Author Spotlight – Interview with J.V. Hilliard

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Born of steel, fire and black wind, J.V. Hilliard was raised as a highlander in the foothills of a once-great mountain chain on the confluence of the three mighty rivers that forged his realm’s wealth and power for generations.

His father, a peasant twerg, toiled away in industries of honest labor and instilled in him a work ethic that would shape his destiny. His mother, a local healer, cared for his elders and his warrior uncle, who helped to raise him during his formative years. His genius brother, whose wizardly prowess allowed him to master the art of the abacus and his own quill, trained with him for battles on fields of green and sheets of ice.

Hilliard’s earliest education took place in his warrior uncle’s tower, where he learned his first words. HIs uncle helped him to learn the basics of life—and, most importantly, creative writing.

Hilliard’s training and education readied him to lift a quill that would scribe the tale of the realm of Warminster, filled with brave knights, harrowing adventure and legendary struggles. He lives in the city of silver cups, hypocycloids and golden triangles with his wife, a ranger of the diamond. They built their castle not far into the countryside, guarded by his own two horsehounds, Thor and MacLeod, and resides there to this day.

Table Of Contents
  1. Q1 – What is the name of your latest project? Tell us more about why you embarked on this project. If a writer, share your synopsis.
  2. Q2 – What inspired you when you encountered struggles along the way?
  3. Q3 – Have you ever traveled as research for your work/project/story?
  4. Q4 – What do you want readers to take away from your work/project/story?
  5. Q5 – Do you believe books can inspire social change? How?
  6. Q6 – Anton Chekhov said, “The world is, of course, nothing but our conception of it.” What is your opinion of this statement? How does it coincide or conflict with your perspective of the world?
  7. Q7 – What personal experience had the greatest influence on your worldview?
  8. Q8 – What perspectives or beliefs have you challenged in your work/project/story?
  9. Q9 – How do you see the relationship between writing and culture? How about the boundaries between fiction and reality?
  10. Q10 – Aldous Huxley said, “I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.” How have you changed throughout your creative process? How do you improve yourself every day?
  11. Q11 – To what extent can fiction affect or improve the developments in science and technology in human life? What about religion and politics?
  12. Q12 – Eckhart Tolle said, “Awareness is the greatest agent for change.” In your opinion, what is the next step and how can writers affect this?
  13. Q13 – Intolerance and divisiveness are prevalent across the globe. Our voice may not be loud enough to right every wrong, but it is enough to make a difference one person at a time. Small acts move mountains. What one thing would you ask your audience to do to help inspire social change?
  14. Q14 – Pick 1-3 social issues that are most important to you. Explain why you picked these and how we can help raise awareness/impact change.
  15. Q17 – Maya Angelou said, “I did then what I knew how to do, but now that I know better, I do better.” We have all made choices that we regret. We are all flawed humans. Together, we are experiencing this human story unfolding. Share a transformative experience where you learned from a mistake. How do you actively choose to make better choices?
  16. Q18 – Challenge readers and listeners with action steps to increase engagement with identifying hashtag and @mention.
  17. Connect with JV Hilliard
  18. Join Story Unfolding

Q1 – What is the name of your latest project? Tell us more about why you embarked on this project. If a writer, share your synopsis.

The Last Keeper is the first book in the Warminster series and was released in December 2021 with book two, Vorodin’s Lair, to be released in late summer 2022. It is currently in editing.

Here’s a bit on The Last Keeper

A young boy’s prophetic visions. 

Blind at birth, Daemus Alaric is blessed with the gift of prophetic Sight. Now, as a Keeper of the Forbidden, he must use his powers of the Sight to foil the plans of a fallen Keeper, Graytorris the Mad. 

An elven Princess with a horrifying secret.

Princess Addilyn Elspeth travels from Eldwal, the magically hidden home of the Vermilion elves, to begin her life as a diplomat to the human capital of Castleshire. During her journey, she stumbles upon a mystical creature foretelling ill tidings.

A terrifying force of evil. 

Daemus’ recurring nightmare vision threatens to catapult him into a terrifying struggle that will leave the fate of the Keepers—and the realm—hanging in the balance. Daemus and Princess Addilyn must set out to face the menace that threatens their very existence.

Will the entire realm fall to its knees?

The Last Keeper is the first book in The Warminster Series. With gripping, epic action and heart-pounding adventure, you’ll love this new adventure series.

Writing has been a passion since I was a child. I have always been a fan of epic fantasy like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, and I also played tabletop role playing games since my tenth birthday. Over the years, I started to memorialize certain characters, campaigns, and unforgettable moments from my time as a player character and as a dungeon master in small, campaign-specific diaries. This collection of adventures and stories became the basis for many of the protagonists and villains in The Last Keeper—and make up various parts of the realm of Warminster.

Q2 – What inspired you when you encountered struggles along the way?

I started writing when I was very young. My uncle was paralyzed in the Vietnam War and when he returned home, my mother was his nurse. I practically grew up by his side and the kind of activities he could engage in were limited. But writing was something he could do, and so I started into creative writing and playing Dungeons & Dragons with him as a form of escapism from real life. So, when I struggle to write or have doubts, I lean back to those days when he overcame so much to write short stories and serials that few enjoyed—but he did it for the love of writing. And that usually gets my head back in the game.

Q3 – Have you ever traveled as research for your work/project/story?

I have a bit of a “cheat code” here because my day job is that of a defense and tech lobbyist in Washington, D.C.

Working with the Pentagon and traveling around the country to see new tech in action has allowed me to see some sci-fi projects spring to life in front of my own eyes and eventually be adopted for use by our government. Some of these experiences were inspiration for tech advancements in my epic fantasy settings.

Q4 – What do you want readers to take away from your work/project/story?

I want readers—first and foremost—to be entertained. I don’t care how many books are sold or what accolades are awarded, but if a book entertained you, it served its purpose. For those moments when you immerse yourself in a book, you get to live through someone else’s eyes, experience a new life, and live in a new world between the covers of a good novel.

Q5 – Do you believe books can inspire social change? How?

Of course, literature has a history of not only inspiring change, but recording it. Books have been burned and or told the stories of the oppressed, the wronged and the persecuted for centuries, if not millenia. I think by tackling social issues in books, it allows people to see through the eyes of a character that they may not have seen through in their own life. Animal Farm, 1984, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, Brave New World and Thirteen Reasons Why are just examples in the past century. This is but one way books can be agents of social change.

Q6 – Anton Chekhov said, “The world is, of course, nothing but our conception of it.” What is your opinion of this statement? How does it coincide or conflict with your perspective of the world?

At its core, Chekhov is correct. How we perceive our surroundings makes us happy, sad, envious or ill. Ignorance sometimes is bliss, and if one has a simplistic view of the world, they may live a life in relative calmness.

But, if one takes a wider view of society, it often complicates things—sometimes for the best, other times for the worst. And since everyone’s world is perceived through their own eyes and personal experiences, I believe Chekhov’s statement is true on its face.

But many believe in things greater than us—things that existed before us and will persist after we are gone. Faith in a religion perhaps, faith in various sciences or even the belief in some form of afterlife that we are all part of push Chekhov’s assertion beyond simplicity into a more complicated argument and thus a greater perception (or conception) of ourselves.

Q7 – What personal experience had the greatest influence on your worldview?

I was raised in a city that believes in honest labor, family values, dedication to community and a duty to your friends and family. Pittsburgh has a rich history as one of America’s true melting pots, combining cultures from pockets of the world and finding ways to lift each other up. I think it was growing up and living my formative years in such a wonderful place where, regardless of one’s background or means, we were there for one another. That helped provide me the “lens” of my world view.

Q8 – What perspectives or beliefs have you challenged in your work/project/story?

In The Last Keeper, one of the main characters, Sir Ritter of Valkeneeer, faces the challenge of being “trollborn,” or someone of mixed racial blood. He is part human, part Raven elf, and neither true-blooded society accepts him for what he is—and what he is to become—a hero of the realm of Warminster.

He is forced to fight his growing feelings for an elven woman he knows he can never be with as it is part of his duty as a trollborn, and she cannot be with him because of race.

He is also born a low noble, and he and is family are forced to guard the dangerous borderlands of the Dragon’s Breath Mountains for the capital of Thronehelm. A society that looks down upon this man learns to depend on him, challenging their own beliefs of trollborn and their place in Warminsterian society.

Q9 – How do you see the relationship between writing and culture? How about the boundaries between fiction and reality?

I think that in all fiction, reality is found at its core. Reality makes fantasy or sci-fi possible, grounding it in certain rules and allowing the reader to relate to the characters or story lines regardless of dragons, magic or starships.

However, good stories usually contain relatable scenarios that include themes such as struggle, duty, forbidden love or overcoming a personal or societal challenge, which allows us to cheer for the protagonist and encourage us to continue to read.

Thus, to tackle problems we face in the real world, often writers can tie those struggles and themes to stories, detailing how to solve them in a fictitious setting.  For example, in Star Trek, we see the first interracial kiss on TV between Uhura and Kirk, or Tolkien crafts a not-so-hidden message of the impact of deforestation in Middle Earth as a warning to the industrialists of his day, or we even see “muggles” fight for acceptance in the Harry Potter novels.

Q10 – Aldous Huxley said, “I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself.” How have you changed throughout your creative process? How do you improve yourself every day?

I think we all grow as we age and experience life from various angles, whether they are financial, physical, emotional or political. During my own personal journey as a debut author, I’ve learned things about myself as I peered through the eyes of each of my characters, learning that sometimes when you think someone is good or bad, you must ask yourself “why is my character doing this?”

What I discovered is there is no absolute good or evil, but through the actions of my characters, the reader can learn the “why” behind their deeds. They can see why they do what they do, and in some cases, allow them a path to earn some form of redemption.

Everyone deserves a second chance.

Q11 – To what extent can fiction affect or improve the developments in science and technology in human life? What about religion and politics?

Fictional advancements in culture and technology are born from human needs. The creatives among us dream of things that aren’t possible in the hopes that one day they will be.

For example, we can look at the stories from ancient religions—Icarus trying to fly, Jesus Christ healing the sick and curing blindness or even in art, such as DaVinci designing “tanks” hundreds of years before they existed. Necessity is the mother of all inventions and I think when we write today about interstellar travel, teleportation, cleaner and renewable fuels, cloning, etc., we are looking at the next generation of human “want” crying out to be answered in fiction now, but with the hope of one day being reality.

Star Trek had communicators that were impossible to believe would ever be possible just in the 1960’s and now we bounce cell phone signals all around the globe and complain if they don’t work perfectly.

Q12 – Eckhart Tolle said, “Awareness is the greatest agent for change.” In your opinion, what is the next step and how can writers affect this?

At the heart and soul of writers exist two things… we are good observers, and we are good storytellers. When we find a story that needs to be told (fiction or not) and we watch others, chronicling their deeds for others to learn from. From those actions, we can be agents of change. We can, by the ink on the end of our pen or the stroke of our keys on our laptops change opinions and educate many that otherwise may not see what we see or hear what we have heard.

We saw a run on dystopian fiction in the last decade for a reason. The world is struggling through its technological adolescence and with that comes fear of what could happen if that technology is used for “not so good” purposes. Hunger Games featured a world of have’s vs have nots, separated by tech and wealth. Ready Player One showed us a failing world where people hid in the Oasis to escape real life.

If we are aware of where we are going as a society and we can avoid missteps, authors and other creatives can help craft the message of awareness, encouraging the world to follow the right path.

Q13 – Intolerance and divisiveness are prevalent across the globe. Our voice may not be loud enough to right every wrong, but it is enough to make a difference one person at a time. Small acts move mountains. What one thing would you ask your audience to do to help inspire social change?

I would ask my readers to plant a tree. It’s inexpensive but with urban sprawl and continued development in suburban and exurban areas, reforesting our land when possible is important to community health and environmental sustainability.

Q14 – Pick 1-3 social issues that are most important to you. Explain why you picked these and how we can help raise awareness/impact change.

My greatest interest in societal change revolves around veteran homelessness and the need for support structures for the men and women that sacrificed so much for us. I have and will continue to work on these issues in Washington, DC, and around the country to help promote these programs.

One such program is run by my friend, Monica Orluk, and is called Operation Troop Appreciation.OTA builds and sustains the morale and well-being of the military community, past, present and future. I encourage everyone to learn more by visiting their website at www.operationtroopappreciation.org to learn more.

Q17 – Maya Angelou said, “I did then what I knew how to do, but now that I know better, I do better.” We have all made choices that we regret. We are all flawed humans. Together, we are experiencing this human story unfolding. Share a transformative experience where you learned from a mistake. How do you actively choose to make better choices?

I mentioned earlier that my uncle was as important to me as a second father, and when he was succumbing to renal failure, I didn’t visit him in his final days. I was of college age and knew better, but my parents were trying to shield me from his condition and the eventuality of his death. He passed without me saying goodbye, and it became the biggest regret of my life. From that day, I promised myself never to make that same mistake and I’ve since been at the bedside of many of those that have passed including being there for others that shared the same apprehension. I think it was through my experience that I’ve been able to assure others don’t miss out on saying a final goodbye.

Q18 – Challenge readers and listeners with action steps to increase engagement with identifying hashtag and @mention.

I think my challenge to readers and listeners is simple—read something every day. It doesn’t have to be long. It could even be a news article featured in a magazine in a doctor’s office. But reading is healthy. It educates, it entertains and for some it is escapism from real life duties and responsibilities. If you read every day, it becomes as habitual as hitting the gym. It’s healthy.

Thus, my hashtags are:       #readabook, #escapism, #alwayslearning.

Connect with JV Hilliard

Authors are only as good as their audience. Support this amazing author by connecting with him and sharing his work with your people. Follow the links below to connect and purchase his books!

  • Website          www.jvhilliard.com
  • Twitter           @jvhilliardbooks
  • Instagram      @jvhilliardbooks
  • Facebook       J.V. Hilliard
  • TikTok           @jvhilliardbooks

Stay tuned for Hilliard’s video interview on my Story Unfolding YouTube channel. Be sure to go subscribe to hear about Hilliard and other authors, creators, and entrepreneurs who are making a difference..

Join Story Unfolding

If you want to be featured in my Story Unfolding blog or YouTube channel, contact me and let me know what awesome work you do! You can schedule all of our meetings here, but please shoot me an email at michaelcamarillobooks@gmail.com if you want to be featured, so I can send you the appropriate documents.

Read more, Write mindfully!