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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Someday Stars: Meet Alex James

Today Alex is giving away free e-copies of his self-published book, The Antpod Faction, on Amazon!

What’s your name, and where are you from?
 My name is Alex James. I am a self-published science fiction and fantasy author from the United Kingdom.

How long have you been writing?
I have been writing since I was 21, which is about three years. I never used to have an interest in writing when I was younger. Literature used to bore me, and I never imagined becoming a writer. And then I became absorbed by the science fiction and fantasy genre. Since then, I felt I had the ideas and passion to write something.

What genre(s) do you write?
 I usually only write science-fiction and fantasy, but that is a catch-all term for a lot of sub-genres that I write about. Some of the genres that appear frequently in my writing are the spy, superhero, political, military, and medieval genres—mainly anything that speaks power. I would say a lot of my writing features common themes of alienation and empowerment. 

What’s your current WIP? Can you tell us about it?
 I don’t actually have a current WIP. A few months back I started to write a spy/political short story based in an alternate world that resembled the divide present in the Cold War. However, I tend to write when the inspiration comes. But I do enjoy the process as well!

What’s your current day job? How does it help or hinder your writing?
 I don’t currently have a day job aside from my writing. Self-publishing my book is my day job. That does it get in the way of writing because I spend a lot of time doing hundreds of other tasks to make sure my book becomes as much of a success as possible. Sometimes the prospect of writing new works is forgotten about or delayed, unfortunately.

Who is your favorite author?
I don’t really have a favorite. But I tend to enjoy reading Philip K. Dick, R. Scott Bakker, and George R. R. Martin.

Favorite book?
It’s difficult to say what my favorite book is . . . maybe Frank Herbert’s Dune. The first Dune book is a science-fiction epic, and I would recommend the book to anyone.
  
What other hobbies or activities do you do outside of writing?
Outside of writing I don’t really do much, which sounds boring. I tend to spend the majority of my time trying to self-publish, and to work on my website. But I do a lot of proofreading of my work and once did a course in it.

In my spare time I read a lot, watch films, play stereotypically male video games, and occasionally watch anime.

What is something unique about yourself?
I tend to write rather unusual stories I think, where the protagonists possess problems most people don’t have. This could be attributed to a condition called Asperger Syndrome/High Functioning Autism, which my characters sometimes display.

Do you have a blog, Twitter, and/or Web site we can link to?
I have a new Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TheAntpodFaction

My website is progressively being updated: www.antpodfaction.co.uk

I have yet to create a twitter account. But when I do, typing in “The Antpod Faction” or “Antpod Faction” should yield some results.

Thanks for reading!

4 comments:

  1. Ooh free e-copies? Don't mind if I do...Your free time sounds a lot like mine, except I play typically female video games, and regularly watch anime!
    Charlie, there's an award for you on my blog :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, free copies today. Good, it is a cool way to spend free time. Interesting.

      Delete

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