Joni Parker was born in Chicago,
Illinois, but left the windy city at an
early age when her family moved to Japan. Upon return to the United
States, her family moved to Phoenix,
Arizona where she graduated from Camelback
High School and began college. However within months, Joni quit college and
joined the Navy where she became a Photographer’s Mate. After 3 years in the Navy, she returned to
college and got married. She got a
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and an MBA before she returned to the
Navy. As a Commissioned Officer, Joni
attended the US Army Command and General Staff College, completing a Master of
Military Arts and Sciences Degree. She
retired from the Navy with over 22 years of service and spent several years
traveling the United States
in a motorhome with her husband. When he
died unexpectedly, Joni returned to work for the federal government in a civil
service job. Five years ago, she started
writing and retired once more to devote more time to her new passion. She currently lives in Texas.
For
More Information
- Visit Joni Parker’s website.
- Connect with Joni on Facebook and Twitter.
- Find out more about Joni at Goodreads.
- Contact Joni.
Can you tell us what your book is about?
The Seaward Isle Saga is a fantasy series about the adventures of
Lady Alexin Dumwalt (Alex) who lives on Seaward Isle, an Elf island lost in
time and space.
In the first book, The Black Elf of Seaward Isle, Alex is
orphaned due to a misguided attack on her father’s home by the local king. She escapes with the help of two soldiers who
take her to her brother’s boarding school for safety. When Alex learns that the wizard employed by
the king killed her parents, she vows revenge, becomes a soldier to learn how,
and fulfills the prophecy of the Black Elf.
In the second book, Tangled Omens, Alex is a fully trained
soldier and experienced tracker even though she’s only fifteen. She goes undercover to find out about the
fate of a pirate leader when she meets a man, known as the Horseman, the
notorious pirate spy wanted for treason.
Her mission is to find him again and kill him before his activities
destroy the kingdom, but his trail leads her deep into the pirate stronghold
far from home.
Blood Mission is the third book and Alex’s toughest
mission to date. This time, she thwarts
an assassination attempt on her cousin, Prince Darin and Lord Odin, the two
most powerful Elves on the island.
Although executed by the Prince’s own general, the dastardly deed was
instigated by the rogue Elf Mellen. The
Prince tasks Alex with a mission to track down the rogue Elves sealed with his
own blood. She finds the Elves elusive
even as they build a pirate army to take the island.
The Island Game: The Inside Story of Seaward
Isle is a bonus story
documenting the arrival of Olivia Richards, a freelance investigative
journalist, stranded on the island with her husband. Her investigation provides insight into the
history and origins of the mysterious island and its inhabitants.
Why did you write your book?
Bits and pieces of the story began circulating in my head
several years ago and grew until I had to write it down in order to keep
sane. It took me three months to dump it
into the computer. It was quite a
relief, but I didn’t want all that work to go to waste so I decided to publish
it. I thought this was something I could
do in retirement to keep me active.
Rewriting the manuscript turned out to be a monumental task, but soon, I
had broken down the manuscript into the first two books. Then before I knew it, I’d written the
third. The bonus story came about when
my editor/publisher asked me about Seaward Isle. After I explained it, she asked me to come up
with a bonus story.
Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are
they totally from your imagination?
I created all of my characters from my imagination, but I
could see their faces, hear their voices, and feel their emotions. This way, I can change them or make them act
a certain way without feeling like I betrayed someone I knew. Of course, the characters don’t always do
what I want them to—they seem to have their own free will.
Are you consciously aware of the plot before you begin a
novel or do you discover it as you write?
I’m aware of the plot because I’ve designed it in my head,
but it can change as I write it down, depending how a character reacts or how
the situation evolves on paper.
Sometimes, it takes a completely different direction. For this reason, I find it difficult to
outline a book before writing.
Does the setting
play a major part in the development of your story?
Setting does play an
important role in the story. Seaward
Isle is an Elf island that seems to be lost in time and space. People arrive there by shipwreck or in some
cases, plane crashes from different times and places. For instance, Olivia Richards was in the Mediterranean Sea in the year 2011, while Alex’s father was
from the Black Sea in the 1600’s and her grandfather was a
Titan who escaped there from the War of the Titans (year unknown but a long
time ago). In addition to thousands of
mortals, there are Elves and Dwarves.
The question is how did they get there and manage to be living at the
same time and place?
Is it hard to get a fantasy book published?
Let’s face it. It’s
hard to get any book published. That’s
why so many people are self-publishing.
In my case, I was working with an editor/publisher, Teresa Kennedy when
she started an indie publishing company, Village Green Press LLC. She took my series with her and published it.
Is it hard to promote a fantasy book and where do you start?
Promoting any book is the hardest part of being an
author. The question is where to start
and what method works. My publisher
helped by sending out press releases and posting to social media. I used social media as well in addition to my
website. My publisher and I used free
book offers on Amazon, and I’ve given away some books on Goodreads. Nothing has really worked so I’m trying a
blog tour. I’m also working on my next
series called The Chronicles of Eledon
and the first book is called Spell
Breaker, which I plan to release in 2015.
Can you tell us
about your family?
My grandparents came
from Japan on both my father and mother’s side.
They arrived in the early 1900’s and established a productive life until
World War II came about. Then they were
forced into internment camps—my father went to Tule Lake, California and my mother was at Minidoka, Idaho. They
lost everything during the war, but once it was over, they built new lives in Chicago, Illinois where I was born. I lived there
until I was 8 when my family moved to Japan. My
father wanted to be a professional golfer and after 4 years, he achieved his
dream. We returned to the States, moving
to Phoenix, Arizona, a city with a lot of golf courses.
I graduated from Camelback High School in Phoenix and joined the Navy after I dropped out of
college. After 3 years, I was discharged
from the Navy and married a career Navy man.
We were married for 27 years until he passed away. During that time, I also completed my
bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees, and a career in the Navy with 22 years
of service. I recently retired from my
second job in order to write.
What do you like the
most about being an author?
It keeps my brain
working. I’m always working on new
scenes and each one is a challenge. In
addition, there isn’t a mandatory retirement age so I can continue writing for
as long as I want.
What kind of advice
would you give other fiction authors?
Look around for writers’ groups for support. The first group I found was the Writers’
League of Texas. It offered classes on
writing, a summer writing retreat, an annual conference, and fellowship with
authors. It isn’t located in my area,
but is close enough for me to drive.
Writing can be a lonely occupation, but you don’t have to do it alone.