Today’s interview is with steampunk romantic and erotica writer Diesel Jester
LQ: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
DJ: Well, if you’d told me ten or twenty years ago that I’d be an Accounting Technician for the State of Alaska, I probably would’ve laughed at you. I’m originally from Tucson, Arizona who’s been around the country a lot over the years thanks to family moving me around and jobs moving me around. I started creative writing in the 7th grade waaaaay back when I was 13. I tried to get a fan fiction novel published at 18 that went absolutely nowhere.
When I was 21, I started getting into play-by-email games in which you create a character and then you tell that character’s story in respect to what’s going on. I landed in a couple of Star Trek groups over the years and then started looking at getting into the BattleTech universe by attempting to get stories published by BattleCorps.
A lot of people were telling me that the more romantic plot arcs of my stories were really well written and so I then moved over to Literotica about ten years ago when I was 30 to put stories up and get instant feedback for. To my surprise, my supernatural and science fiction stories did really well over there and netted me a couple of contest wins.
I didn’t want to rest on my laurels on Literotica all the time and so five years ago I started writing my first professional book, Shadow. Steam Romance/Kennebec Publishing just happened to find me on a lark when I mentioned online that I was working on a steampunk romance/erotica story. They got me my start as a published author and the rest, as they say, is history.
As of right now I have five books out in two series; my steampunk erotica series, Jaegers of the Consortium, has three books and my science fiction erotica series, Fallen Stars, has two books.
LQ: What does your writing process look like?
DJ: I’m what people like to call a ‘shotgun writer’ as I tend to write whatever comes into my mind at the time with little to no outlining. That’s probably why I have like a hundred works in progress right now… LOL. Needless to say, it’s very messy and convoluted to the outside observer. I can never settle on just one book to concentrate on to write straight through from beginning to end
LQ: What was your favorite book to write so far? Who is your favorite character to write about?
DJ: The answer to both questions is Cheyenne, the title character of book 2 of my Jaegers of the Consortium series, I think was the most fun to write. A woman air pirate who’s hiding under the nose of the man trying to bring her in? The story practically wrote itself. I actually wanted to write that book first but I’d already finished Shadow and needed it to go to print first to setup the events that would occur in Cheyenne. I had the character concept down from a Star Trek fan fiction simulation game that I used to write in (and still do on occasion). Bringing her over from that universe to my newly created steampunk world was no problem at all.
When I first started writing about Cheyenne, it was in the USS Miranda and USS Galaxy sim groups (hashtag blatant shout out to my friends over there). She was a witty ex-officer who could blend into any situation and wasn’t above using her body to get the job done. Translating that over to my Jaegers world; she became someone who was essentially hiding from the law in plain sight by dating the Jaeger who has sworn an oath to apprehend her regardless of the cost. I could sit here gassing on about it but I’d rather people go find out for themselves by reading the book.
Who are your favorite authors? Have any of them influenced your work?
Loren L. Coleman, John G. Hemry (aka Jack Campbell), Robert Thurston, Blaine Lee Pardoe, Michael A. Stackpole, Robin D. Owens, and Christine Feehan have all had an indirect influence on my work from me reading their books. Thurston’s book in the BattleTech series, Way of the Clans, was the first novel I’d ever read on my own as a kid (outside of school) and it really introduced me to science fiction.
As far as direct influencing goes; I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Coleman at GenCon one year and he gave me the best piece of advice I’d ever heard. He told all of us in attendance during his panel to “Don’t fear the red ink” when it comes to editing. It’s advice that I’ve taken to heart and it’s served me well ever since. I’ve also corresponded with Mr. Hemry over email and he was kind enough to help me out with the mechanics of airship combat in one of my books by applying the principals of warship and space combat that he used in his “Lost Fleet” series. Both of them I owe a huge debt of gratitude towards for their help.
LQ: How are you doing during the current pandemic?
DJ: Not too bad. Living in Alaska, we’re already pretty much socially isolated. As of right now and excluding the U.S. Territories, we’re the least affected by COVID19. And then me being a little bit of a prepper to begin with meant that we were better off to deal with this pandemic than most people. Still, it’s a hard home life as my family are all practically bouncing off of the wall from being cooped up all the time with limited access to go out… especially my kids who are hurting from the lack of social interaction with their friends and classmates. But, we’ll get through it.
LQ: What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on Jaegers of the Consortium book 4, Emancipator, and Fallen Stars book 3, Redshift. My Fallen Stars series has less production costs since I’m doing those independently so the next three of that series will be out first. The Jaegers are a bit more pricier to get done as I have a publishing agreement with Kennebec for editing, formatting, and graphic design work. I can get three of Fallen Stars out to every one of Jaegers.
LQ: Anything else you would like to share?
DJ: Just a general reminder to all of you readers out there to please take the time to rate and review books that you read. It helps us authors out more than you might realize, especially on Amazon. Other than that, take care, and let’s be sure to help each other out during this trying time. Thanks for having me on your interview today!