Ask the Author: Andrea J. Johnson
Answered Questions (9)
Andrea J. Johnson
Victoria Justice, the protagonist in Poetic Justice, is a character who has lived in my brain since 2006…although back then I didn’t know what to do with her. She was my reaction to a call for action stars for the reality series Who Wants to Be a Superhero? presented by Stan Lee. The premise of the show was for contestants to create characters that could become comic book heroes—and in my mind, what better hero could there be than a court stenographer who seeks to undo a bad verdict through vigilante justice? But at that time, I was nowhere near Hollywood (and hadn’t yet discovered my literary passion), so I couldn’t take advantage of the epiphany. Cut to several years later, I’ve just left my job as stenographer to pursue writing, and I am searching for a novel idea. So I tweak Victoria to make her more human than hero and combine it with highly fictionalized snippets of a real-life court case involving evidence tampering. And viola! Poetic Justice is born.
Andrea J. Johnson
I am currently working on the second book in the Victoria Justice Mystery Series. The title is Deceptive Justice. Here is the text proposed for the back cover:
When Victoria Justice finds herself on the phone with a mad bomber, she doesn’t think twice about springing into action to diffuse the situation. After all, the Bickerton Superior Courthouse is no stranger to all manner of crimes. However, a mysterious package found in the lobby a few minutes later leads to a building evacuation that has everyone pointing fingers, that is, until a car explodes in the parking lot killing a government official. Authorities search the area for clues and determine a recently vindicated arsonist is to blame, but the arrest sparks an alternate theory for Victoria who believes the real culprit is still at large and that she may have been the true target.
With no leads but a manuscript of the initial bomb threat and a faint audio recording of the caller’s scrambled voice, Victoria recruits former State Trooper Ashton North and local newsman Mike Slocum to help her weather the firestorm of community outrage. But can the two men refrain from killing each other long enough to keep Victoria alive and capture the murderer?
When Victoria Justice finds herself on the phone with a mad bomber, she doesn’t think twice about springing into action to diffuse the situation. After all, the Bickerton Superior Courthouse is no stranger to all manner of crimes. However, a mysterious package found in the lobby a few minutes later leads to a building evacuation that has everyone pointing fingers, that is, until a car explodes in the parking lot killing a government official. Authorities search the area for clues and determine a recently vindicated arsonist is to blame, but the arrest sparks an alternate theory for Victoria who believes the real culprit is still at large and that she may have been the true target.
With no leads but a manuscript of the initial bomb threat and a faint audio recording of the caller’s scrambled voice, Victoria recruits former State Trooper Ashton North and local newsman Mike Slocum to help her weather the firestorm of community outrage. But can the two men refrain from killing each other long enough to keep Victoria alive and capture the murderer?
Andrea J. Johnson
Although Bickerton, Delaware, the setting for the Victoria Justice Mysteries, is a fictional locale, the overall milieu is inspired by the tranquil rural setting of the Delmarva Peninsula. The area has a number of inspirational locales such as the iconic Chesapeake Bay, unique traditions like the Apple-Scrapple Festival, seafood favorites such as soft shelled crabs, and a sudo-southern hospitality that acts as fodder for everything I write.
Andrea J. Johnson
Create a daily writing habit as early as possible. Even if you don’t have a novel in mind, set aside a specific time each day that no one can touch. Journal your day. Brainstorm a bunch of story ideas. List your goals. Experiment with flash fiction. It doesn’t matter what you do with that hour, just write and make sure it’s the same time every day so you create a habit. That way, when you get that book contract, your mind and body are primed for tapping into your creative potential.
Andrea J. Johnson
In this fast-paced, multi-media world, having time each day to sit in silence and ponder, makes being a writer one of the best jobs around—not to mention, the opportunity to be creative and to share that creativity from anywhere in the world.
Andrea J. Johnson
Luckily, I don’t get writer’s block as much as I get the writer willies, better known as procrastination. Instead of focusing on what I need to do for the day, my subconscious gets overwhelmed and talks me into watching a ton of TV instead. The way I usually handle this (which I think will also work with writer’s block) is that I tell myself that I should sit down and just spend five minutes writing something fun—like a character’s backstory, fine-tuning my author’s bio, or answering reader questions like these. Before I know it, I’ve worked far beyond the five minutes, and the urge to get back to the manuscript comes as a natural extension of having joyfully gained some productivity on an important aspect of my career.
Andrea J. Johnson
Sure. But remember, I am a mystery writer. Here it goes:
Lucinda peered through the frosted glass, unable to distinguish the objects inside, when someone grabbed her shoulder from behind.
“I’m sorry, Miss,” hissed the grocery store clerk, “we’re all out of Ben & Jerry’s.”
(I go mad for good ice cream, so life without it is a horror show.)
Lucinda peered through the frosted glass, unable to distinguish the objects inside, when someone grabbed her shoulder from behind.
“I’m sorry, Miss,” hissed the grocery store clerk, “we’re all out of Ben & Jerry’s.”
(I go mad for good ice cream, so life without it is a horror show.)
Andrea J. Johnson
Harry Potter. That’s a no-brainer. I’d love to say one of Agatha Christie’s novels like Murder on the Orient Express or even C.A. Larmer’s homage to those books like Murder on the Orient (SS), but I’d be lying. I’ve always wanted a magic wand and my college mascot was a Gryffindor, so I couldn’t resist a chance to go to Ollivander’s.
Andrea J. Johnson
For me, nothing says summer reading like crime stories with inventive locales. That’s why Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Untamed Shore is first on my list. It’s set in a small fishing village in Baja Mexico and takes a dark turn when a young woman with big dreams becomes entangled in the suspiciously glamorous lives of three tourists. I am also looking forward to The Burn by Kathleen Kent, the second in the Detective Betty Rhyzyk, which focuses on the nefarious undertakings of a Dallas drug cartel. And of course, Deep State by Chris Hauty is on my list for obvious reasons—adding fictionalized crime to the true-life partisan drama of D.C. is a guaranteed good read!
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