RJ Amos – 10 Questions (2023)

1. Why did you initially decide to write a book?

I was starting a new job, and I didn’t have a lot of work to do, so I opened a new Word document and started writing, stream-of-consciousness style. One thing I wrote was, ‘This is what I really want to do: I want to write for a living.’ The job got busy, so I put the document away. But four years later, when I started another job and had a little spare time, I started writing stream-of-consciousness style again. I wrote, ‘This is what I really want to do: I want to write for a living’ a second time. Then I decided to scroll up and see what I’d written before.

The realisation that this dream to write had lasted at least four years was the kick up the backside that I needed, and I started writing fiction using the time I could carve out in the edges of my job. Eventually, I left work and started working for myself as a writer and editor. I haven’t looked back since!

2. What genres do you enjoy reading?

I have fairly eclectic tastes. I enjoy science fiction, but more Douglas Adams style than Frank Herbert. I’ve just read some great stuff by Martha Wells, The Murderbot Diaries were so much fun.

I read a lot of cosy mystery, especially from the golden age. I love authors like Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie. More contemporary authors include Richard Osman; his The Thursday Murder Club was brilliant.

I turn to fantasy when I’m in the mood for a whole new world, including urban fantasy (W.R. Gingell), and comic fantasy (Terry Pratchett), and I’m a big fan of Tolkien. I really loved Victoria Goddard’s Greenwing and Dart series.

I enjoy regency romance and literary fiction (Jane Austen, Elizabeth Goudge). I also enjoy memoir (Stephanie Peral-McPhee’s knitting books are brilliant) and self-help nonfiction. There’s so many good books out there!

3. What do you love most about being an author?

You’re expected to sit in a room by yourself and read and write. Pretty much the perfect lifestyle. Add in a nice walk or jog, a bit of chocolate and a cuppa and I’m there!

4. What is currently on your TO BE READ pile?

There’s a few things, but I’m getting through them. Anything by Donna Leon. Patricia Cornwell, Post Mortem. The Lady in the Van, by Alan Bennett. Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy. Eugene Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor. There’s nothing in this book that I meant to say, Paula Poundstone.

5. What drew you to the subject of your latest novel?

I wanted to try something that wasn’t set quite so firmly in the real world, where I could make up some of the details. I could have tried fantasy, but I decided to go with science fiction.
I also wanted to explore the idea of what can go wrong when a young kid gets caught in the wrong crowd. I’m concerned about how many of our First Nations People are incarcerated, and how easy it seems for teens get stuck in a cycle of imprisonment after one bad turn. So, like many authors, I investigated the idea in a novel.

6. Where is your novel set? (If you write fantasy, how would you best describe the world of your latest novel)?

It begins in Cygnet, the small town where my parents were married. It’s one of my favourite places. I don’t remember where the idea came from to populate Cygnet with aliens, but it seems to make sense to every Tasmanian I’ve talked to. Much of the story is set further afield in Karthur, a tourism planet. Karthur offers you any experience you would like: massage and relaxation by the pool, skiing and snow play, baking in the desert (good, if you happen to be a lizard), all kinds of water sports, jungle adventures and of course, amusement parks, as well as the best concerts and entertainment money can buy. My characters get caught in the shady side of the planet and they are not sure that they are ever going to be allowed to leave.

I’ve put aliens in Cygnet, added a fugitive, a lawyer who happens to be a cat, and an overenthusiastic captain of the intergalactic police, and found it to be the perfect recipe.

7. What’s the most interesting book you’ve read in the last year – and why?

This is such a hard question! I’d have to say Dr Kerry Howells’ Untangling You about gratitude and its opposite, resentment. I find people endlessly fascinating and love to read anything about why we are the way we are.

8. What authors do you love to follow?

WR Gingell, Anne Cleaves, Joanna Penn, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, James Clear, Gretchen Rubin, Jo-Anne Berthelsen, Victoria Goddard. I get a lot of newsletters in my in-box and find it hard to read them all.

9. Do you prefer paperbacks, hardbacks or ebooks, as a reader – and why?

I prefer paperbacks, but right now I’m generally reading ebooks because my bookshelves are full, and I just can’t get rid of any of the books I own. They are all my good friends. So new books go onto the e-reader.

10. What else would you like your readers to know about you or your books?

My books have been described as love letters to Tasmanian towns. I love to write interesting characters and to explore small town life. If you want a friendly, wholesome escape then my books are the ones to read. They also make great Mother’s Day presents!

The other important information I’d love to tell you is that I write non-fiction, have a blog (aquietlifeblog.wordpress.com), and a podcast called A Quiet Life that you can find on any podcast app. My non-fiction side is all about finding out who you are and what you are made to do, and then about making the time in your busy life to do your thing. I love to encourage you to be the unique and wonderful person that you are.

You can find Ruth here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RJAmosAuthor

Website: http://www.rjamos.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17633288.R_J_Amos

Amazon.com.au: https://www.amazon.com.au/R-J-Amos/e/B0798G5K13/