Speculative Spotlight: Brandon Jones

Today we’re shining the speculative spotlight on author Brandon Jones, writer of The Broken Man, an epic fantasy novel entered into this year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off.

Welcome to the Fantasy Inn, Brandon! How are you and how have you been?

Thanks! I’m currently writing this while listening to my new three-month old baby girl giggle, so I really couldn’t be better.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what types of stories you write?

I’m a Wyoming born kid who’s always loved telling stories in some form or another. When I was young, I told stories about my imaginary best friend (a skateboarding mouse named Mouse). As a teenager, I channeled that urge into angsty teenage songwriting. During my college years, I finally decided to try to write something people would actually want to read–epic fantasy.

I love writing characters who can–and tend to–take a beating without giving up and tend to fail with style. I like writing magic that readers can follow the first time they see it work. I love slowly doling out secrets and hidden consequences–both magical and character-based–that force characters and readers alike to re-evaluate what they think they know.

Pick three books: One that is the most memorable to you as a reader, one that had the greatest influence on your writing career, and one that you just love.

Most Memorable: Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls I know that’s an odd choice for a fantasy author, but stick with me. It was the first real chapter book I read as a kid–third grade, I think. I literally cried on the bus ride home while reading the scene where Ruben dies (spoiler?). It taught me how powerful fiction could be, a lesson that has helped shape my life ever since.

Greatest Influence: The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch There are so many ties for first place in this category. Locke is almost certainly the unconscious reason I made the protagonist of The Broken Man a thief. It’s also one of the first stories that made sense to me from a craft perspective. Understanding the tools that Lynch uses to make that story work helped me push my own storytelling abilities forward at a time when I was still basically flailing blindly.

One I Just Love: The Blinding Knife, Brent Weeks Brent Weeks, that mad genius, managed to cram two of my favorite moments in all of fiction into a single book. I get chills just thinking about them. I don’t even know how to say much more without risk of real spoilage. The Lightbringer Series. Go read it right now.

How did you first fall in love with the fantasy genre?

The Hobbit. I found it on my grandma’s bookshelf when we were there on summer vacation. It was the first fantasy book I had ever stumbled across and I was hooked from the first line. I don’t even have to look it up to remember it perfectly. “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” (I really hope I got that right.)

What made you want to become a writer?

I’m constantly telling myself stories and have been for as long as I can remember. I need some way to get them out of my head.

Do you have any fun hobbies you’d like to share?

I have so many random hobbies that come and go–from gardening to archery to woodworking. But my favorite will always be fly fishing. It’s somehow one of the most relaxing and exhilarating things I do.

A fun fact about yourself?

I grew up in a town founded by Buffalo Bill.

Are you writing under a pen name? If so, why? If not, would you ever consider writing under one?

Brandon Jones is my real name. Maybe I’ll write under a pen name someday. But not this day.

Care to share a photo of your writing space?

Tell us about the book you entered into SPFBO this year!

The Broken Man is about a man trying to live his childhood dream of becoming a legendary thief. Josen grew up on stories of thieving legends of the past, but the reality he’s living isn’t much like the stories his grandpa used to tell him. On the run, with a city in flames behind him, Josen and his friends flee back to Josen’s childhood home and a life and responsibility he wanted to leave behind forever.

Even worse, the Josen is afraid he’s brought trouble home with him and that all his fast-talking and clever schemes won’t be able to keep them safe. Even his magic—an ability usually only associated with drug addicts—can only do so much to balance the scales. The longer he struggles to balance his growing sense of responsibility with his thieving ambitions, the more apparent it becomes that the perfect setup is far from over, and Josen’s two worlds are on a violent collision course.

How did you acquire the cover art for your book?

Ari Ibarra is a spectacular artist. You may have seen his Cosmere fan art (which is how I found him). You can find his work at ariirf.com.

Why this particular story, of all the stories you could have written?

This story brings together a lot of “what if?”s that were bouncing around in my head. What if there was a magic that effected nearly every facet of culture, politics, and religion? What if that magic was the key to keeping hundreds of thousands of people from starving to death? And what would happen if a reckless thief was accidentally put in charge of all that?

What key takeaways do you hope readers walk away from your book with?

On top of being a fun adventure, The Broken Man is all about unintended consequences and having the courage to step up and do the hard thing when your moment comes.

Why did you enter SPFBO? What are you hoping to get out of the competition?

I stumbled across SPFBO a few years ago and decided that I wanted to be a part of it when I had a finished novel. I want what I think most authors want–a chance to get my story in front of SFF readers and show them the kind of story I can tell.

Which do you enjoy most: outlining, drafting, or editing?

Drafting. It’s the hardest part for me, but it’s also the most satisfying.

What does your writing process look like?

I’m working on worldbuilding / character building in the back of my mind basically all the time. When I find two or three ideas that I think work well together, I sit down and start a more formal worldbuilding process–coming up with magic, culture, basic history, etc. Then I put characters into that world and watch how they interact.

I often spend almost as much time getting to know their backstory as I do coming up with the plot of the novel. I find that the better I know the character’s backstory, the better I am at writing a story driven by character actions rather than plot needs.

The last stage of plotting is taking my character motivations and working them into a story structure that gives readers what they’re looking for, the surprising yet inevitable that we love so much from good stories. I try not to change too much during the drafting stage. Obviously there are countless details that you have to invent as you write, but the closer I can stick to my outline, the less work I have to do down the line to fix any changes I’ve made.

Editing is pretty straightforward. Sometimes I think I’ve come up with some huge change that will make the book way better. Usually, when I follow through on that change, I end up breaking more things than I fix.

Advice you wish you could give to your earlier self when you were first starting to write?

Don’t be afraid to jump into self-publishing. The sooner you get to it, the better.

What has been the best business decision you’ve made for your writing career?

Finally pulling the lever to publish my first novel.

What does a typical writing day look like for you?

I want to be an early morning writer, the kind who gets up at 4:30am and gets all their writing done before lunch. But I’m not there yet. Most of my best writing happens between midnight and 5:00am.

What are you working on right now?

I’m plotting the sequel to The Broken Man and drafting on an urban fantasy novel titled Need the Grave set during the industrial revolution. Think Harry Dresden meets Peaky Blinders.

What other projects can we expect from you in the future?

I’ve got to get more books out in the two series I’m currently working on. So more of those.

Thank you for stopping by the Inn, Brandon!

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About Brandon Jones

Born and raised in the mountains of Wyoming, Brandon has been telling stories since he was old enough to talk. With his debut novel, The Broken Man, Brandon has finally put one of those stories onto the page.