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Joanna Penn interviews Jeremy Robinson, bestselling thriller author [ Ссылка ] about his creative process, how he is so prolific, writing thrillers and his use of video for marketing

Jeremy Robinson is the bestselling author of 30 novels, ranging from thrillers to horror under Jeremy Bishop. You can also watch the interview on YouTube in two parts -- for readers, for writers.

In the interview, we discuss:

How Jeremy started out at art school and went into comic book illustration, and then into comic book writing, then screen-writing. After being inspired by a James Rollins novel, he moved into writing books.

Monsters are a recurring theme in Jeremy's books, including his recent book Island 731. He talks about his TV and film influences and why monsters have been part of his inspiration. 'Island 731' is about a crew stranded on an island that had been used for human experimentation during WWII.

Jeremy writes horror under Jeremy Bishop, the first book was 'Torment' which is a very dark book based on a nightmare he had. The Raven is the next book in the Jane Harper series, coming soon, where Jane has to deal with parasitical zombies that can zombify anything mammal, whilst out on the high seas. Ridiculous fun!

We talk about 'I am Cowboy', which is not a Western! Cowboy is the main character who first appeared in SecondWorld (about Nazis returning to take over the world). Cowboy is a conspiracy theorist obsessed with cowboy movies. He's from the Czech Republic and he has a line 'I am cowboy, I am gunslinger'.

How much of Jeremy is in his characters? It depends on the characters -- some of them are very similar. In the YA series, the Last Hunter, Solomon is based on 50% Jeremy and 50% on his son. But many of the characters are nothing like Jeremy - the books are not autobiographical!

Jeremy talks about his writing space and you can see some of his Japanese movie monsters behind him in the video. He has a big office which is packed with pop culture objects, posters etc. It inspires him, and he does a lot of video as well as writing. He also paints and his kids play in the room.

Jeremy's writing routine. He works 9-5, 5 days a week so he can make time for his family. He writes in the afternoon and in the morning, he does marketing. This is about 5 hours a day of writing, but he does write quickly about what he's going to write next. When he sits down to write, he knows what he will say. While writing a novel, it's about 3000 words a day with breaks between books.

On novellas. Jeremy has been doing some novellas, mainly at the request of readers and based on fan demand. Some of the CHESS team series has been done with co-authors to 'fill the gap' between the full-length books.

On the varieties of publishing experience ... Jeremy has done everything, from big publishers, to small press, to self-publishing. He continues to be a hybrid author, deciding per book which way to go. There are no rules in this industry!

One of the dangers of being a new author now is that it is so easy that people are rushing into it too early. Jeremy wrote for over 10 years writing, without being paid, before he thought he was good enough. You need to be harsh on yourself and keep improving.

On marketing. Jeremy does a lot of email and social media, responding to all comments from fans. He also creates book trailers and other videos, as well as doing interviews, designing his own covers and anything else that isn't writing. Jeremy does his own graphic design as he was originally an artist (not recommended for most authors though!)

On book trailers and using video for marketing. Jeremy loves making videos and does trailers for each book as well as funny 'viral' videos which get better traffic. You can check out his YouTube channel here. He talks about a recent video he did for Jeremy Bishop's The Raven -- coming Aug 13th. He wouldn't pay for a video trailer if he couldn't make them himself, but it is fun!

Top tips on writing thrillers. Write about a subject you are passionate about, or a character that excites you as an author as that will come through in the writing. Style-wise, tons of detail isn't necessary for fast pacing. Be professional -- ask for criticism and learn from it, even from negative reviews.

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