#10 Jim Cherry 1 on 1 with Mark Atley
Jim Cherry has written the novels Becoming Angel, The Last Stage, a book of short stories, Stranger Souls, and he did some time as a rock journalist which resulted in the compilation of articles The Doors Examined. If you want to know more about him, you can find him in-between the lines of his stories.
Hello everyone, and welcome to "1 on 1 with Me!" In this series, I highlight a new author and engage in a thoughtful conversation about who they are, what they care about, and their perspectives on various topics. I start with standard questions and then move into tailored follow-ups based on their responses.
I find the format to be conversational, and I truly enjoy it. My primary focus is to highlight the author I am interviewing.
Who am I? I am an author known for creating crime fiction, with a particular focus on complex characters, engaging dialogue, and narratives centered around crime themes. I genuinely enjoy listening to people and letting them share their stories.
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On to the interview!
Jim Cherry—Writing under the influence of rock 'n' roll! www.jymsbooks.com
Who are you and can you tell me a little about your work? What drives you? What do you hope to accomplish?
It's hard for me to talk about myself (believe it or not!), self-definition doesn't come easily. I think I put a lot of myself in my stories. I've been using a tag line in my bio "if you want to know more about me, you'll find me in between the lines." But if you want to go with a factual rendition. I was born in 1960 in Chicago, even though I was around in the 60's I was too young to be part of any of the really cool things that happened. I've always had books around me. My mother used to read me The Brothers Grimm stories (not the Disney version the real versions) acting out the parts for me and I saw the pictures in my head. My grandmother was in her 80's when I was born and had a grand library of first editions of Twain, Dickens, Conrad, Conan-Doyle, so I read them. What I want to accomplish in my work, is I want to trigger the movies in people's minds, for them to see the world in a little different way after they're done reading a book of mine. I think of myself as an idea man, that's all I have to sell, ideas and images.
How do you see your relationship with the reader?
I see my relationship with my audience as interactive. I write the best I can using all the technique I have available, and I want to give the reader a cinematic experience when reading what I write. What I mean by that is I hope to create pictures or movies in their head, because that's the way I've always seen it, and sometimes I'm writing the movies I see in my head. After I've written a story then it becomes the readers, they bring their own experience and perspective to the story and hopefully it brings another layer of meaning into the story.
How do you view your characters? What has changed over time, and what has stayed the same? How do you develop complex characters?
Characters. I usually I know the back story of the characters I'm writing about. I don't write out a back story (unless I need to work something out) I usually just know it. Before I started writing in earnest I thought it was a myth that writers spouted about characters having minds of their own and take the stories to places they hadn't anticipated, but in writing, if you're getting your head into the scene or you see the movie in your head, you discover it's true! Characters sometimes start doing things you never anticipated or saw until you get there. And I discovered the characters are usually right! And I follow their lead and the story has usually been the better for it and develops the characters more fully. It's an interesting experiment to see what you can learn from your characters.
What is your version of success? Has it changed during your writing journey? How so? What’s different now versus when you started?
Success is a subjective scale, isn't it? Sometimes when I get bummed out about the literary world and my place in it, I remember back to the 18 year old version of me would think what I've accomplished, and he would be knocked out to know we have 5 published books and some fans. Getting good reviews always knocks me out too. To know that something I wrote meant enough to someone to write a review! That's wild! And a very humbling experience of which I truly appreciate. I think my writing skill is at its peak, and I'd like to get a lot of people turned on to it and would like high-line, traditional publisher, because I think the novel I just finished, The Third Day, deserves that kind attention.
What type of reader are you? How do you view books you read, and how do they affect you and your writing?
Omnivorous. I'll read just about anything that is put in front of me, from a brochure to a magazine or book, my curiosity gets the better of me and I end reading what is in front of me especially if I'm waiting for an appointment or something. Probably the only thing I haven't read are cookbooks, and I tend to stay away from self-help books, although, I've read a few over my lifetime.
How do you find readers? What works and hasn’t worked for you? What resonates with you when readers share thoughts about your work? And where do you see yourself in the writing community and publishing world?
This is a very good question. I don't know. I write anything from science-fiction, existential/psychological horror, Southern gothic, you name it. You can find examples of all this in The Lion Communique. I tend to not like the labels of genre, because it takes the same tools, technique, and palette are the same to write literary fiction as it does to write a romance, it's just applying the colors a little differently. The readers tend to find me, I try to write the best blurbs I can but strangely enough the readers I find and who review my books seem to get it more than me or maybe the people I find are kindred souls and understand what I'm trying to accomplish in my work. Where do I see myself in the writing community? I'm very honest with myself about. I understand most people haven't read or even heard of my work, and I'm on only a second or third rung of the literary ladder, I don't think I even qualify for cult status! But I also know I'm a VERY good writer. I have ambition, I'd be lying if I said I don't want to be on the top of the NY Times bestseller list, and everyday I'm working towards that goal, right now I'm send out queries for my novel The Third Day to very high line agents and publishers, because I think The Third Day is the height of my mature writing and would like to get as much of the world turned on to it as I can. In the writing community I try to support writers I like (off hand Jack Preston King, Douglas Lumsden & Richard Holeman) and hope they and others reciprocate and I've found many new friends, and I'm tied in to all sorts of writers I may have never heard of much less read if not for the internet.
—Please provide a brief blurb about yourself, and feel free to promote your recent book or work.
"Original, deftly crafted, memorable, entertaining, thoughtful and thought-provoking, each jewel of a short story comprising "The Lion Communique" is inherently fascinating and showcase author Jim Cherry's genuine flair for narrative driven storytelling and mastery of the short story format..." The Midwest Book Review. Or what I've just recently started using as a blurb: "The stories in The Lion Communique, are a neon noir look at the world. Streets burning with phosphorescence, the air humming with the electric of the neon fused darkness." Maybe we can make Neon Noir a movement. You can find The Lion Communique at my website www.jymsbooks.com or Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.
—Tell me something interesting about yourself that these questions stimulated thought about. And tell me something you want others to know.
Interviews like this always stimulate thought in me. It really makes a writer examine the process he's involved in and articulate to not only the interviewer but his or her audience. What do I want to tell you that others may want to know? I don't man, you'll find me in between the lines of my stories.
Tell me more about the Third Day. What is it? Where did it come from? What was the challenge of finishing it in the novel? What did you find easy?
The Third Day is based on a true story I saw on a TV news program almost thirty years ago. It's about two boys who were on the Yuggoslavian shooting team that eventually won the Olympics, after which they grew apart. When the Bosnian War broke out they found themselves on opposite sides. One became a sniper, the most deadly sniper there was. The other lead a quiet peaceful life until he discovered his friend was the sniper and because no one else had the skills to stop him he decided he had to kill his friend so that many others may live. I saw right away the drama of it and the universality of the story, so I wrote it up fast, before some well-known author grabbed it and I got it out to magazines, to universal rejection. No one else picked it up and I had faith in the story and my ability to write it. It took many permutations, the short story, a screenplay that I shopped around to no avail. I refined the short story to put in The Lion Communique. I always knew the story was strong enough to support a novel so after a lot of false starts last year I hunkered down and in fourteen months I'm finishing up the seventh version to get to an editor at a publisher. The easiest part of writing is the writing, I find everything else that surrounds it the hard part.
How do friends and family feel about your writing? How do they react when you discuss characters doing things you hadn’t planned? Would you like to share any instances of this happening with this audience?
My family for the most part doesn't understand it and they haven't read what I've written. We're different people, I'm nothing like other members of my family who have more in common with each than me. I think I'm a changeling. The exceptions have been my mother who was exceptionally supportive and believed in me and my sister Connie, who used to proofread for me, she's still supportive and designs graphics and ideas for booksignings and appearances and I usually use them because they're good ideas. I have a core group of friends that are really supportive, and they've probably read everything I've written that is readable.
I’ll totally make Neon Noir a thing with you—I’ll also accept Neon Americana as a description, too, but there is an inherent feel to Neon Noir as a description, and I’ve leaned way into it. What attracted you to this type of fiction? What do you see it as? How do you define it? And what media is a good example of this? (Personally, I think Miami Vice is a good example lol)
I only started using the Neon Noir tag line about a week before discovering you and that you were using already using it. Maybe we can use it as a generational description of our writing like The Lost Generation or The Beat Generation before us. I think it's apt and it's not really a new idea, Fitzgerald had the Radiant Hour, Jim Morrison the Bright Midnight, and probably other writers that don't come to mind right at this moment. I think the darkness we perceive is a poetic darkness that in past ages was limned by starlight but as we've become more "civilized" and urbanized the starlight has been crowded out by the neon, but it's a light that hums with the electricity of life and of our times, and we've tapped into as artists, and it intensifies our lives and perceptions as artists. What attracted me to this idea is the best writers personify that intensity and feeling and we're the best equipped to express and conduct that energy through our writing.
Jim Cherry grew up in Chicago in the 60's. It was a time of cool, blue splash-downs and revolution was in the air. Although, he missed out on all the cool things. He spent his time reading his grandmother’s collection of first editions of Twain, Dickens, Conrad, Conan-Doyle and having backyard adventures of his own. At 12, he decided he wanted to be a writer. In college, he went to school for filmmaking but realized it was just an excuse to write. In my 20's, he sought out experience and adventures, He has lived in Los Angeles, visited New Orleans, Mexico, France, and Germany, usually when he didn’t have the money. All the while writing. He has written the novels Becoming Angel, The Last Stage, a book of short stories, Stranger Souls, and he did some time as a rock journalist which resulted in the compilation of articles The Doors Examined. If you want to know more about him, you can find him in-between the lines of his stories.
Mark Atley is known for writing crime fiction, with his works often characterized by complex characters, engaging dialogue, and narratives that build tension towards explosive climaxes.
Atley's approach to writing often involves creating intricate plots where characters' histories and motives are deeply interwoven, providing readers with both entertainment and a commentary on crime and morality. His work has been featured on platforms like Audible for audiobooks, indicating a broad reach in the crime fiction genre.
Mark Atley also engages with his audience through social media, where he can be followed for updates on new releases and insights into his writing process
I just picked up The Lion Communique
Jim Cherry interview really piqued my interest. These are some books I'll be reading for sure