Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Spotlight: Better than Fiction by Jordan Bray


Synopsis:
Jay Saunders is a pop author invited to give a lecture to a crowd of undergrads. A chance meeting may just be the erotic kick start Jay needs for his next literary foray...

Author Interview [source]:
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?

I grew up in a series of small towns. My parents kept moving us around in a "grass-is-always-greener" approach to wealth management.

Since small towns in rural areas are, by definition, pretty much isolated from the interesting things to do in bigger cities, a lot of the fantasies of that life are the genesis of my stories. Yes, I've been to "the big city", I've lived there for short periods, but I've never been terribly comfortable, personally, in those sophisticated scenes, so using my personal fantasy of those scenes has led to many, many scenes and stories on paper.

When did you first start writing?
I first started writing for fun and pleasure when I was in college. I started writing erotica because it was an interesting diversion, and at the time I had no idea how many authors were out there. I thought it was a limited niche of writers, and writing for myself and a very small audience (of one) was a way of expressing my passions.

What's the story behind your latest book?
lol There's no back story to the latest "Jordan Bray" story. I wanted to finally publish something, and I just sat down and started typing. I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of personal life a successful writer might be able to have.

What motivated you to become an indie author?
Fortune and fame :P

In all seriousness, I've wanted to write for a long time, but it wasn't until very recently that I found both my muse and the encouragement to pursue this particular effort. The Princess has been, for me, the source of passion, the inspiration for the erotic, and the foundation for the effort. Without her I wouldn't have had the courage to publish anything I write.

What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
The greatest joy of writing for me is the creation and the receipt. That sounds weird.

I'm not a naturally "artistic" person -- drawing, sculpture, painting, even scrapbooking or making homemade greeting cards are, and have always been, far outside my artistic abilities. My artistic abilities peaked when I was 3, and you can tell because my drawings still look like a toddler makes them. :P

I can't sing, I'm too lazy to learn to read music, and I'm shy anyway, so the performing arts are out.

That said, I basically use writing as my sole creative outlet. I love putting pen to paper (figuratively speaking) and letting that passion out, expressing it in just the right way, so my audience can feel that passion exactly as I want them to feel it. It's a connection, one-on-one, between myself and the reader, and that's where I get my greatest joy as an author.

What do your fans mean to you?
My readers are incredibly important to me. My number one fan, of course, is the Princess. She's the one who decides if my stories are ready to be published. If they don't pass muster with her, then no one else gets a chance to read them, which is a good thing, because she's read some pretty terrible stuff from me.

My readers are so important, though, because without them I'm just writing for myself, which is fine, but it's always very fulfilling to know that the reader feels, is part of, the story.

What are you working on next?
Oh, this and that.

I'm always working on lots of things, although a lot of the "work" is just turning over ideas in my head. Maybe someday I'll finish a novel or something, but for now, I'm just going to stick to short works.

When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
When I'm not writing, I spend my time doing normal-people stuff.

I have a regular job, and I'm a volunteer firefighter. I love firefighting, and you'll see that as a theme in a lot of my stories, I think. I like to play basketball whenever I can, and I lift weights occasionally. I also like to cook (and eat!!!). But when I'm not writing I prefer to spend as much time as possible with the Princess, although that' can be incredibly difficult.

Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
The first story I ever wrote was an erotic short set in a dance club. I never finished it, I don't think, but if I ever find it maybe I will.

What is your writing process?
I don't really have a "process". Some writers have to have complete silence, their desks arranged just so, the coffee mug steaming for seventeen-point-two-five minutes while they yoga and zen into the story. Others like to head-bang to Gwar and drink and smoke and shroom and pound on the keyboard until by some random chance a story swirls into existence.

My "process" is somewhere between the two. I tend to stew on ideas for a while, and when the urge strikes me I just sit down and bang it out. Sometimes I write with pen and paper (i know, right? How old-school!!!), but usually I type it out on the computer. Sometimes I like to have some music playing, anything from classical to the afore-mentioned Gwar, depending on my mood, but sometimes i prefer silence. It seems completely random from the outside, but it just depends on the story, and my mood, and where I plan to take my characters and the reader.

How do you approach cover design?
Remember when I said I'm not artistic? Yeah, that's pretty much how I approach cover-design. lol

Actually, at this point I prefer simple covers for my stories. Nothing complicated, but reflective of the content. I'm not going to put some complicated cowboys-and-aliens scene on the cover just to splash T&A all over the place. I don't mind some skin, but I prefer a subtle approach.

Find Better than Fiction and Jordan Bray Online:

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