Jim Bernheimer Interview

We’ve talked to Jim Bernheimer, most known for Confessions of a D-List Supervillain and the Dead Eye series about his new release and upcoming projects.

For the benefit of those not familiar with your work, can you tell us a bit about the Dead Eye and Spirals of Destiny series?

Dead Eye is the story of Mike Ross, an Army vet with a medical discharge trying to put his life back together as a he tries to blend back into civilian life. Unfortunately for him, he begins to see ghosts out of one eye after the bandage is removed. Mike is a Ferryman (like the Greek Myth) and is now caught up in the problems of the living and the dead. I tried to write it along the lines of Buffy with ghosts.

Spirals of Destiny is my big Harry Potter killer. Not really, it hasn’t even scratched him yet. It’s about butt kicking, magic wielding, unicorn riding, Battle Maidens and follows the hero’s journey of one young woman and her unicorn. The odd numbered chapters are written from the unicorn’s point of view and the even chapters are from the young woman’s. I was trying to go with Lord of the Rings meets Pern meets Black Beauty.

Then to Confessions of a D-List Supervillain, you just released a prequel called Origins of a D-List Supervillain. Can you tell us a bit about it?

The D-List series follows the life of Cal Stringel. He’s a disgruntled low-ranking supervillain with a homemade powersuit and a rather large chip on his shoulder. Cal has one last shot at redemption when he is forced to try and work with the heroes to save the world – whether he wants to or not. The prequel, Origins is about how he became the sarcastic anti-hero depicted in Confessions.

Why did you decide to write a prequel?

Because there was enough material hinted at in Confessions that I could reasonably do a prequel. See the blog post for a more detailed answer.

Can you give us some insight into your main character, Calvin Stringel?

I wanted to write an anti-hero, a really good one that would hopefully last. Cal is a bit of a butthead, but he’s embraced his “buttheadedness” and accepted it. He does the right thing for the wrong reasons and vice versa. He’s a flawed character capable of great compassion one minute or willing to be heartless as necessary in the next. The stories are written in the first person, so the reader is brought along for the ride.

What sort of challenges, as a writer, might you have faced before your first book was published? Any insights you would be able to share for those aspiring writers seeking advice?

I always recommend using a pen name (though I do not). Everything you put out on the Internet is something someone can find out about you. My day job requires a security clearance and I also have two young daughters. Some harsh things have been said about me and my books that I wouldn’t want my daughters to see or have to sit down and explain to my employer. If I could go back and do it over, well first I’d have a set of winning jackpot numbers, but I’d also use a pen name. Besides Jim Bernheimer takes up an awful lot of cover space.

Have you ever struggled between what you would like to happen to a character and what you considered more sensible to occur? Can you tell us when and what did you do at last?

I don’t necessarily struggle with it, I embrace it. Well-conceived and fleshed out characters should push your words in different directions from your outlining. Above all else, I try to strive for a sense of realism in my works. Sure they are science fiction and fantasy, but the characters (and I’m not just talking about the main ones either) have to behave in a manner that the readers are willing to accept as believable. After all, the more you are able to help the reader suspend their disbelief, the easier it is for them to immerse themselves in your story. I mention the secondary characters as being important. They’re supposed to be real people, trolls/demons, or Rigellians also. They have motives, hopes, and dreams and a reason for being where your main character is at the time. Consider this; no one goes around thinking that they’re a bit character in someone else’s life. The exception to that is my youngest daughter. It’s her world, we just live in it!

How do you feel you have evolved as a writer through your writing career?

I started out playing in the realm of fanfiction under the name of JBern. It’s nice that the stigma that used to be associated with both that and self-publishing have begun to wane. I like to push the envelope with odd ideas. The first short story I ever sold was an audio production on Drabblecast about a recently turned vampire fighting against his life insurance company for his death benefit. The first print short story I sold was to a Gryphonwood Press anthology and it was a horror piece written in second person present tense – written that way just because I could. My mechanics have hopefully improved over the years, but writing in the purest form is about storytelling and authors should always be in the business of telling interesting stories.

Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process?

One of the most popular panels I do at conventions I attend is the Small Press/Self-Publishing ones. I always make it a point to say that if you can only afford either editing or cover art to go with the cover art. It might sound shallow, but it goes back to my commitment to realism. People won’t look at your book without an interesting cover, catchy title, and an intriguing blurb on the back jacket or the website. If people don’t pick up your novel, you’ll never get the feedback on whether your story is good from the people that matter most – the readers. If you’re selling books and your mechanics are bad, you can always reinvest your profits into getting the book edited and issue a second printing.

What are your thoughts on good/bad reviews?

Responding to a bad one is never a good idea. I was guilty of that once; back when my skin was thinner, as I mentioned in one of the questions above. I don’t plan on making that mistake again. So, I always say, “Celebrate the good and try to learn from the bad. Look for the criticism and try to remove your feelings from it for just a moment to see if the criticism is fair. If it isn’t, forget about it and recall Abraham Lincoln’s words about pleasing all the people all the time. If it is, see how you can learn from it. A bad review won’t kill you and what doesn’t kill you can make you stronger if you can use it as a teaching moment.”

How do you define success as an author?

Set realistic milestones and celebrate them. Sometime over the last month I sold my fifty thousandth book/ebook/audiobook. It took me five years of plugging away at it to reach this point and I’m excited to see where I’ll be five years from now. I celebrated when I sold my hundredth book, when I first sold a hundred books in a month, and the first time I had a thousand sales in one month. I celebrate when a book hits review milestones like fifty or one hundred.

Author’s don’t really get recognized, but our books do. I still recall fondly a couple of years ago when I was at X-Con in Myrtle Beach. A man walked by and did a double take when he saw the cover for Confessions of a D-List Supervillain. He said, “Wow! You’re here! I’ve read that and it was great.” It’s happened several times since then, but that first time really sticks with me.

What’s next, what are you working on now?

I’m about 40 percent done with Secrets of a D-List Supervillain and hope to have it and the 4th D-List novel ready for a simultaneous release around Christmas. Once I’m done with those two books, I want to write the third book in either the Dead Eye series or Spirals of Destiny series. I’m also collaborating with a screen writer to create a screenplay based on Prime Suspects: A Clone Detective Mystery. Ten years ago, I never dreamed I’d have several books out in my name, along with ebooks, and audiobooks. Maybe ten years from now, I can say that I dreamed about seeing one of my books turned into a movie and I went out and made that happen!

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