I was fortunate enough to come into contact with Mark Gelineau and Joe King. I reviewed one of their novellas A Reaper of Stone, quite a lovely read! So, thank you for partaking in this interview! I absolutely loved seeing their answers and look forward to reading more of their works. Here is a little more about them.
Be sure to click “Continue Reading,” to view their Q&A.
Joe King spent most of his childhood doing what he loved most – building things with his friends. He built friendships, stories, worlds, games, imagination, and everything in between.
After a brief career in software, for a while, he pretty much gave up on the idea of building anything. Five years later, the woman who would become his wife, rode in on a white horse and changed his life forever. Another five years, and two beautiful daughters later, Joe is building new unimaginable things.
Joe believes in the power of stories, dreams, family, friendship, and getting your ass kicked every once in a while.
More than anything, he wants to tell a good story, and, for him, Gelineau & King is the constant reminder that it’s never too late to start building the things you love.
Joe King can be reached via email at joe@gelineauandking.com.
The defining moments in Mark Gelineau’s early life really trace back to two events. One was the discovery of an old cardboard box that had belonged to his grandfather. Inside that box was a collection of comic books, resplendent in their four color glory. Even though he had never met his grandfather, finding that box passed on a love of thrilling stories and daring adventure from one generation to another.
The second event was when his mother took him a to showing of Star Wars. For the entire duration of the movie, Mark sat with his mouth open and his small hands gripping the armrests. The better to pretend to fly the spaceships you see.
Since those early days, Mark has loved the stories of the imagination, the stories that transport a person from the world they know into new realities, distant domains, and realms of wonder. Even more than the stories themselves though, Mark discovered the sheer joy of sharing those stories. Taking them out of the cardboard box and into the hands of friends and family. This drove Mark first to education, where he could talk about the amazing stories out there in the world, and then eventually to writing, where he could try and write some of those stories for himself.
Gelineau and King is the extension of that joy. A place where Mark and his partner, Joe King, can take the stories they create out of the box and put them out there in the world.
Mark is loved and, more importantly, tolerated by his amazing wife and young son. And when Mark is not writing or teaching, he is secretly adding comics and paperbacks to a certain cardboard box waiting in his son’s closet.
You can email Mark Gelineau directly at mark@gelineauandking.com.
Q&A with Mark Gelineau & Joe King.
1. What books have you written?
J – The novellas in Echoes of the Ascended are really our debut work together. Echoes of the Ascended are 4 novella series all set in the same world. Different characters and different types of stories, but you get really different experiences when you read 1,2,3, or all the series.
2. What are you currently working on?
J – We are currently working on and publishing books #2 of our series. We just released Broken Banners, book #2 of A Reaper of Stone. Every month we will release a new book #2, then onto the books #3.
3. What is the first sentence that comes to mind when you read: The door was red and her heart hammered.
M – “The door was read and her heart hammered. That much blood was a sign that things in here had definitely taken an unexpected turn.”
J – The door was red and her heart hammered. It opened.
4. In the event you get writer’s block, what do you do?
M – I call Joe 🙂
Actually, I’m only partially kidding. One of the real powers of writing as a duo is that the sum is greater than the parts. If I am just spinning my wheels on something, i know that I can reach out to Joe, and he knows the moment I am trying to capture as well as I do. Together, we break it and work through it.
The simple power of not facing writer’s block alone is an amazing thing.
5. How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
J – There’s so much we’ve learned about writing and storytelling, even in just this past year, but if I had to pick one, it’s that we really got the confidence to tell bigger stories. Creatively, instead of holding back good ideas, we really throw them out there and force ourselves to keep coming up with bigger ideas than before. It’s pretty frightening on a daily basis, with no discernible end in sight 🙂
6. Do you have a word count goal for the day when working on a project?
M – I don’t usually go by word count, but I do write every night, once my son goes to bed, and I usually try and push to finish and act or chapter if possible.
7. If you could get away on a vacation to any one of your favorite books which would it be and why?
M – This might not be the most exciting destination, but right now, a good couple of weeks in a cozy hobbit hole has a certain appeal to it, I have to admit.
8. What is your favorite quote?
J – My all-time favorite quote is from Jerry Maguire. The late, great Dickie Fox says: “In life, I’ve failed as much as I’ve succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success.”
9. Do you listen to music to inspire you and if so what are the bands/artists that inspire you most?
M – I have to listen to music when I write, and it really does change depending on which of our novella series I am working on. Anything with Elinor, like A Reaper of Stone and Broken Banners, was written to a TON of Florence and the Machine. So amazing. Rend the Dark and Skinshaper were written to the soundtracks to the Hobbit films. Best Left in the Shadows and Civil Blood was probably the most diverse. I had a lot of Lindsey Stirling, Electro-swing, Chaphop from Professor Elemental, and the Pogues playing during those books. I’m writing book 2 of Faith and Moonlight right now. Fallen Stars. For some reason, my playlist reads like the soundtrack to an 80’s teen movie. A lot of Pat Benatar and Cyndi Lauper.
Don’t judge.
10. Who is your favorite superhero and why?
M – I’m a big Batman guy. Always have been. But my favorite growing up and the one that is probably the biggest influence on me was Wolverine. Particularly Chris Claremont’s stories from the 80’s. It was that mixture of the feral savage with the pursuit of the samurai ideal, that juxtaposition was just so good. And his ability to suffer physically and mentally and still persevere. Love that. When you see our characters take a beating, you can blame Claremont for it. Also, I have a weird love for Kitty Pryde and Dazzler.
Again, please don’t judge.
11. What three fictional characters have played a hand in inspiring to create characters of your own?
J – Only 3..! That’s tough. I’ve been so inspired and in love with so many characters throughout my life. I’ll go with lately, more than the early years. Imperator Furiosa from Mad Max would be the first that comes to mind. There’s a lot I love in Kate Beckett from the TV show Castle. And just to mix it up, I’m going to go with the entire cast of the anime Angel Beats! There was just something magical about that short run that’s always stayed with me and I think unconsciously finds its way onto the page.
12. What are you currently reading?
M – My reading time is way diminished right now, but I am currently working through Ready Player One as an audiobook, and it is just ridiculous amounts of fun. I also just finished Daniel Polansky’s The Builders, and wow. If you want to see someone who just owns the novella format, check out that book. Tight and razor sharp and so good.
13. What is your favorite book?
J – I think GRRM’s A Game of Thrones still holds that #1 spot for me. I’ve read it about 12 times since 1996, and each time is better than the last.
14. Do you have a list of favorite authors that might have inspired you?
M – My favorite fantasy author of all time was and is David Eddings. I fell in love with his characters so much that to this day, I refuse to read the last book of his Mallorean series because I know it ends the story and I have never been able to bring myself to let it end.
I also am a huge fan of Joe Abercrombie. Abercrombie gets praised as the master of Grimdark fantasy, but what is really amazing about his work is the voice of his characters. He inhabits his characters and they just spring to life from the page. He’s amazing. I also think Scott Lynch and his Gentleman Bastards series are amazing.
15. Where did you begin writing? Some people start off on wattpad,nanowrimo, or writing forums, where did you start?
M – I started off first with a science fiction novel that Joe and I came up with years ago. It was…rough, to say the least. A couple years back, I saw that a New Pulp publisher called Pro Se Productions was looking for submissions a collection. I submitted a story for them and got accepted. That started things. But I really look at the beginning as a night in Joe’s garage, when the two of us decided to take the stories we’d always talked about and shared and try and put them out there. That was about a year ago.
16. If you could pass on vital information to aspiring writers, what would it be?
J – Decide if you want to write as a hobby or as a career. Those two roads are fantastically different.
17. Where can people find out more about you?
or go chat with mark on twitter: @gelineauandking
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