Author Interview #2-Jing Suh

A second author interview post for your viewing pleasure! This is paired with the review of "The Falling Rainbow" that I posted yesterday. I hope dear readers that you read both these posts and enjoy. I have fun putting up these interviews and I really hope you enjoy reading them. Without further ado please read on!

 

 

 

1)      What was the inspiration behind “The Falling Rainbow?”

Unfortunately, my initial inspiration for this novel was my friend's death. When she passed away, I had no idea how to deal with it so I just starting writing this short story about someone who was forced to deal with the sudden death of a loved one. Of course, the story takes its own turn, but it certainly helped me cope. By the way, her name is Amanda Palumbo. I never really dedicated the book to her because the book goes in such a different direction but it really does exist because of her. She always did inspire me and, even after she passed, she still seems to.

 

2)         Why did you decide to self-publish?

        I decided that I wanted this book to just find life. The experience of self-publishing is a lot different than I thought but I just wanted this book to be available right away. I also felt that with a published novel, it would make it maybe just a tiny bit easier to find bigger publishing for my next novel because now I've somewhat proven myself.

3)      What was your writing process?

After I finished the short story, I found myself writing about the history of one of the characters. I found him intriguing because he's a dark, sarcastic fallen angel. It was incredibly fun writing about him and allowing his character to take control of the story so I kept going with it. After I was done, I realized I had a novella, so I added another storyline which I managed to connect to everything. I had no idea where I was going with that last storyline, which is about a girl named Symphony who has a price on her head and the reader does not know why. With people trying to kill her, you just naturally root for her. I allowed that part of the story to write itself and it became the most rewarding part. It's also the part I'm most proud of and the one that gets the most compliments. I didn't realize why they were trying to kill her even as I was writing it but then it hit me and it really, in my opinion, makes the book worth it. So, I wrote without much direction in the beginning but, for some reason, it works well for this story.

4)         This was such a unique book, were you consciously trying to write for a small audience?

No, I was just writing to please one person and that was myself. So, actually, yeah! I did consciously write for a small audience of one. Ha! But, I knew that if I felt it lived up to my artistic standards than it truly would be a piece of art first and a novel second and I do consider myself an artist in writing so I was happy with it when it was completed and I felt that if it really was something unique then that in itself would make it special and possibly make it popular in its own way. I've met people who said they would never have read my book if a friend or co-worker or whoever it may be didn't push it on them and now they're glad they did because they really enjoyed it. That makes me feel incredibly happy.

5)        Do you have any authors who inspire you?

I'm not directly inspired by a specific author. My favorite book is a Chinese swordplay book by Gu Long written about 3 decades ago called “Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword.” I love his style of writing but most of the books that inspire me are ones with depth of character. “Picture of Dorian Gray,” comes to mind, maybe that's more along the lines of my book, actually.

6)        What’s next for you in the writing world?

I'm currently working on a Chinese swordplay novel of my own. Now, this one is more along the lines of a Gu Long novel. It's something like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” in terms of its adventure style but there are a lot of characters and it's been, thus far, a very detailed novel. I'm spending more time crafting this story than I have any other piece of artwork that I've created so I'm putting a lot into it and I'm hoping for a lot out of it but as long as it lives up to my new standards then I'll be happy with it. It's nothing like “The Falling Rainbow,” though that's probably another reason why I'm writing it. During a time where most writers stick to one sure thing, I believe that diversity is the most important trait for a writer to have. Wish others felt that way but maybe I'll be the one who changes their minds.