Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am just an everyday guy who has had a lot of challenges in life, mainly due to illness and the lack of physical ability my body offers me. I have a disease called sarcoidosis that causes me to suffer a lot. Sarcoidosis is a very rare disease that essentially makes my body destroy itself. My immune system overreacts to even the slightest foreign body it comes across, instead of killing the foreign body and stopping it attacks my healthy tissue and effectively tries to kill me. After battling this for over the last ten years I have had to give up almost all of my physical activity. I have gone from a bike-riding rock climbing outdoors type person to a guy stuck at home behind a computer. But I remain positive! I will never give up, This is what made me start writing, I want to learn how to express myself in a new way, I also grew up dyslexic and as you can probably imagine this is not the best thing for a budding writer. So at the moment, I am focusing on short quirky stories that are a bit of fun in hopes of overcoming the challenges I face and in an endeavor to support my family the way I used to when I was physically able. my grammar might be terrible and my spelling might be rubbish but I will try my best to make this work! you might be wondering why I want to do this and I bet my answer will surprise you. I was once told that saying yes more often leads to more fun and enjoyment in life. One day my head said ” what if I wrote a book” I said yes! So I am doing this just for the sheer hell of it. or in other words, I am doing this for fun. so yeah! A combination of needing a new way to express myself and the never-ending search for fun and enjoyment is the reason why you are reading this now, even though I hate my illness I am also quite thankful for it. It challenges me and forces me to do things I would never have done without it. trying these new things makes me happy even if they fail, the journey along the way is an experience I am glad I am still here to have.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called It’s not a turtle, I was inspired to write this book after seeing my children shouting random rhyming words back and forth at each other at the top of their voices, I had just decided that I was going to write a book to try a new way of expressing myself and being creative in a way I had never tried before. The minute I heard my kids shouting rhyming words at each other something just clicked and I said to myself ”I’m going to write a quirky rhyming picture book”. At first, it was just going to be a book for kids but then I thought nahh let’s make this a book for all ages to enjoy.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t think I have any unusual writing habits, but I do like to think out of the box now and then and a lot of my family and friends think I am strange, so maybe I do but I just don’t see it in myself.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Kevin Smith. I have always liked how Kevin smith writes, his quirky style and outlandish ideas. I am more of a film buff that a book buff. I like to listen to what people have written and admired the writing styles of many film scriptwriters such as David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams who wrote Naked Gun. who doesn’t like a bit of Frank Drebin police squad!
What are you working on now?
Now that would be telling. let me surprise you 🙂
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
So far it’s Amazon and of course the Awesome gang! The Awesome Gang are winning so far in my book. They are the first to ever interview me!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just do it! Don’t worry, have fun! saying yes to more and more things in life really does make you happier. of course, you have to use common sense, but writing a book is all good.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I ever heard was… don’t run behind a car, you will get exhausted! haha Nah…
It was actually to not worry so much about the consequences when you want to say yes, then say it, when you want to do something, just do it, ignore people saying things like that’s a bad idea and I wouldn’t try that because of (add excuse here), No matter what you try in life their will always be people telling you not to try it, but if you don’t try it you will never know what you might have achieved!
What are you reading now?
I am about to read. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*Ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life, It sounds like something we should all be doing and if it’s written well, I can see it being a best seller!
What’s next for you as a writer?
I am not sure yet, the future is uncertain.. just the way I like it. One thing is for sure though, if I am still here tomorrow you can bet I will be trying something new, even if it is just a new painkiller.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’m not sure, there are millions to choose from, I suppose with what is happening in our world right now, any book that is made of good quality paper. that way if I don’t like them.. at least I’ve got toilet paper.
Author Websites and Profiles
John Cartwright Amazon Profile