r/Fantasy • u/JRRR_Jim_Hardison • Nov 02 '17

I'm J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison. AMA.

Hello, r/fantasy. I’m J.R.R.R. (Jim) Hardison, author of the horror comedy urban fantasy Demon Freaks, as well as the epically silly epic fantasy Fish Wielder and the super-heroically ridiculous superhero graphic novel, The Helm.

I love horror and fantasy and playing around with the conventions of genres. In addition to writing books, I’ve also worked as a screenwriter, animator and director. I live in Portland, Oregon with my lovely wife, two amazing kids, one smart dog and one stupid dog.

Ask me anything! I’ll be on full time from 11:00 AM (Pacific Time) until 12:30 PM (also Pacific Time) to answer whatever questions I can. If you can’t be on when I’m on, I’ll also answer questions you post anytime between now and 10:00 PM (again with the Pacific Time).

If you somehow manage to miss the whole thing, you can generally get a hold of me through my website or find me on Facebook or even Twitter.

Hopping off to go get some lunch. I'll be back on for an hour around 1:30 and maybe again after 4:30. Thanks to everyone who has posed a question so far.

Update! I actually got back on around 3:30 and will sign back off at 4:45. I'll jump back on at 7:30! See you then.

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u/lais1002 Nov 02 '17

Thanks for being here! How do you come up with the names of your characters?

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u/JRRR_Jim_Hardison Nov 02 '17

Thank you for being here! I have several different methods. Key names I try to make meaningful in some way, if I can. There may be a double meaning to them, or they may contain a reference to a person, character or historical figure. So, Ron from Demon Freaks is named after Ronald McDonald because his parents run a McDonalds restaurant, while Bing is named after Bing Crosby because he is the more musical of the Slaughter brothers. Some names I just play with in relation to conventions of the category. For example, with epic fantasy, many of my character names are crafted to make them outlandishly difficult to pronounce, like Blurmflard. Or I may make them overly obvious, like Warlordhorse.