Pixie Forest Publishing, a fun little indie press, has a brand new collection of short fantasy stories coming out on March 8th! Pre-orders are open now, click HERE to snag a copy of Magical Reality. I’m here with Jensen Reed, author of “Heir” in this anthology, and co-owner of Pixie Forest Publishing.
Q: What was your inspiration for “Heir?”
A: I responded to a prompt in Writing Bad. It was a photo I found by Stefan Koidl that pictured a little boat above dragon bones in water. I wrote basically the opening paragraph as the prompt response and once we decided to do this theme for the anthology I knew it would fit perfectly!
Q: Who is your favorite character in your story and why?
A: I really love Jo. She has such a strong personality and I love her quirks. I also love how much Lincoln loves her though.
Q: Do you have a favorite story in Magical Reality? If so, why is it your favorite?
A: I absolutely adore “Misspelled” by Olivia London AND Melissa “Sell’s Mall of Magic.” They are both exactly the type of story I had in mind with this theme.
Q: What is your writing process like?
A: Be inspired, write out the scene that comes to mind, meet the characters, build their back stories, write, rewrite, edit, send to betas, polish. Oh and lots of caffeine.
Q: Is fantasy the genre you usually write in?
A: I dabble. I love fantasy, horror, I write romance, and I’m attempting sci-fi. But I mostly love feeding characters to zombies and making readers cry. 😉
Q: How long on average does it take you to write a story?
A: It honestly depends on the length. I’ve been working on my zombie apocalypse series for at least 5 years now, but I have written and published ten short stories in the last year.
Q: How important was research to you when writing this story?
A: This one, sorta. The most research I put in was for the spells that Jo does. The rest I just made up as I went.
Q: What are you are currently reading, and what made you grab that book?
A: This answer is going to change several times by the time this interview goes live, haha. I have been inhaling books this year as part of a goal to read more. I’m currently reading The Whispers by Greg Howard because I saw it at Target and fell for the cover.
Q: What are you writing now or what are you planning on writing next?
A: Lots. The Refuge series books one and two (zombie apocalypse), Painted Hearts (modern magic about a vampire who lives in a lighthouse), This Is Stupid (sci-fi), and several short stories for more anthologies.
Q: Do you have any upcoming releases?
A: Salty Tales anthology by Stormy Island Publishing launched on March 1st. I have a little Nicholas Sparks-ish romance in there. I am aiming to release Ranch (zompoc book one) this year as well as one of the two novellas I listed above. I have three more anthologies releasing soon too.
Q: Wow! You’re busy! Where can we find you if we want to keep up with all of this?
Facebook: Author Jensen Reed
WordPress: About Jensen Reed at Pixie Forest Publishing
Goodreads: Jensen Reed
Thanks, Jensen! I’m excited to check out Magical Reality! Make sure you check out Pixie Forest Publishing for more great reads. If you are a writer looking for a home for your own novel or short stories, check out their upcoming anthologies and the submissions guidelines.
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