Heart Of Fire looks at life and death… and things that make us what we are by J Damask

Today I hand over my blog to the wonderful J Damask, author of the Jan Xu Adventures that I had the privilege of working with many years ago when I was still editing for Lyrical Press. This month, J Damask is celebrating the long-awaited continuation of her Jan Xu stories, Heart of Fire.

Heart Of Fire has had an exciting journey. Third book of the Jan Xu Adventures series, it was first accepted by Masque Books and then later by Fox Spirit Books. Its publishing journey is parallel to its gradual transformation from concept to story.  It has been a journey of ups and downs.

Writing the book took a lot from me. I explored issues that impacted my life: Buddhism, Chinese traditions and customs, and death. I wanted to explore the cycle of life and death as part of the story. It is an urban fantasy novel, but it also weaves in things that matter to us, to our hearts and identities as human beings. The songs that sing to us might just be universal in the end: love, family, trust and compassion.

In this third novel of the series, Jan is confronted with more trouble. She rescues a foreign wolf, setting off a series of events and incidents that affect her health, her family and her pack. Throw in the machinations of Chinese vampires and the Western drakes – and Jan has to fight for her life, literally.

The book starts with the celebration of the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, one of the festivals I love as a Chinese girl growing up in Singapore.  I have always enjoyed the eating, the feasting, the variety of food, and (when I was a little girl) the red packets filled with money. Now, since I am married, I have to give the red packets to children. There are families getting together to have the reunion dinner and share stories while they eat. My own memories consist of going to my grandparents’ and playing with my cousins. The same goes with Jan and her large pack-family. Family, in her case, is the bonding factor that keeps her going.

Life is then followed by the grim reality of death. Someone in Jan’s family suddenly dies and she grieves deeply. How does she deal with the pain of loss? This is where I weave in Buddhism. My father is Buddhist and I grew up listening to his chanting at nights.  The mantra I use in the novel is om mani padme hum, the “jewel in the lotus”.
But, of course, there will be action in the novel. The political and manipulative drakes begin to assert a stronger influence in the story. Familiar characters will also appear, causing no small amount of head ache for Jan and her pack, testing her leadership and straining the ties in her family.

Heart Of Fire can be purchased from:
Amazon UK, Amazon US, Spacewitch

Bio:
J. Damask (Joyce Chng) lives in Singapore. Heart Of Fire is the third book of the Jan Xu Adventures series. She blog at A Wolf’s Tale and tweets at @jolantru. 

J Damask and her wolves of Singapore #wolves

J Damask is one of the authors of whom I have very fond memories of my time editing at Lyrical Press.  Miss Damask has since gone on to carve a wonder-filled career writing about her wolf shifters of Singapore. She recently celebrated the release of Heart of Fire, the third in her series of adventures of Jan Xu. But today I'm handing over to her as she talks about getting her debut title, Wolf at the Door, into print. And I'm sure you'll agree that the cover art is absolutely stunning. 

What made her writing stand out from the others in the slush pile? Beautiful story-telling and a wonderfully realised non-Western setting written in an authentic Asian voice. J Damask makes me believe in fairy tales again.


* * * *

The journey has been long, complicated and at times, frustrating. But Wolf At The Door is finally out in paperback form. At the moment, I am still marvelling at how things have turned out and damn it, I have a print book.

Nerine who edited Wolf and encouraged me a lot has given me the opportunity to talk about... well… the book. What should I talk about? That it’s about wolves in Singapore. Chinese wolves in the form of humans, mingling with the human population. It had been a personal challenge to write about Chinese wolves and I was deeply satisfied to see my dream took form and become real. I wanted to see something different from the US/white/European shifter types – I wanted to see something I could easily resonate with. I wanted to see a heroine that didn’t fit the current UF/paranormal trend: a mother with children, Chinese, and – yes – a wolf. Not a werewolf, but a four-pawed wolf.

Wolf was first released as an ebook under Lyrical Press.  Then came the decision for me to look for a print publisher. I tried looking up on local Singaporean printers and they were all expensive. I plucked up enough courage and approached Gayla Drummond, publisher of Katarr Kanticles Press. I was ecstatic when she said ‘Yes!’.

Then came the hard work of re-formatting the novel and finding a cover artist to create a new cover. Help arrived in the form of Sarah Coldheart who did the lay out and Nathalia Suellen who did the breathtakingly gorgeous cover. Insert a series of to-and-froing with page proofs and stuff… and we were good to go.

So, Wolf was a result of the concerted efforts from my heroes: Nerine (who edited and made Wolf into a lean mean story), Sarah (who did the formatting and lay out), Nathalia (who is an immensely gifted artist and who did the cover) and Gayla (who gave Wolf a home). Many grateful thank yous, my ladies!

Now, get your hands, claws and talons on the book!

Createspace

Amazon

Jan Xu and the Myriad have their own Facebook page
J. Damask (aka Joyce Chng) can also be found at Twitter (@jolantru) and at her blog (A Wolf’s Tale)

Wolves of Singapore, a meeting with J Damask

J Damask and I have walked a long path already. She was one of those rare finds I saw glistening in the slush pile and when I read the opening lines of her debut novel, Wolf at the Door, I just knew this was an author whose voice was special, who was able to bring the magic of dreams to life in her prose. Well, we've just completed work on her second in her Jan Xu Adventures, Obsidian Moon, Obsidian Eye, and the story is every bit as magical as book one.

Today I welcome J Damask to my world, to share a little more of hers.

Tell us a little more about the Myriad of Singapore. How did this setting come about? And why wolves?

The Myriad of Singapore are basically non-human types, the "other kind". They comprise mostly of the types we tend to see in fantasy or urban fantasy: elves, fae, dragons, phoenixes and were-animals. Likewise, Singapore being right smack in the middle of Southeast Asia, the Myriad also includes the existing non-human types from this region. The term is an umbrella term for this non-homogenous group (or groups) of beings.

Singapore is a cosmopolitan island-state, straddling both East and West. Her culture is a mishmash of cultures, both merged and distinct. The setting itself – both East and West, a mélange of cultures – is perfect for urban fantasy.

Post-colonial themes are strong themes in your writing. Can you tell us more about how your culture influences your fiction?

My grandparents came directly from China (Shanghai, Fujian and Guanzhou) and settled in Singapore who was then under British colonial rule. So my education is pretty much Anglo-Saxon and for a while, I struggled with the dichotomy of trying to speak Queen’s English (or Standard English) and coping with Chinese dialects at home. As a family, we keep to our traditions and celebrate the major festivals like Chinese New Year, Duan Wu, Midautumn Festival and Winter Solstice. This observance of festivals comes through strongly in my stories, because I feel that we need to hold onto our culture as it forms our intrinsic identity.

I love the festivals, not only because of its food(!), but by the fact that it is also family.

How do you go about balancing your day job as a teacher with your writing?

Like juggling spinning plates. No, really, I am serious. My weekdays are spent planning, marking and teaching – my creative energies – most of them! – go into all these aspects. So when it comes to writing, I have to plan… wisely. I tend to write at nights (but then, I have my kids to wrangle). I also find time to write. During examination periods and marking phases, my writing tends to dip – which is fine with me. ;)

Is the ebook revolution happening where you live? How do you go about marketing yourself to your potential readers?

My personal observation: not really. People are still fixated on print books. There is a small group of people who are also publishing ebooks, but on the whole, the big publishers here in Singapore are still print book focused.

I make use of social media (Twitter and blogs). I also use Smashwords which is – so far – a good platform for ebook publishing.

I have had to choose: obscurity or nothing.

How do you go about crafting your stories? Do you write an overview or do you just get stuck into chapter one and go from there?

Hmm. I sometimes plan. That’s right – sometimes. I write an outline, follow it and sometimes discard it, because the characters end up taking charge. I also write snippets as ideas come off and on in my head and merge them later into the story or expand them into individual stories.

J. Damask is on Twitter as @jolantru and she maintains her writerly blog at A Wolf's Tale: http://awolfstale.wordpress.com

Her urban fantasy novels at Lyrical Press

The Jan Xu Adventures:

Wolf At The Door

Obsidian Moon, Obsidian Eye (due to be released on the November 7)