James P. Redwood interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

A little introduction:

I grew up in Delaware County, Ohio.  At that time, it was a rural area with a lot of space between farms.  Now, it is suburbia.  Progress can be good and bad at the same time.  I am a retired teacher that worked in public schools.  My teaching career was largely spent teaching reading and writing to students with dyslexia.  I have a masters degree in Special Education and trained in the Orton Gillingham Approach to the level of associate.  I miss the teaching, and the students, but not the bureaucracy.

I started researching my first novel three years ago, and wrote some experimental chapters, just to see if I could do it.  I got some positive feedback from people with a background in literature and I went to work at it.  I published Two Ships in November of 2021.

When did your love of books begin?

I was an avid reader as a child. I was a self taught reader and picked it up before kindergarten. I had a fondness for historical fiction. I read all of it that I could find from early on.

James Michener, Louis L'Amour, Ken Follett, Bernard Cromwell, Umberto Eco, were all favorites. Non fiction writers I liked included Alan Eckert and Ronald C. White.

When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

I originally thought about writing as a teenager, but never started. I simply never made time to write. In my worklife, I wrote administrative copy on a daily basis - to the tune of thousands of pages. That kind of writing doesn't hold a lot of joy. I came to the conclusion I wanted to try it maybe five years ago.

How have you found the process for becoming an author?

Glorious, frustrating, lovely, painful, wretched, beautiful, and way more difficult and easy than I imagined it would be.

I find that I like to write fiction. I can literally write for hours. But that doesn't make it any good. I have to write everything twice. The old saying - throw up on your keyboard in the morning and clean it up in the afternoon is true. For me, it is more fun than the internet or tv.

What would you say to those wanting to become an author?

You need a mountain of faith that it will work out. Believe that you can do it. Just keep working at it till it improves. You also need to know that you will be rejected by nearly everyone that you share it with, at first. Fiction in particular. It's ok. Keep working to make it better.

Tell us about your book/books:

Two Ships is a novel about risk and reward. It is a compelling adventure story with explicit detail about the time period. Set in 1632, it follows the journey of the people on two ships that leave from the same port in northern France. They travel into the unknown landscape of forest and rivers in the New World. The lives of the travelers weave together with the landscape and the people in it.

What do you love about the writing/reading community?

Hmm...I am new to it as a writer. I am able to say that I find almost everyone to be encouraging. That doesn't mean they will buy your book, but they support the idea of it.

If you could say anything to your readers what would it be?

This is a compelling read with detailed and descriptive action scenes. The plot is fairly complex and it carries you to an exciting finish.

Where can people connect with you?

The best way to connect with me is through Jamesredwoodauthor.com or message me on Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Tik Tok. I am not even sure how to answer a message on Tik Tok, but it's hard to get off your phone once you start it up.

Thank YOU for READING! James P. Redwood