James Norwood Interview Published on: 05, Oct 2021

I was born in Germany. My father was in the army. I was fortunate to live in Germany twice during my youth.

I’ve always loved to read. Some of my passion for the written word came courtesy of my 3rd grade teacher who read “The Secret Garden” to us. I also fell in love with Roald Dahl books like “James and the Giant Peach.”

I’ve been watching SciFi on TV and in movies since I was very young. I often boast that I’ve seen every single Star Wars movie, from the very first one, in their original theatrical runs. I’m also a big fan of Start Trek. The newer iterations in the movies I’m not really into. I mean, how do you destroy Vulcan? Right? I can also remember reading a series called The Tripods when I was in middle school. High School for me was all about Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke!

Writing has always been something that comes easy to me. It was always a goal to write a novel, but it took some time for me to get there. Life tends to get in the way. Writing my first novel, “A Trio of Worlds,” was a thrill to me. Now that I’m working on my third novel, I know that I have it in me to keep going and that Trio wasn’t a one-off for me.

The only fantasy books I read with any kind of regularity were the Lord of the Rings series and The Hobbit. I loved how Tolkien weaved his invented languages all throughout the books. I ended up working on a constructed language of my own for my own fictional universe. I think the influence of Tolkien played into that choice. I could have made my aliens speak English, but where’s the fun in that?

Having a twin has always been just part of who I am. I don’t know how to explain it except to say that from birth I had a built-in friend, enemy, and co-conspirator. As adults we aren’t as close but it was definitely a fairly unique experience when we were young. Being army brats I think it helped us be more adaptable to our constantly changing circumstances and venues.

I don’t really know that I have one particular inspiration for Gallagher. He’s a fairly archetypical kind of character but in some ways I can relate to him. He just goes about minding his own business but the universe has other plans for him. I think he could be a blend of various heroic characters like Han Solo or Bilbo Baggins. However, when I created my Three Worlds universe, I tried to make it as unique as possible from other fictional worlds I’ve read in the past. Maybe it worked, I don’t know.

I wanted to spend time exploring the dark history of the arch-villains in Trio. I always felt that the D’lai were more victim than monster so Heirs was always going to be about their past and their salvation.

I love hardback books but I also love the convenience of having eBooks and bringing my library with me on whatever device I’m using.

For me, the best writing tip I’ve ever received was actually not a writing tip at all. “Just keep swimming” was a line from Finding Nemo and it really rings true for me as a writer. Sometimes when I’m writing I write myself into a corner. It would be easy to give up, but I remember the immortal words of Dory and I just keep writing until I’ve found a solution.

I can always find fault with my own writing and I sometimes wonder why anyone would read my work at all. However, I believe I’ve crafted a realistic and exciting world of characters and situations and I’m confident in that. I love world-building in novels. I do find it odd and kind of funny that everyone assumes that my series, “The Three World Chronicles” will be a trilogy. I’ve always imagined it as a series of at least four books.

Being a middle school teacher is fun but also amazingly difficult. I love my students and it’s exciting when they get a major concept or discover something new. Teaching during the pandemic has been rather life-altering for me. The year and a half in distance learning was hard and I’ve never worked longer hours, however, the constant worry and trying to be safe in-person is exhausting. Nevertheless, teaching is a major joy and I can’t imagine any other career for me.

One thing I do constantly is I re-read previous work. I find that helps me eliminate inconsistencies in the story. It also helps inspire me to keep the pace up and reminds me of storylines I want to explore.

I’m currently working on the third book in the series. Right now it has no name, but that will come to me eventually. I’m exploring the arrival of the Cathari on Earth and also the aftermath of the second D’lai invasion. It’s going to be pretty exciting stuff, and I’ve already done some interesting plot twists.

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