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I first heard of JC Hutchins on CC Chapman’s podcast Managing the Gray. Fortunately, podcast distribution has exposed me to books of varying genres I wouldn’t have otherwise picked off the shelf—and 7^th Son is one of them.

First things first: JC is such a positive uplifting guy, before I realized it, we had chatted for over an hour. For those of you who cannot listen for a whole hour, I cut the conversation into two, so you can listen to the first half and then come back for the second whenever it’s convenient. Whatever you do, don’t just disregard the second half. We get into some personal stuff with JC and also chat about his unique approach to building community around his books ~ Good ideas for writers ~ A lot of fun for readers!

Part I:

JC sets me straight regarding Science Fiction / Fantasy verses the truth about 7th Son’s genre. “7th Son is a present-day techno-thriller with science fiction elements–not the flying car type Sci Fi, but it deals with human cloning and the recording of human memory,” explained JC. Well, whatever it is, JC’s writing gripped me from the prologue and hearing the story from the author’s lips adds a compelling dimension that pulled me in even deeper.

A bit about JC:
JC hails from Louisville, Kentucky and has loved telling stories since the days of playing with action figures, then drawing comics, and later pursuing a career in journalism. JC credits his father for gently steering him towards writing in his early high school days. JC later interned for People magazine and Wizard (comic book magazine), and then landed a job at the Palm Beach Post in Southeast Florida. That’s where JC says he perfected his gift of visual writing–making readers feel as though they’re really “there.” JC’s man-on-the-street assignments helped him hone his gift for excavating details that capture character essence and anchor the reader’s experience. It was during JC’s stint at the Palm Beach Post that the concept of 7th Son just wouldn’t leave him alone.

7th Son:
Book One: Decent ~ Book Two: Deceit ~ Book Three: Destruction (These serialized audio books are absolutely free and soon to be out in print!)

In JC’s own words:

7th Son chronicles the story of seven strangers who are assembled after the assassination of the U.S. president. They quickly discover they all appear to be the same man … with identical childhood memories.

Unwitting participants in a human cloning experiment, these “John Michael Smiths” have been gathered to catch the man who murdered the president. Their target? The man they were cloned from; the original John Michael Smith, code-named John Alpha.

Soon our heroes — John, Jack, Michael, Kilroy2.0 and the others — realize the president’s murder was merely a prologue to Alpha’s plans. The outcome will unearth a conspiracy larger than they could have ever imagined….

“Not only does J. C. Hutchins put together a great story in his 7th Son trilogy, but he’s successfully cracked the code of building a loyal following. While J.C.’s story may not be predictive of the future, his approach to making his work available is absolutely — he’s a pioneer and publishing will trail in his wake or be forgotten.” –Michael A. Stackpole, New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Talion: Revenant, Fortress Draconis and A Secret Atlas

JC also shares:

• How podcasting changes the editing process and how listener feedback can enhance the final manuscript
• Myxer.com, JC’s employer, provides a distribution platform for ring tones & wallpapers and JC is utilizing it as a portal to distribute 7^th Son: Runner—the first-ever serialized text fiction available ONLY on your mobile phone…and it’s FREE!

Part II:

I was thrilled to finally hear what “Code Phantom” was all about…

JC recently completed a for-hire project for St. Martin’s Press called Personal Effects: Dark Art. He was hired as a co-writer with Jordan Weisman of Smith & Tinker Entertainment who JC says is known as the “Steven Spielberg of the gaming industry”—specifically, alternate reality games–an innovative form of storytelling that’s far more engaging and interacting than the print-paper books. JC is interested in merging media, print, audio, and video to create a complete experience for the reader. Dark Art comes with an envelope with actual clue objects that readers use to help unlock the mystery. Readers go online and interact and investigate the plot and get propelled into another online mystery. Dark Art comes out next year by St. Martin’s Press. JC couldn’t say enough about Kristin Lindstrom, his literary agent, and publisher St. Martin’s Press who seems to be one of the few publishers who “get” the importance of having a built-in audience of 40,000 to back the print release of 7^th Son.

JC talks about his incredibly interactive engaging website:

• Fan Fiction – JC invites people to post their fiction stories on his blog
• 7^th Son Obsidian – an anthology of realistic national blackout experiences submitted in audio and video format from over 100 fans and well-known podcast novelists including Michael A. Stackpole, Scott Sigler, Tee Morris, Mur Lafferty, Matt Wallace, Christiana Ellis, MarkYoshimotoNemcoff.com, Evo Terra, Soccer Girl, and Dan Klass.
• Ultra Creative Interviews with such notables as  Matthew Wayne Selznick, J.R. Blackwell, Mark Jeffrey, and Chris Brogan.

We stumble through why there is a lack of women (author) podcasters and JC predicts that once the Romance genre gets wind of podcasting, things will all be very very different. The landscape of the publishing industry is shifting and JC is one of the premier catalysts…it’s going to be such fun watching this all unfold. “Within the next 15 years the way in which we receive content will change drastically,” says JC. Audio books, and now podcasts, are a great way to take books with you literally on-the-run as my husband and I do with 7th Son. We run and listen separately to a chapter or two and then have a “debriefing walk” and talk about what we just “read.” Give it a try…Go green by listening to books on podcast, audio books, or Kindle…and top your list with 7^th Son.

Other Links:
www.RobinMaiden.com
www.Ning.com 

 

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