Whatever happened to... Jay Royston
by Daenon Kaye
I sat down with Jay Royston to interview him about his upcoming book, Karmageddon. It has been many years since we worked together, publishing a Canadian film magazine in Vancouver. He has aged well, still has all of his hair and while wrinkles are now appearing around his eyes, there is still a sparkle for the unusual I recall from laughs past.
Been a long time.
Sure has. Over a decade at least.
Yeah. Last we talked, you were recovering from kidney cancer.
Yep. A lot more has happened since. Got two dogs. Got a house. Got married, got divorced. Had a kid. Got two more kids. Got married again. Returned to writing.
Let's talk about your book, Karmageddon.
Of course.
...
Let's pretend I know nothing about it. What's it about, at it's core?
Karmageddon is a collection of interlinked stories surrounding four nuclear attacks brought on by the world-wide legalization of marijuana. But at it's core it is a philosophical look at what happens when the tenets of our self-identity are taken away; our faith, our jobs and our bank accounts.
You call this a sequel of sorts to your previous novel, Enter A Fistful of Marijuana. Will your readers need to know that story before reading this one?
Not at all. While it would help my bank account, Enter a Fistful isn't necessary reading to enjoy Karmageddon. Enter A Fistful introduced some of the characters you will also see in Karmageddon and established the birth of Karmajuana, a genetically-modified strain of cannabis which is the accepted drug of choice in Karmageddon.
Your books have a certain theme. For example your first book was Stoner, Unincorporated.
Yes, but that was the name of the town my characters were in. I grew up in Prince George and outside of the city there is a small community named Stoner. I often wondered about what type of people would live in a town named Stoner and so, after spending some time in Nelson, I incorporated some of the people and stories I heard there into the novel.
Let's get back to Karmageddon; you hypothesize that the end of the world comes about because marijuana is legalized. It seems like quite a stretch to go from smoking pot to nuclear apocalypse.
But is it? Give me an unusual yet believable story any day. The premise of Karmageddon may be absurd, but I hope it is believable.
Some of my favourite books are this way. Take Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, Douglas Adams and his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Jasper Fforde and his Thursday Next series. They have unbelievable premises but yet are able to strike a core between humour and truth with some readers. I hope to do that with Karmageddon.
Why did you choose to make it a series of short stories instead of the usual linear route?
There were many reasons. In the original Ghostbusters, when the Staypuft Marshmallow Man came to destroy the world, there was a typical crowd reaction shot. I recall thinking 'wow, those people will have such an amazing story when they get home.' Imagine trying to explain to anyone you saw a 100 foot marshmallow man? I wanted to do that, write of people who aren't necessarily part of the larger story.
I also wanted to make a book which is easy to jump in at any point. You don't really need to start on page 1 with Karmageddon. You could jump chapter to chapter and still get the main points of the story. It's a book where you can go at your own speed, where you don't need to remember what happened previously to finish the book.
Do you prefer e-book or traditional publishing?
Traditional all the way. I've tried e-books but it's just not the same. Books are more tangible, have that amazing tactile and sensual sensation when you are holding one. You don't get that from an e-reader. Plus I think a bookshelf is an amazing thing to have in your life. I have books scattered around the house, so I'm not dependent on just one e-reader. We spend enough time on our screens and the last thing I want to do is stare at another one doing something I enjoy.
Thoughts on self-publishing?
Like everything else, there's a good and bad side to self-publishing. It's become very accessible. A writer controls their own destiny, their own marketing. On the bad side, the marketing takes away from the writing. It provides instant gratification for a lot of beginning writers who may not respect the process and dilutes the waters of better-written books out there.
Good books can't be written in a week or a month. Stoner, Unincorporated took over a decade for me to feel it was good enough to publish. Enter A Fistful was over five years, Karmageddon, three. So the good news is I'm getting better but I couldn't have done it without the option of self-publishing.
What's next?
I'm following up on some of the characters introduced in the world after Karmageddon, to see how they have changed. I also have three other novels in various stages of completion that are more serious in nature. Yet for the most part, I'm going to take it one day at a time.
