Wednesday 8 August 2018

A Slice of Cake With... J.C. Steel

This week I am delighted to be having a slice of cheesecake with fellow indie author J.C. Steel.


Born in Gibraltar and raised on a yacht around the coasts of the Atlantic, JC is a writer, martial artist and introvert. In between the necessary making of money to allow the writing of more books, she can usually be found halfway to the furthest galaxy.


What kind of books do you write?

I’m a sucker for intelligent anti-heroes. I create universes and destroy civilisations. My characters are schemers and survivors, and not infrequently tend to the ‘chaotic neutral’ end of the scale. I’ve had readers say my books are complicated :) I take this as a tremendous compliment. I enjoy working in societies that are just a little off-kilter from our own, and include essentials like space travel, aliens, and elaborate assassination plots.




Can you describe your writing why?

I write because otherwise, the voices in my head get way out of line. Many authors may say this as a joke. I end up dreaming about breaking into alien factories and fighting giant robots with handguns if I don’t write regularly. 

Seriously, writing my own books is a great way to have adventures from the comfort of my own desk. If a story doesn’t give me goosebumps at some point in the writing, it’s probably destined for the recycle folder. Bilbo Baggins’s Walking Song probably sums up at least 80% of how I feel about writing.


    The Road goes ever on and on
    Down from the door where it began.
    Now far ahead the Road has gone,
    And I must follow, if I can,
    Pursuing it with eager feet,
    Until it joins some larger way
    Where many paths and errands meet.
    And whither then? I cannot say.


Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most.

Tough question, I enjoyed writing all of them to an indecent degree! I’ll go with the first in my sci-fi series, Through the Hostage, and give you a piece that made me do my best evil vizier cackle once it was down.



“I want to speak to you,” Taiva said, tilting her head to meet Ilan’s eyes as she had always had to do, even when their respective heights had been rather less.
The black eyebrows rose, and Khyria Ilan, sole commander of Wildcat Cortia, looked her over with vague irony. “For which I have developed a second shadow. I take it that until I either indulge you or injure you, I’ll continue to trip over you at every intersection?”
“It’s important,” Taiva said doggedly, despite the chill that the other’s tone sent through her.

Ilan’s expression didn’t change. “I’m sure it is,” she said soothingly. The mockery in her eyes was disconcerting. “So is what I am doing later. I suppose I might as well kill two birds with one stone, to use an old saying rather literally. Meet me here in two hours…and we’ll see.”


Tell us about your latest project.

Right now I’m working on my first urban fantasy novel, Death is for the Living, which will come out sometime in summer 2018 (honest, guv). It’s a novel of vampires and hunters and the magical underground of the Caribbean, spiced with a little blood and romance and a lot of double-crosses. Want to know more? Come in deeper...



What is your favourite cake?

Any kind of cheesecake. Absolute top of the list? Key Lime cheesecake. Trees cafĂ© is near my office, and my downfall every time. 


Thanks JC! For those who are keeping up with the baking side of things, here is a recipe for Key Lime Cheesecake thanks to Philadelphia Cheese. 

You can keep in touch with JC across social media:

Like her on Facebook
Follow her on Twitter
Pin her on Pinterest
Stalk her on Instagram
Read with her on Goodreads
Be googly on Google+
And connect on iAuthor

Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with indie author Joanne Van Leerdam, grilling them gently about their writing life and of course sharing their favourite cake.

If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.


Claire Buss is a multi-genre writer and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop.

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