Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
This is unusual in that, my mum died of cancer a few years ago.
Last year I got a call from Mum’s brother. He’d been storing a trunk of her things for way too long. Would I please come and take charge of it? I brought it home, set it in the middle of the living room, and cut through the padlock with a hacksaw.
There were a few photos of the three of us that are now among my most cherished possessions. A couple of handbills about an upcoming march. A picture of Herman’s Hermits (go figure). And manuscript after hand-written manuscript of stories Mom had written. Love stories. Romantic fiction.
I was gobsmacked!
You see, I share my mother’s dyslexia. I find writing to be painfully difficult, and I can only suspect that she did, too. And yet, here were all of these romances she’d written.
Granted, I only knew her as my mother, and she must have had other relationships with other people, but who was this woman? The mum I remember was always in a hurry, often strident, and quite passionate. Of course, there’s a difference between passion for a cause and romantic passion, but I don’t recall ever seeing this tender, softer, sometimes wistful side of her.
I would have given anything to spend one more day with my mum even before I opened the trunk. Now, seeing her from an adult’s perspective, reading her private thoughts and the stories of her imagination, I often found myself crying tears of sadness and happiness in equal measure.
Eventually I got this crazy idea of sharing her stories with the world. It has taken months to type the pages and make them readable. As I mentioned, I’m dyslexic, too. And one dyslexic trying to understand another dyslexic’s writing would have been enough of a challenge without the tears that kept blurring the pages.
But, I’m finally done. I’ve loved every moment spent rendering the imagination of the woman who through genetics, and her example, is responsible for my own creativity.
I feel we have co-written the books
How many books? nearly 20 but it is going to take me some time to go through them.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Love Through time. It was the longest book, my mum wrote. It’s about someone losing love and finding love and moving both physically and emotionally, in the most unexpected place.
Although she never dated any of the books, my guess would be she wrote this just after my mum and dad split up and she moved to a new house hundreds of miles away and I think she was looking for a new beginning.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Being dyslexic myself and my mum being dyslexic, first I have to work out the spelling, work out what I think my mum was trying to say and fit it into the story.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My mums writing for sure as I have never read romance, and I am so pleased my mum wrote clean romance.
For me, I like Lee Child and James Patterson books
What are you working on now?
Bend in the road
With the rest of their lives stretched out before them, Georgia and Casey are living in the dream-like haze of their retirement from their professional athletic careers, and they find themselves facing some difficult decisions including their separation from one another as they try to move on with their lives. Despite their impending separation, the spark between them turns into a flame and they try to build a future where they can be together. However, this is easier said than done and both Georgia and Casey know that they will leave an inevitable trail of devastation and heartbreak in their wake.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
As I am new to promoting this type of book it has been Amazon and the website I set up for this project.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Don’t let anything stop you, anything that you think could be holding you back can also be a gift. I look at my dyslexia as a gift, it can be painfully frustrating, double the work as a writer but still a gift.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Good writing is bad writing
What are you reading now?
honeymooners by James Patterson. I thought watching James’s online class would help me with this project
What’s next for you as a writer?
Tackle more books writtern by my mum
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?
Don Quixote de la Mancha
Calvin and Hobbs complete collection
Love through time, to remind me of my mum
Author Websites and Profiles
John Rice Website
John Rice Amazon Profile
John Rice’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account