Ask the Author: John A. Greenwald
Answered Questions (6)
John A. Greenwald
Wearing a smart fedora sitting just right, I would slip into the fictional world of 1930s California and become a world-weary reporter, working the crime beat and seeing things you wouldn't want to know about.
After long days pounding the pavement, chasing leads and getting doors slammed in my face, I would sneak off to a seedy bar where I would trade stories and insults with Philip Marlowe, one of the few people in that crazy town I could always trust.
Sometimes my job would take me to San Francisco, a different scene to be sure. But that would be no problem because my buddy Sam Spade would always be willing to help me out. If there was dirt to be found in that City by the Bay, Sam would know which rock needed to be turned over.
And maybe just maybe when I had finally filed that last story, I could retreat to my bungalow and begin banging out my memories on my old Remington, writing that book I always talked about.
After long days pounding the pavement, chasing leads and getting doors slammed in my face, I would sneak off to a seedy bar where I would trade stories and insults with Philip Marlowe, one of the few people in that crazy town I could always trust.
Sometimes my job would take me to San Francisco, a different scene to be sure. But that would be no problem because my buddy Sam Spade would always be willing to help me out. If there was dirt to be found in that City by the Bay, Sam would know which rock needed to be turned over.
And maybe just maybe when I had finally filed that last story, I could retreat to my bungalow and begin banging out my memories on my old Remington, writing that book I always talked about.
John A. Greenwald
I don't have a whole list for the summer, but the next two books I plan to read are Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders and The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen.
John A. Greenwald
While I don't know the specifics about your novel, its genre, its inspiration and so forth, I would offer this general observation about writing. It is a process of discovery and revision, lots and lots of revision. If you think the ideas are great, see what happens. Maybe the tangents become the new storyline. Maybe not. You won't know until you try.
Ultimately there needs to be coherence with a beginning, a middle and an end. At this point it sounds like your story is still trying to find itself. Play with it. Experiment.
Ultimately you have no way of knowing whether something will work are not until you have tried it.
Ultimately there needs to be coherence with a beginning, a middle and an end. At this point it sounds like your story is still trying to find itself. Play with it. Experiment.
Ultimately you have no way of knowing whether something will work are not until you have tried it.
John A. Greenwald
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending upon your point of view, my own life has not produced the kind of drama that would make for a compelling story. Maybe that is why I write nonfiction. Other people's lives are vastly more interesting than mine. I'll stick with writing about people like Ruth Wightman Morris. Hers was a life with drama at every turn. That's what makes for a good story.
John A. Greenwald
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Pride and Prejudice is one of the great love stories of all time, so I must go with Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. Pride and Prejudice is one of those books I can read more than once, and it never gets old.
Given the context of the times, Elizabeth Bennett stands out for her intelligence and independence. She doesn't bow to what is demanded by the social conventions of the time. That strikes me is quite admirable and heroic.
There are certainly other worthy candidates for favorite fictional couple, and I would love to hear other suggestions.
Given the context of the times, Elizabeth Bennett stands out for her intelligence and independence. She doesn't bow to what is demanded by the social conventions of the time. That strikes me is quite admirable and heroic.
There are certainly other worthy candidates for favorite fictional couple, and I would love to hear other suggestions.
John A. Greenwald
The best way to answer your question is to share an excerpt from the introduction to my book.
"There are few moments in life as sublime for a writer as stumbling upon a great, untold story. Wild Bird: The True Jazz Age Tale of Ruth Wightman Morris is one such untold story, and how it was discovered is a tale unto itself.
It begins in the fall of 1930. As the finishing touches were being completed on an addition to a Spanish-style mansion in Monterey, California, someone–who remains a tantalizing mystery–sealed a small safe inside one of the walls.
Roughly a year and a half later, the owners of the property, Ruth and Gouverneur Morris, were forced by economic circumstance to abandon their home, leaving the safe and its contents behind.
Subsequent owners never realized the safe even existed, and it wasn’t until after the Monterey Museum of Art moved into the building in the 1990s that its hiding place was finally revealed. During the routine installation of a display case, a carpenter opened up the wall, and there it was: the little safe.
Inside were two hand-written letters, a copy of a typed letter and a telegram.
After a quick reading of the documents, museum staffers unceremoniously tucked the letters and the telegram inside an unmarked manila folder and buried them once again, this time in the back of an old filing cabinet in the museum’s archive.
There they remained undisturbed for almost a decade until one Monday afternoon in January 2012, I was going through the archive files looking for information about the history of the mansion, one section of which dates back to the Spanish era of California, when I noticed an additional folder in the back. Curious, I pulled it out and opened it up.
As I began reading the first letter, which is addressed to “Govie my dear,” I became engrossed. Its author categorically denies she is having an affair with someone named Alec, and her language is so infused with emotion, it drew me in. The letter is signed “Ruth.”
I continued on to the second letter, which is addressed simply to “Dearest” and is clearly intended for the eyes of someone other than her husband. It includes the line “I do love you.” It is also signed “Ruth.”
The third document is a copy of a typed letter addressed to “Alec” and says in essence stay away from my wife. It is signed “Gouverneur Morris.”
The telegram, which originated from London, is short and to the point: “Have just received your letter it shall be as you wish. Alec Waugh.”
When I saw the name Alec Waugh, my eyebrows shot up. Was he in any way related to the celebrated author Evelyn Waugh? Yes, he was, I quickly discovered. Alec and Evelyn were brothers.
As I reread all four documents slowly and carefully, it dawned on me what had happened: the letter addressed to “Dearest” and intended for Alec Waugh had accidentally been sent to Ruth’s husband, Gouverneur Morris. What was unfolding before me was the end of a love affair, a denouement in four documents.
It was all an irresistible tease. I had to know more. How had the affair begun? How had it played out? But more than that I had to know more about these three people, particularly the woman in the middle of the triangle. Thus began my intense search for information that would shed light on the lives of Ruth Morris, Gouverneur Morris, and Alec Waugh and on the actions and events that had brought them to this moment."
The introduction goes on to describe all the remarkable information I discovered about the life of Ruth Wightman Morris, but it was on that day when I found those letters that I realized I had a possible book.
"There are few moments in life as sublime for a writer as stumbling upon a great, untold story. Wild Bird: The True Jazz Age Tale of Ruth Wightman Morris is one such untold story, and how it was discovered is a tale unto itself.
It begins in the fall of 1930. As the finishing touches were being completed on an addition to a Spanish-style mansion in Monterey, California, someone–who remains a tantalizing mystery–sealed a small safe inside one of the walls.
Roughly a year and a half later, the owners of the property, Ruth and Gouverneur Morris, were forced by economic circumstance to abandon their home, leaving the safe and its contents behind.
Subsequent owners never realized the safe even existed, and it wasn’t until after the Monterey Museum of Art moved into the building in the 1990s that its hiding place was finally revealed. During the routine installation of a display case, a carpenter opened up the wall, and there it was: the little safe.
Inside were two hand-written letters, a copy of a typed letter and a telegram.
After a quick reading of the documents, museum staffers unceremoniously tucked the letters and the telegram inside an unmarked manila folder and buried them once again, this time in the back of an old filing cabinet in the museum’s archive.
There they remained undisturbed for almost a decade until one Monday afternoon in January 2012, I was going through the archive files looking for information about the history of the mansion, one section of which dates back to the Spanish era of California, when I noticed an additional folder in the back. Curious, I pulled it out and opened it up.
As I began reading the first letter, which is addressed to “Govie my dear,” I became engrossed. Its author categorically denies she is having an affair with someone named Alec, and her language is so infused with emotion, it drew me in. The letter is signed “Ruth.”
I continued on to the second letter, which is addressed simply to “Dearest” and is clearly intended for the eyes of someone other than her husband. It includes the line “I do love you.” It is also signed “Ruth.”
The third document is a copy of a typed letter addressed to “Alec” and says in essence stay away from my wife. It is signed “Gouverneur Morris.”
The telegram, which originated from London, is short and to the point: “Have just received your letter it shall be as you wish. Alec Waugh.”
When I saw the name Alec Waugh, my eyebrows shot up. Was he in any way related to the celebrated author Evelyn Waugh? Yes, he was, I quickly discovered. Alec and Evelyn were brothers.
As I reread all four documents slowly and carefully, it dawned on me what had happened: the letter addressed to “Dearest” and intended for Alec Waugh had accidentally been sent to Ruth’s husband, Gouverneur Morris. What was unfolding before me was the end of a love affair, a denouement in four documents.
It was all an irresistible tease. I had to know more. How had the affair begun? How had it played out? But more than that I had to know more about these three people, particularly the woman in the middle of the triangle. Thus began my intense search for information that would shed light on the lives of Ruth Morris, Gouverneur Morris, and Alec Waugh and on the actions and events that had brought them to this moment."
The introduction goes on to describe all the remarkable information I discovered about the life of Ruth Wightman Morris, but it was on that day when I found those letters that I realized I had a possible book.
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