JT Hartke
JT Hartke is a novelist and the author of The Dragonsoul Saga, which as beautiful covers by Lars Grant-West and the map by Jason Engle. The Saga is going to be a five book series in a classic fantasy style except the heroes and villains aren’t as clear cut as in traditional fantasy. JT has been writing since high school, but like all of us, was busy making a living in the computer industry until he got laid off last year and made that the opportunity to write full-time. Imagined Interprises, Inc. decided to publish him and here we are at Comic Con 2012. Imagined Interprises, Inc. in very imaginative indeed; they have a book about vampires as World War II flying aces publishing in December. This is JT’s first Comic Con and he was loving it so far. He hadn’t even seen copies of his book until they arrived at his table, so he’s still on the high from that. He wrote the first six chapters of Dragonsoul 1 when he was eighteen and twenty years later he’s holding a very beautiful book (which is also available in all the ebook formats) in his hands. On Friday, when I talked to him, he’d sold 21 of the 25 hard cover copies and close to 50 of the paperbacks. His table assistant was his lovely wife Julie, who paid the rent while he was writing his book. JT is also scheduled to do Gen Con in Indianapolis, DragonCon in Atlanta, possibly Chicago Comic Con, and next year is scheduled to Origins. He also has visits to high schools and libraries to talk about his book and writing in general. So, with five novels ahead of him, JT will be a very busy man for the foreseeable future.
For more SDCC 2012 coverage, here’s Comic Con all in one big post.