Interview with Indie Debut Author Jo Ramsey

As a way to support each other, the Indie Debut writers will be hosting each other on their “blog tours.” Here is our first member, Jo Ramsey, talking about her new book.

Connection by Jo Ramsey
Reality Shift Book One
cover art by Winterheart Designs
YA metaphysical fantasy novel
ISBN# 978-0-9826023-3-1

At the start of high school, Shanna Bailey doesn’t imagine her life will change. She’s always been the one everyone else puts down, even her own mother. Shanna is positive high school will be no better. But when she meets Jonah Leighton, everything changes.  Shanna finds him to be kind and thoughtful, and he amazes her with the things he knows. Even more amazing, he wants to teach her what he’s learned, and he wants to be her friend.

When Kaylie Sturbridge, one of the popular crowd, starts acting strangely, flipping out in school and shouting about a dark thing following her, her friends shun her. Only Jonah seems to know what’s going on, and he persuades Shanna to work with him to help Kaylie. But can the two of them rid Kaylie of the entity that wants to take over? And can Shanna trust herself enough to do what Jonah needs her to?

~    ~   ~

Jo, I heard in an interview that you write 2,500 – 5,000 words per day – I don’t know anyone else who can claim this (other than Stephen King who writes 10 pages per day) – you must have a very disciplined writing ritual! Can you tell us a little bit about your writing habits?

I’m not really all that disciplined, to be honest. I’m just stubborn. What I generally do, instead of saying that I have to write for X amount of time per day or X amount of words or pages, is do what I call “writing blasts.” For half an hour, I close all browser windows, Twitter, etc. and just write. It doesn’t have to be perfect; it doesn’t even have to make sense. I just have to write steadily for those 30 minutes. I usually do three or four writing blasts per day, and my word count for each 30 minutes is usually 1200-1600 words.

Wow, you must be a supernatural typist as well. Are paranormal stories your primary genre or do you dabble elsewhere?

I write romance under a different name. In YA, I primarily write paranormal.

What exactly is metaphysical fantasy? Can you give us some other examples of it?

To me, “metaphysical” has to do with some things that people might think of as supernatural, but aren’t really. Stuff like energy healing (Reiki is one example of that, though not the only type), channeling, reading people’s energy fields, working with the chakras, or energy centers… that kind of thing. So I guess I’d define metaphysical fantasy as a novel with fantasy elements, such as the demon in Connection, but in which the characters practice some form of metaphysical skill rather than using magic or “powers.”

So skills  we could all technically learn. What were some of your favourite books growing up?

Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising series, because I liked the tie-ins with Arthurian legend and the fact that many of the characters were seemingly normal kids. The stories take place in the “real world”, and that’s my favorite type of fantasy story.

Have you ever written in any other forms (poetry, non-fiction, etc)?

I used to write poetry in high school. Otherwise, no, it’s all been fiction.

Do you have any writing exercises / tools that you use or recommend? Or any books on writing that you really like?

Not really. I tend not to read writing books because the ones I’ve looked through either tell me to do what I’m already doing or contradict things that work for me. And I don’t know any writing exercises.

Other than the spontaneous “writing blasts” you do, I definitely think that’s a kind of exercise. Last question… If a patron of the arts said she would send you on a writing retreat for a month anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Ooh, that’s a tough one. Wales, I think. I’ve always wanted to go there.

The Electronic version of Jo’s book was released on Jan 15. The print version will be available on Jan 29. Visit Jupiter Gardens to get your copy.

Jo is available for school visits and author appearances at libraries and independent bookstores. Visit her School Visits Page for more information.