The Wooden Mannequin’s Dilemma
Welcome to Ask Me Anything, where you, the reader, can ask me ANY question you want and I will answer it. This first batch of questions comes from Facebook, and for the most part they’re pretty easy to answer, with one exception, which I will answer honestly…redacting personal information. So let’s get to it!
Jeff Sexton:
I’ll start easy. Favorite character to write? Are there any stories you’ve wanted to write but have held back on? Why?
Jeremy Robinson:
Part 1: I have three favorite characters to write: Jon Hudson and Jane Harper (both J.H. — weird)*, because they’re first person, which I prefer, and very sarcastic, which lets me have a lot of fun and come up with unusual ways to describe things. But my all time favorite is Solomon Ull Vincent, from The Last Hunter. While he lacks the sarcasm of the two J.H.s, he’s based on me as a kid, and on my son, the real Solomon, making him very alive in my mind. Sitting down to write him is a very emotional experience for me.
*Jon Hudson is from Project Nemesis and Jane Harper is from The Sentinel.
Part 2: I write pretty much exactly what I want. I have plans to write a lot of books I haven’t written yet, but the only thing that is preventing me is time. I’m currently desperate to write a dozen books, but can only manage one at a time.
Dustin Dreyling:
If you could get ONE of your books, and only one — not a series, which would it be?
Jeremy Robinson:
The previously mentioned novel, The Last Hunter, even if I only had to get Book 1, Descent, without the rest of the series.
Jessica Burchell:
What is your favorite holiday? Fav food? Best book you ever read or that stuck with you?
Jeremy Robinson:
Part 1: Favorite holiday. It’s nearly upon us! As a kid at heart, I’m a Christmas guy.
Part 2: Favorite food is currently “Beef short rib marmalade” which can only be found at my favorite restaurant, Moxy, in Portsmouth, NH. (www.moxyrestaurant.com)
Part 3: Best book that stuck with me is The Descent, by Jeff Long. Love the book. Love the sequel. Still pining for a conclusion to what was supposed to be a trilogy.
Connor James:
Any plans for more Last Hunter novels?
Jeremy Robinson:
Lots of Last Hunter talk in this Q&A! While I have a strong desire to return to the land of Antarktos, I don’t currently have any full-length novels in the works. Solomon may make an appearance in a future book that’s planned for 2016, but only time will tell if I do another Antarktos novel.
Lyn Askew:
Any possibility of Refuge continuing?
Jeremy Robinson:
Yes. I’m planning on at least one more Refuge story, but that probably won’t be until 2016, and will likely conclude the story…maybe…
Lace Anne:
Are you looking forward with girlish glee to Pacific Rim 2, as I am?
Jeremy Robinson:
Manly glee. Manly. And yes.
James Hannon:
What inspired the creatures of Island 731? Especially the particularly devious BFS?
Jeremy Robinson:
My nightmares… Really, it was just a matter of me asking myself, what would scare the crap out of me? Especially the BFSs. I’m not a fan of arachnids, so combining spiders and scorpions is a nope-nope for me. And for most people, I think.
Shaun Harland:
Based off your success in creating the Kaiju Thriller genre, do you think you might consider writing a Mecha Thriller someday?
Jeremy Robinson:
Already in the works! Will probably announce the details once I have a cover to go with it.
Anne Stevenson:
Has it been difficult to link so many of your works together, and was that a plan all along or something that just evolved?
Jeremy Robinson:
For those that don’t know, this question is in regard to an upcoming, unnamed crossover event novel (that I will detail in a later blog post), which many of my books have been leading toward for years. While some of the books crossing over predated the concept, those at the core are being directed on course for future events. That said, it’s been a mostly fluid, evolving process. And I think that’s actually better, because things organically come together, rather than being forced.
Jason De La Torre:
From The Didymus Contingency on, would you do it all over again? What would you have done differently, if anything?
Jeremy Robinson:
And we finish with the hard question. The infamous regret question. In general, my answer to this question regarding hardships in my life is this: the good and bad events of my life shaped who I am, and I like who I am today, so no, I wouldn’t change anything. BUT, when you narrow this question down to my career, there is one glaring flaw I would love to erase. It’s not the ten years of penniless struggle, the bad reviews, the countless hours of monotonous marketing, or even the unhinged fellow author who threatened to cripple me from the neck down if I didn’t send her $1000 (in response to the announcement of my first book deal).
No, my mistake was partnering with a person who very nearly destroyed my career and turned my beard gray. I’m not mentioning any names, or details, or even gender, as this person is still around and litigious by nature. The short version is that I fell for the slick words of a snake oil salesperson who presented him/herself as something he/she wasn’t, and proceeded to create a vortex of lies, slander, thievery, contempt, etc, on par with a soap opera or teen high-school drama. Vast amounts of money were lost. Large numbers of people were burned. Dreams were crushed, including mine. But, I got out. Thank God, I got out. And since then, my career has rebounded back onto the trajectory it had been on prior to those events. If I could go back in time, slap myself in the face and say, “No! No! Bad Jeremy!” I would. Then I totally wouldn’t have this gray patch in my beard!
Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions you would like to ask for the next installment of ASK ME ANYTHING, feel free to leave them in the comments.
– Jeremy Robinson
www.jeremyrobinsononline.com
JEREMY ROBINSON is the international bestselling author of more than fifity novels and novellas including ISLAND 731, SECONDWORLD, and the Jack Sigler series including PULSE, INSTINCT, THRESHOLD and RAGNAROK. Robinson is also known as the #1 Amazon.com horror writer, Jeremy Bishop, author of THE SENTINEL and the controversial novel, TORMENT. His novels have been translated into twelve languages. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife and three children.
