13 Questions with...James A. Moore

1. Name one thing you miss about being a child.


 

Freedom. I miss being able to daydream without interruption and the ability to spontaneously try new things without fear of consequence.

 

2. You’re hosting a dinner party. What is the menu, and do you cook it yourself, or do you call a caterer?


 

An actual dinner party? We’ll start with a nice salad: tomatoes, cucumber, green onions, a red wine vinaigrette. For an appetizer let’s go with baked brie with apples and walnuts. For dinner itself a beef tenderloin en croute with béarnaise sauce, creamed spinach, artichoke hearts with drawn butter. For desert a properly decadent chocolate mousse cake.

Or, if we’re going with my usual budget, spaghetti and meatballs.

 

And I cook. I’m a mean cook.

 

3. Are you a collector of anything and if so, what?


 

I have a nice collection of skulls. No real ones. I believe the one I have in my head is the only real one I need but I do like to collect various skulls. I find them aesthetically pleasing. Also I have a small but growing collection of high-end statues of different comic book characters. Mostly villains.

 

4. You're about the walk the Green Mile - what do you have for your last meal?


 

My very last meal….Probably pizza. Or my mom’s goulash.

 

5. Physical book Vs an E-Reader. Your preference and why?


 

I like them both for different reasons. The physical books because I love the feel and smell of books. I like the weight in my hands and I love a good piece of artwork. Ultimately my preference is probably for “real” books. Ebooks because, hello, several hundred books that I can carry with me anywhere and when it comes to Stephen King, the real books are bloody heavy.

 

6. What are you currently reading?

 

Hair Side, Flesh Side by Helen Marshall, a brilliant collection of short stories put out by ChiZine Publications. Highly recommended. I am also rereading THE BLADE ITSELF by Joe Abercrombie, who has become one of my favorites. I am also line editing a few things for myself and reading about five different ARCS for different writers.

 


7. What musical artist are you currently into?

 

Almost easier to name the ones I’m NOT interested in, but currently my favorites include Ray LaMontagne, Disturbed, Gordon Lightfoot, Iron & Wine, The Derek Trucks Band, Amos Lee, Adele, David Gray, Gangstagrass, Kasey Lansdale, Norah Jones and Glen Hansig. The answer varies by the day.

 


8. Do you have a hidden talent?

 

Nope I’m pretty much a what you see is what you get sort of guy.

 


9. What's your favorite word?

That’s as cruel as asking an artist what her favorite color is.  Today’s answer is Love. Why? Because there an myriad connotations involved in the use and misuse of that word.

 


10. What is your current desktop wallpaper?

 

A galactic cluster. I’m contemplating going to an autumn motif, but not just yet.

 


11. You're at a Chinese buffet - what goes on your plate?


 

Crab Rangoon, salt and pepper shrimp, lo mein, a few chicken wings, a bowl of hot and sour soup.

 

12.  What kinds of books make up your personal library?


 

I have a staggering collection of horror. No real surprise there. I have a decent collection of fantast books and a number of classic science fiction volumes as well. In the non-genre set I have most of John Irving’s books and a few others.

 

13. What advice would you pass on to an aspiring author?


 

I went to 17 schools in twelve years of schooling. I did not do well in school and I had to teach myself the basics of grammar and the English language (I had some very good help and advice from a few friends of mine). Despite this minor setback I have managed to write and sell a good number of books.

 

My point? Never give up on your dreams. They are yours. Make them come true.

Review: Seven Forges by James A.Moore

Seven Forges
by
James A. Moore
Available through Amazon (print and Kindle),
B&N (print and Nook).

Good evening constant reader.

If you like a sword and sorcery epic with characters who all but grab you by the hand and drag you through the narrative, a story line that takes your interest and holds it hostage until it's had it's way with you, a lot of action, is well-paced and is so good, you don't want to put it down, but at the same time, don't want to finish it too quick (then the awesome is over), this book my dears, is for you.

Merros Dulver is leading a group of men making their way to explore the Seven Forges, spikes of mountain that can be seen from the distance of their home land Fellein, but until now have remained unexplored. They encounter a race of people who populate this wild and barren land and it seems as if they were "expected" - Merros's arrival was foreseen. The strangers he discovers there join him on his return to Fellein, but Merros wonders if this might be a mistake, to mix his people with the newcomers. The newcomers's Gods are rather martial and they have wild ways about them. Yet they return to Fellein, and the stage is set.

As I kept reading, I got more and more sucked in to this world and the magic and interesting creatures that abide there. There's more than enough sword play, a sorcerer who gave me the wiggins and made me never want to trust him, a young man who loses a lot and gains more, so much more, but at what ultimate cost, female characters that are more than just pretty faces, though there are some pretty faces, too, and an ending I didn't see coming and when it arrived, with too few pages left in the book, told me we're in for another installment in this series.

My biggest gripe about fantasy writing is it can get too caught up in itself and stretch on and on and on and on, lasting for umpteen volumes. With each new installment, the story starts to stretch our further and further from the core that captured one's attention in the first place.  This is why in my pleasure reading, I tend to shun multi-volume epics. Until now.

Mr. Moore, James if  I may...I hope you've got the next volume in this series written, or if not written, at least well mapped out, because I want more, and so will everyone else who has any taste other than in their mouths.

Circle September 24, 2013, as that's the date this bad boy hits the shelves.

For more information on James A. Moore:
The Official Web Site of Author James A. Moore
James A. Moore on Goodreads
James A. Moore on Facebook