Bios

Welcome to Moirae Publishing! This will be one of many author interviews we do for the blog. Today we have our first author signed with our company. 

So answer a few questions for us!

Who are you and what do you write?

I’m J.D. Huffman, although my friends call me “James” or “Jimmy.” I write all kinds of things–novels, short stories, poetry, essays, code. But I assume you want to know what I’m writing for Moirae, and at the moment that is my science fiction (and fantasy, sort of) novel series called Totality.

What drew you to write this genre?

Easy answer: Star Trek. The Next Generation was on when I was a kid and it pulled me in. Really opened up my imagination and never stopped. I love science fiction because it tantalizes us with what’s possible, warns us of what to avoid, and finds humanity in the most outlandish settings.

What is your day job?

I’m a software engineer who works on pharmacy software. Definitely not science fiction.

How does your day job influence your writing (characters, settings, plot)?

When it comes to Totality, very little. That said, one day I may write a book or two based on my experiences in the software industry. It’s full of colorful characters, high stakes, and gripping drama. If you don’t believe me, go watch Halt and Catch Fire.

What do you want to achieve with your books?

First and foremost, I want people to have a good time. Following these characters on their respective journeys should be engaging and entertaining. If it’s not, I’ve failed as a writer.

But I also wrestle with a lot of complex topics and I hope I get readers to think about them, too. I tend not to go for blatant political allegory, but rather universal questions and dilemmas. What makes somebody a good person or a bad one? What is the proper role of authority? What does a good government look like? What kind of future do we really want for ourselves? How much of our lives is under our control, and how much is random chance, or fate?

I want the series to feel like more than the sum of its parts. It’s sprawling and complicated but I do my best to keep it accessible to everyone, too. I’m not a rivet-counting, militant hard-SF writer. Nothing wrong with them and they have their place, I just find other aspects of humanity’s future and our potential more compelling.

What was the defining moment in your life that made you want to write books and get them published?

That’s a tough one. I don’t think there was any specific moment. It’s a desire that built up over a long period of time. I’ve been writing stories since I was a little kid, and sharing them with others has always been part of it. Getting to this point has been a natural progression more than the result of a specific epiphany, I think.

What’s your current project about?

At the core, Totality is about people flung away from their home and forced to grapple with forces they don’t understand. They have to make tough decisions, and don’t always make the right ones.

The first book, The Militiaman, kind of sets the stage for the rest. A very frequent theme is the clash of ideals with reality. Everybody has their own idea of how things ought to be. Even with a clear notion of what you want, even with tremendous power to make that vision a reality–how much of it can you really achieve? How far do good intentions get you?

The main character, William Pearson, is a cop out to achieve his version of justice. There are a lot of things wrong in his world and he wants to make them right, one way or another. But reality is less willing to bend to his black-and-white conception of the universe he inhabits. A lot of stories about this type of character end up being power fantasies–you end with all the enemies dead and this grand vision of justice accomplished, justifying the means. Totality is… definitely not that kind of story.

Are there any themes you want to explore in future projects?

A ton! Totality covers a lot of ground but tends to be about fairly specific things, thematically.

Other themes I want to grapple with in future works would involve artificial intelligence, government surveillance, ancient history, medical ethics–the list goes on.

What other projects do you have in the works?

I have some other novels I’ve written that need some work before they are ready for the public. There’s one about human cloning, another that’s a series of parallel stories that are thematically (and narratively) linked, the first novel in a weird series about the end of the world, and the first book in another series that’s a space opera about a time traveling cyborg. That’s just counting the ones where I’ve actually written a novel. I have a long list of other projects in various states of development. For the moment, I’m focused on Totality, but once that series is in the bag I’ll probably jump to one of the others. If I keep doing one novel a year like I am now, I’ll be busy for, uh, the next twenty years or so. And that’s only if I don’t think up anything new in the meantime.

Have you published anything previously?

Not fiction, but I have published nonfiction articles before.

I also have a blog where I’ve posted hundreds of articles, but I don’t know if you would count that.

What do you find the most difficult in writing?

Keeping the details straight in a very complex storyline. Who knows which things, where they are, what’s motivating them in a specific moment, and so on.

Why do you find this part the most difficult?

It’s just a lot of little facts to keep track of. I put together systems to help me organize it, but I’ll probably end up writing a program, like I usually do for difficult problems.

What’s your secret to getting books done?

Consistency! When I’m working on a novel, I set aside time for it at least every weekday. I have an outline to guide me and a word count to target. Planning beforehand, blocking out time, and keeping a consistent pace ensure things move forward from start to finish. I’m not saying it’s always easy–there are days I just don’t want to do it. But I do it anyway. Making it a habit is essential. Once you get used to it, you can keep doing it, over and over, day after day, start to finish. And it feels great!

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Stay tuned to Moirae Publishing to see the book when it comes out! Totality: The Militiaman is sure to be a fun ride!

Coming soon

sooooooon