Why do you write fantasy?

I have always loved fantasy books since I was a kid. Harry Potter is still one of my favorite series, and I love the works of J. R. R Tolkien, George R. R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson, Tamora Pierce, and Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, not to mention fairy tales from The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson (plus many others). I loved the stories then and I love them now, and so I write my own.

Are you new age, or witchy?

No, I am not. I am a devout Catholic (like Tolkien). My books are fiction. The magic and worldbuilding is meant for entertainment, and not everything the characters do in their world would be alright in ours. At the same time I add Christian/Catholic subtext to a lot of my work, even in a secondary world. (Again, Tolkien is a huge inspiration here.)

Why do you put your stories up on Royal Road, Wattpad, and Scribblehub?

It helps me to keep writing if I have a schedule, and releasing online gives me that. Plus it’s nice to receive comments and likes for each chapter as I go. It also lets people read a version of the story even if they can’t buy the books, while I also make money with advance chapters in Patreon.

Should I read the online versions or the books?

The books have been edited and changed compared to the first-draft version that’s up on Royal Road/Wattpad. They, and their changes, are canon.

If, while editing the books, I come across an important change I may go back and tweak the online version too, but not always (for instance–in the online drafts, Síofra is referred to as ‘fay’ – but I realized while editing she would be ‘fée’ instead).

If you enjoy the stories and want the full and complete story, I suggest the books.

I found your stories on another website (that’s not RoyalRoad/Wattpad/ScribbleHub)– do you upload there too?

Not anymore. I used to upload my drafts to many serial websites (certain subreddits, Neovel, Tapas, etc) but did not get the views there that made me feel it was worth the time to keep posting. Most were deleted. I now only use Royal Road, Wattpad, and Patreon. Anything else is either an old version of the stories, or not put up there by me at all.

– Right now I am working on moving my serials to ScribbleHub for another chance, and the Scenes over to Ko-fi.

Are there different editions of your books? My copy has a scene/sentence that is contradicted in later books.

I try and be as consistent and thoughtful as possible with my stories. But sometimes I realize I messed up somewhere and things need to be changed. Usually it’s just small things, like a typo, but other times I feel like the backstory I mention in passing isn’t right, so I may change this.

(This is most true in Larkspur and Delphinium, my first two published works. I released them too early, too excited to have ‘finished’ them, without enough editing and time to think over things, so I made several changes to the text after release. I’m not yet famous, so I hope only a few people have the ‘old’ versions. I will take more time to edit and think over things between web-serial-version and published-version for my next books).

I reference the changes in future books when possible, but also go back to make edits in previously published work. If you’ve got an old copy from either buying it and not being able to update the file, a paperback copy, or a free e-file that can’t be updated through a store, there may be inconsistencies.

How can I get the newer versions of the books?

Some stores push out updates to readers. Google Play, for instance, will give you the newest version of the book always. Amazon *might* give updates, if I, as the author, ask (and they agree). Kobo will not give you new versions if you’ve previously bought the book.

But if you have the paperback, or just an e-file you downloaded from a promotion, then those can’t be changed.

So if you want the newer edition: Just email me (vmj@vmjaskiernia.com) or send me a message through Facebook or Instagram. I will happily send you links to where the newest edition of the book is available for download. And those links will be ‘living’ – meaning the files will be updated if I find anything else I need to change.

I do ask Amazon to push the updates to those that have bought the book (they don’t always listen though), so see if there’s an update for you.

(Go to https://www.amazon.com/hz/mycd/digital-console/contentlist/booksAll/dateDsc/jaskiernia – this will search for Jaskiernia, my uncommon surname, and my books will pop up. Some may have a ‘Update Available’ tag, so click it to get the newest and best version of the story)