Hi everyone! Posting a little later than usual today, but I have been a positively busy bee today and am just now getting a chance to write this blog. Anyway! Last week I interviewed J.D. Toombs, one of the two authors of The Fragmented Chronicles series. Read on for our chat!
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Talli: You scored the lucky Friday the 13th interview! I’m excited to learn more about your books, so let’s start with an introduction. Can you tell me a little about what you write and what inspires you?
JD: I write Young Adult Urban Fantasy. JUDD, which is in a series called the Fragmented Chronicles, is superhero inspired, and not only that but my writing is very inspired by manga and anime as well as some things in my real life.
So it’s kind of an amalgamation of comics from two sides of the pond that I’ve read all my life with some YA tropes.
Talli: Ooh that's such an interesting blend of genres. Must be a lot of fun to write!! I love that you bring in real-life elements in addition to media you enjoy. Are there any particular books/series/movies that inspired the plot of JUDD? What would you best compare it to?
JD: I’d say it’s maybe a mix of Sky High, Simon vs. [the Homo-Sapiens Agenda], and the Michael Vey books.
I say three because one’s a movie, one’s a book series and one’s a book and a movie lol but I’d say it’s a mix of all those things together.
Talli: Oh that sounds awesome! I love that combination. How long has JUDD been with you?
JD: I’ve been writing it [since] 2011, but it started out something very different. I wanted to write a anime-inspired gay rom-com coming out story and then it gained the superpowers from my love of American superhero comics, then the rest inspirations fell into place sort of at different times of consuming them. JUDD has been through a lot of drafts and idea building of the years and I think that’s why I decided to publish it before any other work I’ve written because I’ve written since middle school, I’ve practically had a laptop attached to me all through school writing something and JUDD was one of those things.
Talli: Ahhh I love that!! I felt the same way about my debut; it just felt right that a project that'd been with me for so long was my first published book. I definitely understand the numerous drafts and rewrites! How much of JUDD has stayed the same over time? Is there anything that has stuck around since the first draft?
JD: The characters have been consistent throughout the drafts. Sam and his friends and team members as well as their coach, at least have been the same all the way through, a few of them I made on GaiaOnline and would draw them a lot.
I always loved drawing my own characters when I was in school and in my 20s (Well, early 20s, I’m still in my 20s but I’m in Jan I’m out of my 20s) XD I write a lot more than I draw lately but I still doodle on my iPad.
Talli: Fantastic!! I also enjoy drawing my characters :) It's cool that you've had the same cast through each iteration of the story and they've adapted to your changes. What made you choose self publishing for JUDD rather than going the traditional route?
JD: I’m a control freak and I knew I wanted JUDD to be a series and not to be told “no, it can’t be,” but I also just prefer the slow incline if that’s to happen for my books. I’m working on JUDD II right now and it’s been a while since I started something kind of brand new so I’m using everything I’ve learned throughout the many years of drafting its first book, it’s coming out a bit faster because now I have a plan and I know where I want Sam’s main plot to go and I want him to grow as a character and a person throughout the overarching story I have planned for him.
Talli: That's completely valid!! I absolutely understand not wanting to play the waiting game that is trad pub. What has been the most rewarding thing about self-publishing for you?
JD: Just getting my story out there and being able to say I’m a story-teller, also being able to say “I did it, I put my story out there for whoever to see and love, or hate, and give their opinion on if they want.” And I find that very rewarding all in itself. I have 10 reviews on JUDD and the good and bad, they motivate me to write more and do better and evolve my craft, I find them very exciting instead of this weird thing where some trad authors are responding angrily to FOUR STAR reviews!
Talli: Yesss!! It's such a win to be able to say "I'm a published author." It still doesn't seem real to me some days hahah And honestly yes I'm grateful for every review I get!!
Thank you so much for chatting, JD!
JD: Awesome, thank you for having me!
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So there you have it!! JUDD is on my TBR list (along with...you know, dozens of other books), and after hearing about the inspirations for the story I'm all the more intrigued to read it now! If you want to learn more about JD's book you can find it here, and the prequel novella, Fragments, here! Explore more about JUDD on JD's website, and follow him on Twitter.
That's all for today! See y'all next week, and thanks for reading!
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