Aspiring Author Interview with Brad Jaeger

I've got a treat for you guys today! (no, it's not candy, although that sounds kinda yummy right now).  It's a double Aspiring Author Interview!  Today is with Brad Jaeger, an aspiring author who is ALSO doing an Aspiring Author Interview with me!  At the same time!  So click on over to his blog to see an interview of Yours Truly.

Brad writes fantasy (on his PC- I'll forgive him for that I guess) and loves to talk about religion, social issues, and whatever else pops into his head.  You never know what's going to come out of that guy's mouth (er...blog), and that's what makes him such an interesting person!

I had a lot of fun interviewing him as well as being his interviewee!

1. Tell us the scoop on how you got into writing novels.
   
   One night--as I was silently cursing my station in life as a security guard--I was skimming through Time Magazineand came across Stephen King's royalty rates. “Writing books”, I said to the other guard on duty, “now there's an easy way to earn some scratch. First thing tomorrow I'ma write me a fiction novel.” Kidding! And yes, I know, all novels are fictitious—you can unclench your fists now.
   I'm not quite sure what to say. There wasn't an epiphany or any form of causation that set me on this course. I'll just take a cop out and say the usual, “I've always been a creative person! I love it when my stories entertain my readers or bring a smile to their face, yada, yada, yada..."
   
   
2. What genre do you write?
   
   Whatever the story calls for. In the case of my WIP that would be dark fantasy. I don't doubt that I'll try my hand at horror or YA one day, but for now I'm at home with the fantastical. 
3. What authors inspire you?
   
   Every author that I've ever read has inspired me to some extent. Those who have had a lasting impact include Neil Gaiman, Philip Dick, J.R.R Tolkien, Stephen King, Bart Ehrman, James Joyce, William Blake (more of a poet and painter, but I'll let that slide), John Milton, Shakespeare, Goethe, and the dozens of authors contained within the Old and New Testaments. 
4. How often do you write?
   
   Generally five or six times a week and usually to a specific word count. Right now I'm stuck in editing hell, so the only writing I've managed is rewrites.
5. Are you a plotter or a pantser?
   
   Mostly a pantser. I like to run with an initial concept and see where it takes me.
6. Where do you write best, and do you listen to music while you write?
   
   As long as I'm alone I can write pretty much anywhere. I do a lot of my writing at home and at work when the store is slow.
   
   I absolutely cannot write without music. My taste is eclectic: David Bowie, Rammstein, Arab Strap, Voltaire, Elvis Costello, Marilyn Manson, Johnny Cash, Arlo Guthrie, Bad Religion, Miles Davis, Leonard Cohen, Bauhaus, Rob Dougan, Mogwai, Tom Waits, The Cure, Amanda Palmer, NOFX, Arcade Fire, Howard Shore, Rob Zombie, Fela Kuti, I Like Trains, Chairlift, Dead Can Dance, Frank Sinatra, Nine Inch Nails, Hans Zimmer, The Smashing Pumpkins, Serj Tankian, Peter Murphy, Tim Minchin, Heavens, TV on the Radio, Zeromancer, The Twilight Sad...the list is endless.
   
   I listen to a lot of rock (be it gothic, punk or “alternative”), folk songs, lounge singers, afrobeat, piano ballads, orchestral works--pretty much anything with an experimental aspect to it. Also—and this is a recent discovery—music that comes out of Scotland has a track record of being awesome. See for yourself. 
7. What is on your TBR pile?
   
   Naming the Bones by Louise Welsh: This is her latest work, and to be quite honest I know absolutely nothing about it. I'm just buying it because her debut novel The Cutting Room was an absolute gem that followed Rilke, a promiscuous homosexual auctioneer who comes across some unusual photos that he sets out to find the origins of. I wrote a review for it on my blog which you can check out if you like. Louise's prose is like butter in her books—I'm surprised the words don't melt right off the pages.
   Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris: His debut novel, which I hear is a delightful satire of office drama and the American workplace. It also won the 2007 Hemmingway award for best literary fiction by a debut author, so that ought to count for something.

Forged: Writing in the Name of God by Bart Ehrman (available March 22nd): The main focus of this book is on something that every prominent, non whack-job biblical scholar has known for the past two centuries – that not only are many books of the bible not written by the author they are attributed to, but in some cases they are outright deliberate forgeries. While Dr. Ehrman normally writes academic texts for university teaching, this book is similar to his works like Jesus Interrupted and Misquoting Jesus, in that it is his attempt to relate the findings of biblical scholars to those not privy to the ivory tower. To date, he remains my favourite biblical scholar.
Genealogies of Pain by Marilyn Manson & David Lynch: Two of my favourite artists share some of their lesser known work. In Manson's case it's a few dozen of his watercolour paintings, and with Lynch it's stills from some of his early experimental short films. Both artists provide commentary throughout. I think this comes out towards the end of April. Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek by Bruce Metzger: It's hard to make this sound exciting—even for students of religion. Unless you've got an unhealthy fascination with New Testament manuscript variants (the majority of which were written in Greek) then this may not be for you. I may not believe in God, but amusingly enough my library is stacked to the rafters with countless texts of monotheistic studies.    8. If Stephanie Meyer and JK Rowling got in a cat fight, who would win?    Rowling. Do any of your guests actually say Meyer? Let's make this question more exciting and rephrase it as “If Meyer's and Rowling's characters got into a fight, who would win?” in which case I'd still give the point to Rowling—seriously, I bet even the sorting hat could kick sparkly Eddie's butt. 
9. What is your “day” job?    My day job is actually a night job! For the past two years I've worked at a sex shop called Sin City Adult Superstore. I'd love to go into the specifics, but I suspect that this blog is PG, eh? Let's just say that I have a very interesting job and meet very interesting people.
10.What can you not leave home without? (cell phones are off limits)
Well that's good, because I hate cell phones. If spotted outside (a rare thing i ndeed) you're likely to find me with my Kindle, my PSP, a book or some manga. Oh, and my girlfriend; we often go to the same places together, isn't that adorable? 
11. Mac or PC? PC. Twice the power at half the cost. The only downside (besides crippling instability) is that I lack an excuse to visit Apple's genius bar and annoy the geniuses by smack talking Steve Jobs.
12. Favorite dessert?   I'm quite fond of cheesecake, apple crumble and dessert wine. But I'm not picky--I'm an equal opportunity nommer. 
13. Favorite desert?   The Nambib Desert, just southwest of Angola. Being barren for the past 55 million years (80 years if you're a young-earth creationist!) has rightfully earned it the title of “world's oldest desert.”
14. Where is your dream vacation? There are many places I'd like to visit, although most of them are unconventional. Firstly, there's a place in Siauliai, Lithuania called The Hill of Crosses that was started in the early 1200s and has been expanding ever since. Google it if you're unfamiliar, because it is unbelievably stunning.
I'd also like to visit Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic, which was built from the bones of at least 50,000 black plague victims: it is supported by large columns, and within it are chandeliers and even a coat of arms—all made out of human remains! Talk about memento mori! Other than those two specific locations I'd be happy to tour Romania, Russia, Greece, Scotland, Germany, Italy and New Zealand. 
15. Finally, link us to your website, blog, fb, twitter and anything else you might like to shamelessly plug for yourself

I am nothing if not a press whore. 

Blog: http://www.brad-jaeger.com/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brad-Jaeger/131402303564381
Twitter: @bradjaeger

Thanks for having me, I had a blast!