Meet James Downe

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to James Downe. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

James, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

To be honest, it wasn’t a single moment. Finding my purpose didn’t happen quickly…

I started reading at a young age. Right from the get-go, I knew I wanted to tell stories. To delve into unreal realms and immerse myself in the impossible. Stories helped me understand and navigate the real world, with the lessons and hardships of the characters showing me that my struggles could also be overcome.

Books. TV. Comics. Movies. Video games. I love them all, and quickly become enwrapped in the story.

I come from a creative family. My mom is a painter, and being surrounded by art helped fuel my creative passions. While stories were my first love, my first real exploration into creativity was through drawing and painting. Visual art compelled me very early on, and for many years that was my pursuit. I went to art school. I played with colour. I learned the techniques. Drew portraits. Landscapes. (Though sculpture was never my thing…)

I loved art, but through it all I never stopped reading.

As a kid, I’d read everything I could get. I come from a small town in Ontario, but we had a good library. As I got older, I worked in a bookstore in a larger, neighbouring town. I read fiction. Fantasy. Sci-fi. Mystery. Horror. Good books. Bad books. Books categorized as too old for me, and books categorized as too young for me.

Stories were always important to my creativity, even in art. This led me to pursue a career in graphic design. I love the stories art could tell, the narrative behind the compelling swirls of paint and graphite scratches, and felt design was a good place to explore those ideas.

Somewhere in the midst of that, I started writing. My interest in these ideas kept evolving. Graphic design wasn’t satisfying that part of me. Art had been sacrificed in pursuit of career, but I knew I still had stories to tell.

I’d tried three or four times to write something solid. A novel. A book. After several tries, finishing a couple of manuscripts that should never see the light of day, I started gaming with a friend. Tabletop, dungeons and dragons sort of stuff. He’s creative too, so we developed a world all our own to play in. For a few years, this satisfied my writing itch.

After a few years I moved away. But this world, this place we had created, wouldn’t leave my thoughts. I knew we had something here, so we decided to break the world up a little and write some stories in this setting.

There it was! The creative satisfaction I’d been hunting for so long. I’m still a graphic designer, but writing finally came together in a way I never had before.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

As a writer and a reader, I’ve always been inspired my other worlds. Fantasy and sci-fi feel like home to me. Action and adventure, merged with compelling characters facing problems that astound and bewilder the mind. I wanted to look at that. To examine that. To take it apart and figure out to it back together with my own creative interests melded in.

My first book, ‘Salt & Cinder’, is a collection of 10 short stories. All of them are set in a unique fantasy world and span about 20 years. Yes, it’s fantasy and a bit of escapism. Popcorn for the brain. But these stories help me look at real world issues, to analyze how we as humans really work, and learn how to cope.

My next book, ‘Sisters of Jade’, is the start of a trilogy. Same world, but with new characters and new ideas to unravel. The sequel ‘Sorrow & Shroud’ is already released, with the 3rd and final book, ‘The Gorgon Court’, due to be published this spring.

I also finally have an official website up and running after years of putting it off…

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Three qualities or skills? Okay, let’s see.

Being a storyteller is the first. Having something to say, and learning how to say it. This isn’t an easy one. Knowing, learning, or understanding how to tell a story can be a difficult process. I had to read a lot, across many different genres and styles. Read books, and read them again. Watch movies and do the same. Dissect how other people structure their narratives, and figure out the ways that will work for you.

The second thing would be my background in art and graphic design. This isn’t going to be true or necessary for all writers, but it helped me on this path. I chose to pursue self-publishing for my first books, and it has paid off. I have an eye for design, and a love of visual art. I designed my covers and set up the interior layout for my print books. I love this stuff, and it comes easily to me, so I didn’t have the extra fees a lot of self-published authors have.

I want to say “creativity” is the third thing, but that feels like cheating. Curiosity, maybe? No, those are too much like the first two points. Alright, how about this: a continuing willingness to learn and to grow. Having an open mind. Yes, I think this is a skill. To be able to take criticism and NOT get your back up about it. Sitting in critique sessions for both art and design taught me a lot about how people view things. Writing, painting, making things – anything that draws on creativity is a tough path. You’re often going to get beaten down, to worry that what you make is bad or lacking or just plain garbage, but knowing how to take those misguided feelings and turn them into something positive (or at least just let them go) is vital.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

There are so many people that have helped me on my journey. My wife Dawn. I wouldn’t be where I am without her. My good friend Aesc. My writing wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without him. But several years ago, right before the pandemic, I joined a writing group here in Toronto. They’re the most chaotic, frustrating, and inspiring bunch of people I’ve ever met.

We all write speculative fiction. It’s a very wide range of writers. Old and young. Beginner and published. We meet often and share small bits of whatever we’re working on for feedback and response. We give opinions, and share industry info. Finding this group changed so much for me. They gave me confidence, sure, but they’ve also increased my technical know-how as a writer.

I can’t say enough about “finding your community”. Whether you’re a writer or painter, a graphic designer, musician, or game developer, creating anything can be a lonely craft. We can get trapped in a bubble of our own making, head down in our work and completely sure we’re doing it right. When it comes, self doubt hits hard (at least for me), and having a group of like-minded creators at your back to hoist you out of the mud and get you back on track is so important.

Finding your community isn’t easy. It took me a long time. I never got it (or rather, never held onto it) with fine art or graphic design, but when I found this writing group so much just clicked for me. Coming out of my shell, sharing my creative pursuits, and getting honest support from other creatives in your field makes it all so much better, and so much more fun.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jamesdowne.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/james_downe_author/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamesdowneauthor
• Other: https://bsky.app/profile/james-downe-author.bsky.social
  https://www.amazon.com/stores/James-Downe/author/B00RBNRERQ

Image Credits

Personal Photo by Nick Perry Photography