Author-to-Author Q and A: J.M. Coleman

Let’s start 2025 with not only a fellow author, but a local one and teacher: J.M. Coleman!

1. Where did you grow up? Did your childhood have any impact on your writing?
   1. I grew up in Bonne Terre, Missouri, about an hour south of Saint Louis. I was adopted by my grandparents and so because of that, I did not have any siblings to harass or play games with. Eventually, my parents ended up buying me a GameCube, I think for Christmas when I was five, and my love for video games blossomed. Around that same time, I found a love for anime and began watching Dragon Ball on Cartoon Network. As a kid, I didn’t really separate it from the other cartoons I watched, but I loved it because of the action and the childish humor. I didn’t have many friends because I lived on a back road in a more rural area, so the one friend I did have at the time I made at school. When I was nine, my father (biological grandfather) died and after that, I became friends with two boys who were my closest neighbors (on the other side of our two-acre field) named Levi and Kyle. Together, we created stories that we would act out as we ran around the fields, jumped on the trampoline, and fought each other with sticks, lightsabers, and plastic swords. We named ourselves in the games we played: Black Star (Levi), Shell (Kyle,) and Kai (Me). Eventually, as we got older, our stories took on a more serious form and whenever we got too old to run around and act them out, we began writing them down or drawing them out. 
   2. My childhood did, without a doubt, have a huge impact on my writing. My mom used to read to me constantly whenever I was a kid, so I quickly found a love for words. As a young kid, I tried my own hand at writing stories and found it enjoyable, but didn’t take it seriously until late high school. Needless to say, I didn’t have the easiest childhood, and that without a doubt affected my writing. But I think more than anything, it taught me what a good story looks like and that a story isn’t good without some suffering. 

1. Tell us about the first story you ever wrote, published or not?
   1. The first story I ever wrote was whenever I was five or six years old. At the time I was obsessed with a media franchise called Bionicle, and so I decided to write my own Bionicle story. I wish I still had it somewhere, maybe I do, but it was only a page long and it took me forever to write. I thought it was awesome, but I didn’t really have anyone to share it with at the time.

1. What are you currently working on?
   1. I am currently working on two books: the sequel to Genesis, titled Apostasy, and a book set during the WW3 that takes place roughly thirty or so years before the events of Genesis and gives the back story to some of the more mysterious characters from the main series. 

1. What is your favorite character you have ever created and why?
   1. I think right now, my favorite character is Alef. He is powerful, intelligent, prepared, and knows what needs to be done at any given time. Alef is, in a lot of ways, the personification of one of the darker sides of modern philosophy: hyper-individualism and hyper-humanism, and this culminates in the development of a character that ultimately relies on no one or nothing and believes that the only way humanity is getting anywhere is by forcing things to go their way, no matter the cost. Alef believes this, of course, not just on a grand scale but also in his own life. What Alef wants, he gets. The question becomes for the reader: is he doing this for objectively moral reasons or objectively immoral ones? 

1. Do you have to write/draw in order or do your ideas just come to you and you put them in order later?
   1. It really just depends on the situation. Whenever I get a new idea for a story, I don’t start from the beginning. What was originally supposed to be the beginning of Genesis became the beginning of Apostasy a few years later. However, whenever I am writing a book and am in the midst of it, I tend to write in chronological order. I think this makes my life a bit easier considering the timelines I juggle and the sheer amount of characters Levi and I have. 

1. What was your path like until you found writing?
   1. My path was basically the same. I never really felt like I found writing. I always felt like it found me, and that was at a young age. There was rarely ever a time that I didn’t see myself as a writer. It feels like it’s a part of my nature, frankly. 

1. How is your relationship with your publishing company?  If you are self-published, what tasks do you have to do to get your project completed?
   1. My current publishing company is Indies United Publishing House run by Lisa Orban. I am not the most social person in the world, so I find great difficulty in fostering relationships with other authors, but I feel like my relationship with Lisa is pretty good. As far as I am aware, we like each other and maintain a professional and friendly demeanor. Professionally, she has helped Levi and me a great deal. Before we were published by IUPH, we were doing everything ourselves, which was genuinely miserable. Now, she helps us with editing, formatting, some promotion, and gives us resources to help ourselves. The hardest part for us is, and I think always will be, social media. Levi and I don’t like it and never have, so we are doing what we can to get the book out in local stores and not just on Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and IngramSpark. 

1. Tell us about your covers.
   1. We only have one cover out right now, but it was something that came to me one day just out of the blue. I saw a design like it somewhere, I don’t remember, and thought “Hm, that would make for a cool mask.” So I tried it out, wrote it into the story, and the design of the cover of Genesis is actually what’s on Kai’s helmet. Imagine seeing that in complete darkness staring back at you. I think it would be terrifying. 

1. What inspires you to create?
   1. Mainly life, I think. I feel as though the world is a miserable place. Society is taxing. It convinces us to believe things that are untrue and tells us that we need more and more products to fill the void within us. The goal of my writing is to combat that and ultimately lead people to a place of peace, love, and hope in the face of a world that sees them as a number, a consumer, and a pawn.

1. How do you get reviews?
   1. I don’t most of the time. Any time someone buys the book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or anywhere else, I hope they leave reviews. I remind people to do it all the time. But most people don’t. That’s just the nature of people I suppose. I don’t think it’s hostile in any way; I think people are just lazy or they forget. And I’m not paying anyone to review my book – that just feels disingenuous to me. 

1. What is harder: writing, drawing, editing, or marketing?
   1. Marketing one hundred percent. Marketing is the most miserable part of writing a book and the only part that will sell you books. I don’t like money or notoriety –  if I did, I would absolutely be in the wrong business – and so I market my book in the ways that I feel like I can. Social media every once in a while, in person, and I hope (maybe foolishly) that people will read the book, see its value, and share it with others they know.

1. If you could publish every book/comic/art idea you’ve ever had, how many would you have out right now?
   1. More than I could count. I know off the top of my head, I have at least six to eight full-fledged books, all of which I would love to see made into movies or TV shows (animated or live-action.) I also have countless short stories, most of which are horror, that would make excellent films. Too bad I can’t do everything I suppose. 

1. Have you ever considered co-writing a series with another creator?
   1. The Lightning Arc series is entirely co-written by myself and Levi Wirtz. He is my other half in the realm of writing and I could not do it without him.

1. What do you do to relax?
   1. I usually hang out with my fiancee, read, watch a show, or play video games. I think most of my relaxation these days comes from spending quality time with the people I love. 

1. If you could tell your 14-year-old self one thing, what would it be?
   1. Your value is not what others decide it is: it is infinite. 

1. What advice would you have for this upcoming generation?
   1. As a high school teacher, I feel as though I am in a unique position to answer this question. I see a lot of the things they do and the ways they act more intensely than others might, and because of that, I might have differing advice: “Be yourself.” “don’t let others take advantage of you,” and “spend your money wisely.” They might all be good pieces of advice, but we all know, as adults, that every single teenager is going to do the exact opposite of every one of those things. Honestly, most of us don’t listen to that advice either. I don’t feel as though I am in a place to be giving advice to others, and maybe a lot of people feel that way. You might agree with me and you won’t.
   2. Either way, my advice is twofold and it is this: number one, listen. Not just to others, not just to yourself, but to the silence. Sit in the dark. Sit in the quiet and just listen. You will find what you have been searching your whole life for there. Many things in this world are a distraction and we have more of them now than we ever have. Make the time to listen to the silence and you’ll realize that it’s not as quiet as you might think.
   3. Number two, become a servant. Serve others in every capacity that you can because it is in service that we find who we really are and who we are meant to be. Be a servant to your friends, your family, and to the strangers you turn away from that sleep on the side of the road. Take care of those around you and be a servant always. What will it profit you if you gain the whole world, but lose your soul? 

1. Have you ever read a book/series that changed your outlook on life?
   1. I have read five books that have significantly changed my life: Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes, Journeys to Selfhood: Hegel and Kierkegaard by Mark C. Taylor, Summa Theologiae by Saint Thomas Aquinas, Stalking the Wild Pendulum by Dr. Itzhak Bentov, and The Bible. 

1. Do you have a classic piece of literature or a classic author you are fond of?
   1. I am very fond of Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. 

1. Any type of music that gets your writing juices flowing?
   1. I listen to a lot of music. Whenever I find a song that vibes well with the book I am writing, I add it to the Lightning Arc playlist on Spotify. A few of the genres I listen to that help me write are deathcore, lofi, classical, and hip-hop. 

1. If you could pick three people who are your heroes or role models, who would they be and why?
   1. My mom because she made me who I am, my fiancee because she’s the love of my life ,and makes me a better person every day, and St. Peter because he died for what he believed in, even though he was a coward in many places in his life. 

1. Dog or cat person?
   1. I love all animals, but I prefer to house cats over dogs. Dogs are a little too energetic for me. 

1. What do you want to eat right now?
2. Macaroni and cheese. I like it more than I should. 

1. If you could be in any movie that has already been made, which one would it be?
   1. The Matrix. It is my favorite movie of all time and I would love nothing more than to be a part of the Wachowski’s vision. 

1. What is your favorite holiday or time of year?
   1. My favorite holiday is Christmas. I love the winter season and Christmas is just the icing on the cake for every reason. I am fortunate that I have people around me because I know how hard this time of the year is for people who are alone. I am always thinking about them.

1. Anything else you would like to add?
   1. If anyone reads the book and wants to talk more about it or share their thoughts either on social media or personally to me, I am always available. Levi and I would love nothing more than to talk to our fans about our work. 

BIO:

J. M. Coleman is the co-author of the dark sci-fi thriller series “The Lightning Arc.” He is an author, teacher, and scholar, holding two bachelor’s degrees in Theology and Secondary Education and one master’s degree in Theological Education. He generally writes science fiction, horror, and/or fantasy, and spends his free time writing fiction and non-fiction, reading, and playing the few games he has time for.

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Amazon:

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Indies United Publishing House:

Spotify Playlist: