Can you
give us a brief overview of your latest book? Is it part of a series?
Afterimage and Encender are the first two books of the
four-part series, The Enertia Trials. I'm continually asked why I chose to
spell it "Enertia" instead of the correct "Inertia." The
answer is pretty cool. If you know, "Inertia" defines an object that
remains in uniform motion until acted upon by another object. The prefix
"en" actually means "to cause something to confined." So,
essentially the trials were about confining the subjects until acted upon by
another force. The force, the scientists were looking for, were inside the
subjects . . . all along.
Do you
have a favorite character?
I LOVE Roydon. He's not introduced until Encender, but there
is so much about him that I just absolutely fangirl about. You may ask
"why?" but after reading book two, I sure hope you're still not
asking that question.
Did you
try the traditional route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers?
I did. For about two years I tried querying and pitching to
agents. Finally, I had an agent who told me she loved my writing, but that the
market was too saturated in dystopian that publishers really wanted something
fresh and she asked me to contact her again when I had something new. Well, I
didn't want to wait for dystopian literature to die off and then hopefully
start to gain ground again in 20 years, so I took matters into my own hands.
If you used
a graphic designer/publisher’s designer, how involved were you during the
creative process for your cover?
I was very involved. I still am. In fact, we did the
photography for Afterimage right by the back door of my house. My graphic
designer is a good friend, and all along the way he's been good enough to allow
me to direct where I want the image of this series to go. And the best part is
that I've been able to trust him enough to step back and allow him to surprise
me too. It works out perfectly.
Do you
belong to a critique group? Have they helped improve your writing?
Absolutely! It's actually one of the things I recommend all
writers would choose to participate in. To have a group of your peers offering
helpful criticism and guidance from writers' perspectives is priceless to me.
When I can't figure out where the story is going, they give me ideas, they find
my writing weaknesses, and at the same time we are able to bounce creative
ideas off each other. It helps me to gauge how readers will respond to the
story, the writing, and the content.
Besides
Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?
Both Afterimage
and Encender are available at The
Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, and other online retailer sites with Encender being available on Kindle,
Nook, and Kobo, and Afterimage
available on Kindle.
What kinds
of marketing [twitter, facebook, blog, forums] are you involved with for
promoting your book(s)?
You can find me on Twitter (@j_kowallis), Facebook,
jkowallisbooks.com, Google +, and Instagram (@j_kowallisbooks. I LOVE
interacting with readers!
Besides
writing, do you have any other passions?
I was originally studying to be a vocal instructor, so I
love singing, even though I may have fallen back on some bad singing habits
over the years:) I also love hiking, reading (of course), puttering around my
house and garden with new projects, and attending all the concerts of my
favorite bands!
Some fun
facts about you, which do you prefer dogs or cats? Chocolate or vanilla? Coffee
or Tea? Talk or Text? Day or Night?
Dogs. Chocolate (WAY dark). Herbal Tea. Talk AND Text. Day.
What’s
next for you?
Book 3, Duality,
is coming out in November, with 4 tentatively planned for April of next year
(we'll see if that even happens). After that, I'm happy to say I'm already
working on a NA Urban Fantasy duology and loving it!
J. Kowallis
(The Enertia Trials #1)
Publication date: May 7th 2015
Genres: Dystopian, New Adult
Reggie’s dreams . . .aren’t dreams.
Visions of the future flood her mind like shards of broken puzzles. Caged in her cell, every morning begins the same. She’s drugged, tortured, and images are torn from her memory by Public One. Until the morning everything changes. The vision is different. The future’s never been about her, and now she knows they’re coming for here.
Nomads.
How will she convince them to keep her alive when Nate, their leader, doesn’t like or even trust her? To him, she’s a science experiment. A machine.
When Public One will do anything to keep her, Reggie must make a decision: remain a slave to her past, or risk her future to venture into a world more terrifying than she’s ever known.
Encender
J. Kowallis
(The Enertia Trials #2)
Publication date: February 29th 2016
Genres: Dystopian, New Adult
They say you feel cold when you die.
The people I’ve killed would beg to differ.
For twenty-something Ransley, the adopted daughter of famed street fighter Estevan Benitez, fighting is all she knows. One hidden detail separates her from the endless string of her pathetic opponents: she can craft and influence heat and fire.
When she’s pitted against the strongest fighters at the infamous Argolla, Ransley faces something she never expected:
A man like her.
Roydon can duplicate himself. When the two collide in the ring, a chain of deals turns Roydon over to Public Four and he’s taken away to undergo the disturbing process of the Nexis. What it is, or what it does, no one outside of The Public knows.
Driven by guilt and a desire to release the only person she’s ever met who’s like her, Ransley isn’t about to leave him for dead—not when he might hold the answers to her missing past. Now she must trust a pair of strangers: a former military man out to collapse the system, and a woman whose premonitions could tear them all apart.
Author Bio:
J. Kowallis, the only girl of four children, grew up in northern Utah with a head full of wild stories (most often unreal). At the age of 9, she wrote her first poem, a dedication to E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web. It was so intriguing, her third grade teacher requested to keep the original. Between living in various fictional worlds, and spending time on her studies, she managed to graduate from Weber State University’s creative writing program. She now lives in Utah with her Mini Schnauzer, Etta, and spends most of her time still bouncing between this world and the fantastical while enjoying delectable über-dark chocolate and lavender baths. She enjoys dreaming about, flying to, and writing about distant lands (real or unreal).
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