Interview: John House Lets Characters Drive Novels

Hi! I am Carolyn Howard Johnson, your trusty New Book Review blogger and author of the multi award-winning HowTo Do It Frugally Series of books for writers. This blog has heretofore been exclusive for reviews but I thought I’d do a special series of interviews after I chatted with Jeanie Loiacono, President of Loiacono Literary Agency – Where ‘can’t’ is not in our vocabulary!  I thought sharing the interviews would help the many subscribers and visitors to this New Book Review blog, including authors, reviewers, and, of course, readers who just might find a new favorite author among the featured books and authors.

So, today welcome John House, MD.

John House, MD creates his novels from his vast and varied experiences in life. He is actively involved in family medicine and previously spent time in sports, prison and urgent care medicine. He has traveled extensively, including mission trips to Belize, and has sailed and been scuba diving in the Virgin Islands, Bahamas and Belize.

To relieve the stress of a busy medical practice, he spent weekends hiking in the Appalachian Mountains with ‘Tall Guy,’ a companion well versed in nature.

Prior to becoming a novelist, John published poetry and he also won prizes for short fiction. His first two novels So Shall You Reap and Choices were written with locations based in Northern and Coastal Georgia. His third novel Trail of Deceit is based on his knowledge and love of nature.

A native Georgian, John received his BS from North Georgia College, his MD from the Medical College of Georgia and completed further training at Memorial Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia.

John served four years in the US Army, including a tour in Vietnam with the First Cavalry Division.

John and his wife, Pam, live on the Southeast Coast of Georgia. All his creative works involve the richness of the Southern culture.

1. What is your genre? Is it fiction or nonfiction? Romantic Suspense/Fiction

2. What made you want to be a writer? Desire to write entertaining stories from my vivid imagination

3. Of all the authors out there, who inspired you most? Alistair MacLean

4. What is your writing style? Do you outline? Linearly? By scene? Why? I do not outline. I develop characters first and then let them develop the story

5. Do you write every day? How much? How long? Yes. At least two hours a day and sometimes as much as 8-10 hours

6. Do you think reading is as important to writing for an author? Why? Reading is extremely important to develop new ideas, learn new vocabulary and to review the pace of other authors.

7. What are some of the things you would like to share with budding authors? Develop personal library of books of instruction on various aspects of writing—characters, plot, point of view, description—and educate yourself by reading works of successful writers.

8. Do you have any marketing and promotional advice, referrals, tips you would like to share? Work as hard on the cover and back page of your novel as you do what's inside. The reader can be captured by well-coined words.

9. Do you think conferences are beneficial? If so, what have you learned? Which ones do you frequent? Face-to-face contacts and instructions remain with you. Take copious notes. Network and make friends. Writers do help other writers. My favorite conference is Southeastern Writers Association held on St Simons Island, Georgia every June.

10. Where can we find you, your books and when is your next event? Website: www.johnhouseauthor.com. Books/Kindle available online at Amazon, B&N, and other book stores. Facebook  LinkedIn A House of Short Stories

Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency, Jeanie Loiacono www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com

MORE ABOUT THE SPONSORING AGENT

Jeanie Loiacono, President, Loiacono Literary Agency

A facilitator of dreams, Jeanie Loiacono represents over eighty authors. Her forte is mystery, romance, thrillers, historical/military/southern fiction, and all quality fiction/nonfiction. Her passion is to see her authors succeed.

“There is nothing more rewarding than to hold one of my author’s books and know I helped bring it to fruition. I am so blessed and privileged to be able to work with some of the most talented writers in the world.” Jeanie.L@llallc.net  www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE INTERVIEWS--TO FIND GREAT READING OR TO NETWORK WITH AUTHORS--PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG. YOU ARE A WELCOME ADDITION TO THIS FAMILY WHO LOVES BOOKS! YOU'LL FIND A WINDOW TO DO THIS AT THE TOP OF THIS BLOG PAGE.

----- 

The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.