Meet the Wattpad Class of 2014

Interview with Tim Johnson - CATAINDAR

Sarah: I'm happy to introduce Tim Johnson, or @TEJJohnson, author of  CATAINDAR: The Discovery. I'm pretty excited to learn more about his writing process. We have some cool cats here to show us their moves. They are almost as cool as Catains, but not quite. Hit that Youtube play button if you'd like to see their performance.

Today's interview will be conducted by Vic James, author of SLAVEDAYS. 

Vic: How long have you been working on the story?

Tim: I plotted the story in a day. I wrote the novel very causally over the last four years. I trained in acting as a youngster and took the whole method acting concept across into writing.  I think mostly for my own amusement and enjoyment. To be honest I wasn’t sure that anyone would ever read it who wasn’t directly related to me. I wanted to write realistic fight scenes, so started training in MMA. I also have two wooden swords and practice fencing is a great workout!

In April of this year I started in posting to wattpad. In these last few months I have done triple the work on it than those four years combined. 

Vic: Where did your story idea originate?

Tim: I had just toured the Auswitzch concentration camp in Poland. On the bus back I was hit by such a jolt of inspiration that I sat up all night with a journal and pen and wrote the story line for the full five novels. I still have that journal – the completed first novel is pretty much the same as that!  

Vic: How did you come up with the title?

Tim: It was a little nod to Thundercats. (A popular cartoon in the UK in the early 90s about a group of cat-like people that have to leave their dying planet.) I spent quite a large part of my youth imagining I was a thundercat. They lived in Thundera and I wanted something that sounded a little similar, Cataindera didn’t sound so great so Cataindar was born.

Vic: Who is your favorite character(s) and why?

Tim: Oh wow... great question. I think it is Darcius. Because he is dark, complex and very good at killing people. No – no. Luisa, my MC, she is brave, constantly adapting, trying and... no wait – Matthew. He is funny, intelligent and intense...or Finn, who is wise, strong and... wait I don’t know. This is too hard - what a terrible question.

Actually, I think my favorite character is one that you will meet in book two...

Vic: What is the most challenging part of writing your story?

Tim: I have never had writer’s block or struggled with story-lines or characterisation. I am weak at copy-editing. I have to write with a paper thesaurus next to me as I love to swap random homophones and occasionally scatter apostrophes about incorrectly. I’m improving, but it is taking time!

Vic: What part of researching your story was most personally interesting to you?

Tim: My trips to Wales stood out because my whole family came and I got to check out Ruthin school, which was lovely. Going to Stonehenge was great and reading Graham Hancock was a blast. My cagefight probably takes crown, because I had to work quite hard to be good enough to compete and make weight! It wasn't the most technical of fights but winning that was pretty cool!

Vic: Who designed your cover?

Tim: My good friend and wonderful designer @Chocolov3r. I held a design competition and there were some absolutely fantastic entries, Chocolov3r won and has done some further design stuff for my website cataindar.com too!

Vic: Is this a standalone book or part of a series? If it is a series, how many books do you project having in the series?

Tim: Five in total. The first one is completed, I have four chapters of the second novel done thus far.