Authors On The Rise Is happy to bring you an Interview with Jaden Braniff author of: The Producer. Please check it out and support.
AOTR: Please give the readers a brief Bio on you the person and tell us about yourself.
Jaden: I was born in New West Minster BC in 1972 and moved to Kamloops BC with my family before I could walk.
The decision to become a rock star or an actor bounced around until I finished high school and realized that I needed to get a job to pay bills.
Moving around the West coast of Canada for the last twenty years, I always had a journal with me. Through those years, many stage plays and stories made it to paper but few were selected to hit an independent theatrical stage.
I found that my passion for writing has hit a new level as the barrier that once held me from stepping into the world of “Author” no longer exists.
AOTR: When did you begin writing?
Jaden: I started writing when I joined my first band in Edmonton. We were writing originals in the hopes of becoming rock stars but like many would be musicians, it never became a reality. I had always been interested in stage acting and one summer around the age of 19, I spent most of my time at work or in my apartment. I didn’t have cable and the pad of paper and pen beside me called. I started to have a conversation on paper and within two days I had written a two act play. I never produced it, but it paved the way for more ideas that were floating around my head.
AOTR: What pushed you to write your book?
Jaden: My wife was away at basic training and after the kids had gone to bed and the evening cleaned up, I found myself back in that apartment when I was 19. A musician from Edmonton had pitched an idea to me and after listening to his CD, the ideas started to flow and I had written him a musical based on his idea and music. Once “The Ballad of Elvis Christ” was complete, an old idea that I had while back in Victoria BC flashed and I started the first chapter; it just sort of took off from there.
AOTR: How did you come up with the characters in your book?
Jaden: Multiple personality disorder? I wish I could answer that question easily. I suppose that the most logical answer would be to say, the story told me who they were. I had a concept when I first started, but as the chapters moved along and the characters developed, they sort of told me what was going to happen.
AOTR: Were the characters and writing the story easy for you, or did you have to outline and do research?
Jaden: I wouldn’t say it was easy, but it seemed to flow in a way that I couldn’t stop it. I have had this story bouncing around in my head for at least 20 years and since it takes place in a city that I walked around in for 10 years, the research was as simple as a map. It helps that I come from a technical background as well, so any plausible advancement is based on the things that I am already familiar with. There was a time that I had intended to find photos of either actors or models to place up in my writing space, but I could see them so vividly in my mind that none of the photo’s I found matched what I saw.
AOTR: How long did it take you to complete your book? Will there be a sequel. If so, when do you plan to release it?
Jaden: This first novel took me just over 5 months to complete, but it is only short introduction to the world that I am creating. “The Producer” will be the first of a trilogy. The next installment is entitled, “The Stage” and will be more involved as the intrigue moves out of the city and across borders. I’m hoping that I will have a release date soon, but I’m thinking probably near the end of the summer 2013.
AOTR: After reading your book, what do you hope the reader will take away?
Jaden: That’s a loaded question. I think once the shock of the ending sinks in and the unanswered questions start to raise questions of their own, I’m hoping that readers will take a look around at the world we live in and ask themselves, just how possible the world I have created is?
AOTR: Has anything about the publishing Industry surprised you?
Jaden: I come from a musical background in dealing with labels and distributing companies. I’m not surprised at all that finding someone that believes in your work as much as you do is a daunting task.
AOTR: Would you like to share a few things you learned while in the publishing industry?
Jaden: The things that I have learned are based strictly off the opinions that I’ve read on the internet, and I don’t trust those as far as I could throw a frozen cow off a moving truck. What does surprise me is that with the birth of Kindle and Kobo and every other digital format out there, that an agency/publicist hasn’t followed the trend and milked the digital world for all it’s worth. I think that making an individual known to the world for positive or negative can make the difference in how their art is produced to the world. In fact, I would challenge the lesser publishing companies to take a chance and open a talent division and start marketing authors the same way that talent agencies do. You’d see a change happen real damn fast.
AOTR: If you could write a book together with any author, dead or alive, who would it be?
Jaden: Rob Grant, hands down. Not many people will know who he is unless I say the name “Grant Naylor”. He is half of the entity that created Red Dwarf, a futuristic sitcom from the UK. The show has on occasion been very campy…lol, on occasion. The two writers do have a series of books that have penned from the world they created. Rob Grant is responsible for the book, “Backwards” and I recommend it highly. That book is a mixture of comedy and intelligence that gets me every time. If I was to ever have a chance to write with someone, it would be him.
AOTR: If your book was made into a movie, what actors would you choose for the characters? Why?
Jaden: I can’t believe that I’m about to say this, but I think for my main character I would probably choose Zach Efron. Some of his work that people may not be familiar with, for example voice over that he did for Robot Chicken, tells me that he may have a darker side to his acting. Liev Schreiber would most definiatly fit into the role of Henry, he does cantacorous well. I think that I would have to say Emma Stone for the role of Samantha. Mainly because she would certainly be able to pull off the attitude. There’s more, but I’d start giving stuff away.
AOTR: Besides writing, what are some of your other talents and hobbies?
Jaden: I’ve been a singer since I was a kid and have had my fair share of bands that I have fronted. Singing is and will always be a big part of my life. My girls both make me sing to them before bed, my oldest has taken to making me recall all of the songs that I’ve ever learned and singing them in order…it’s not by the way. The other talent would be acting. I’ve had some roles, done some stage and it may be part of the reason that I find character creating so easy. The only problem is that because I am six foot two, I tend to be typecast as a police officer. LOL, it’s rather poetic actually. I once played a Victoria police officer on a TV show called, “Alienated” and ten years later, I’m writing about them in my first novel. In fact, to add to your previous question, I would like to play the role of “David”. He’s my federal agent in the book and a very complicated character; I’d like to give it a shot.
AOTR: What words of wisdom do you have for aspiring authors?
Jaden: Listen to the voices in your head. You’re not crazy; it’s just the many personalities that you’ve created over the years trying to get out…Wait, that does make a writer sound nuts. Well then I say enjoy the madness and write, write, write!
AOTR: What current projects are you working on? Will you be attending any events, book fairs or have any book signings?
Jaden: I am currently working on the next installment of the series without trying to let the other ideas sneak in. There was a time when I was working on three plays at once and it drove me nuts so I vowed not to do that anymore; nothing ever really came to completion. I am with the Canadian Forces and where we are at the moment is not very conducive for attending fairs. Once I gain a little more notoriety I intend to venture out more during times of leave and so on, but for now…Must pay the bills.
AOTR: Where can readers find more information on you and your work?
Jaden: Well, like most I have my Facebook page. It’s wide open, so send in those friend invites. I’m working on two blog sites. http://theproducerbook.blogspot.ca/ and http://theproducerbook.wordpress.com/ and I’m willing to answer any questions, queries or hate mail at theproducerbook@gmail.com
Your ten favorite things:
Shoes:
Jaden: LOL, my combat boots and my runners for the gym.
Season:
Jaden: Springer…That’s the season in between spring and summer and not the talk show host.
Food:
Jaden: I make a wicked Indian butter chicken!
Song:
Jaden: Not a fair question as I have been a musician since I learned to use my ears and this could spark an argument that could take down society. Needless to say if it’s played on a rock station, chances are I like it. Oh, and Cookie Monsters version of “You Have Cookie, So Share it Maybe”, mainly because he has more talent than she does.
Fruit:
Jaden: I’m partial to kiwis
Day of the week:
Jaden: When I was young and single, Friday. Each day for me now is pretty much the same and I like it that way.
Friend/why?
Jaden: My wife. Why, because she is the only true friend I have that will hate me, love me, tell me when I’m being an idiot and is not beneath joining me in being an idiot. Plus she’s really hot and I get to see her naked, like daily.
Radio station:
Jaden: CFOX in Vancouver will always be my favorite
Blog:
Jaden: http://theproducerbook.wordpress.com/ HA!
Holiday:
Jaden: That one that happens on the 25 of December. I say it like that because there are so many people in the world that get pissed off about this one that it makes me laugh. I don’t really care what anyone calls it. What I care about, is that I get to spend time with my family and watch the amazement in my girl’s eyes when they tear back that piece of paper. It could be a Barbie from the dollar store, they don’t care.
