Ask the Author: Jason A. Cheek
Answered Questions (19)
Jason A. Cheek
Hey Fragino,
Thanks for the question and I apologize for being late on getting book 8 out. The end of last year, actually two weeks after the release of book 7, I had a massive heart attack and nearly died on the table. I was lucky to survive and it took me about six months to get myself back on a healthy track and get the buzzing out of my head from the whole experience. I'm now following my doctor's and wife's orders (aka loosing weight and eating right) and will soon have book 8 released. After all of the feedback I've been getting, I would say the book is right along the same quality of book 7 so it's a damn fine adventure. I'm writing up to speed again and hope to have two books out by the end of this year if all goes well.
Jason
Thanks for the question and I apologize for being late on getting book 8 out. The end of last year, actually two weeks after the release of book 7, I had a massive heart attack and nearly died on the table. I was lucky to survive and it took me about six months to get myself back on a healthy track and get the buzzing out of my head from the whole experience. I'm now following my doctor's and wife's orders (aka loosing weight and eating right) and will soon have book 8 released. After all of the feedback I've been getting, I would say the book is right along the same quality of book 7 so it's a damn fine adventure. I'm writing up to speed again and hope to have two books out by the end of this year if all goes well.
Jason
Jason A. Cheek
Ha, that sounds like the AJ I know and love ;) What can I say, your just one of my friends in the game and we kick butt. Also, you have two beautiful ladies that your dating as you kick ass and take names. You'll have to check out the series and let me know what you think ;)
Jason A. Cheek
Spirit is going to have some major factors in the coming future of the series. Charisma, I'll have to think about. It is definitely a factor in NPC relations and helps with discrimination because he's a halfling. Having a 100 somehow be the main factor for getting above a certain NPC automatic response might be something I can explore. Getting additional NPCs? Possibly. That would be a cool bonus ;)
Jason A. Cheek
Hey Shane,
Yeah, at some time I need to get back to the story.
I broke my teeth on writing the first two books of The Last Paladin series. It taught me many of the things I needed to know to improve my craft which allowed me to write The World. Sometimes, I wouldn't mind redoing the Last Paladin series to make it better, but I stop myself every time, since the story has its own flavor and shows my growth as a writer.
A part of me wants to slice book 2 into two separate books. One that is on Earth and one in the magical world. Unfortunately, that would mess with the stories flow. Also, there isn't much I can do about how I introduced so many new people at the beginning of book 2, which was a negative for many readers ... even though I combined the different stories so well and thought it had such an impact on the overall story. On the plus side, the outline for book 3 is already written out and I just need to write the story.
The only problem is that most fans like The World series much better and it is currently my bread and butter. That, and I have a sci-fi series in the works too. So, while I plan to do a book 3 for The Last Paladin, I'm not sure when I'll get around to it.
Jason
Yeah, at some time I need to get back to the story.
I broke my teeth on writing the first two books of The Last Paladin series. It taught me many of the things I needed to know to improve my craft which allowed me to write The World. Sometimes, I wouldn't mind redoing the Last Paladin series to make it better, but I stop myself every time, since the story has its own flavor and shows my growth as a writer.
A part of me wants to slice book 2 into two separate books. One that is on Earth and one in the magical world. Unfortunately, that would mess with the stories flow. Also, there isn't much I can do about how I introduced so many new people at the beginning of book 2, which was a negative for many readers ... even though I combined the different stories so well and thought it had such an impact on the overall story. On the plus side, the outline for book 3 is already written out and I just need to write the story.
The only problem is that most fans like The World series much better and it is currently my bread and butter. That, and I have a sci-fi series in the works too. So, while I plan to do a book 3 for The Last Paladin, I'm not sure when I'll get around to it.
Jason
Jason A. Cheek
A world without the freedom to dream. A world without struggles or being able to improve yourself.
Jason A. Cheek
Ugh, I am trying to have this out by December. I've decided once I hit around 600 pages that I'll go ahead and release the book even if it's not at the end of the week. There is so much that's going on in the story that the only thing I can promise is that Star will reach Domenic. Eric laughs at me because of how things go when I write. There are so many little and big things going on right now in the story that I want to make sure are included that not to many days go by, but I figure as long as the story is entertaining, then what does it matter?
Jason A. Cheek
Ugh, The World of course, although The Land would be a good one too. I've read so many fantasy and sci-fi novels, I'd love to go to a number of these different worlds. When I was growing up, I learned how to use a sword and shield, archery, martial arts, basic first aid, and how to craft various things before I was twenty because I wanted to be pulled into a magical world to live. Unfortunately, it never happened. There was no curtain or portal that I accidentally walked through into a new world. Hopefully, those things now help to make my writing better ;)
Jason A. Cheek
Ugh, this is a hard question. It seems like I'm waiting forever for some of my favorite authors. Daniel Black's book 5, the new Chaos Seed, the new Two Week Curse, and the next Good Intentions. I read a book in a day or two, so usually, I'm waiting around for something I want to read.
Jason A. Cheek
Doing good man and working hard to get book 5 out. I appreciate all the support, it really motivates me to write!
Jason A. Cheek
Answer 2: My blog is back up. My site was reported as being a false phishing/spam site and Weebly was able to get that cleared up with Google and Chrome once again is allowing the site to function without issues.
Answer 1: I didn't get hacked, but someone reported my website as being a phishing website through Chrome. I wonder who that could have been? Start having people buy your indy book and see all the ways that upset professional writers and editors can try to mess with you. The site is hosted off of weebly.com and they're working on it but maybe I need to go to wordpress.com and get something a little better. One of the things I'll need to consider once I get this outline finished for book 5. It's just frustrating at times.
Thanks for the permission to use your old guild's name for either side. That helps a lot. If you're interested in some of my gaming picks where I hosed or went to LAN parties nearly every other weekend, you can check em out here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...
Answer 1: I didn't get hacked, but someone reported my website as being a phishing website through Chrome. I wonder who that could have been? Start having people buy your indy book and see all the ways that upset professional writers and editors can try to mess with you. The site is hosted off of weebly.com and they're working on it but maybe I need to go to wordpress.com and get something a little better. One of the things I'll need to consider once I get this outline finished for book 5. It's just frustrating at times.
Thanks for the permission to use your old guild's name for either side. That helps a lot. If you're interested in some of my gaming picks where I hosed or went to LAN parties nearly every other weekend, you can check em out here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...
Jason A. Cheek
Glad you like the story Michael!
I forget the timeline. Jason Hill has all three contracts for the series before he even started the audiobook for First Login. So, during the ten days it took for Book One to complete the process to become an audiobook, he'd was already started working on Book Two. I think the date for completion for book two is set for the end of February. If he gets it completed sooner then that's even better. I hope he'll take the contract for book four and that can be started asap once book three is completed.
I know it sucks to be finished with book one and have to wait for the following audiobooks to be produced. If it had been an option, I would have had them wait to release the books all at once as I did for the Kindle editions.
If you can, please leave a text review for the story. There's always groups of authors and even voice actors that try to push down the competition. Your positive reviews help to keep those guys in check and let's other listeners know the truth of the story.
I forget the timeline. Jason Hill has all three contracts for the series before he even started the audiobook for First Login. So, during the ten days it took for Book One to complete the process to become an audiobook, he'd was already started working on Book Two. I think the date for completion for book two is set for the end of February. If he gets it completed sooner then that's even better. I hope he'll take the contract for book four and that can be started asap once book three is completed.
I know it sucks to be finished with book one and have to wait for the following audiobooks to be produced. If it had been an option, I would have had them wait to release the books all at once as I did for the Kindle editions.
If you can, please leave a text review for the story. There's always groups of authors and even voice actors that try to push down the competition. Your positive reviews help to keep those guys in check and let's other listeners know the truth of the story.
Jason A. Cheek
To contact me you can always email me at jasonacheek@gmail.com, post on my blog http://www.thecheekyfellow.com/ or message me here in Goodreads. I'll have to move my contact information to the front of the book to for those helping with the spelling corrections.
I had to give a shout out to Anarchy Online. My first MMORPG love. The good old Nanomage. My friend Domenic decided he'd play a nanotech Nanomage, which meant that even with CAS armor he still had the health of a thimble. I can't tell you how many times I had to emergency evac his ass out upon dying to rescue him before the death could register in the game. Good times. Unfortunately, the hack didn't work in PVE which was where we mostly played. I still hated their build out and removing people's deaths. That screwed up the game soo much. Ugh. Learn how to play your class and how to play with others or be banned from groups! Yeah, I was hardcore :)
I had to give a shout out to Anarchy Online. My first MMORPG love. The good old Nanomage. My friend Domenic decided he'd play a nanotech Nanomage, which meant that even with CAS armor he still had the health of a thimble. I can't tell you how many times I had to emergency evac his ass out upon dying to rescue him before the death could register in the game. Good times. Unfortunately, the hack didn't work in PVE which was where we mostly played. I still hated their build out and removing people's deaths. That screwed up the game soo much. Ugh. Learn how to play your class and how to play with others or be banned from groups! Yeah, I was hardcore :)
Jason A. Cheek
This answer contains spoilers…
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Jason A. Cheek
Once I've made my outline, a lot of the "writers block" I hear so many people talk about seemed to vanish. There are times I struggle with building the scene exactly the way I want that makes it "feel" right to me. When that happens I write my first thoughts down and either go on with the story until I come back later to tweak the scene or I just re-work it. Seeing the words on the screen helps me to fix what I couldn't see before.
Also, as always looking at great digital fantasy artwork always helps me to create.
Also, as always looking at great digital fantasy artwork always helps me to create.
Jason A. Cheek
I love seeing the creation of what I've had in my head be created into an actual story. I love sharing that story with people who enjoy the mental visuals and storyline that I have created. Seeing people enjoy my writing as much as I enjoyed creating the story is a rush, plain and simple.
Jason A. Cheek
The biggest things I would say are:
Write and write every day - The only way your craft will improve is to actually write.
Write about what you love - If your enjoying the story your creating and you're really into Fantasy and Sci-fi then other's who love the genre will probably love your story too.
Make an outline to your story - Just because you made a general outline to your story doesn't mean things don't change as you write. An outline is not the little things that make the story great, but just the general flow of the story. As you write you will fill in those specifics. At the same time it is important to know your characters and your world, but don't let yourself get caught up in planning all the details down to the N'th degree that you don't actually do what is most important ... which is write.
Lastly, its important to understand generally how to build a world and characters, but for me this came quite naturally because of the stories I love to read. Going to forums and talking to writers and studying how to world build is good up to a point, but sometimes this can make you lose the essence of your own story and make you question yourself.
Write and write every day - The only way your craft will improve is to actually write.
Write about what you love - If your enjoying the story your creating and you're really into Fantasy and Sci-fi then other's who love the genre will probably love your story too.
Make an outline to your story - Just because you made a general outline to your story doesn't mean things don't change as you write. An outline is not the little things that make the story great, but just the general flow of the story. As you write you will fill in those specifics. At the same time it is important to know your characters and your world, but don't let yourself get caught up in planning all the details down to the N'th degree that you don't actually do what is most important ... which is write.
Lastly, its important to understand generally how to build a world and characters, but for me this came quite naturally because of the stories I love to read. Going to forums and talking to writers and studying how to world build is good up to a point, but sometimes this can make you lose the essence of your own story and make you question yourself.
Jason A. Cheek
I am currently writing Book Two of the Last Paladin Series. The story is coming along great and I'm excited to share it with my readers who loved the Book One. While Book One's main focus was on Earth, Book Two focuses will be more of the events happening in the world of Irlendria, but don't worry there is still a major plotline going on about the events still happening on Earth. Humans still have a major role in Book Two, since the fate of both worlds are intertwined throughout the entire storyline.
Jason A. Cheek
Besides my love for reading Fantasy and Sci-fi, my love of video games and just being a geek. I love to get ideas from every day life and digital images from places like www.deviantart.com. A good example of this combination is when I was visiting Budapest and I saw the Citadel overlooking the city. It was right around the time I found an amazing Fantasy Castle from Deviantart's site. Between the two I came up with an amazing Fantasy castle for my story in Book Two of the Last Paladin Series that will play a pivotal roll in the story. It's this combination of real and Fantasy that I think really brings to life parts of my story.
Jason A. Cheek
Flight, The Last Paladin Series is a story that came from a mixture of dreams I've always had and my love of playing Dungeons and Dragons, MMO's like World of Warcraft and all things Fantasy and Sci-fi. Putting the story down on paper made me build more meat to the story and round out the world, but its original concept were from an ongoing dream I've had forever.
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