Whit McClendon was born on October 31, 1969 in Freeport, Tx. He grew up in Angleton, Texas and was active in martial arts, track and field, and playing the clarinet in band. One year at Texas A & M proved that lacrosse was far more fun than electrical engineering, and he eventually graduated with a degree in Engineering Design Graphics from Brazosport College. After working in the petrochemical field as a CAD drafter for many years, Whit finally achieved his life’s dream of becoming a full-time martial arts instructor. He now lives with his family in Katy, Texas, plays lacrosse as often as possible, and runs Jade Mountain Martial Arts. He laughs a lot more now than he did when he worked at the engineering firm. Welcome to author Whit. Thanks so much for taking the time to fill out 27 Questions so readers can better get to know you and your work! 1. What got you started writing to begin with? I wrote scenes and short stories to amuse myself when I was in junior high, and kept doing so whenever the mood struck me as I grew older. I’ve always enjoyed telling stories, and writing was just an extension of that. 2. What was the first thing you wrote? The first thing I remember writing was a story about a boy who finds a tiny alien sphere that grants him amazing powers. There’s always been an element of fantasy and magic in my writing because that kind of thing fascinates me. I also find it hugely entertaining, so there you go. 3. What inspires you? In terms of my writing, just about anything can inspire me. Music, art, conversation, I’ve found something to write about in many perfectly ordinary things. I also read a lot, and although I never feel right about taking something so blatant as characters or identical situations, I still grab things here and there. I may read an entire book and come away with the idea that I need more rain in my story because weather played a big part what I’d just read. 4. Do you “people watch” for your writing? <chuckle> Nah, I people watch because it’s entertaining. Occasionally, I’ve seen someone that brings a character to mind or influences a brand new one, but that’s actually pretty rare for me. My characters tend to arrive fully realized. 5. Who are you favorite authors? Dennis L. McKiernan, David Gemmell, Simon Green, Raymond E. Feist, Jim Butcher, Dean R. Koontz...so many great authors, so little time. 6. What is your favorite book? Wow, that’s like asking me to pick which piece of chocolate cake I like the best. Here are a few of my favorites. All of the following have either made me cry, yell, laugh, or pump my fist at some point. Lightning by Dean Koontz, The Iron Tower Trilogy by Dennis L. McKiernan (hey, I have an omnibus edition, it’s one book!), Pet Sematary by Stephen King, Small Vices by Robert B. Parker. All of the Druss the Legend tales from David Gemmell are fabulous. There are so...many...more. I read constantly, and just don’t feel right if I don’t have a book nearby. 7. What genre do you most like to read? Fantasy/sword and sorcery. LOVE that stuff. 8. What genre do you write? Fantasy/sword and sorcery. The trilogy that I’m writing now is heroic fantasy, but the other stories that I have either started or outlined have some element of magic or supernatural influence in them. I love that kind of atmosphere, and find that it makes an effective medium for the stories I want to tell. 8a. Is this reflective of what you read? Mostly, though I’ve also been known to read more modern adventure novels, detective stories, and the occasional horror. Have I mentioned that I read a lot? 9. What genre do you have a difficult time with that you wish you could write? I wouldn’t mind being able to write a good detective story, but I doubt I’ll ever put in the time and energy to do that. I enjoy reading those, but I’m never really inspired along those lines. 10. What kind of research do you do or have you done for your story? Hey, Google is a goooood friend of mine. I also bounce things off of a few writer friends from time to time. I do want to make sure that nothing jumps out as being incorrect, but in my genre, I get an awful lot of leeway. Things like castle defenses, rates of travel via horse and on foot, ancient currency exchanges, those are things I like to detail more thoroughly so that nothing jumps out at the reader as being ‘off.’ I’m a martial arts instructor with training in quite a few martial arts, so writing about medieval combat and training is especially fun for me. 11. Do you have any writing rituals like eating chocolate or lighting incense? Not really. I seem to do my best writing in my office at my martial arts school. I’d write more at home, but I always end up with our two pugs in my lap and they tend to put me right to sleep. Seriously, they’re better than Ambien. Can’t write a dang thing with them there, all warm and cuddly. I do listen to music sometimes, but that’s the next question. 12. Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what kind? I often listen to Pandora, I have an Enya station and a Loreena McKennitt station, those work best for me. It’s very Celtic/New Age stuff, and sets the right mood for what I’m writing, and I’m not distracted by the words. 13. Introduce us to your current book. Mage’s Burden is the first in a heroic fantasy trilogy. When the evil sorcerer, Mordak, escapes after two thousand years of imprisonment, it is up to Brunar, the Mage, to gather the Guardians and oppose him. Using the ancient magick of the Jidaan, six ancient and magickal weapons, Brunar must find the men and women who are uniquely bound to each, and train them to use their extraordinary powers to defeat the vile wizard. Not all of the Guardians accept their destiny. Mage’s Burden tells of Brunar’s struggle to prepare his students for battle, and of the rise to power of the evil Mordak. Mordak is really, truly, baaaaad. I mean, I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘Yeah, that guy is just AWFUL! Who kills him??” I just laugh (somewhat evilly) and tell them they have to read the next two books to see what happens. 14. How long did it take you to write it? It took me over 20 years to finally get Mage’s Burden to print. Yes, yes, that’s an awfully long time and I feel badly about it. You see, in the past, I was an extremely lazy writer. I’d work hard for a couple of weeks and then not touch the manuscript for nearly a year before getting to it again. Life got in the way, and very often. In 2014, I finally decided that it was time to get MB published at last, so I tied it all up and pulled the trigger. Once I finally got MB published, I became much more motivated and disciplined with my writing, and I’m now nearing completion of book 2 in the series, Gart’s Road. It’s been a little over a year since I started GR and I’m literally about 5 pages from finishing the rough draft. 15. Which character(s) of yours do you most relate to? There’s a bit of me in almost all of my characters, even the evil ones. The leader of the ‘good guys’ is a Mage who is a scholar as well as a warrior, and as a martial arts instructor, I identify with him a lot. There’s also a young fighter who is very pure in his fighting style and not so clued in to a lot of social nuances. He’s a far better fighter than I’ve ever been, but I know that guy pretty well. I’ve also been as angry as Gart, so his blinding rage is not unknown to me. We write what we know and make up the rest, and I’m no different in that respect. 16. Who is your favorite character in this story? That’s a hard question. All of my characters are pretty near and dear to me. I will say that I have a group of priestesses that crack me up, and I really enjoy them a lot. They are healers who can kick some serious butt. They have...um...skills. I very much look forward to exploring their hijinks more thoroughly. 17. Which character is the best role model for readers? I have a number of heroic characters, and any of them would qualify, I think. Alyssa is the smallest of them, and is a healer rather than a fighter, but she’s just as powerful as the biggest fighter among them, and she’s willing to go toe to toe with anyone if necessary. She doesn’t let her lack of size, or the fact that she’s a woman, keep her from doing whatever needs to be done. Brunar is the leader, and has devoted his entire life to protecting the land and the people in it, no matter the odds. Nessar is an older character, a former thief and Guildmaster, who is now fighting on the side of good. I’ve heard it said that one doesn’t truly know virtue unless they’ve fought out of a hole, and Nessar is doing that. 18. How did you decide on your cover? The cover of Mage’s Burden depicts a scene in which the Mage presents one of the fabled weapons to its Chosen wielder. The scene is repeated with other characters several times in that book, and seemed appropriate for the cover. 19. What do you hope people discover while reading your story? What I really hope is that folks simply enjoy the story and are entertained by it. It makes me deeply happy when folks tell me that they had fun reading it. I also want to display the virtues of having a never-give-up attitude, and acknowledging the fact that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. (Thanks, Mr. Spock.) 20. Have you written anything else? Tell us about it/them. Mage’s Burden (June, 2014) and Gart’s Road (coming soon) are my only book length works. Other than these, I have a handful of short stories, scenes, outlines, and ideas for other book projects gathering dust on my laptop. One story I may explore is a modern werewolf tale, while another deals with witches during the time of the Salem witch trials, though with a huge fantasy twist. There’s also one ghost story that has one foot in the pioneer days of Texas and the other foot in the present. 21. Do you experience writers block, how do you deal with it? If I ever get stuck when I’m writing, I tend to just stop writing that part and find another scene that is more clear in my head. Often, I’ll write an entire chapter before the other scene becomes clearer and then I can go back to it. I fit it all together eventually. 22. What do you not like about writing? The thing that bugs me about writing, is not so much about writing itself, but about the fact that I don’t have nearly as much time to do it as I would like. Writing is fun for me, I just can’t do it as much as I want because I have a business to run, classes to teach, my own training, family time...that kind of thing. And sleeping. That’s important. 23. Are you working on anything now? I’m just a few pages away (I think) from finishing Gart’s Road, book 2 in my series. 24. How do you market your work? I have a wonderful lady, Aileen Aroma, who publicizes my work on social media, and I also post on Facebook and tweet when I remember to do so. I’ve done a book signing at a local bookstore, Katy Budget Books, and had a booth at Space City Comic Con, where I happily sold all of the copies of MB that I’d brought with me. Lastly, I have a website, www.jidaan.com that has links to the book on Amazon. 25. What would you say to readers? “Hello there! Read my book! I hope you like it!” 26. What would you say to writers aspiring or otherwise? Write. Just write. Write even if you don’t think it’s any good. Get something on the page and once you’ve started, just keep going with it. Write as much as you can and read as much as you can. You might be good at it, and you might not, but if you enjoy writing, then let nothing stop you. Get after it. 27. Where can one purchase your book(s)? My books are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Katy Budget Books in Katy, Tx, and Jade Mountain Martial Arts in Katy, Tx. If anyone wants a signed copy, feel free to contact me. http://www.amazon.com/Mages-Burden-Book-Jidaan-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00KUKV4WS http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mages-burden-whit-mcclendon/1120036885?ean=9781500237714#productInfoTabs Social Media www.jidaan.com www.facebook.com/whit.mcclendon www.facebook.com/fireofthejidaan www.twitter.com/whitmccauthor
1 Comment
Julie Prince
11/6/2015 07:32:21 pm
I enjoyed your comments & I enjoy having you as son-in-law...
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