We have talked to Jeff Yager who has released his first novel Atom and Eve.
Can you tell us a bit about your new book, Atom and Eve?
Atom and Eve is a fictional story that takes place in the future. It follows five very different characters – a 16-year-old college student, a scientist, a female presidential candidate, a corrupt cop, and a former female gang member – through a crazy time for America when a deadly flu sweeps the country. A vaccine to fight the epidemic has some very bizarre gender-bending side effects nobody saw coming. This gave me the opportunity to write about a topic most people still don’t want to talk about—inequality in our sex roles.
Where did the idea for the book come from?
I came up with the idea for Atom and Eve while I was going through a rough breakup with my ex-girlfriend. My train of thought was in a completely different place back then. I was only nineteen. I wanted to create a unique story that questioned all beliefs in gender roles.
Do you work to an outline or plot, or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?
I think a little bit of both. I started writing the novel with an outline in mind but as I got further into it, I went with the flow, and it almost wrote itself.
Tell us a little bit about the cover art. Who designed it? What made you choose that particular image/artwork?
A: I had an idea of how I wanted my cover to look and the book designer, Daniel Middleton, came up with the brilliant cover that you see today. Besides the background image and the boy and girl, the main thing I wanted to show on the cover was that symbol of the atom. I really liked the atom we used for the cover because it symbolizes the story as a whole and people would identify the book with the atom. When we found the pictures to use for the cover, the first thing that popped into my mind was, “That’s Ricky and Isabella,” the two main characters of Atom and Eve.
How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
When I started writing this novel four years ago, my thought process and creativity was in a completely different place. After finishing my first novel, I have a better feel for the process it takes. I have learned what techniques work and don’t work. Also my style of writing has changed dramatically since I began Atom and Eve. Although the process has helped me grow as an author and as a creative writer in general, my next works are going to be completely different in every sense and will not have anything to do with this one.
What is the hardest thing about writing?
To me, the hardest thing about writing, besides getting the motivation to start, would have to be being able to continue in thought even when your brain doesn’t want you to, i.e. writer’s block.
How do you market your books?
Since the novel has just been officially published this month, my marketing is just beginning. I’m fully prepared to push the book to all markets over the course of the year through interviews and social media, whatever it takes.
How do you define success as an author?
To become a successful author, your words need to impact at least one person and that’s enough. After that one person, I don’t want to sound cliché, to me success as an author would be to start having a following of people that read my work, and more bluntly, to have millions of fans and millions of sales.
You’ve received quite a lot of bad reviews. What are your thoughts on good/bad reviews?’
Actually most of the reviews have been positive. Obviously getting a good review feels better than a bad one, but the bad reviews are the ones that really test you as an author, as a writer, and as a person. Nowadays, anybody that has the Internet, as long as they can leave a comment or vote thumbs up or thumbs down, is a critic. You can’t please everyone, but the first step is getting them to read it. A reader in North Carolina, after posting his positive review of my novel, took the time to write to me. Here’s some of what he wrote: “Incredible story! I literally could not put it down. Such interesting concepts….You MUST keep writing…”
What kind of books do you read? Any favourite authors?
I like to read, and I want to read more, but the sad fact is that I don’t read as much as I’d like to between my job and all my family obligations. But my favorite authors are Hunter S. Thompson, J.D. Salinger, and George Orwell. To me, they were all rebellious in their own way. They set out to change the game and not just play it, or be part of it.
For your own reading, do you prefer e-books or traditional paper/hardback books?
Paperback. What counts are the words that I’m reading, not whether it’s printed on paper or in digital format.
What’s next?
I’m working on my next two novels as we speak. Each one is very different from the other and from Atom and Eve. I hope to have my second novel out by next summer. I also have a few other projects in the works outside of the book industry, more specifically, music/acting/entertainment as a whole.
