Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
A1. Hi, I’m Jordan E. Kristofer. I’m a new pulp fantasy author, though I’ve been writing for a long time.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “Paladin of the State: Origins”?
A2. Getting to a final product that I was happy with. I made a lot of edits before I wound up with a draft that I said, “Yeah, this is good.”
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
A3. Henry James and Robert E. Howard. I like the Gilded Age writing style of Henry James, as well as his insights into his characters’ minds; and I like Robert E. Howard’s action and sort of utilitarian style of writing. With both, nothing is wasted, and I’ve tried to emulate my style in that way.
In terms of content, I’d say few books really influenced me in what I actually write; it was actually the movies I grew up with that did that: Star Wars, Errol Flynn’s Robin Hood, Zorro, as well as many 1950’s-era sci-fi movies. There were things that influenced me in writing “Paladin of the State,” but that’s for a different question.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
A4. The US is a huge nation, and I admit I’ve not seen much of it. That being said, there are two locations I like to go to to think about things or clear my head: my backyard and the local park. I live on the water, and my dock overlooks a marsh; it’s serene, and it helps me clear my mind of issues and worries. The local park isn’t far from my house, and I’ll walk around it for a couple hours to exercise my body and my mind. Sometimes, if I’m stuck on an issue — writing or otherwise — I’ll head to the park and walk around it for a while, thinking. Generally, the fresh air is a huge help.
Q5. What inspired you to write the book ‘Paladin of the State: Origins’?
A5. Multiple things. I had a world in which Pel existed long before I came up with him. The character of Pel was largely based off of Father Mulcahey in MASH. He was originally a priest who had a military background. Then, I found the Merkabah Rider series by Edward M. Erdelac, and that really got me thinking about a more holy warrior-type Pel. Solomon Kane also influenced the character, but not a whole lot. The paladins existed, but I wondered what one would look like if he were to work for the government and not the Order. That generated some circumstances in which such a paladin would occur.
Dzokaya was based on an older character I had made years before; her name is a feminization of the original character’s name.
When it comes to the plot, I’m not sure where I came up with it; it sort of just appeared in my consciousness. Certain events were inspired by real world things which the astute will notice.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘Paladin of the State: Origins’?
A6. From inception to clickable link, about 2 years. When it came to actual work, it took significantly less time, maybe a year or less. It was mostly written when I had free time from work. Then, last year, I started working on other projects, which didn’t pan out. I was able to write the last half of the novel in about a month or 2, and editing took at least that long — a lot of late nights editing.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
A7. Currently, it’s only available on Amazon; Kindle, paperback, and hardcover versions are available.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Paladin of the State: Origins’?
A8. The cover was easier to come up with than the title, to be honest. The symbol on the front is central to the paladins of Cormoria; it is the symbol of Qia Mora, their goddess, which is explained in a description in the beginning of the book. To put it on fire, well, that was to emphasize the paladins’ fire-based abilities. The smoke is a reference to the main villain of the story, which is the shid.
With the title, I spent a long time — a few months — trying to come up with it, and I’m not sure I’m truly happy with it. However, I’ll tell you how I came up with it anyway. Spoilers, but at the end of the novel, Pel winds up working for the Riahlish government. In the US, the government is sometimes referred to as “the State.” That led me to the phrase “ward of the state”; but Pel wasn’t a ward, he was a warden, which led me to “warden of the state.” However, I wasn’t happy with how close it was to the original phrase. Pel is a paladin, so I replaced “warden” with “paladin” to come up with “Paladin of the State.” Although, I knew “Paladin of the State” would refer to the series, not a singular book. I attached “Origins” because it is the origin story of two characters, those being Pel and Dzokaya.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
A9. I’m a little too green to talk about keeping things fresh, but I will say that, when it comes to this series, the types of shiden and situations and how they’re vanquished — varying those — would theoretically keep the stories fresh. Freshness is only so important; many readers come to a series because they like how the main character deals with similar situations in different ways. The protagonist in one story faces an enemy and defeats it in this way; in another story, the protagonist faces another enemy — perhaps similar to the first — but handles it differently, or perhaps the protagonist can’t handle it and he barely gets away with his life, which leaves it open for another/different story. As a writer, you basically mess with variables of a story like an equation — different values to these variables produce different products; perhaps you add a new variable, or take one away, which changes the product (by product, I mean of an equation, not an item to be sold).
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
A10. I can’t remember where I heard it, but someone said, “Write like no one’s watching.” If you’re like me, you worry about getting it right the first time, but getting it right the first time is nigh impossible. This fact causes hesitation to write, sometimes paralyzingly so, and barely any writing, if any at all, gets done. It’s a sort of stage fright that live performers and athletes get, I’d say: performance anxiety. But when you hunker down and realize there’s no one watching you except God, and He doesn’t care if it’s perfect, the writing gets done, and it flows. The first draft is always just that — the first draft. It can be changed and altered. It’s when it’s published in hard-copy that the urge to change it and edit it suddenly comes back, and you have to say, “No. It’s done. Move on.” Even when you’re absolutely sure the final manuscript is the best version of itself, there’s always doubt and a desire to change it; a writer must fight it, and let the story be.
One word of advice for fiction writers, especially those writing a series, is to stick to canon. If it’s printed, it’s canon; don’t change it. Adhere to it. I vehemently despise retcons, and I work very hard to make sure I don’t do them or need to do them. A world bible comes in handy here.
Buy Paladin of the State: Origins on Amazon
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