"Jim Webster is probably still fifty-something, his tastes in music are eclectic, and his dress sense is rarely discussed in polite society. In spite of this, he has a wife and three daughters.
He has managed to make a living from a mixture of agriculture, consultancy, and freelance writing. Previously he has restricted himself to writing about agricultural and rural issues but including enough Ancient Military history to maintain his own sanity. But seemingly he has felt it necessary to branch out into writing fantasy and Sci-Fi novels."
Now with eight much-acclaimed fantasy works and two Sci-Fi to his credit it seems Jim might be getting into the swing of things.
What kind of books do you write?
It’s a tricky question. Setting genre aside (because I write across genres) I write adventure stories, but I also write ‘comedy of manners’ (which isn’t so much as a genre as a description of a style.)
So the stories narrated by Tallis Steelyard might be ‘Fantasy of Manners’ (which might even be a genre, described as ‘where “Freeze, Dog breath” becomes, “Pray allow me to detain you.” )
Tallis Steelyard has his own blog: https://tallissteelyard.wordpress.com/
There’s a heap of his stories on there, try https://tallissteelyard.wordpress.com/2021/06/04/art-for-arts-sake-2/
“Most of these he made into a pile that glistened and sparkled on the grass. He bade them lie there 'free to all finders, birds, beasts, Elves or Men, and all kindly creatures';”
The stories centred on Benor the Cartographer are definitely adventures, but have a detective, mystery-solving element. Given Benor and Tallis appear in each other’s stories the boundaries are fuzzy.
Then I have the Tsarina Sector where it is definitely adventure, but again there is a mystery-solving element as well as a military element.
Can you describe your writing why?
I’ve pretty well always written. I’ve done freelance journalism and that helped put food on the table at times. I suppose I’ve been writing since the late 1970s. I am a storyteller, and it’s just what I do.
Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most
I recently calculated that I’ve got over 1.5 million words published, so finding a favourite bit is tricky.
I recently read this as I edited. It’s from Justice 4.1 which is the first book in the Tsarina Sector series
“As Haldar led the party out of the depression, there was the sound of a large explosion behind them, and the ground quivered under their feet. Haldar picked himself up, having thrown himself instinctively to the ground. He sprinted to towards the edge of the ridge and looked down into the valley. Where the village had been was a raging fire, the flames burning with hints of green and blue. Haldar’s phone rang. He clicked it on.
“It wasn’t my boys,” said Jonno’s voice.
“You sure someone didn’t get a bit over enthusiastic with the support?”
“Haldar, you know as well as I do that there is a limit to what you can achieve with light support weapons. Anyway, we’ve not even engaged the village yet.”
“Thanks Jonno, keep me posted anyway.” Haldar broke the connection. He turned to Toulis, who had caught up with him.
“Well, it isn’t anything to do with us,” he said, noting Haldar’s questioning look. “Our heavy kit burned with the ship, we lost our demolition charges.”
Haldar turned to Bartan. Before he could say anything Bartan said, “Just as a matter of record, the New Charity Gendarmerie disclaim any responsibility for the incident.” He grinned. “Probably kids playing with matches.”
Haldar sighed. “It’s going to make investigating things tricky. I don’t think we’ll get far poking the ashes with a stick.”
Tell us about your latest project
The latest project is the Tsarina Sector. I was asked to write some SF by a small publisher back in 2013 and Justice 4.1 was published in 2014. I took it to Loncon that year and did well with it. But as War 2.2 came out in the following year the publisher was fading, and I was soon left with the two manuscripts, plus the third book half-written. Well with ‘lockdown’ I finished them. It wasn’t due to being trapped at home giving me time. I farm, and our industry worked normally, as did our suppliers and customers. But all those government bodies and others who find so many things for me to do went into hiding and that was the time I had.
So I finished Law 3.3 and Plague 1.4. Then at the end of June, I loaded all four books into Amazon and pressed ‘go’. I decided that I’d place the entire series in front of people at once. Too many series fizzle and die and having just avoided it happening to Tsarina, I decided to make sure it didn’t happen again with Tsarina.
So people can buy all four books.
Tsarina is the planet at the edge of the Galaxy. The story is about how a planet that just about manages, copes with the rest of the galaxy. They have pirates (Starmancers) trying to take it over, genetic engineers wanting to sterilise continents ‘just to be safe’ and all the usual problems caused by greed and ambition. We even have nightclub singers and yak who eat hallucinogenic lichen.
Justice 4.1 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B097PPWXKW/
What is your favourite cake?
Carrot Cake. But if my late mother was still alive, her chocolate cake.
You can connect with Jim here:
Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Florence Keeling.
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Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me.
A good writer - especially love his books about farming and his dogs and cat - he's like James Herriott, but on the farmer side.
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