Meet Jayme K, Author

Jayme K. is the author of the novel Disorderly and the #1 best selling eBooks Youth and David Bowie is Dead. He lives in Boston with an absurd number of cats.

Keep up with Jayme on his Facebook page, and learn more about Disorderly by checking out publisher's website, Before Sunrise Press.

1. What first gave you the idea to write your novel, Disorderly?

It's funny, actually. Disorderly initially wasn't supposed to be a novel. My process in writing it was drastically different than any other manuscript I've started and that's probably why it was the first one I really finished.

Around early 2012, I came across a prompt for a short story anthology that was going to be published and sold for the sake of charity. There were two specific guidelines in place:

1. It had to have something to do with zombies.

2. The protagonist needed to suffer from cancer, or be a cancer survivor.

So I started writing this short about a guy who was bitten by "a zombie" and didn't fully convert. The problem was, I couldn't stop writing once I reached 10,000 words. The story was much bigger than what I had planned and the way I saw it, I really had no other choice but to let it breathe and expand upon it.

2. How is Disorderly similar and different from your previously published books?

In terms of substance, not very different. Black and white characters are the death of anything intellectually creative, in my opinion. If you don't have complex feelings for at least one major character, then your story is failing. In Disorderly, as well as Youth, it was important to me that my characters and their actions not necessarily be viewed as outright "right" or "wrong." Humans are very grey creatures and I wanted to portray that in both, so on that level, Disorderly and Youth are very similar.

In terms of writing style, I had written Disorderly's first draft prior to starting Youth. My style is constantly changing and it's almost hard for me to look back and read snippets of Disorderly without thinking, "Wow, I could've worded that so much better." That's not to say that my novel is poorly written--I'm not trying to detract from sales! But as a writer, I'm constantly learning and I feel that with every publication I've had, my writing has "graduated." By the time my second novel comes out, I do believe there’s going to be a stark difference between it and Disorderly in that sense.

3. Why did you decide to seek print publication for Disorderly (in addition to eBook format)?

I'm a very aesthetic person. I like the look of physical objects. I like being able to hold something I've purchased, or created, and stare at it, touch it, feel it, etc. With eBooks, you don't get that. You stare at a screen until your eyes hurt or you get distracted by Facebook.

I also wanted to make my work as accessible as possible and having a publisher that specialized in all formats was important to me.

4. I've read studies about how people read and comprehend material differently online vs. on paper. As an author, do you find that readers respond differently to your work in different formats--and as a reader, do you find that you take in work differently depending on the format in which you read it?

That's an interesting question. I haven't noticed any drastically different responses based off of the reviews I've read from those that've burned through the paperback or eBook. As a reader, myself, I actually probably pay closer attention while reading eBooks than I do paperbacks, although I prefer the latter.

5. What are you currently working on, and where can readers find your latest writings?

I'm currently collaborating with an amazing artist--my UnHollywood partner--Joel Amat Güell, on a graphic novel that's tentatively titled "The Extractor." It's an unconventional revenge tale. I'm also co-writing a screenplay with him that's called "Broken." That's his baby. He came up with a brilliant, brilliant idea and I'm excited to be working on that with him.

Scripts aside, I'm also working on my second novel right now and that's been coming along incredibly well.

I've got a few other smaller projects coming up also, so I've got a busy couple of months heading in my direction.

You can find Disorderly and Youth paperbacks and eBooks at BeforeSunrisePress.com/store or Amazon.com.

Thanks, Jayme!