5 Questions With | PJ Selarom
Hamish has a first in our new content offering of “5 Questions With”.
This concept is to have a written interview with an individuals in and around Pop Culture that might not be otherwise available for a phone interview. Scheduling can sometimes be tough and we want you, our readers, to be exposed to all manner of creative minds in the geekosphere.
Thank you Hamish for giving us more avenues to reach out to independent creators and bring them to our audience.
5 Questions with PJ Selarom
TGG: Hi PJ, thanks for agreeing to our 5 question challenge… can you please introduce yourself to our audience?
PJ: I’m an indie author and a geek. I’m also a proudly out gay man who’s been out for over thirty-one years. I’m a veteran who served in the Air Force obtaining a medical degree. In high school, I was in honor classes and in the top 10% of my classes. If that’s not a geek, I don’t know what that is! I hail from a big Puerto Rican family of eight siblings from the same parents. One of my brothers is a twin and we refer to each other as such. There’s something unique about being a twin that sets us apart from the rest, a certain symbiosis. Fantasy is huge to me and so is equality. I’m so passionate about both and that passion reflects in my writing.
TGG: Can you tell us about “The Jode”?
PJ: The Jode is a four book series initiated when I was fourteen years old. Of course, I was ignorant back then with a flying imagination, but as I have evolved in life so has the series with its politics, religion, and inclusiveness. I play around with something known as the “divine right of kings” which hails farther back than the Middle Ages, except in my series the royalty really does have power granted to them from a higher being. There are many races with different cultural upbringings, therefore their royal houses would exploit a different “divine right” reflective of that culture. I play around with dialects as well which my readership enjoys. The dialects are not particularly hard and I have a lot of fun with them.
I’m honored my readership tells me the first book reads like a movie. My hope is one day we’ll see it on the big or small screen. I’m not picky.
TGG: Maybe one of the creative readers will take up this challenge! You mentioned to me that you’ve been working on this book since you were 14. What was your biggest inspiration for the series?
PJ: When I was in elementary school, I read “The Lord of Rings” trilogy and “The Hobbit”. I had no idea what the hell I was reading, but boy did I enjoy it! This ain’t no “Jack & Jill”. I’m a huge mythology buff focusing more on the Greek aspect. Superhero comics were also inspirational.
TGG: What can you share with us for your upcoming sequel?
PJ: The stakes will be raised in “Awakenings Reckoning” and we’ll see more LGBT inclusiveness as the mystery deepens. We’ll be introduced to more races with their different politics and religion. Of course, divine right will be everywhere.
TGG: Can you let us know how we can support you (where can we buy your stuff, follow you on social media etc)?
PJ: You can follow me on Facebook & Twitter via the links at the bottom of my website: PJSELAROM.COM.
“General Ygl & the Genie” is located in the Books section. There’s an e-book, too. By the way, “Ygl” is pronounced “eagle”. Don’t you love my use of phonetics?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PJSELAROM/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PjSelarom
TGG: Thanks for taking part in the interview today!
