In the crazy that is the Dragon*Con exhibitors room we found DB Jackson hanging at the Tairen’s & Authors Lair. Using our sheeply ambush techniques we got to ask him some questions about his Historical urban fantasy Theiftaker
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Sharon: As the author of a Historical UF, Thieftaker, can you tell me just a little about the book and genera itself?
DB: sure, historical urban fantasy basically has three main elements to it. There is the historical angle. Theiftaker is set in pre-revolutionary Boston set against the backdrop of the Stamp Act riots which occurred in 1765. It’s got the urban fantasy angle and that is kind of a noir detective voice to it. It almost reads like a Raymond Chandler novel, but set in a Colonial setting. Then the third element is the magic. My lead character is not only a Thieftaker, which is kind of an 18th century detective, he is also a conjurer. He casts spells and he also has to be careful because in 18thcentury Massachusetts they were still burning and hanging witches so he is worried about being accused of being a witch.
Sharon: Did your love for history start at a young age?
DB: My love of writing started earlier. I was writing novels when I was 6 years old. They were very short and weren’t very good and Illustrated them which made them worse. I came to history a little bit later in collage. I got a PhD in History after collage so I spent 6 years in academia.
Sharon: What period did you study?
DB: modern US. My dissertation was the New Deal.
*we then digress for a while about grad school and Bordetalla Avium*
Sharon: If man created a time machine and you could zip back what time period go to and why?
DB: I would go back to the pre-revolutionary period.I would love to talk to Hamilton, Jefferson and Madison about what they really intended with the constitution.
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DB: I’m not allowed to say my children or my wife,right?
Sharon: nope
DB: Okay, my precious is a Taylor 516 CE limited Koawood guitar.
Sharon: People think I am weird because…..
DB: *long pause followed by laughter* Wow, people think I’m weird for so many reasons. People think I’m weird because I write fantasy for a living and because I remember incredibly arcane facts about baseball that happened years and years and years ago. Batting averages from1970.
Sharon: Draw me a sheep!
Rapid Fire Round:
Sharon: 80's rock or 60's rock?
DB: 60’s rock
Sharon: stub your toe or hit your funny bone?
DB: Hit my funny bone
Sharon: Coke or Pepsi?
DB: Pepsi
*Sharon celebrates another win!*
Katie: Carry on, carry on!
Sharon: Sexy and I know it or I'm too sexy for my shirt?
DB: Neither *laughter*
Sharon: Sand Castle or Lego blocks?
DB:Lego Blocks
Sharon: thank you very much!
DB: Thank you, I enjoyed it!
Delightful person, but maybe a career as an illustrator isn't in the cards for him <G>
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Thieftaker
(Book #1 Thieftaker Chronicles)
Boston, 1767: In D.B. Jackson's Thieftaker, revolution is brewing as the British Crown imposes increasingly onerous taxes on the colonies, and intrigue swirls around firebrands like Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. But for Ethan Kaille, a thieftaker who makes his living by conjuring spells that help him solve crimes, politics is for others…until he is asked to recover a necklace worn by the murdered daughter of a prominent family.
Suddenly, he faces another conjurer of enormous power, someone unknown, who is part of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of power in the turbulent colony. His adversary has already killed—and not for his own gain, but in the service of his powerful masters, people for whom others are mere pawns in a game of politics and power. Ethan is in way over his head, and he knows it. Already a man with a dark past, he can ill afford to fail, lest his livelihood be forfeit. But he can't stop now, for his magic has marked him, so he must fight the odds, even though he seems hopelessly overmatched, his doom seeming certain at the spectral hands of one he cannot even see.
Suddenly, he faces another conjurer of enormous power, someone unknown, who is part of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of power in the turbulent colony. His adversary has already killed—and not for his own gain, but in the service of his powerful masters, people for whom others are mere pawns in a game of politics and power. Ethan is in way over his head, and he knows it. Already a man with a dark past, he can ill afford to fail, lest his livelihood be forfeit. But he can't stop now, for his magic has marked him, so he must fight the odds, even though he seems hopelessly overmatched, his doom seeming certain at the spectral hands of one he cannot even see.
Book #2 is called Thieves' Quarry (2013)
read the first 3 chapters here
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About the author:
Who is D.B. Jackson? That's actually a better question than you know."D.B. Jackson," is the new pseudonym of an award-winning author of more than a dozen books, including epic fantasies, media work, and non-fiction. D.B. has also published several short stories. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. "The Tavern Fire," "A Memory of Freedom," "A Spell of Vengeance," and Thieftaker are his first forays into historical fantasy; hence the name change. (Publishers call it "author branding" and it's not nearly as painful as it sounds. Google the phrase for more.)
D.B. Jackson was born in New York many, many years ago, and has since lived in New England, California, Australia, and Appalachia. He did his undergraduate work at Brown University, worked for a time as a political consultant, went to Stanford University, where he earned a Master's and Ph.D. in U.S. History, and finally returned to his first love: writing fiction.
His interests include photography (nature work, mostly), music (he plays guitar and listens to rock, folk-rock, jazz, bluegrass, blues, and classical), birdwatching (a world life list of over 800), politics ('nough said), and sports (just about all of 'em).
Thieves' Quarry, the second volume in the Thieftaker Chronicles already in production, D.B.'s work in historical fantasy is keeping him busy. But he is also working on a couple of contemporary urban fantasies, a fantasy for middle readers (ages 9 to 13), and several short fiction projects. It remains to be seen which name will be appearing on the bylines of these other books and stories.
D.B. is married to a college professor who is far smarter than he is, and together they have two beautiful daughters, both of whom are also far smarter than their father. Life's tough that way. They live in a small college town on the Cumberland Plateau.
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