Late Friday evening all is dark in the house with the exception of the wall Scentsy (Lavender scent of course) and the blaring light of the computer screen. I gather my mojo and decide with all certainty to do it! Yep, I’m going to click the send button and take the virtual leap of faith by requesting an interview with John Locke, bestselling author and the person who happened to give me the encouragement I needed to continue my literary journey (unbeknownst to him of course).
I sent a small note via the ‘contact me’ section from John’s website http://lethalbooks.com/ and thought my blurb would be buried under thousands of inbox messages, never to be opened and more than likely archived automatically. To my astonishment and giddy elation, I received a reply the next morning from John Locke himself! Did that just happen? He graciously agreed to answer a few questions for my interview even though his time was extremely limited. (Due in large part to his anticipated release of his new and upcoming western for his eager fans)
Without further ado, please see what John Locke stated in our interview last weekend:
Kate:
You must be in the top 1 percentile of men who are able to multi-task exceptionally well. May I say respectfully, great job and do you give private tips for husbands? (For the record, I know there are men who can multi-task; it’s just a rarity, an anomaly, at least at my household. Just kidding honey!)
Question 1:
I think my female readers would appreciate a male perspective on your unique situation; how do you juggle family time, career responsibilities (such as being a successful bestselling author), a feverishly devoted fan base, a businessman, and still continue to create and deliver outstanding novels? (In two different genres, I might add!)
John Locke:
I have to keep my priorities in line. First is my family, where I try hardest to always be available. Second is my full-time business, where I get a break because even though my business needs regular attention, it almost never requires immediate attention, which means I can postpone my work at any given time to help my wife pick up the kids or take them to practice, or run other errands, and so forth. Family and business take up the bulk of my time, but I’ve always had a few extra hours each day to devote to other activities. Now that I’m writing, it’s a matter of using that extra time for different things. I no longer cook dinner every night, or read books. I watch very little TV. On vacations I try to set aside three hours each afternoon to write, or market my books. I find ways to create blocks of spare time. When I can block off more than two hours, I use it to write. Most of the time it’s less than two hours, and I use the smaller blocks of time for emails, blogging, twitter, and interviews.
Question 2:
How would you describe a spontaneous romantic evening for your wife and how would that differ from your famous character Donovan Creed?
John Locke:
My wife is an extremely busy, high-energy person who goes all day like the Energizer Bunny and crashes in the evening. We have two kids at home who are always doing something with sports and of course, my wife and I are very involved at their school. That’s hard to quantify, but we volunteer a lot and my son does three sports, my daughter two. This year my wife is the field hockey team mom, which makes me team photographer, which means she and I will be attending 31 games in the space of 10 weeks. That doesn’t count the daily practices, or my son’s practices and games, or their celebration parties, and so forth. So, sadly, we don’t have much opportunity for romantic dinners, even spontaneous ones. How does that differ from Donovan Creed? Simple. Creed ALWAYS gets laid! (Can I say that on your blog?)
Question 3:
Do you see self-publishing authors versus big publishing industry as a modern David & Goliath? If so, is there hope in site for a cordial relationship, dare I say, a common thread of respect for literary camaraderie?
John Locke:
I don’t consider self-publishing to be the enemy of trade publishing, or vice-versa. I think there are many ways to create symbiotic relationships between the two camps, and to me they seem obvious. I think the biggest mistake people make is thinking deals can only be structured within specific parameters. But that’s old-style thinking. This is a new age in publishing, and as long as we focus on the reader, and put the reader first, we can do some unique and exciting things that have never been attempted. I’m working on one such idea right now.
Question 4:
Who or what has been your greatest form of inspiration and why?
John Locke:
My mother has always been my greatest inspiration. She taught me early in life I could accomplish anything, be anything, and have anything I desire provided I’m willing to put forth the necessary effort. That means study long enough, work hard enough, and practice.
Question 5:
You currently have novels in two different genres; three if we include your book How I Sold 1 Million Copies in 5 Months, is there room for another genre of books in your repertoire?
John Locke:
The short answer is yes, because this is what writers do: we write. I spend most of my life in sales, and happened to sell insurance. But I could have sold any type of product, because I was a salesperson. A writer should be able to write in any genre because writing is telling a story, and genre is how you tell it. Start with an exciting, action-based story and you’ve got a thriller. Put the characters in cowboy hats, change the setting and dialogue, and you have a western. Make them younger, clean up their language and actions and you have a young adult book. Switch the murder from the climax to the beginning and you have a mystery. In the end, it’s really just a story. How you tell it determines the genre.
I would like to thank John once again for his graciousness and willingness to partake in the interview for Sired Scribblings! Your time is extremely valuable and I wholeheartedly appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. Best of luck on your continued success with your novels! If you would like more information about how to get John Locke’s novels, please visit his website at http://lethalbooks.com Also available online at http://www.amazon.com Follow him on twitter @DonovanCreed.
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