Embracing the chaos in life and where it takes you

Embracing the chaos of life and his creative process, a Coastal Carolina University student and self-published author faces mayhem headfirst, along with what comes after it, as do the characters in his books.

Under the pen name, L. J. Clark, James Clark, a junior communication major, has written and self-published a sci-fi supernatural series including two novellas, “Panic Switch” and “Panic Switch: The Lazarus Code,” with a third installment in the works.

Clark embraces chaos in life and his creative process. He had been writing for years, whether scripts for his radio show or blogs, but was suddenly drawn to create a work blending horror, comedy, drama and most importantly, chaos.

“The main moniker of it all is ‘chaos is mandatory.’ Anywhere you go in your life, chaos is bound to happen and that’s something that I wanted to implement in this,” Clark said.

Clark drew inspiration for his characters and plot from his own life. With being a full-time security guard, Clark noticed that almost all security guards are depicted as the “dumb guy” in books and other forms of media.

The security guard in Clark’s novels, however, is a superhero, going against that stereotype. Other characters throughout his novels include everyday people, as well as an alien and a robot.

“A lot of stuff going on and that’s part of the chaos moment,” Clark said.

With Artificial Intelligent tools, Clark was able to pursue this project despite having a low budget. He utilized it for feedback when in the editing process and then further for marketing and publishing purposes.

Holding the two books in his hands, Clark said he felt accomplished more than anything.

“I hope that someone picks up the book and they start grinning, or just a simple smile would really make my day because at least it got them to react to it,” Clark said.

Like many other book characters, Clark’s haven’t been quiet after the publication of the books. Instead, he brings the characters to life, having different characters post on social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter and write blogs.

While Clark currently works on the third installment, both books in the series are available on Amazon as kindle or paperback with author autographed copies available.