Once again it’s time for the weekly Sunday Brunch with ZA Maxfield! This week, we have a special Sunday Brunch Spotlight with Jeff Adams. In addition to our weekly Sunday Brunch question, Jeff has kindly answered a few more questions for us! Jeff’s book, Hat Trick 2: Playing the Rebound releases today!

This week’s question is: “Go back in time and change one thing. What do you think will happen?”

***BIG NEWS*** From now on, instead of the ebooks we’ve been awarding as prizes, I’ll be giving out a $5.00 Amazon gift card so readers can use it for the ebook (or other Amazon purchase) of their choice. All you have to do is comment below for your chance to win!

Here’s Jeff’s answer to the Sunday Brunch Question of the Week!

Hmmm. I’m not sure I can do this. I’ve watched way too much Star Trek in my life and have seen the ramifications of playing with time travel. Save Edith Keeler, the Nazis take over the world. Rarely does good come from time travel, even though bringing whales from the 80s into the future seemed to work out okay. I suppose if I could go back and change something and know that I wouldn’t wreck the universe, or lose the things I love about my life, I would make sure that humans took care not to cause global warming. The whacky weather of the past few years is not fun.

Now, on to the other questions!

Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions for our readers. Tell us a little about yourself.

Thanks for letting me come to brunch, ZAM! I’m thrilled to be here. Here’s the quick rundown on me: husband, author, Detroit Red Wings / Pittsburgh Penguins follower, occasional hockey player, cyclist, musical theatre and dance fan and I’m an internet project manager to pay the bills. My husband and I relocated across the country just this month after fifteen years in New York City. We’ve escaped the big city and settled in Humboldt County California, back to where met in the late 90s.

When you start a book, do you already have the whole story in your head or is it built progressively?

With the sequels to Hat Trick, I find I now fall somewhere in between a plotter, figuring the whole thing out ahead of time, and a pantser, where I just make it up as I go. The major plot points of the two sequels were mapped out before I wrote too much, but how I got from point A to B was made up on the fly. Sometimes that meant some minor adjustments to point B, but overall Hat Trick 2 ended up where I thought it would. We’ll see if that holds true for three.

For stories outside the Hat Trick universe, however, I’m a pantser all the way becuase I really enjoy making it up as I go. It keeps it intereesting and I can always refine for timeline and continutinty in edting.

When and why did you begin writing?

I started writing a bit in middle school. It was in 10th grade that I really took off though becuase I had a wonderful English teacher, Janice Winokur, who turned me on to writing and Shakespeare. I eventually majored in journalism and worked in the field for a decade. Throughout that I dabbled on short stories, which few people ever saw, because I simply enjoyed creating. For a while in the early 2000s, I also co-edited and wrote for a literary magazine that I created with a good friend from college (that mag still exists at www.thefirstline.com). I finally started publishing my own stuff in 2009 with some shorts at Dreamspinner and JMS Books. In 2013, I moved to being a novelist with the young adult novel Hat Trick and today my new adult follow-up, Hat Trick 2: Playing the Rebound debuts, also from JMS.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Writing physical altercations is difficult. I can make characters verbally fight pretty easily, but if punches need to be thrown, or even more, it’s something that I have to consider carefully, and read over a lot, to make sure it visualizes well.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Keep writing! And keep learning the ins and outs of publishing so you’re able to always professionally present yourself and your work. Also, find people, both other writers and readers, you can trust to beta read and give you truthful, constructive feedback. Lastly, research publishers so you know which ones publish the type of stories you write so you’ll know where to submit. Or, read up on self publishing and publish your own work.

What do you like to read?

Since I’m writing a lot of young adult and new adult these days, I’m tending to read those genres pretty heavily. I also pick up m/m books that feature hockey players since, besides covering the Red Wings, I’m the literary editor for PuckBuddys.com. I read a lot of other stuff too, but right now those are my most read categories. I have to admit, however, that when I’m in writing mode I tend to read less. It’s sad, but true.

Will you write more about these characters?

Yes. As I alluded to earlier, there will be a third novel in the Hat Trick series. I’m currently about half-way through the first draft.

There’ll also likely be a couple short stories likely to happen as well. Back in late December 2013 I did a short story that gave a brief glimpse of Simon and Alex, the lead characters, in their freshman year at University of Michigan. It served as a nice bridge between them being high school seniors in Hat Trick and college sophomores in Hat Trick 2. I see a similar story to give a glimpse of them as juniors since the third novel will have them as seniors. It’s possible there may be another short story after book three that catches up with them after college too.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

There are a couple of common themes in the Hat Trick novels: life is better when you’re able to be your true self and the importance of true friends. There may be strife, but knowing yourself, being yourself and finding good friends can help you get through to the other side.

About Jeff Adams:

Jeff Adams caught the writing bug in middle school and finally became a novelist with the Hat Trick series. He’s also got short stories published with JMS Books and Dreamspinner Press. Jeff and his husband Will left the hustle and bustle of New York City to return to the more peaceful lifestyle of Humboldt County, California, during the summer of 2014, which should allow for more time to write. Extending his love of hockey beyond novels, Jeff covers the Detroit Red Wings, as well reviews LGBT books that feature hockey, for PuckBuddys.com. To know more about Jeff, visit jeffadamswrites.com and follow him on Twitter at @hockeyguynyc.

You can find out more about Jeff on  Twitter, his website, on Amazon, or on Goodreads! You can find out more about Hat Trick on the official website or Facebook page! Hat Trick 2: Playing the Rebound can be purchased now from JMS Books!

Thank you so much for joining us, Jeff!