Welcome to our Writers Wednesday Spotlight! Each week we will be highlighting a different geeky writer we think you might like to check out. For this week’s spotlight, we are excited to introduce you to Jay Requard!
His book “Thief of Destiny, The Saga of the Panther” was released on July 6, 2017 from Falstaff Books!
You can purchase “Thief of Destiny, The Saga of the Panther” here: “Thief of Destiny, The Saga of the Panther”
About Jay Requard
(in his own words)
Born on a grim gray day in Baltimore, Jay Requard is a fantasy author raised in the hills of North Carolina. His work features hardened heroes set against the greatest odds with little more than hope and the strength of their courage to save themselves and the world. He loves reading about the history and culture of the Iron Age, India, Scotland, and brews as well as cooks. He has read too much fantasy, yet not enough either.
In his spare time Jay enjoys lifting weights, hiking mountains, and coming back to write some more. He has a fluffy cat named Mona.
He is the host of the podcast THE HEROIC ERA and the Instagram shows SOCK PUPPET REVIEWS and THE KING OF FANTASY. His novella, WAR PIGS, was nominated for the Manly Wade Wellman Award for “Best Fiction by a North Carolina Author”, and he is the recipient of the 2016 Write Well Award for his novelette, MASK OF THE KRAVYADS.
About “Thief of Destiny, The Saga of the Panther”…
The only way Manwe the Panther can save his homeland is to rob it blind.
Lurking in the shadows of Tolivius’ oppressive metropolis, the savannah’s greatest thief has spent years pilfering one rich Gypian lord after another, fueling a war that will set his native Juutans free. Yet in those same alleys and on the dusty plains he calls home something else has arisen—something with designs far darker than simply releasing the enslaved.
Chased by an enigmatic sorcerer, Manwe must peel back the shadow of worlds above and below, and on the brutal plains of the savannah none will be found innocent. Cutting his way past kings and criminals alike with his cruel iron, the secrets of the earth will be revealed, leaving his entire world shaken to its core by monsters found in the darkest depths of the human soul.
The revolution has arrived and none will be spared.
From the award-winning author of War Pigs, THIEF OF DESTINY collects THE SAGA OF THE PANTHER in a complete volume of intense action, roiling passions, and the never-ending fight to live free in a world ruled by corruption and ancient magic.
5 Questions with . . . Jay
- When did you first realize you were interested in becoming an author? What drives you to write?
I first discovered my ability to write senior year of high school by complete accident, but I cannot truly speak from where the drive comes from. My love of fantasy as a reader is certainly a large part of it—I rarely write outside the genre—but I also sincerely love the work. Being able to sit down and turn words into a story, a story into a book, is where I can get to exorcise my worst fears, reinforce the wonders I’ve been able to discover, and hopefully entertain someone for the brief time they allow me to do so. - How would you describe your style or genre of writing to a potential fan?
Great characters, fast-paced action, and the most authentic stories I can muster. Characters need to be on the page doing something to keep your attention and they need to do something that resonates with the reader. I do my best to give readers these things in my fantasy. - What are you currently working on? What are you working on next?
Many things! I am about finish my newsletter-exclusive series, The Pale Sand Adventures, which will be collected and released as a complete series sometime near the end of 2018. The first quarter of 2019 will see the release of a Grimdark novel, A Kingdom of Light and Mirrors where Lord of The Rings meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon when two wizards go East in search of evil. I also have two separate series coming out from Falstaff Books—the first being my Fantasy novella-series Salt Songs, which combines Pirates of the Caribbean with Imaro in a high fantasy adventure at sea! They will also release my debut into Urban Fantasy with The Driver of Serpents, the first novel in The Trials of St. Patrick. Think of it like Boondock Saints meets Dogma, but with a talking rooster as an in-law.I’m currently working on A Kingdom of Light and Mirrors alongside my first romance novel The Western Mountains, which is a Fantasy where a shaman and an alchemist must endure a chaotic magical wilderness while they try to root out the source of evil that plagues it. I’m having a lot of fun with that one. That one will be ready for market in 2019. I have a few more things planned as well, but I think I’ve given myself enough work to do!
- What existing book do you wish you had written and why?
“Tehanu” by Ursula K. Le Guin. I’ve yet to read a book as flawlessly-written yet emotionally packed as her final Earthsea novel, and while I could cite the Dragonlance series by Weis and Hickman, or a Drizzt book by RA Salvatore, Le Guin’s mastery is what I aim for, and this book is a damned fine example of it. - What is one piece of advice you would give to a budding writer?
Build yourself a system to get the work done. You can have the best social media accounts, the prettiest website, and great author photos—if you’re not writing the books for potential readers to read then you can’t produce the reason you need to necessitate those things, and then they are just things. Find a way to get sit down and easily produce 500 words a day in a manuscript. Then a thousand. Then two thousand. Then five thousand. Or develop word sprints, where you write 200-500 words a day every day whenever you can! Whatever you do, put together a system that helps you get the story out of your head and onto the page. It’s the work that is going to give you a career, not the packaging.Be devoted to producing the best work you can. That takes a lot, but it is worth the effort.