Jonathan Bowles

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your hobbies and interests.

I am what I like to call painfully average and as far as hobbies and interests go, writing is one of my main hobbies along with video gaming, music and animals.

When and why did you start writing books?

Professionally speaking I started back in 2018 and why, when I was young I wrote various books back in middle and highschool though I never kept hold of them and they stayed as documents on the school's computer. I have since tried to adapt the books I wrote back then from memory, for example "Noble and Fabled" is based on a book I wrote for an English test "View from a window" the most I took from that test work is standing viewing from a high place, the original involved zombies attacking through the door. I replaced that with an assassin and added more family themes. Another is "Boar of Astor" that book was actually originally a very short story I was asked to make up on the spot and have since adapted to be one of the main storylines of "Tales of Zersha" I could go on and on about this!

What made you decide to tackle writing as a career?

To be honest, it's a hobby at most, a love of labour, something I can do in my spare time and enjoy holding a paper copy saying "I made this" its fulfilling in its own right but I hope to make something more out of this in the future!

Which one of your books or characters is your favourite?

Personally I have an interest in some way with all my characters, but my favourite so far is writing about General Marks Havern, an old man who has risen to the top of his class and a warrior of legend in the time of Arc 1 in Tales of Zersha, I like writing badass scenes with him just being considered overpowered, I like tragedies in a way with my writing so expect some sad stuff eventually

Which one of your books was the hardest to write and stretched you the most as a writer?

So far it has to be "Massacre at Arlen's Straight" it is the largest book I've written so far, it was quite hard keeping the pace and not bogging down in the early scenes and making the book feel to slow and since I am an amateur I'm left to deal with everything from minor editing to marketing and formatting the books it took me around half a year to fix and ready along with several months to write with occasional breaks to figure out what to do next.

Who is your favourite author and book?

I have to say Terry Pratchett, ever since my grandfather introduced me to Mort, I went through a good deal of his books. My favourite is Wee Free Men the nac mac feegles were a joy in every scene!

What book are you reading right now?

Sadly I don't get much time to read these days, I've been trying to get through the Horus Heresy series.

Where do you get your inspiration for your books?

Now this for me is somewhat silly, I brainstorm during my work and I'm a cleaner so I'm frequently seen talking to myself. But other than that I get some from video games and animes I watch, like tropes that are commonly seen, the hero, anti-heroes and such.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

It differs week after week, usually video games, writing or watching different forms of media.

Do you have any new books in the works?

Now, this is a messy part, yes I have more than 50 book concepts down the line as I call them arcs. We are currently 1/3 of the way through Arc one which is mostly lore on Zersha, introducing characters and some overarching storylines. It's going to be a long journey!