When is the last time you took a chance and stepped out of your comfort zone?
It's hard to do, isn't it? We seem to be so set in our ways that we forget what
it's like to experience that exhilarating feeling when we stumble upon
something new. Whether it pertains to your personal or professional life,
stepping out of the box entails an element of risk that we all too often try to
avoid.
As many of you know, I am a romance writer, reader, and lover! If a book
doesn't have an element of romance somehow intertwined in the plot, I'm really
not interested. So it goes without saying that when John Lescroart's latest
release, BETRAYAL, came
across my desk, I was this close to passing on it. Luckily for me, I gave it a
second glance.
I must admit, I have the privilege of working with some of the most talented
marketing and publicity people in this business who consistently challenge me
to take my column to the next level. This month's jewel epitomizes my journey.
Who would have thought that a military suspense novelist would wind up becoming
a Jen's Jewels?
To say BETRAYAL is a
page-tuner would be an understatement. Not only was I blown away by John's
multi-faceted layering in his writing, but also I loved the way in which he
brought an element of romance to the plot. This novel is a shining gem.
So without further ado, please go grab yourself something warm to drink and get
to know my new friend, John
Lescroart. And, don't forget to look for the trivia question
at the end of the interview. Dutton has generously donated books for five lucky
readers. Good luck!
Jen: Your path to becoming a writer took many side trips before your big
break. In addition, you are well-known not only for your writing, but also for
your musical talent. Please give us a brief overview of your educational and
professional background.
John: I'm afraid that I had that
most difficult of upbringings for a
would-be artist -- a happy and extremely "normal" childhood. Of course, coming
of age in the ‘60s, "normal" would not exactly apply today -- I was far freer
and more unsupervised than most young people are today, and this extended to my
internal life. I went to Serra High School (alma mater of Barry Bonds and Tom
Brady -- but also I was a classmate, good friend, and Model UN teammate of Bill
Keller, Pulitzer Prize winning Managing Editor of the NY Times). My college
years were challenging. I started at UC Santa Cruz in the second year of its
existence and had to leave after only one quarter due to lack of money. I then
went to the College of San Mateo for a semester, transferred to the University
of San Francisco for my sophomore year, and then to UC Berkeley for the last
two -- I finally graduated with a BA in (what else?) English Literature.
After school, I went to work at the phone company graveyard shift, writing
short stories, sketches, and songs (all unpublished). I also sang in clubs in
the San Francisco bay area, both solo and in various groups. After two years,
realizing I wasn't really cut out to be a
junior executive, I quit the phone company and took off for Europe, paying my
way by singing and guitar playing. Three years of that, during which I also
wrote what eventually would be Son of Holmes, and I went to LA to make it large
in music. When that didn't happen, I returned to the Bay Area and formed Johnny
Capo and His Real Good Band, and we gigged regularly all over the place.
At thirty, I gave up the active music career, and wrote Sunburn, which won the
Joseph Henry Jackson Award for Best Novel by a California author. But it didn't
get published, so I started the "day job" routine -- i.e. work that would keep
me alive and allow me to write. Bartender, moving man, house painter,
occasional music sideman, office worker, fundraiser, technical writer,
logistics consultant, word processor and then WP supervisor at a law firm. That
took up about fourteen years. Then, at age 46, I had a hit with The 13th Juror,
and have been writing full-time ever since.
Jen: Many authors have that "Ah! Ha! Moment" when the stars are finally
put into alignment and their career is launched. Please tell us about that
journey and especially the significance of your body-surfing experience at Seal
Beach.
John: During the years in LA, I was working three jobs: writing from 6-8
in the morning, word processing from 9-5, then doing pick-up word processing at
law firms in downtown LA from 7-11. Long days. But I was getting published, so
wasn't too unhappy, although frustrated with the lack of commercial success.
One day, I went bodysurfing at Seal Beach and -- as always happens -- got a
good
wipeout or two with a lot of seawater getting into my sinuses and eustachian
tubes. The next night, I had a fever of 104 and Lisa, my wife, took me to the
emergency room, where they told us I had spinal meningitis. The prognosis was
death in about two hours. Obviously, that didn't happen, although I was mostly
unconscious in the ICU for eleven days, and then took another month before I
could function normally. During that recovery time, and returning to the day
job later, I decided that it was time to do either make it or break it as a
writer. This was the "Ah! Ha!" moment. Working eighteen hour days just wasn't
cutting it anymore. So we moved from LA (too expensive and crazy) to Northern
California, and I wrote full time for the very first time in my life, pouring
everything I had into a legal thriller (although I was not a lawyer) called
Hard Evidence. That book, amazingly to me, had strong foreign sales, and
prompted my publisher to get excited about the next book, The 13th Juror, which
became my first NY Times Bestseller.
Jen: We live in a society obsessed with instantaneous gratification and
I think even some aspiring authors expect their careers to just happen. Yours
took twenty years in the making. What was the most valuable piece of advice you
ever received and why?
John: The best advice I ever had came, I suppose appropriately, at my
lowest point. I had already written Hard Evidence, although my publisher's
enthusiasm for the book was such that he didn't even pay me when I handed in
the manuscript. I was 44 years old. I didn't even have a day job. Lisa was
supporting the family working as an architect at $10/hour. I figured I was
done. Then my father-in-law, Bob Sawyer, took us on a vacation to Maui. As we
were barbequing on the first night there, I asked him what he thought I should
do. (Remember, I'm his son-in-law who isn't doing too good a job bringing in
money as his daughter's partner.) He asked me if I still loved writing, and I
told him I did. He said, "Just keep doing what you love. The rest will work
itself out." Upon our return that very week, I learned that Hard Evidence had
gotten a starred review in PW, my publisher sent me my Delivery &
Acceptance check (or most of it, anyway), and I started The 13th Juror.
Jen: My readers expect me to step out of the box at times and bring them
authors they never would have discovered on their own. My audience is primarily
romance readers, so your genre of suspense is definitely not the norm for them
(or me!). I was so impressed with your writing style, your in-depth character
development, and for lack of a better term, meaty storyline. Please take us
through your writing process. Plot first? Outline? Characters? Approximately
how long does it take from conception to completion for you to write a novel?
John: Jen, these are great questions. I've been extremely fortunate to
have been working under contract for many years, the last ten or so with
Dutton, which has been a tremendously supportive publishing company. So my
process has become a bit standardized: I hand in an outline in September, write
the book between then and June, and the book then comes out early the next
year. Sounds straightforward, I know, but the reality is a bit less cut and
dried. I begin with a simple short outline and, hopefully, a title -- I don't
know why, but that seems to get things going. But then the writing begins and
usually the outline proves inadequate in many ways. Within a month or two, I've
usually abandoned a decent part of it -- this is, I think, because my
characters
begin to live and breathe and think of more interesting things to do than I'd
originally envisioned. I try to write organically, which means I get in a
certain zone where I'm not too interested in plot anymore, except as it applies
to how my characters react. This always leads me into new and unexpected
territory, and I've learned to trust that instinct. Then, usually, by about
February or March, I've got a critical mass of plot/character/theme, and the
book starts writing itself. This has always happened, and I can't explain it
very well, except to say that it must be a function of putting myself in a
position where good things that happen, and then recognizing them when they
kick in.
Jen: Your recurring lead character in your books is Dismas Hardy. I just
have to ask, why the name Dismas? What are your character's strengths? His
weaknesses?
John: The name Dismas Hardy came to me when I was very young, perhaps 18
or 19. I first heard the name Dismas because I was raised Roman Catholic and
knew that St. Dismas was the Good Thief crucified on Jesus' right hand on
Calvary. And Hardy just seemed to roll off the tongue after Dismas. Now it
turns out, rather coolly I think, that St. Dismas just happens to be the Patron
Saint of thieves and murderers, and so there was a terrific thematic fit with
my hero, who is after all a defense attorney. His strengths are his prodigious
memory and logic skills, dart throwing, and a fierce loyalty combined with an
equally developed sense of right and wrong, of justice. His weaknesses are an
almost pathological impatience with stupidity, perhaps a tendency to overwork,
and then to over-lubricate with alcohol, especially when he's under pressure.
Jen: Your latest release, BETRAYAL, takes place in Iraq and it's what I would classify as a
military thriller. Do you have a military background? From the military to the
courtroom, approximately how much research went into this book? Was there any
section that was most challenging to write and how so?
John: BETRAYAL
was my most challenging book since The 13TH Juror. In the first place, I have
no military background at all. Secondly, I hadn't been to Iraq. But I knew I
had to write this story. So I did what I always do -- research. I started by
talking to many people who'd been over there, checking out their photo albums,
getting a feel for what was really going on (much of which has since been
coming out in the news). Those discussions led me to my basic plot idea, but
then I needed more facts about Iraqi culture, security firms hired by the
government, and so on. So I read several non-fiction books and talked to a few
of those authors. From there, I started writing, but still found the opening
Iraq section of the book to be extremely challenging. Every page seemed to
bring me to something else I didn't know, from military ranks in the various
services, to the exact ordnance used in HUMVEEs, to the "feel" of neighborhoods
and patrols, etc.
Jen: I think the love triangle in the novel is brilliant because it
captures those of us who want that romance aspect while softening the sections
of blood and guts needed to propel the story along. What was going through your
mind as you created Tara Wheatley? I ran the gamut of emotions concerning my
likes and dislikes of this character, which ultimately means that you expertly
portrayed the many faceted layers of her personality. Well done!
John: Thank you. While I wanted to tell a political/moral/military
story, I knew it wouldn't have much emotional resonance if I treated it almost
as a non-fiction piece. My goal was to make the issues of the war personal to
individual with whom we could relate. Right from the beginning, I wanted a love
triangle to be at the center of the book, and Tara -- an idealistic young woman
trying to live a good life and be a good woman -- became the linchpin
surrogate,
in a way, for all the "folks back home," who are torn by conflicts arising from
the war. For Tara, this all becomes extremely personal. The issues she
confronts are complex -- support the troops, hate the fighting, deplore the
fact
that we need warriors, etc. I hope that we come to understand her confusion,
her loyalties, and her ultimate decision. As you say, it's at the core of the
book.
Jen: I was intrigued with the fact that you chose to incorporate a
fictitious American security company over in Iraq into the storyline. Were
there any concerns on your part that you may have touched upon a sensitive
issue or did it just make for a good plot?
John: I wanted to touch upon this sensitive issue. In my research, I was
struck time and again by the greed, greed, greed of some of these companies,
their no-bid contracts for mega-millions, as well as by the lack of oversight
given them by anyone in the military or in the administration. Though I went to
great lengths to keep this book from having a political leaning, I think events
have proven that companies such as Blackwater were allowed to get away with
great evil in the name of national security. So, yes, it made for a good plot,
but in a larger sense, it's really what the book is all about.
Jen: One of the secondary characters, Mary Patricia Whelan-Miille,
steals the show at times with her strong persona and take-no-prisoners
attitude. Is she modeled after anyone in particular? What do you like best
about this character and why?
John: The real Mary Patricia Whelan-Miille, is a neighbor of mine.
She "bought" the character name in this book through a charity auction for CASA
(Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Yolo County, a cause that I have been
happy to support as well for several years. Mary Patricia herself is quite the
pistol, and although I didn't model the book's character specifically after her
personality, I believe some of it must have crept in. But as always, when I
first envisioned her, she had nothing like the role in the book that she wound
up with -- once the character with her name hit the page, though, she just
wouldn't leave, and I had no choice but to let her run.
Jen: We all know someone like Evan Scholler, one of your main characters
in BETRAYAL. He is the
boy-next-door as well as the brave soldier who will fight for our freedom. As
you were writing the novel, did he take on a life of his own? Did you feel as
if he became a part of you?
John: Evan is both a hero and is, I hope, emblematic of many of the
conflicts of people who volunteer to fight and who, once in the mission, lose a
little sight -- perhaps -- of why they went, of the need to carry on. And then,
in spite of those doubts, continue to do as they must. Evan is a big ball of
conflict, with many weaknesses, and yet he's out leading his convoy every day
until the duty nearly kills him. I believe he may be the most conflicted
character I've ever written -- I hope people will identify with him as a kind
of
everyman. I know that I did.
Jen: Will Dismas Hardy make it to the big screen one day?
John: I would very much like to see that happen, but in spite of a
couple of options over the years, and eleven NY Times bestsellers in a row,
Hollywood has been reluctant to bite. I can't figure it out, but life is good
anyway, and I don't worry about it. If it's meant to happen, it'll happen in
its own time.
Jen: Are you currently at work on your next novel? If so, what can you
tell us about it?
John: I'm currently about 75 pages into my next novel, and about all I
can say at this point is that it's a Hardy/Glitsky book and its theme is human
frailty.
Jen: Please tell us about your website. Do you participate in author
phone chats? And if so, how would my readers go out scheduling one? Do you have
email notification of upcoming releases? Do you blog? Any scheduled appearances
and/or book signings?
John: I'm very much involved with my website. I update the homepage
regularly, and try to keep my appearances and other author events easily
accessible. I've got all my books and my music and everything going on there.
Plus, I encourage my readers not only to visit the website but to write me
directly through it. And I answer all the email -- believe it or not -- myself.
It's a great way to stay in touch with readers! Come on by and say hello!
Jen: Thank you so much, John, for taking time out of your busy schedule
to chat with my readers. Thanks, too, for allowing me to step out of my comfort
zone to connect with a talented military suspense writer such as yourself! It's
been an absolute pleasure. Best of luck in 2008!
John: Thanks, Jen. As I said, these were great questions, and I hope
you've enjoyed my responses to them.
I hope you have enjoyed my interview with John. I encourage you to pick up a
copy of BETRAYAL at
your local bookseller or library today! Then after you have read it, please
visit my website, www.jennifervido.com, and let me know if you, too, think BETRAYAL is a definite 10!
Now, here's your chance to win your very own copy courtesy of Dutton Books.
Enter to win my Jen's
Jewel Contest. Correctly answer the following question:
What is the title of
John's first New York Times Bestselling novel?
Next month, I will be bringing to you an interview with one of my favorite
Southern belles, Mary Kay
Andrews! You won't want to miss it!
Until next month...Jen
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