A Conversation with Jamie Samland, a Dark Fantasy Author

Jamie Samland wanted to be a writer since he was ten years old. A black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Jamie dedicated his debut book, Realms of Terswood, the first volume in The Chronicler’s Awakening series, to his Tae Kwon Do instructor, Grandmaster Rose. As he was preparing for his black belt testing in his mid-thirties, having put his training on pause for eighteen years, Jamie thought of what other things he had started and never finished; publishing a book came to mind immediately. Jamie thinks it’s never too late to reach a goal, you need to just keep pressing toward them.

An interesting process that Jamie has for his writing is that sometimes the scenes and chapters in his books are constructed out of order. Jamie might know the final chapters of his story but then will go back and write the plots and characters leading up to that. Some of the characters for Jamie’s stories are based on Dungeons and Dragons characters which he plays weekly with friends (over Zoom now). When he isn’t writing thrilling fantasy stories for young adults and new adults, Jamie is a full-time web programmer who actively trains and teaches Tae Kwon Do with his husband. They live in Canton, Michigan with their four cats.

Let’s get started with a quick rapid fire.

Q1. If you could be transformed into one animal, which one would you choose?

One of my cats.

Q2. What time do you usually go to bed at night?

Midnight.

Q3. Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?

Introvert.

Q4. Who is your favorite Disney character?

Kronk.

Q5. Would you rather travel to the past or to the future?

Past.

Q6. What is your last Google search?

“Weather”.

Q7. What object do you misplace or lose the most?

My phone.

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Q8. What is the kindest thing someone ever did for you?

Pet rescue let us have another kitten, though we had 4 cats.

Q9. Learn by watching or learn by doing?

Doing.

Q10. Expensive presents or homemade presents?

Homemake.

Q11. What is one missed opportunity that you wish you could have a second chance at?

Wish I hadn’t quit marital arts at 15.

Q12. What is not a big deal to most people but is torture to you?

People mixing up homophones in email and text. Pronouncing “your” and “you’re” the same way.

It’s time for a more detailed conversation, Jamie.

You’ve answered our rapid fire exceedingly well, Jamie. Now, it’s time for our readers to know more about the person behind the book.

Q. Tell us something about yourself that’s going to make us wonder more about you.

I’m a third degree black belt and a published author with five books out. Martial arts training and writing are both things people say they want to do, few actually start, and it’s rare to meet a goal with either. I’m just stubborn. I’m used to writing the “standard fantasy” setting of castles and swords and magic, but my project now is a romance. That’s not what I read, but it’s the story I had in mind. A romance novel with two male protagonists written by a man. I’m wedging myself deep into a teeny tiny niche here.

Q. Well, that will keep you in our thoughts. So, what books did you grow up reading?

I read more sci-fi than fantasy going up; lots of Arthur C. Clarke. Then I got into fantasy with James Clemens and Terry Pratchett, and later, Richard A. Knaak.

Q. Interesting. What, to you, are the most important elements of good writing?

A story must have a strong cast of characters. I see posts on social media about “I’ve spent 4 years building my world, now to write a story to go in it!” That’s nice and all to have a full world, but that’s not a story, that’s a campaign setting. I play a lot of Dungeons & Dragons and am used to immersing myself in a role. I’ve found it translates to writing, allowing me to think and act as a character.

Q. Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

I always slip in the villain saying “must needs,” from my time playing FFXIV. I otherwise will throw in some inside jokes, like Aiden in Trials of Throk’tar referencing golliwoggles in the dark. My mother teased us about golliwoggles living in the dark basement when she’d send us down there to turn off the light.

Q. Now comes the most anticipated question that every author must answer. How do you process and deal with negative book reviews?

I guess I haven’t gotten any negative comments that feel credible and/or constructive. I noticed a 2 star rating on Good Reads, but with no text. I grumbled, but that’s clearly a troll or bot. For a local contest, my short story had a talking magic sword that made gross sexual comments. The judge complained about that, but it was exactly what I intended; an honorable knight using an impure tool to slay an evil being. He wins, but at what cost? Sorry you didn’t get that, judge.

Q. What comes first for you — the plot or the characters — and why?

Usually a setting, then characters, then plot. I imagine a world that is in some way different to ours. They have some kind of magic, or a different political structure. Then who are the important people in that setting? Or who isn’t important, but might have to become important? I start to think about who else they know and who’s important to them. Then, finally, what happens?

Q. How do you develop your plot and characters?

I write down an outline, but later look back and laugh at it. The characters often run rampant once I start putting fingers to the keyboard. In what I’m working on now, I needed the two main characters to have a villain somehow incapacitated in his house. …but it didn’t work that they could sneak in, so something completely different happened. …and they still ended up bashing the villain over the head to get the story back on track to where I needed it.

Q. What does literary success look like to you?

I have no realistic dreams of selling my stories to Netflix or even Apple TV. Writing is my main hobby. I don’t buy many PS5 games, don’t have green fees playing golf. Publishing the books is expensive, so one level of success would be for book sales to make the hobby a net zero hit on my bank account. But really, success would just be a person reaching out to say they enjoyed my writing.

Q. Let’s talk about your book. Tell us about it. No major spoilers.

The Chronicler’s Awakening trilogy (Realms of Terswood, Trials of Throk’tar, and Seeds of Farsil) are epic fantasy that cover a teenage girl coming into her power while her brother struggles to keep the country, and the rest of the realm, from falling apart after their aunt gets a little too into the necromantic arts. Its prequel, Necromancer of Urbus, follows the antagonist from Trials as he tries to atone for something he did over seven centuries before.

Ooo Shiny! Vol 1 is a collection of 19 short stories ranging from fantasy to murder mystery to contemporary fiction. There’s bound to be something for everyone.

And lastly, my current project Arcanym is a gaslamp fantasy romance. Elvan Galmoth is a disgraced noble fighting to save his mother before he’s thrown into exile along with her, and ends up taking down the monarch responsible. It’s slated for a Spring 2023 release.

Q. What part of the book did you have the hardest time writing?

Two of them: The deep emotional scenes are always hard. The dialog needs to be tight and spot on. The action and reactions must be perfect. Now in writing Arcanym, another difficult scene to write… the sex scenes. I’m a fan of “fading to black”, but I have to lead the reader right up to that point. I want a reader to set the book down after a chapter and fan their face, but keep in mind that my mother will be reading this.

Q. Would you and your main character get along? 

Elvan from Arcanym has a lot of my worst qualities. He’s a shy introvert, but he’s a really nice and caring guy. I think if we met, we’d both just wave, nod, and move on. If something forced us to talk for a while, I think we’d hit it off really well.

Q. What are the essential characteristics of a hero you can root for? 

They must have a believable weakness or flaw. Similarly, they need to have little quirks that a reader will start to see the hero as a real person in their mind. They’ll expect the hero to put their hands in their pocket or bite their lip. They know the hero will choose the route that *ISN’T* filled with spiders, but then they must to save someone else. Give them a weakness and have them overcome some of them. Give them quirks to make them feel real.

Q. Let’s talk about the process of writing. When you’re writing an emotional or difficult scene, how do you set the mood?

I usually have lofi music on while writing. If it’ll be a harder scene, I’ll probably grab a glass of whiskey or a beer to accompany me.

Q. What was your hardest scene to write?

In Arcanym, the two main characters were very close to dying. To simplify the setting, flood waters are rising and they have only a few minutes to escape. But the one’s mother is still on the island. I ran through so many series of events for this scene. They go back for her, but don’t make it to her. Or she doesn’t make it back to the escape location. Or they don’t risk it and just leave her. Or… a few others. I don’t remember a single scene with so many wildly different branching outcomes.

Q. It’s been fun. Now, before we wrap this up, do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?

I teach taekwondo. Last week, a student came up to me, asking, “Master Samland—” I stopped correcting them on my title a while ago, I’m not a master yet “—are you working on any books right now?” I said yes and gave a very high level recap of my romance novel. Then he offered a few book ideas, telling me the plot. But that’s a newspaper article, not a story. I don’t want to read a book about a star that exploded 34 lightyears away and sent graviton waves blah blah. I want to read about an amateur astronomer that noticed the explosion and blah blah. So my suggestion, if you start with a plot, always reframe it from a single character’s perspective. Dig into how that one person will drive and affect the plot, not the other way.

Also: starting your writing career with a trilogy involving a complex magic system and time travel is a bad idea. Do that later.

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