Author of the Pridden Saga series.
I was fortunate to meet fantasy author J.M. Tibbott at a writing group I attended, and I am very pleased to welcome her to my blog.
Helen: Welcome, JM. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Could you tell us about your Pridden Saga series, and the first book, The Arrival?
JM: The Arrival is the first book in My Pridden Saga series, and introduces Kat, my protagonist. She’s a rather feisty young woman, who hates to be controlled.
Kat, a brilliant video game designer with a desperate desire to control her own life is faced with the option of losing a job she adores. Sent on a forced vacation to adjust her attitude she is stunned to find herself in a strange tech-free world. Confused and lost all she wants is a fervent desire is to return home.
Promised aid by the local ruler she is horrified to be tasked with an assignment to aid in preventing a devastating war, but without clear instructions on how to achieve this.
Amid vicious creatures and enemies lurking around every corner she must defend against a villain with sinister plans to seize the power she has no idea she possesses.
Can Kat survive in a land hurtling towards destruction?
Helen: That sounds like a great adventure, and for a gamer to be stuck in a world without technology, I am sure that gave you plenty of opportunity for conflict! What were your thoughts behind the cover design?
JM: Although I have designed covers for other authors, when I sat down to do this for my first novel, I simply couldn’t come up with anything that pleased me, so I contacted a UK designer (Deranged Doctor Designs) and after answering a lot of questions about how I envisioned the appearance of my protagonist, they suggested the woman on the cover. I loved the picture they chose – the red hair, and the rather stubborn look to her face. I think in this first series I rather tended to see how I would act in the situation the book suggested.
Helen: The story behind the cover is always so interesting. What about the title? How did you decide what to call your book?
JM: I spent a lot of time on the titles of the books and since this is the one where Kat is thrust into a strange new world, “The Arrival” just seemed to make the most sense, because this was the first time Kat found herself on Pridden.
Helen: What made you write this particular book?
JM: I had been writing many short stories, and I knew I was ready to attempt a novel, so when I woke one day with an idea for a story, I was captivated, and although I only planned a single novel at the beginning, the ideas for expanding it, began to drench me with ideas, and so it turned into seven novels.
Helen: That is so wonderful when the ideas begin to flow. Congratulations on writing seven novels. When did you realise you had a passion for writing?
JM: I cannot remember a time when I didn’t love writing. At about the age of ten, I wrote strange plays, which I forced my sister to act in, and demanded my parents watch and pay a penny admission to view my efforts.
Helen: It’s nice that your creativity started young and you never lost it. What is the main genre you write, and who inspired you to start writing?
JM: I love writing high fantasy. My mother inspired me to read Sci-fi, and when I began to read Isaac Asimov, I was so entranced, I figured I could also do what he did.
Helen: If your main character, Kat, could tell us why to read your book, what would she say?
JM: I think Kat would say that we all have the opportunity to change, and even though she resists change, even she has managed to learn things from the odd life she is having to live on Pridden. Each book has changed her and made her a better person.
Helen: Are you a pantser or a planner? Do you write free form, or do you have a framework you stick to?
JM: I am definitely a planner, I have a very specific way of planning my books, something I was privileged to learn from john Truby
Helen: Do you need to do much research as part of your writing process?
JM: I initially began Book one, and stopped because my characters needed challenges, and I then spent two years designing the world. I spent enough time on it, and did enough research, that it was sufficient to help me with all the subsequent books in the Saga.
Helen: What is the best thing that have happened to you since you started writing?
JM: I actually like reading my own books.
Helen: I first wrote my books for me read, and I decided to publish them so I could read them as a book, instead of on my laptop! Thank you so much for joining me today. One last question. If you didn’t write in High Fantasy, then which genre would you like to try and write in next?
JM: I believe I would like to attempt to write a cosy fantasy.
About the Author – J.M Tibbott
JM Tibbott has been writing since childhood, but The Pridden Saga is her first series of published novels. As a writer of magazine and newspaper articles, being an editor for an online news-letter, and a writing instructor, JM belongs to a community of local writers, all of whom are continually upgrading their own skills.
JM has been teaching writing skills for over ten years.
She is in the process of combining a collection of her short stories, which she expects to publish later in the year.
JM welcomes comments from her readers, and encourages them to visit her website, to which she will be shortly a blog, showing illustrations and information about the various creatures populating the world of Pridden.
JM declares — “If I could not write, I could not breathe,” which is similar to how her favorite author, Isaac Asimov, felt about his writing.
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If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.
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