We
welcome JD Cunegan to the blog – to chat about his Jill Andersen
mysteries, superheroes, murder mysteries – and the odd bit of
NASCAR.
Hi,
JD, and welcome to Altered Instinct. I think it would be fair to say
that your Jill Andersen mysteries are your calling card – combining
superheroes and murder mystery. What brought those two together in
your mind?
First
of all, thanks for having me.
Jill’s
origin dates all the way back to a now-defunct comic book series that
debuted when I was in high school called Witchblade.
It starred NYPD homicide detective Sara Pezzini, who was chosen as
the host for a mystical gauntlet called the Witchblade. I liked the
idea of a cop as a superhero, an interesting dichotomy for me to play
with as a writer. So from there, Jill was born.
Ahh Witchblade, loved that - always wished it had gone on longer! So
Jill is a military veteran, a police officer and... a full-on cyborg.
Where did she spring from as a character, and what do you most love
about writing her?
I
wanted Jill to have actual superpowers, but the supernatural/fantasy
element didn’t quite fit with what I was going for. By giving her
the military background, that opened the door for me to introduce the
cybernetics. The conspiracy behind that, which is somewhat
reminiscent of the Weapon X project that gave Wolverine his
adamantium skeleton, was touched on in Bounty
and will be re-visited in a major way in coming novels.
There's
two books in the series so far – with the second book delving into
the family history of Jill. Are there more brewing, and where does
Jill go from here?
I’m
currently putting the finishing touches on Behind the
Badge, which will be the third novel in the series. It’s
currently set for a June 1 release, and it puts Jill in the awkward
position of solving a murder that winds up being a case of police
brutality. It’s the first time I’m sort of ripping a plotline out
of the headlines, but it felt like the sort of story I had to write.
It will probably rub some people the wrong way, but it will shift
directly into the fourth book, Behind the Mask,
which will release in January and will change the face of the series
forever.
(editor's note - Behind The Badge is now available, having launched earlier this month!)
Now,
I understand you're quite the fan of Castle. And that in your fantasy
casting of Jill Andersen, Stana Katic would be right up there. I'll
make a confession here – not living in the US and with streaming
versions of Castle (I think on Amazon) not being available here, I've
actually seen very little Castle... (pause while I wait for the gasp
of horror) so what is it about Katic that makes you see her fitting
the Jill Andersen role?
When
I started watching Castle, which is constantly
being shown in syndication now on one of our cable channels, I
quickly noticed that Katic’s character – Detective Kate Beckett –
shared a lot of similarities with Jill. Their sensibilities as a cop
were almost identical, and I liked that Beckett had the same soft
side I wanted Jill to have. I didn’t want Jill to be the
stereotypical Strong Female Character ™, so stumbling upon Katic’s
most famous role gave me a better idea of how to strike that balance,
and it really inspired me to sit down and finally finish the first
novel. At the risk of typecasting, I would love for Katic to take on
the role on the off-chance my work ever wound up on the screen.
I
should explain this chat is way, way overdue as we've both been
fiendishly busy. What have you been working on lately that's been
keeping you so hard at work?
Well,
there’s my day job; I work in collegiate athletics, which keeps me
beyond busy from September through March every year. On top of that,
I’ve been writing and editing the next two books in the Jill
Andersen series – Behind the Badge and Behind
the Mask – as well as working on two separate novels:
Notna, a supernatural/fantasy epic that will
probably wind up being the longest novel I’ve ever written, and The
Pen is Mighty, a first-person political thriller that’s
unlike anything I’ve ever tackled.
Away
from the Jill Andersen books, let's talk about that supernatural fantasy book in
the works – Notna, which you say is steeped in comic book lore.
Tell us a little about that and how it is influenced by comic
traditions.
I
actually created Notna before I created Bounty,
way back when I was in high school. Those two have always been my pet
projects, even when I switched from wanting to be a comic book writer
and artist to simply writing novels. My writing far out-classed my
art over the years, and it’s been interesting to see how something
I original created for panels and word balloons has made the
transition to prose. Notna is full of prophecies
and high fantasy and gods and monsters and… for as much as comic
books have influenced its creation, I would be remiss if I didn’t
also credit the TV shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer
and Angel for their influence as well.
That's
due out next year, I believe? How far along is it in production?
I’m
roughly 30 percent done with the first draft; if all goes to plan,
Notna will be out in late 2017.
Talking
about comic lore – what are your influences there?
I
was a Marvel kid growing up; if it wasn’t Marvel (or, more
specifically, X-Men), it didn’t hold my
interest. But as I got older, my tastes began to vary, and I became
more willing to try new things. One of my favorite things about comic
books has always been how the medium pulled off the massive,
multi-chapter storylines that spanned over multiple titles. Age
of Apocalypse and Civil War are among
my favorite such storylines, and I loved the beginning of Top Cow’s
Artifacts because of the world-building and the
lore it established. The way the medium combines the mundane (like,
say, homicide cop) with the fantastic (like, say, cybernetic
implants) has always fascinated me and colored my writing.
A
quick word about your covers – I really like the covers for Blood
Ties and Notna - while the Behind The Badge cover is, no word of a lie, awesome. Not to say I don't like the ones for Bounty and
Boundless, but I think as your books have progressed, the covers look
more polished. Do you do your own covers or is there an artist that
you make use of? If so, how did you find them and what was that
experience like?
Covers
have definitely been a learning experience for me. When I first
published Bounty, I put almost no effort in the
cover; it was an afterthought. My sales reflected that. The current
cover for Bounty is the third one for that book.
Because of my relatively limited budget, I get my covers from
SelfPubBookCovers.com; they’re premade, but I’ve been incredibly
fortunate to find covers that match what I’m writing. Boundless
was a cover I created on my own, thinking I could rely on my art
skills to create something. Let’s just say that, for the time
being, I’ll be sticking with that website.
You
get to go for pizza with one of your characters – who do you choose
and why?
Detective
Earl Stevens (a side character who debuted in Blood Ties)…
because writing his dialogue is some of the most fun I’ve ever had
as a writer. There’s no telling what’s gonna come out of his
mouth at any point, and I bet he’d have some really funny stories
from his days playing college football at Nebraska.
Away
from books for a moment, you're a self-confessed sports nut – and I
think anyone following you on Twitter would be in no doubt about
that! NASCAR, I believe, is your obsession of choice – how often do
you get to live events? Or with racing do you prefer it on TV to get
the overview of the whole thing?
I
go to about five races a year, and like I always tell people who say
they don’t get what the big deal is with NASCAR – you have to be
there to truly get the experience. TV only gives you so much; unless
you’re standing there, feet away from the cars as they roar by at
full speed, taking in the sights and the smells and the sounds,
you’re not gonna see the allure.
I
don't know if it's even possible to try to sum this up – I'm a
football (as in soccer) fan and I would struggle to describe the
passion and despair that comes with that – but why does NASCAR draw
you in so much?
The
intensity and the passion of it all. That’s true for every sport,
but the passion surrounding motorsports is palpable. You can feel it
even when you’re walking around the merchandise displays outside
the track. The tension leading up to the moment the race starts is
thick, and once the race itself starts, there’s a constant air of
anticipation – because you never know what’s going to happen, and
you never know when. You can’t blink or turn away, because
everything can change with a snap of the fingers.
Who
are you tipping to win the Sprint Cup?
I
think Kevin Harvick will win his second title in three years. He’s
too fast, week in and week out, to not be considered the favorite.
Back
on the books front – which is most useful to you to promote the
book, Facebook, Twitter or Goodreads? Or some other social media?
To
this point, Twitter and Goodreads have been my most reliable online
outlets. Facebook has been great for connecting with other authors,
but it hasn’t given me the exposure or sales results that the other
two sites have. I also have a presence on Tumblr, but to this point,
that hasn’t done much for me.
You
get stuck on an island and you only had one book you packed in your
travel bag before the ship went down. What book do you hope you have
in there?
Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows… because it’s the only
one in that series I haven’t read yet, and I keep putting it off
and putting it off. Maybe having it on the island will be the push
that finally makes me sit down and read it.
OK,
last question here is traditionally a double question – what's the
best book you've read in the past year and what are you reading
currently?
R.R.
Virdi’s Grave Measures tops the list of some
incredibly books I’ve read over the past 12 months; the follow-up
to Grave Beginnings was fantastic, and I think
anyone who hasn’t read Virdi’s books yet is really missing out.
I’m currently reading Armada by Ernest Cline
and Skeins Unfurled by K.M. Venderbilt.
Thank
you!
I loved this interview...you asked some great questions and kept it entertaining!! I am definitely going to check out the Jill Andersen Mysteries!!
ReplyDelete