Someday Stars: Adam Meyers

What’s your name, and where are you from?

I'm Adam Jared Meyers, from Sioux City, IA. Currently living in Provo, Utah while my wife goes for her Masters and I write and take care of kids. 

How long have you been writing?

It's something I always wanted to do, but only did bits and pieces before college. I guess you could say I was the perpetual amateur until I took Brandon Sanderon's class a few years ago and got serious. I've been writing ever since.

What genre(s) do you write?

Mostly Sword and Sorcery and Epic Fantasy. I'm sure I could do others, but I'm sticking to what I know best until I've got a few books worked out. 

What’s your current WIP? Can you tell us about it?

When I was first getting serious about writing, I realized that all my ideas seem to take place in the same four worlds. Currently I'm working on one of them, Seraphuul, and a Sword and Sorcery tale of the prophet Karn and the thieves Aevan and Torr.

Seraphuul is a campaign setting using the Pathfinder RPG rules. I dabble in game design, and the idea is to create integrated stories: to turn Seraphuul into both a series of novels and a working campaign setting to publish (I'm a Felicia Day fan, and following her example I'm making integrated worlds that work in multiple mediums. One of the side effects of being a writer, an actor, and a GM.)

Karn is an old war vet who, almost against his will, has become the prophet of a minor god looking to expand his influence in the world. Now he's got a mission: unite the land, expulse the spirits and prevent a civil war, which is a tall order when any of his priests could be a double agent possessed by the enemy. His solution? Put his trust in two people he knows aren't possessed: two thieves who tried and failed to rob him the night before.

What’s your current day job? How does it help or hinder your writing?

Stay-at-home dad and film actor. Acting doesn't really interfere with writing, but wrestling two boys under the age of three definitely does. It's wonderful and I'm getting experiences that will make some great books in the future, but it definitely takes up a lot of writing time. For me the secret is just to not stop: think about the books during the day, then find time at the end of the day to write them down.

Who is your favorite author?

That's hard to say since I'm a classic book guy. For modern books, anything by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Go back a bit and I'd say the Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis. George Bernard Shaw and Shakespeare, with Virgil and Homer bringing up the end of the Western timeline as we know it, so I'll stop there.

Favorite book?

Oh gosh... the Aeneid's great if you really understand it. Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing (if you count plays, which I do,) and for recent books... The Wheel of Time, particularly book 2, but since Brandon hasn't finished the series yet, the position of best book in the series is still up for grabs.

What other hobbies or activities do you do outside of writing?

I'm a SAFD certified actor combatant, so I do a lot of stage combat (rapier/dagger, broadsword, hand-to-hand.) I'm also an old Tae Kwon Do guy who's recently done a bit of Wing Tsun. I also Ballroom Dance and have been known to give private lessons occasionally, and of course video games and tabletop RPGs. 

What is something unique about yourself?

A lot of what I listed above I guess, plus there's my business plan. I'm not just writing books. My end goal is to take the company I'm starting, Drop Dead Studios, and use it to publish books, Pathfinder supplements, video games, Web series, and everything else I choose to do with my properties.

It's not about fear of publishing or wanting to go “indie” (I'd take a publishing deal in a heartbeat), but I've found I really admire those who hold onto all their IPs and turn them into amazing cross-platform stories. So, unless something changes, that's what I'm going to do with Seraphuul: make something great from it across all platforms.

Do you have a blog, twitter, and/or Web site we can link to?

My blog is www.adam-meyers.com, where I talk not just about life and writing, but try to step into the space between mediums where we're dealing with story itself instead of one form of storytelling. My work in progress will be at www.seraphuul.com, and my company will be at www.dropdeadstudios.com when they're both finished.