LK INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Tell us about yourself:
- Where do you live? I live in Townsville, North Queensland, Australia.
- How long have you lived there? I’ve lived here about nine years.
- Are you married? Yes.
- Kids? I have three grown children. Two sons and a daughter.
- Full time job? I write full time these days.
- Education? I grew up in the outback, so like many other kids in similar circumstances, I was educated via correspondence school and distance education.
2. Who is your favourite author and book? A tough question, but I think it would be Ruth Park and her book Poor Man’s Orange.
3. What is your preferred genre? I write poetry, literary fiction that has been described as Outback Noir, speculative fiction and middle-grade fantasy. I like writing in those genres.
4. How did you start this journey to become a writer? I was an avid reader as a child and wanted to be able to tell stories like the ones I read.
5. What have you written so far? I have published two books of poetry, 4 fiction novellas, a work of speculative fiction and a middle grade fantasy.
6. Tell us about your current book. Mark Taggart and the Circle of Stones (with co-author Nicci Carrera. Is written with all ages in mind, from 10 to 100.
Here is a short blurb:
Australian twelve-year-old Mark Taggart can’t wait to finish his correspondence classes each day, so he can get out on the family cattle station to help his dad. But his life is changing and the future is threatened by a prolonged drought. His dad owes money to Bull Corcoran who is demanding payment. Not only is Mark’s family about to lose everything, he may never get a chance to visit a forbidden site on the land, a circle of stones that has drawn his imagination and curiosity for years. So Mark and his friend visit the site that marks a long-ago crime.
When they enter the area, the world drops away beneath their feet. They land in another world and learn they’ve been summoned to the Elemental Realm. This powerful place is under attack. Now Mark must lead an army against a darkly magical being and the beasts he controls to make it back home, save his family, and right an ancient crime.
7. What is the inspiration for your current book? This book has been simmering in my mind since I was a small child on an outback cattle station. It finally boiled over!
8. Who is your favorite character to write and why? Probably Mark Taggart when the story starts in outback Australia. Both the character and the landscape are very familiar to me and the words flow easily.
9. Is there anything of you in that character? There certainly is parts of me in Mark Taggart, in the early parts of the story. However Mark Taggart eventually becomes a hero and different in many ways to his humble beginnings. So then the likeness vanishes.
10. What sets your book apart? I think that the combination of real history, Australian aboriginal mythology and a hint of the multi-verse theory of quantum physics makes this story different to any other.
11. What is your favorite part of the book. The start of the story is my favorite I think. When Mark has yet to become a warrior, and a traveler between universes.
12. What was the most difficult part to write? My challenge was trying to not allow the characters to become too dark. After all my co-author and I were writing a story for all ages. Particularly for older kids. It was Nicci who smoothed things out and rounded off my rough edges.
14. How do you write? Do you have a set time or place? How many hours a day? I’d like to be able to say I’m a disciplined writer who spends a set amount of hours per day pounding the keyboard. However the truth is that I am a writer who might work for 12 hours one day and go fishing the next.
15. Why did you want to become a writer? To me there is a certain magic in the written word. I had visited many worlds as a reader and imagined myself in a thousand different places. It seemed logical to me that I would try to become a writer at some time in my life. I never had any doubts about that.
16. How do you get your ideas? I’ve always been blessed by, or cursed with, an over-active imagination. The ideas come easily. It is the translating them into coherent stories that is difficult.
17. What do you have planned next? I have a third poetry book planned and a few other projects that I’ve placed on the back burner until inspiration returns.
18. What advice would you give new writers? I’m not sure I’m qualified to give advice, but the one thing I would stress is that they should write about what they know. At least until they find their feet.
19. How can people get in touch with you?
My Amazon author page.
https://www.amazon.com/John-Holland/e/B00E5PYM3W/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
I’m on Facebook at: Facebook.com/poetrysansfrontieres/?ref=bookmarks
Website:
poetrysansfrontieres@weebly.com
You can also find me at Twitter and linkedin.
Thank you for the support in getting our book and names in front of your blog followers, Lauretta!
Nicci
You are quite welcome. WOuld you like to add your own thoughts?