Interview with Vic Tapscott
Author of Jane Bond
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What's the basic plotline in Jane Bond?
- Amateur archeologist Jane Bond finds a 140 million year old spacecraft, then chases all over the world to find ways of repairing it.
Does any of Jane's story come from your life?
- None, it's all made up. Many of the places are familiar towns to me, but most of it comes from research on the internet and imaginative use of other people's stories.
Jane Bond is is a good example of quasi-science fiction humor. Who has inspired you?
- Terry Pratchett, Jim Butcher, Ben Aaronovitch - they tend to poke fun at the world through humor about serious stuff.
You make good use of locations in the book – there’s a real sense of place. Are these locations significant for you?
- Most of the locations in the book are real places that I have at least some real experience with. It's fun to insert bits of real life into fiction, and it excites people to find a book written about an area near them.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors? How would you advise a new author about traditional publishing versus self publishing?
- For me, self publishing was the only way to go - literally. I'd have no idea where to even start with traditional publishing. Advice? Edit edit edit. If you're not an editor, hire one. If you can't afford one, don't publish your book until it's been edited. There are few things worse than a book chock full of horrible grammatical errors and plot holes - as I reader, I do notice those things and "good enough" has to be really good to pass.
Which authors do you most admire? Which qualities, in particular, have influenced your writing?
- Jim Butcher for his showing of the kindness through strength that imbues Harry Dresden. Terry Pratchett for showing it's allowed to be funny. Aaronovitch for showing me that you can truly get to know and care for a fictional character.
Jane Bond, after a gentle prologue, pretty much hits the ground running and seldom slows for a breath. Was that done on purpose?
- Mostly, Jane was written at her own pace. However, that was mostly from the fact of the book just wanting to free itself from my fingers. It was very fast and I was always interested in finding out what happened next - so it moved along in my head as fast as it does on paper!
If Jane Bond were to be adapted for TV or film, who would you see in the lead role? Did you have anything like that in mind when you wrote it?
- While I think that Jane Bond would make a great movie, I never really thought about stars. Maybe Sandra Bullock, but I'm slightly in love with Sandy. She'd be good in anything.
How have readers responded to Jane Bond?
- Very positive, most people seem to like the story and how it hangs together. With its fast paced flow and its easy read, fun and adventure without a lot of negative energy, people seem to become attached to it. And Jane.
Where next? What are you working on now?
- Now that the sequel is done, I have a slightly different set of heroines for my next project, "Lacey & Alex and the Dagger of Ill Repute". I'm also some distance into "Cinnamon Roll Capers - Catnapped!", which is a cozy mystery.
