Interview with J. R. "John" Lindermuth
author of Corruption's Child, etal
Interview by Douglas Quinn
author of Blue Heron Marsh, etal
My publicist, Donna Higgins Colson, and I had just completed a promotional event in Washington, D. C. and while Donna was staying with her daughter for a visit, I drove up to a small town in rural Pennsylvania called Tharptown to interview author J. R. "John" Lindermuth.
Fortunately, John had sent along detailed directions as Tharptown wasn't even on the map. It was located in the central part of the state in Northumberland County just outside of Shamokin, a town on Route 61 between Allentown and State College. From D.C. I drove west on Route 7 to Route 81 north, then Route 61 west. It was good that I had left early. I was a longer trip than I'd anticipated.
The village of Tharptown was little more than a mile in length, four streets wide and bordered on the north by Shamokin Creek. John was waiting for me on the front porch of his century-old family homestead that, along with the town, was surrounded by Big and Little mountains. Yep, those are the names. The mountain to the northeast was stripped bare and covered with culm from the long-defunct coal mining operations that once were the economic support of the region.
John was wearing his usual costume, as he called it: a baseball cap, jeans and trail runners. I had on my own summer uniform of tan cargo shorts, a "Daily Grind Coffee House" teeshirt-a gift-and brown Birkenstock sandals. I brought my blue-green Nags Head fishing hat in case I needed it.
After introductions, a glass of iced tea and some get-to-know-each-other chit chat, we got down to business.
DQ: So, John, in your brief bio it says that you are a retired newspaper editor and writer. Tell us about that.
JRL: Over a period of nearly forty years I worked on a weekly and several dailies, covering virtually every beat as a reporter, then moved up to the positions of copy editor, wire, bureau and city editor.
DQ: As it is said, "Write what you know." May I presume as a newspaper editor and writer you've come across many interesting people and stories that may have been an influence on your fiction?
JRL: On a big city daily you might have only one beat for your entire career. The advantage of small town papers is that you experience everything from weddings and obits to crime and politics. One of my favorite things as a reporter was to seek out people for feature stories. These ran the gamut of emotions, and bits and pieces of many of them now flesh out the characters in my novels.
DQ: I see from your web site http://jlind11.tripod.com/ http://www.jlind11.tripod.comthat your father was a storyteller. Tell us if/how this influenced your own way of telling stories.
JRL: My dad had a decent library and always encouraged me to read. When I first started writing I wanted to emulate the authors I read and who had stimulated my imagination. It was only later I realized how much I was influenced by my grandfather. Heart problems forced him to retire early and, as the only grandson, I spent a lot of time with him, listening to his wealth of stories about earlier times, people he had known and even some I'm sure he made up.
DQ: I enjoyed your re-phrased Herman Melville comment that the Army was your Harvard and your stint in Korea your Yale. Would you care to comment on any lasting impressions these experiences had on your life?
JRL: I think anyone who spends any length of time in the military will gain insights into themselves and others that are just not comparable to those available in civilian life. It's not all pleasant but there are aspects you'll cherish for the rest of your life-the camaraderie, the dependence on one another, a 'real' appreciation of independence. I guess that's why I'm a lifetime member of the 1st Cavalry Division Association. As to Korea, I think spending time (not as a mere tourist but living on the economy) in any other country can provide an understanding of other cultures and a deeper appreciation for one's own. I spent time after the military as a copy editor in Korea and that put me on a level with ordinary people who took me into their homes and made me a part of their lives. You can't get that kind of experience as a tourist.
DQ: I see we have more in common than just writing mystery and suspense novels. We have both recently written historical fiction/adventure novels. Mine, Cornelius: The Orphan is still in the rewriting/editorial phase. Your novel The Accidental Spy was recently released by the Canadian publisher Lachesis Publishing. Why don't you tell us more about The Accidental Spy.
JRL: The Accidental Spy takes place in Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War. However, it's not about the war. Rather, it has to do with how the war affected different people and the changes it made in their lives. Most think everyone was either for or against the revolution. Actually, a great many people just wanted to survive and were satisfied to accept the status quo so long as government-any government-didn't bother them too much. My protagonist becomes a hero not because he's braver than others but as a result of circumstance.
We took a short break to refill our iced teas and I told John that we have more in common than just the writing. We are both retired and we both have four grandsons. We spent some time talking about them, our relationships with them and how interesting it is to interact with their different personalities and interests.
DQ: What do your grandchildren think of your writing? Are they curious, interested, proud, indifferent...?
JRL: I think the older ones take a certain pride in it. They'll tell me when a teacher or someone else mentions having read one of my books. The two younger boys are still oblivious to it.
DQ: Your first two books were published with iUniverse and Authors Choice Press, which is now merged with iUniverse. Can you tell us about your experiences with these print-on-demand publishers?
JRL: iUniverse puts out a quality product and I had no complaint with the fact that marketing is primarily up to the author. That's pretty standard with all publishers today. Unfortunately, there's still a stigma attached to paying to have your books published (even if it's just a minimal set-up fee), despite the fact that many of those books are equal to the output of the commercial publishers who would rather put money into political and celebrity trash rather than helping develop new writers.
DQ: Tell us about your transition to your new traditional independent publishers, Whiskey Creek Press and Lachesis Publishing.
JRL: I found Whiskey Creek though my own research on the internet. They are a small and young publishing company and have been wonderful to work with, offering much encouragement to their writers, comprehensive editing and a family-like attitude. A WCP editor who is also affiliated with Lachesis, a fledgling Canadian firm, suggested I submit something to them. It's too early in our relationship to see where that will lead, but the experience has been good so far.
Although acceptance is based on product and not payment by the author, both firms are print-on-demand. I've discovered there is also a stigma in some quarters about POD, which I think is ridiculous. Print-on-demand makes perfect sense from a business standpoint. The publisher prints copies on the basis of actual orders rather than stockpiling a large quantity of books in a warehouse.
DQ: I totally agree with your take on print-on-demand publishers. You've also published short fiction on Amazon (Amazon Shorts). You're in good company as I see the likes of Jeffrey Deaver and James Lee Burke have also published there. Have you had much feedback on your short fiction? Do you think they have helped promote sales of your novels?
JRL: The feedback I've had has been good, though to date the volume of both that and sales have been somewhat disappointing. Still, it's another way of making your name known. There's a lot of competition out there and I'm willing to give the Amazon Shorts program more time.
DQ: As some of your favorite authors you list classic and neo-classic authors such as Poe, Bronte, London, Stevenson, etal. How about contemporary authors and books? Are there any crime, mystery and suspense authors you enjoy?
JRL: Far too many to name them all. Some favorites include James Lee Burke, Ruth Rendell, Charles Willeford, Elmore Leonard, Jim Hall, Elizabeth George, Harlan Coben, P. D. James, John Burdett and Tony Hillerman.
DQ: Have any of these authors, classical and/or contemporary, influenced your writing style and/or your way of thinking about developing characters, settings, plot lines, story structure, etc., and if so, how?
JRL: Probably all to one degree or another. Consciously, I like the way Rendell employs psychology to define her characters and I try to emulate that. Leonard is a great guide in the area of dialogue. And I've read and re-read George's excellent Write Away, though I'm not as meticulous as she is on outlining.
We pause the interview for a moment to talk about different approaches to writing. I have writer friends who've spent months, sometimes years, writing plot outlines, creating detailed flash cards for their characters and researching ahead of time everything they plan on including in the book. I don't outline at all. I write a concept page and once everything is clear in my mind, I start writing. I'm not sure whether that is brave or just plain stupid, but it seems to work for me.
DQ: I want you to know I've become a big fan of your "Sticks" Hetrick books. Actually, while billed as "Sticks" Hetrick novels, you really have structured your stories around an ensemble cast of characters, which I love. I'm totally invested in these characters. Was the ensemble idea conscious move or did it just develop that way?
JRL: The other characters just seemed to develop lives of their own. I've grown fond of them. I hope they broaden the appeal of the books.
DQ: I assure you that they do. Your setting for these Hetrick novels is a small Pennsylvania town known as Swatara Creek. Obviously, Tharptown is too small to be the model for Swatara Creek. Is Swatara Creek a composite town or is it based, loosely anyway, on a town like nearby Shamokin?
JRL: Vestiges of Tharptown do appear in my earlier books but not in the Hetrick series. I spent twenty years on a daily near Harrisburg and actually invented Sticks in a short story while there. When the books developed it was too late to move him. There is a stream named Swatara Creek near Harrisburg but no town of that name exists. The Swatara Creek of the novels is my invention, though it's representative of many of the older Susquehanna River towns that have become bedroom communities for the more metropolitan areas.
DQ: Is there anything else you'd like to say or have me to include in the interview, John? Last chance.
JRL: I'd like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk about my writing. Reviewers often go unappreciated and they are vital in making readers aware of books and authors they might not hear about otherwise.
Writing can be a lonely profession. Sometimes it's only the encouragement of others that keeps one going. I've benefitted from the support and advice of many people-Richard Wheeler, author of numerous books of military history, and mystery author Anne K. Edwards to name two. I also value the social networking sites and online writing communities which are great for meeting other writers, such as yourself, and for finding and developing new resources.
In addition to the interview, John and I had made arrangements to go bass fishing on the Susquehanna River. We agreed to meet at 6:00 am the following morning on the Isle of Que, which lays between Penns Creek and the river at Selinsgrove, fishing equipment in hand. John was supplying the boat. In my novel Blue Heron Marsh, my main character, Webb Sawyer, goes bass fishing with a newfound friend in the North Carolina Uharries National Park. I had high hopes our (ad)venture would be as successful.
What follows are the details on John's latest novel, including a list of his other published works:
Corruption's Child:
by John R. Lindermuth
Crime/Mystery/Suspense
Whiskey Creek Press, 2008
Trade Paperback, 238 pages
ISBN 1-60313-219-8
Schlussel's Woman, Authors Choice Press, 2003
St. Hubert's Stag, iUniverse, 2004
Something in Common, Whiskey Creek Press, 2006
Cruel Cuts, Whiskey Creek Press, 2007
The Accidental Spy, Lachesis Publishing, 2008
All available in bookstores and
online at www.amazon.com.com,
www.borders.com and other online sites
Also on Amazon Shorts, www.amazon.com
download his short fiction:
Thin Ice
Trees and Memories
Twin Stars
Note: Please see Douglas Quinn's Review of Corruption's Child on this site. Your feedback and comments would be helpful and appreciated.
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Comments: 3
Thanks.