkur is an exiled elf. He’d accidentally learned the ability to cast spells, but was exiled before he could control it. Adopted by the temple, Wynkkur has served as a wilderness guide for pilgrims. He’s remained with the priests for twenty-two years in exchange for food and sheltered. Fate has picked him to protect the priestess, even though he is not a fighter. This is the beginning of power.
Damnation Books is known for its dark themed writing. How does the Wrong Way Down fit in? Are there aspects of horror in your writing?
This is a dark tale. The first story of the intended nine is the least dark of the series. This is a tale about the paradox of blind faith. Popalia, believes blindly in her church, its leadership, and her patron god. She follows the path she believes is the right way, but in turn, all the problems created in the story derive from her blind conviction.
In the beginning, there is hope, but that quantity keeps dwindling smaller and smaller with each new obstacle and book to come. In the end, it will be a true test of faith for the reader, because Popalia will eventually be exhausted. I think that is pretty dark.
As for terror, this first book isn’t horrific but as it unfolds there are some very intense scenes. I did not know Damnation Books existed when writing The Wrong Way Down and anticipated tricking my way into the New York market. Anyone who’s ever tried to get published knows how select they are in what they buy. It is hard to fill bookstores on uncertainty. What I mean by trickery is like my saying ‘Hey big-brand publisher, look at this nice story I wrote for you,’ wink-wink. My secret plan was to progressively grow darker as the series deepened.
Lucky for me that didn’t happen and I stumbled upon Damnation Books. With this first story I changed very little from what New York saw, but I beefed up a couple action scenes to entice the Damnation reader. There will be elements of horror written sporadically throughout this series. I took ‘the gloves off’ for Book Two (almost finished, but still unnamed.) It should tickle the fear bone quite nicely.
You write very descriptively. Who are your inspirations?
The top three to inspire me would be Ray Bradbury, Don Pendleton, and Gary Gygax.
Bradbury is a master at telling stories and pin-pointing ironies. Fahrenheit 451 is among my favorite books, a story of the future where censorship is so ingrained in America, that firemen no longer put out fires, but are book-burning police. My favorite part in Fahrenheit 451 is when the hero has been snitched out for reading, and is sent by his smug and condescending boss to go into his own house to set the secret library on fire. Instead he turns the flame-thrower on his chief. I remember thinking, ‘guess you shouldn’t have been such a dick.’ The hero’s thoughts were not much different.
Don Pendleton wrote a really cool pulp series in the 70’s called ‘The Executioner: War Against the Mafia.’ That was what got me hooked on pulp. He wrote vivid gun-fights and created realistic car crashes. I’m talking bodies flung from flipping car, steel wreckage entangling through chain-link fencing, people trapped inside with the gas-tank burning– that type of crazy. The guy was great at describing utter carnage. I’ve read 22 out of 38 and I’ll be sad when I’m done with the series. Conan is the intended next big series I’ll read.
Gary Gygax was the credited creator of the old dice game known as Dungeons and Dragons. That is what got me hooked on the whole fantasy genre 20-years ago. There are books upon books written about ‘How to build a Castle’ ‘the History and Use of Medieval Weapons’ there were ‘monster manuals,’ and idea-handbooks about world-generation and believability. I was fascinated by all the information of its style, so I absorbed as much as I could. I’m now trying to create one hell of a cool fantasy series. My book is not a DnD game, but it is deeply inspired by the literature that surrounds the game.
What are your future writing goals/aspirations? Do you want to do this for a living?
I do want to write for a living.
I’ve tried my hand at many jobs, I’ve worked in the Food Industry (all facets from dish-washer to waiter), Factory Workshops, Warehouses, Hospitals (Cardiac Monitor Tech), Construction (concrete resurfacing, painting, tile,) and for a little while helped drug addicts get clean from drugs. The final score-card shows nothing makes me feel content as I feel when I’m writing.
I’m not fooling myself though, it is hard to make writing into a living, but I’ve got a very fun tale started, and it just keeps getting darker.
What’s the worst thing you’ve done to your characters?
Sadly, I can’t tell you without ruining the end of the book, but it is a terribly compromising position for a priestess to find herself in. I will list some things that are found inside– there is lots of fire, a couple of people get brutally clubbed, hidden within the forests are waylaying feral elves, and at one unfortunate point in the story there is magic that backfires. I should also inform about a bothersome pest; a pseudo-bear with paws the size of badminton racquets and protruding eye-teeth as long as thumbs. It wouldn’t be fair to say if anyone gets torn into meaty chunks.
Where can readers learn more about you and your writing?
I have a blog at jakeelliotfiction.com
It isn’t the prettiest site yet, but it is very user-friendly. The interface is simple and easy to navigate. The updates page will show where I’ll be doing signings, events, where people can but the book- a.k.a. vendors, and whatever I can’t think of right now.
