Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Now retired, successful businessman becomes author of thriller stories.
Having written 4 books, all involving spies and love affairs, a series of 3, the Max &
Carla series and now this WW2 story The Glass Beacon, I can’t stop writing.
I first tried writing, many years ago after a skiing accident. I was forced to spend the
holiday snacking and drinking mulled wine overlooking the ski slopes. I wrote a Sci-Fi
story for my young son. He loved it.
I took it up again 15 years ago and included the exotic holiday locations my wife and I
visited, many times a year. Looking back, I have had a wonderful life. I have been very
lucky, not in the winning a lottery sense, but things have always worked out well. My wife
disagrees, you are super smart and have worked long and hard, she says. What does she
know?
According to my grandfather who was obsessed with Heraldry, I have descended from royalty.
King Charles ll actually. Of course, he didn’t manage it on his own, Nell Gwynne was on
the wrong side of the sheet at the time. Explains why I am attracted to… well, shall we
say, oranges!
Hobbies include scuba diving, valuable experience for Max & Carla in Extinction Event
recovering diamonds hidden on a wrecked ship and later trapped in a cavern, underwater.
I tend to like exploring places it is not safe to visit. I have met a number of
interesting characters who the world would class as undesirable. Slitting my throat would
have been inconvenient for them at the time, so I live to include the experience in my
stories.
Early on in my working life, I worked for an undertaker and assisted in laying out the
dead. The bastards in the carpentry shop, sealed me in a coffin they had just made. I knew
they would let me out, eventually. The time passed slowly, and it was remarkably dark and
claustrophobic. I also needed a pee! Even though dead bodies turn up regularly in films
and TV, the average person still has a fascination for the truth about the dead. They know
what they see on the screen is not like being there, seeing, touching and smelling death.
Other hobbies include writing software. Many years ago, some programs were commercially
very advanced and profitable. You won’t find implausible tech getting my characters out of
trouble in my stories.
I have turned my hand to electronics and that features strongly in The Glass Beacon.
I love photography, although I am just a happy snapper.
I hope to continue writing, now I have the time. I definitely have never experienced
writers block, quite the contrary, blocking out the ideas is the problem.
A little problem solving trick I perfected when I was in business ahs continued to serve
me well. I set out the problem in my mind, before I settle down to sleep and usually, I
have the perfect answer in the morning. Great with story telling, I find I am in the scene
and can rewind and replay until I get it right.
I also snore!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The Glass Beacon is my current book and the two items that inspired it came to me on a 45 day Pacific cruise.
The first item was to have Alderney, the beautiful Channel Island I live on as the location for the story.
Next was the title, The Glass Beacon. I just liked the ring to it. If you are as pissed as a ships rat and have enjoyed a sumptuous Christmas or New Year meal, it will have a ring in your ears as well.
How can I possibly make a story out of those two ingredients?
Well, coming up with plots is no trouble, it is keeping out the constant flood of ideas that is difficult. I think I will try the aluminium foil hat and see if that works.
So, Alderney was part of Hitler’s Atlantic wall, so WW2 is a good subject. There will be spies of course, I love writing about them. Throw in romance and now we are getting somewhere. The plot had to involve Britain and the V-1 needed guidance, so lets invent a radio beacon to guide it. In my research, there was no indication they used such a device, but they did have radar and other navigation systems. Then all the coincidences fell into place, glass circuit boards, fragility, advanced tech, but all quite possible. Why did Germany miss such a device. There were other social and economic factors that made this device so compelling. Well, this is how it all started.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I live every part of the story in my mind as I write. I work on the plot as I sleep and play and rewind until the part works perfectly. Later that morning, I write it up.
Easy-peasy.
I work from home and in a trance as the story is developed. I just hope the house doesn’t burn down as I work, I will never notice it.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I ran out of good books to read and in desperation decided to try writing a full novel. It was so absorbing and enjoyable that I would hate to stop.
I liked Denis Wheatley, a prolific writer, but considered to be trash now. How fashion changes.
Clive Cussler was enjoyable when he wrote the books, I find no pleasure in them now.
Andy McNab and Chris Ryan are current favourites.
I have read many of the other top authors and they just don’t do it for me. I get the feeling they write for the lowest common denominator and formulaic. Great commercially for them, but as a reader, they waste my time.
I did come across Ellie Midwood, a new self publisher, and was surprised at how much I enjoyed her 3 books.
However, No author has laid down a path that I was able or even wanted to emulate.
Just as well I don’t write for profit.
What are you working on now?
I started framing up a psychological thriller called “I lost my wife” and the trick with this one is that the plot is not as obvious as you might think.
It is possible it could develop into a series.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am still exploring that aspect. Marketing is something I would gladly sidestep, but it is everything in selling books.
I will continue to try different ways and see what works for me.
I am about to do some radio interviews and gain confidence, so we will see how that works.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
If you just want to write then go for it.
If you want to make money, marketing will take all your time and make it hard to focus on writing a great story.
Until you employ others to help you, it will be a very hard struggle.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
What are you reading now?
I have an Andy McNab and a Chris Ryan to read, but when, I just don’t know.
They cannot compete with my dreams and schemes after a day of hard marketing.
What’s next for you as a writer?
The next book and the book after that…
There will be holidays in exotic places, meeting strange or interesting people, perhaps wreck or cave diving, photography, painting, a life time of exciting things.
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 wouldn’t, I would take blank paper and a biro.
Author Websites and Profiles
John Day Website