Getting to Know J.C. Martin

As many of you know, I joined Rachael Harrie's Second Platform-Building Crusade a while back. The Crusade is an awesome way to support fellow bloggers. One blogger who's really gone out of her way to do that is the wondeful J.C. Martin. J.C. is quizzing several of the Crusaders (look for my quiz on her blog in April 19!), so I decided to turn the tables on J. C. and pose her own questions back to her.

When did you start writing?
I 've always been writing. When I was a kid, I drew and wrote comics for my younger brother called The Adventures of Buffy & Misty. The stars of the comics were our pet dogs at the time! English was my favourite subject at school, especially when we're asked to write essays or short stories. Now I was brought up in Malaysia, and although English was my co-first language, it wasn't for most of my friends, and I soon got a reputation as a budding writer--I even 'ghost-wrote' a couple of my friend's homework! ;)

I wrote my first novel at 14, by hand, in a notebook. I hated it, and gave it away to a friend who liked the story. I like to dream that once I'm a famous author, he'd have agem mine on his hands!

Writing sort of fell by the wayside when I started university and the years after, as I struggled to decide what I wanted to do with my life, from medical research to school teaching, to martial arts instructing. Then, I started writing fanfiction for a bit of fun, and realised just how much I missed it! I started writing seriously from last September, when I left my teaching job, and started submitting short stories to publishers.

What genres do you write?
Two of my WiPs are crime and suspense, but one of them have a paranormal twist to it. Most of my short stories have been horror, although I've tried writing literary pieces and one romance piece, and I have a couple of ideas for novels in the YA/fantasy/paranormal genres...I'm all over the shop, really!

Sum up your current WiP in 10 words or less.
For ORACLE: Serial murders based on Greek mythology leading up to Olympics.
For SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND: Serial killer stalks the labyrinthine tunnels of the London Underground.
For my as yet unnamed short story collection: A collection of horror stories about seemingly everyday objects.

What's your ultimate goal as a writer?
To see my book on bookshelves in stores.

How close are you to achieving this goal?
My short stories have been published by Pill Hill Press, Static Movement, IFWG Publishing and New Asian Writing. I'm working on publishing a short story collection with IFWG Publishing, but it'll be in eBook format. I'm also toying with self-publishing ORACLE, but again as an eBook. Until I complete SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND and start querying, I'm nowhere near yet! :)

Any quirky writing habits?
I'm a terribly slow writer! Against all advice, I sit staring at the screen until I figure out the perfect phrase. I edit as I go, which hopefully means revisions will be easier...

Best writing snack?
Chocolate leaves my fingers sticky, but a jar of Nutella and a spoon--heaven!!

Mmm...Nutella and a spoon - sounds yummy. :) Thanks for stopping by, J.C., it was fun to learn more about you! And good luck with your writing. It sounds like you have a lot of exciting stuff going on!

In other news, my copy of The Hating Game, which was donated by Laura Howard and I won on Talli Roland's blog, arrived yesterday! I can't wait to get started - thanks Laura and Talli!

So how about you? Can you sum up your wip in 10 words or less? Try it, it's not easy!

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!