Hello everyone! Ihave a new group of author interviews for the launch of The Expanding Universe Volume 10: A ScienceFiction Exploration, a great anthology filled with stories from twentydifferent authors. It includes my new story, Titan’s Hell: A Black WatchRegiment Story and releases Monday, September 9, 2024 in Kindle andpaperback formats.

Joining me today isJA Mortimore, one of the terrific authors from this anthology. She is a spaceopera/fantasy author with many of her stories offering a romance element. Shelives in Gloucestershire, UK and like me, she is a cat parent. Her new story, YGINDA,is part of this anthology. Set in her UNCHARTEDseries universe, it is a fantastic story.

Let’s get startedwith the interview:

T.D. Wilson: In a few paragraphs, describe your writing journey and how manystories/books you have written.

JA Mortimore: I was ‘writing’ adventures for my dolls before I could actuallywrite, and once I learned how, I progressed to writing fan-fiction.  This was in the days BEFORE theinternet.  I was involved with severalunofficial fan clubs.  We used stencilsand duplicators to produce our zines to sell at conventions, long before ‘selfpublishing’ was a thing!  I continued toscribble fanfic for many years.

In the late ‘90s Iturned my attention to writing my own fiction, just as a hobby, and accumulateda lot of unfinished stories.  When I retired,I decided it was time to actually finish and even publish some of the manymanuscripts cluttering up my shelves.

I currently haveshort stories in two anthologies – TEU 10, and The Rebel DiariesAnthology.  I have five books of mysix-book UNCHARTED seriesavailable from Amazon KU, and two fantasy novels written with Penelope Hill, TheVanished Mage, and The Harlequin: the Draper’s Reel (launched at theSF Worldcon in Glasgow earlier this year). There is an introductory novella to the UNCHARTEDseries available at my website, jamortimore.com.

T.D. Wilson: Can you provide a brief summary of your story, YGINDA in The Expanding Universe Volume 10?

JA Mortimore: The cover image fitted my UNCHARTEDuniverse so well I couldn’t resist submitting to this anthology.  My Interstellar Union of Planets is linked by‘substreams’ accessed through gateways. In this story, set in a different part of the universe to the series, anindependent trader’s attempt to rescue a stranded pilot goes very wrong.  It’s first person, whereas the series isthird person.  I couldn’t resistincluding a cat in this story.

T.D. Wilson: In addition to TEU10, doyou have any new releases this year? What are they and what inspired them?

JA Mortimore: Book four of the UNCHARTEDseries was released in February this year, and book five in May.  I’m currently working on the final edit forbook six, which concludes the first ‘season’. I should add that I am not this fast a writer – I have a manuscriptbacklog!

T.D. Wilson: Do you enjoy writing novel length or short fiction?

JA Mortimore: I much prefer novels.

T.D. Wilson: Why?

JA Mortimore: Short stories actually take me a lot longer as every word needs tocount.  Novels I can start on page oneand write until the end before worrying about editing.  My normal length for novels is around 76,000– so I’m not writing door stops.

T.D. Wilson: Do you have any unusual writing habits?

JA Mortimore: I work best in a silent environment as I’m easily distracted!  So no playlist for me.  I am a ‘pantser’, but need time to intellectbefore setting pen to paper on the setting and characters for the nextbook.  I am a consistent NANOWRIMOwinner, but occasionally write a book at another time of year if I’m inspired.

T.D. Wilson: What authors, or books have influenced you?

JA Mortimore: Although I’ve read thousands of books, my main writing influence isprobably 1980s TV SF – think original Star Trek, and original BattlestarGalactica.

T.D. Wilson: What are you working on now?

JA Mortimore: I’m editing book six – the final book of season one of the UNCHARTED series. Although I no longer support NANOWRIMO, I'll still be writing a novel at the end of this year, and I'm intellecting on that now.  It's going to involve archaeologists.

T.D. Wilson: What are you reading now?

JA Mortimore: Non-fiction: The Antidote to Overwhelm: Becca Syme

Fiction: ThreeMen in Orbit: Sandra Bond.

T.D. Wilson: You write a lot of Space Opera. What elements do you believe arethe most important for a writer in that genre?

JA Mortimore: Space Opera is a wide genre. It covers everything from light character-driven stories toheavy-on-the-tech fiction.  Both militaryand adventure come under this broad umbrella. 

T.D. Wilson: What do readers look for in Space Opera?

JA Mortimore: Some space opera includes romance, which some readers are lookingfor and others aren’t (although it’s hard to find an SF book that doesn’t havea romance in it somewhere, even if it’s very low key and background!)  I think the majority of readers are lookingfor a good story that feels original, with likeable characters and a satisfyingending – but that’s true of all fiction.

T.D. Wilson: What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?

JA Mortimore: You can’t edit a blank page.

T.D. Wilson: What hobbies or activities do you enjoy when you’re not writing?

JA Mortimore: Reading and walking. Sometimes both at the same time.

T.D. Wilson: Lastly, imagine you’re going to be stranded on a desert island andyou’re allowed 3-4 books to take with you. What would they be?

JA Mortimore: On the non-fiction side, Making Myths and Magic by ShellyCampbell and Allison Alexander.  It hasso much in it!  (Can I also have anunlimited supply of paper and pens, please?)

Non-fiction … Iguess Victoria Goddard’s Hands of the Emperor, which I praised on arecent podcast which can be found here: https://beyondcataclysm.co.uk/podcast/the-hands-of-the-emperor-with-judith-mortimore/

Tolkien’s Lordof the Rings trilogy (hopefully asking for a trilogy isn’t cheating!) so Ican read my favorite bits.

Finally, AlfredBester’s Demolished Man.  I’vealways loved this book, and was thrilled to discover it won the first ever Hugofor a novel in 1953, coincidentally … brace yourself … the year I was born.

That’s all we havetime for today and I want to thank JA Mortimore for her time to give herinsights on writing and current/future projects. Remember, The Expanding Universe Volume 10: A ScienceFiction Exploration releases Monday September 9, 2024.  Get your copy now and be ready for tsunami offantastic science fiction stories.  Don’tforget to check out JA Mortimore’s website, jamortimore.com and all her works, especially her UNCHARTEDseries.