Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in the Philippines and I first became interested in playwriting thanks to Edward Albee’s Who’s afraid o Virginia Woolf? This inspired me o study Tennessee Williams, Neil Simon, etc. I have written three books.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Two of my books just came out.” Puppet Dreams” was inspired by watching ventriloquist Terry Fator on TV and wondering, “What if one of those puppets couldn’t get along with all the others and decided o run away? What if he convinced a little boy in he audience o help him?” My other book that came out at the same time is called “Woman of a Hundred Names.” It was inspired by a true story about a young man who managed to convince a grieving family that he was heir missing son.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes. I tend to work on two books a one time. While I’m writing the one or two main books, I’m also developing five to ten other books in he background, collecting details, honing structures, etc.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
he Trial, by Franz Kafka; The Joke, by Milan Kundera; A House for Mr Biswas by V.S. Naipaul; chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; Oedipus Rex by Sophocles; Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf; Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a.) “Enchanted Pane”, about a building custodian who gets entangled with he intrigues of a beautiful woman he sees in a haunted mirror, and b.) “Children of Starlight”, about a runaway orphan who stumbles upon a remote village whose inhabitants come out only a night, and are terrified of leaving their village.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think giving previews or free copies of one’s books are a vey effective way o go. though nothing is foolproof.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Pick a handful o books you love, then take it apart completely, line by line, trying to understand what elements affected you he most and why.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“There is no method. The only method is to be very intelligent.”
-T.S. Eliot
What are you reading now?
“To Hell or Babados”, about Irish men and women sent to Barbdos as slaves under Cromwell.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’m hoping to establish here clear directions in my writing: literary fiction, mysteries, and children’s books
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?
War and Peace, Heidegger’s “Being and Time”, The Tao Te Ching, A Hundred Years of Solitude
Author Websites and Profiles
Jose Ho Amazon Profile
Jose Ho’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile