Ask the Author: John Coon
Answered Questions (8)
John Coon
It's going well.
Releasing two anthologies this summer and currently working on a new sci-fi novel scheduled to be published on a date TBD in 2026.
This is the dream I want to live. :)
Releasing two anthologies this summer and currently working on a new sci-fi novel scheduled to be published on a date TBD in 2026.
This is the dream I want to live. :)
John Coon
This is a tricky question to answer because I always have numerous novels and short stories that are varying stages of development. The immediate projects I'm working on right now are completing the Alien People Chronicles and crafting more horror stories set in the same fictional universe as Pandora Reborn. I'll keep everyone updated as those projects near completion.
John Coon
I jot down many things related to my story before I ever write the first draft. My notes include character sketches and biographies, key scenes, dialogue, backstory, and other elements I want to include in some fashion. I also create a chapter by chapter outline, with a brief paragraph touching on the key elements in each chapter.
Doing these things helps me whenever I hit a creative wall. I can refer back to my notes, start thinking about the plot or characters, and find a way to break through writer's block. I still allow myself room to explore new trails on my story road map, but this process helps me from hitting a dead end and ending up with a half-finished story.
Doing these things helps me whenever I hit a creative wall. I can refer back to my notes, start thinking about the plot or characters, and find a way to break through writer's block. I still allow myself room to explore new trails on my story road map, but this process helps me from hitting a dead end and ending up with a half-finished story.
John Coon
I'm happy you enjoyed Pandora Reborn. Thanks for reading it and giving it such a great review. :)
I came up with the original idea behind Pandora Reborn more than 20 years ago when I was still in high school. In my hometown, there's a folklore surrounding a lost gold mine that had supposedly helped finance the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. It was shown to Thomas Rhoads, a Mormon pioneer, by Ute chief Walkara. Rhoads was sworn to secrecy on the mine's location and, over the years, several people have supposedly died while looking for it in the Uinta Mountains, leading to the idea that there's a lingering curse around the mine.
That got me to thinking what could make a mine cursed and the image of a chest imprisoning an evil witch came into my head. Once it was opened, she would simply destroy who ever released her. I always had a clear picture of my antagonist in Pandora Reborn from the beginning and, as I developed the character, I drew on other myths like Pandora's Box and the Jewish legend of the Dybbuk Box for inspiration as well.
Certain elements of Deer Falls draw inspiration from my hometown of Kamas. Individual characters in Deer Falls aren't directly modeled after any people I know in real life. I'd say they're more of a mishmash of various personalities I've interacted with over the years, blended together to create unique and distinct characters.
I came up with the original idea behind Pandora Reborn more than 20 years ago when I was still in high school. In my hometown, there's a folklore surrounding a lost gold mine that had supposedly helped finance the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. It was shown to Thomas Rhoads, a Mormon pioneer, by Ute chief Walkara. Rhoads was sworn to secrecy on the mine's location and, over the years, several people have supposedly died while looking for it in the Uinta Mountains, leading to the idea that there's a lingering curse around the mine.
That got me to thinking what could make a mine cursed and the image of a chest imprisoning an evil witch came into my head. Once it was opened, she would simply destroy who ever released her. I always had a clear picture of my antagonist in Pandora Reborn from the beginning and, as I developed the character, I drew on other myths like Pandora's Box and the Jewish legend of the Dybbuk Box for inspiration as well.
Certain elements of Deer Falls draw inspiration from my hometown of Kamas. Individual characters in Deer Falls aren't directly modeled after any people I know in real life. I'd say they're more of a mishmash of various personalities I've interacted with over the years, blended together to create unique and distinct characters.
John Coon
I started writing my first stories at age 12. My parents had an old typewriter set up at the back of the kitchen. One day, I decided to start typing up some stories after seeing an older sister write a story. I thought I could do it too. I wrote four short stories that centered on adventures involving five kittens. The characters in the stories were based on pet cats our family owned at the time. I eventually finished out the project a few years later in high school, creating a collection of nine stories. I hope to polish it up and publish it as a children's book within the next two to three years.
John Coon
I came up with the idea for Alien People when I was a teenager. I always wanted to create a first contact story between aliens and Earth told from the point of view of the aliens. Make Earth the mysterious alien world and the "Earthians" the violent, dangerous alien race. I wrote the original rough draft when I was 18 years old and fleshed out the world within the story over the next two decades. Alien People forms the cornerstone for the fictional universe of all my past, present, and future sci-fi stories.
John Coon
Writing is an opportunity to tell a story in a new way. You can truly unleash your creative energies as a writer. It's so fun and rewarding to unlock your imagination and explore new worlds and new characters and then share the most compelling stories from those realms with readers.
John Coon
Write every day. The best way to find your voice is to devote time to doing it. You need to spend enough time with your characters in their world to really grasp the story you need to tell about them to the rest of the world.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more