Interviewing John Hohn…
[Today we have a treat, an interview with author John Hohn. He has an interesting background that probably influenced his first work, Deadly Portfolio: A Killing in Hedge Funds, more than his second, Breached (reviewed last Wednesday), but both books are intricate and excellent mysteries that will entertain you a lot more than the usual drivel you’ll find on TV. Without further ado, here’s John.]
Some bio information…
Steve: Tell us a bit about yourself, John.
John: I’m technically retired, but I like to say I’ve embarked on a new career, writing. I am a Midwestern by birth, born and raised in Yankton, SD where I graduated from high school. I married after my freshman year in college at St. John’s University (MN) where I majored in English, graduating in 1961. I taught high school English for four years before entering the world of business. My career spans more than 40 years in the financial services industry. I retired in 2007 after 15 years at the head of my own financial advisory group with Merrill Lynch in Winston-Salem, NC.
I have always loved to write. I have published poetry in literary quarterlies, garnering a few awards along the way. In 2000, I published as small volume of poetry. In 2011, I published my first novel, Deadly Portfolio: A Killing in Hedge Funds. A sequel followed in 2014 titled Breached.
I am the father of five children and stepfather to one. My wife and I have been married 29 years. We divide our time between a cottage in Southport, NC and a small house in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northwestern corner of the state.
Steve: Why, how, and when did you start writing?
John: I started writing when I was a boy. I wrote because I enjoyed it. My stories were short pieces, usually about going fishing with my dad or exploring around the neighborhood. Both of my parents were very encouraging. My mother read my stories to guests. I enjoyed the praise and affirmation I received. I have been writing all of my life.
Steve: Did you publish the first book you wrote?
John: No. It is still in my file cabinet. I pulled it out a few days ago and looked at it. It still has potential, but I was very unsettled as a writer when I started it and unsure of my voice. I have several other starts that I never completed. They were good practice pieces. Etudes.
Steve: Do you feel writing is something you need to do or want to do?
John: I can’t imagine my life without writing. I guess that means it’s something I need to do. Only bad health would force me to give it up.
Steve: Have your personal experiences (or situations) influenced you creatively? If so, how?
John: I’ve lived a ragged life and experienced severe emotional pain at times, depression among them. I think a certain awe with life itself, given my experiences, prompts me to write. Pain and disappointment often embitter but can also create a foundation for compassion and understanding.
Steve: How much of your creative ability do you think is innate and how much is learned?
John: All humans are endowed with some creative ability, but those who rise to a genius level received a greater gift than most. At any level, creativity can be expanded through learning. It’s like running. One can train to run faster but must accept that he or she will never turn in an extraordinary performance or win a race. It has taken me most of my life to realize that I have a very strong imagination. That can be a gift and a curse.
Steve: What is the last book you read? What are you reading now?
John: I just started Wilton Barnhardt’s Look Away, Look Away. The last book I read was The Legend of Sleepy Hollows and Other Stories by Washington Irving. I jumped at this one because I want to know more about American writers and their legacy.
Steve: Whose writing inspires you the most and why?
John: Dylan Thomas and W. B. Yeats. They are poets, of course, but their imagery, cadence, evocativeness, and lyricism inspires my prose as well as my poetry. Among prose writers, although this goes back years, I find myself recalling The Scarlet Letter, Moby Dick, Main Street, and The Doll House.
Steve: Do you have a favorite genre?
John: Yes. I like literary works, stories that are a slice of life well told and with good characterization, either ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances or ordinary people facing ordinary circumstances in an extraordinary manner.
Steve: Should writers read in their genre? Should they be avid readers?
John: Writers should read in their own genre but not exclusively. Conventions of genre are in place to be torn down. The writers who confined their reading to the own genre risk becoming too formulaic. The art of every genre needs to keep evolving, taking on new dimensions and expanding its aesthetic.
The more an author writes, the more difficult it is to be an avid reader. This is true for writers who self-publish and those who publish traditionally. If a writer really enjoys writing, his passion will be better served if he never succeeds. His time will not be bled off by promotional activities. Most writers would not choose to be salespeople or public speakers, but that is their destiny if they become popular.
John on writing…
Steve: How do you find your plots?
John: I start with something I feel strongly about, something out of my own life. My first book, Deadly Portfolio was inspired by fear. I skirted the edge of financial failure at one point in my life and began my career over again at age 44. When I found that I was getting all the bills paid again each month, I asked myself, “What the hell could go wrong now?” I knew it would be something outside of my control, like a junior partner getting my entire advisory group into trouble.
The plot for Breached, on the other hand, came together around two experiences. I served two tumultuous years as a secretary/treasurer in a property owners’ association and was astonished, frustrated and angered by the pettiness and dishonesty on the board and the association members.
Several years ago, I experienced a powerful dissociative episode that occurred in an emotionally charged situation for me. I was in a state of wonder about it for years until it came up in a counseling session, and I was given insight into what happened to me. I knew that I wanted to work the experience into a story at some point. Thus, the character of Diane in Breached is developed out of that central experience of my own.
Steve: Are your characters based on real people?
John: My characters are composites. Anyone speculating that they will find someone in my life who is just this or that character is headed for disappointment. I want my characters to be credible and multi-dimensional.
Steve: How do you name your characters?
John: Names are important. I want a name to connote something about the character upon whom it is bestowed. Sometimes I worry that I may have gotten to literal. James Raker is a detective. Get it? As in Rake through the evidence. But readers like it. Monica and Morrie Clay are all too human in the weaknesses; thus the Clay as in clay feet. Tom Sherman charges at everything like a battle tank. Diane, after Diana the goddess of the hunt, because she searches in hunt of her own fulfillment. Her last name, Welborn, is ironic. Destiny played a cruel trick by giving her the parents she was born to.
Sometimes the association is more oblique. I want to use something onomatopoeically suggestive. Schreve, especially with the “c” in the name, comes off as slippery and conniving to me. Brost is a bully.
Steve: Which comes first, plot or characters?
John: Seminally, it’s always the plot, but the characters have a great deal to say about the outcome as they take on a life of their own once I am underway.
Steve: How do you handle POV?
John: I prefer the omniscient point of view. I have tried first person narrative but I found it too confining. First person narratives have been done very well. Holden Caulfield is an example. Huckleberry Finn is another. I don’t know that I possess the necessary skills to do a first person narrative.
Steve: Do you find background material for (research) your books? If so, how?
John: The internet makes research so much easier than it was years ago. Still, too many books get out there with shaky credibility because authors haven’t done their research. I like to interview subject-matter experts. I interview medical professionals, members of law enforcement, psychologists – anyone from whom I can draw specialized knowledge.
Steve: Do you use an agent?
John: No. I have tried very hard to find one. I am sympathetic to their role. They must pick winners. Years ago, when I was an industrial TV studio producer, I advertized in Variety for a script writer. The response was overwhelming. These guys are holding a tea cup up to a storm surge with all the writers out there today. I don’t envy them. I just want one to call my own.
Steve: Do you self-publish or traditionally publish? What are your most effective marketing techniques?
John: I self-publish. At age 75, I can’t wait for the literary world to find me.
I have tried everything when it comes to marketing. I don’t think anything works very well. The competition is forcing authors to give our hard work away free. I refuse. I don’t ask the plumber to fix my toilet for free. I expect the dentist to charge for his work. Why should I be conned by my own hunger for recognition into giving my work away? It is laughable, because some actually count the gifted works as sales.
I wish authors would ban together on that one principal: No Free Books. All kinds of people are making money off authors while authors, for the most part, can’t cover their expenses.
I have run a blog for over three years. I see no correlation to visits to my web site and sales. I have been on Internet radio; same story. I hired a publicist twice. One, very expensive, well-known and frequent speakers at book conventions, took a cookie cutter approach to my book and nothing came of it. The jury is out on the second because I cannot see any results. My books have received 5 stars reviews on Amazon and other sites, but again, good reviews do not necessary correlate to sales volume.
Steve: Do you release trade paperbacks or eBooks?
John: I have both paperbacks and eBooks out there. I tried hardbound with Deadly Portfolio, and did not sell a single copy, although the book itself has been a steady seller.
Steve: What do you think of publishing services like Amazon, Smashwords, etc?
John: I used CreateSpace, IngramSpark and Smashwords. I think writers need to be on the side of the brick-and-motor retailers. They are a vanishing breed, but our communities will suffer if they disappear completely. Economic necessity forces me to consider Amazon and other online outlets, but the forum for authors is in the local stores where they can be heard and meet their reading public.
John’s life outside of writing…
Steve: What other interests do you have besides writing?
John: I played full-court basketball until age 58 and then switched to golf. I have enjoyed participating in sport all of my life. I am committed to a physical fitness regimen and have been faithful to it for 40 years. I have entered the year that my father did not survive. I am too young to die. He was too, but 25 years ago, 75 was advance age.
I enjoy projects around the home, especially woodworking. I like taking on projects that require precision and try my patience. Sometimes, on the latter point, the project wins out.
Steve: If you could trade places with someone for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be?
John: I am a very contented guy. For a week, however, I’d trade places with a guy in Normandy, France so I could go at my own pace visiting the historic sites in France and Belgium.
Steve: I would like to thank John for his candid answers above. I wish him the best on his new book—let’s hope there will be more. I also hope readers of this blog have enjoyed another peek into the writing life of an author. Like any artistic endeavor, writing is a creative activity where you will find people from all walks of life. With my interviews, I want to show some of that broad spectrum of people and ideas.
In libris libertas….
