J. M. Kay started writing seriously his sophomore year of college at University of California, Santa Barbara. A few poems here and there led to several collections of poetry, a book of short stories, and many other writing projects. Under the Shadow, Children of the First Star: Volume I is his first novel. He, his wife and their adorable Shih Tzu all hope that it is just the first of many, as being a writer, for all of its aggravations, is still way more fun and rewarding than what he used to do.
Books
Q&A
BooksEndependent (BE): What was your inspiration for writing Under the Shadow – Children of the First Star, Vol. I?
J.M. Kay (JMK): I wanted to write a story that wasn’t just about good versus evil but about an evolution and about the ability to become a better version of oneself by looking within. In that sense, it’s my homage to T.S. Elliot, whose poetry I fell in love with in high school and has always made me want to better understand who I really am as a person.
BE: When did you know you wanted to become a writer?
JMK: I don’t know if there was ever a “light going off” moment, but the need to put my thoughts down onto page has been with me since probably late high school. Writing was a way for me to empty my anxiety and my stress, to literally take it from my own body and put it on a page and I would always feel better afterwards. From then, my desire to write evolved into a love of bringing my imagination into the world in a way where it would have a home and not be forgotten. From there it was just a natural progression to thinking, wouldn’t it be amazing if this were my job?
BE: What are your writing goals for the next 12 months?
JMK: In the next 12 months I hope to be able to finish my outline for “A Moment in the Glass, Children of the First Star: Volume II” and be well into writing the first draft. If I have the time, I’d love to keep working on a series of humorous short stories I started a little while back and some poetry here and there always seems to find a way into the mix.