An inside look with Jay Sandlin- Outbreak Munity
An inside look with Jay Sandlin OUTBREAK MUTINY Amazon universal link: http://rxe.me/ZDL95Q Website link: https://www.thenovelcomics.com/ What inspired you to write your book? When I was in the second grade we were assigned to write stories about Halloween. Every other kid wrote a paragraph or two about trick or treating or candy. I wrote a two and a half page treatment about being teleported to a haunted graveyard and transformed into a bloodthirsty creature of the night by a cult of ghouls. I always knew I was different. While others were playing kickball or some other form of sports, I was hiding under the playground equipment reading Shadows of the Empire or another Sci-Fi novel. I began printing my own books before I was ten. I would have benefitted from spellcheck then. Then I stopped writing for years. I never produced a single word in high school, college, or into my adult life. I fell into a monotony of trying to be “normal”. I wanted to be successful in business and started my own insurance and financial services company when I was 24. I have been successful but still felt the undeniable pull towards writing. I ignored the message from The Outsiders and did not “stay gold”. In June of 2016, I read a book on vacation about superheroes in the common world and decided I could mix my passion of history with the idea of superheroes being inserted into world events. I began to write on the way back from that very trip and came up with the basic idea of Atlas, Okinawa Dragon, and the Reich facing off at Pearl Harbor. How did you come up with the title? Trial and Error. I went through many titles. When this book began it was called The Losers and took place in 2016. I wrote a series background for this book when I realized the history I imagined was more interesting than the story I was writing at the time. I re-titled the book History of Heroes or HoH and decided to focus on writing historical fiction with a mixture of superheroes. My early feedback was vital, and I recommend any writer to make use of Betas. I was told the first draft of the book was tedious and bogged down with historical trivia. They were absolutely right. I scrapped months of work which amounted to over 100k words and completely started over. In creating Outbreak Mutiny and The Novel Comics, I moved away from real history and created an alternate timeline where America had fallen in 1929 and was about to be choked to death by a new empire called The Reich. Originally I just called them the Third Reich like our enemies in WWII. However, the Reich Ruler would never acknowledge any previous “Reichs” as being legitimate. He would be the sole ruler of the world! That led to the creation of the dystopic Remnant States as the successor to the downsized United States. This is where the story picks up in Issue 1, Paper Purgatory, ten years after the fall of the Old US. Do you ever experience writer's block? I don’t consider it writer’s block. If I reach a point where I can’t write anymore then it just means I have to walk away from my manuscript until I am in the right frame of mind to continue. An author does not create a story; the story is simply conveyed through his or her fingers. If you find that it’s not flowing, leave it and come back later. Where did your love of writing come from? I would say it came from the love I gained for reading at a young age. I devoured books. As I read them, I felt myself grow sadder as I neared the end. It was like the ending of a friendship. That’s why I felt a love for series and stories that continued. I was in a relationship with the characters and wanted it to continue even after I turned the last page of a particular volume. What are you working on at the minute? I am actively promoting OUTBREAK MUTINY with all my might. As an Indie Author you have to fight for every download or purchase of your book. I am also planning the bullet points of the next book. I know where I want to begin and where I want to end. The path to arrive there, however, has yet to reveal itself. I am also planning to write a short story in between about Caliente Blu, the heroine from Issue 0 of OUTBREAK MUTINY. She has received such an overwhelmingly positive response that I want to write a story that takes place ten or fifteen years before her appearance in OM as a young Outbreak Baby gaining her superpowers and fighting for the freed. What’s is your latest book about? OUTBREAK MUTINY is alternate history. With Superheroes. It takes place in a world where superpowers are real and an entire generation known as Outbreak Babies manifest their abilities after suffering a severe injury or trauma. In this world, superpowers are treated like a resource and those who possess them are in demand by the powerful. The Reich has taken over the world after Germany pledged their allegiance to the most powerful of all Outbreak Babies, The Reichsmensch. He governs a caste society ruled by Warlords in conquered territories. Those who join the Reich attend Acolyte Academies where they seek the honor of earning a Warlord Trial. Life is hard for those living outside the Reich in the Remnant States. The map I provided should show the new boundaries of the land known as the Old US. When Issue 1 begins, we find the stragglers in the Remnant just struggling to survive as a Virus breaks out in the Chicago Buffer Zone. In this world, the choice is clear: You Die Free, or Live in Chains. Which will you choose?
