Ask the Author: John J. Bonk
Answered Questions (7)
John J. Bonk
The two I know for sure: Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham (love that Gilmore Girl!) and Master of Ceremonies, the Joel Grey biography. (I worked with him in a musical years ago.)
John J. Bonk
Enjoying a lifestyle of the rich and famous. (NOT!) I don't know--bragging rights? A feeling of accomplishment? There's a website that shows where books are currently checked out in libraries around the world. When I discover that my books are actually being read in Singapore, Germany, New Zealand, England, etc., it's rewardingly mindboggling.
John J. Bonk
The novel I’m currently working on takes place in 1962 and centers around Franklin Delano, (nope, not the former president) a small-town Southern boy with a reading disability who suspects that the spirit of his deceased father may be trapped inside of a stray dog. The problem is that various dogs in town have been poisoned to death lately and everyone suspects an evil neighbor who’d do anything to keep pesky critters from destroying her prize-winning garden. When the stray bolts across the train tracks into the next town over, Franklin, in desperate pursuit, runs into an array of colorful characters who ultimately lead him to a life-changing secret. Oh, and it's really funny!
John J. Bonk
Anything and everything can inspire me to write. People on elevators, television shows, newspaper articles, overheard conversations...you name it. Sometimes an idea is sparked by a personal experience but it always morphs into something almost unrecognizable once my imagination takes over. There are plenty of ideas that come to me but they don't all work out on the page--they don't all have the "secret sauce" or that inexplicable magic that socks me in the gut with "Yes! I love this!" When that happens, then I know I'm on the right track. That's when I'm truly inspired.
John J. Bonk
Just keep at it! The more you write, the better you'll get. Everyone wants that big book contract right from the get-go but unless you're really lucky and/or mega-talented, it may not happen. I started by submitting poems and short stories to various magazines. Every time one was accepted for publication it felt like a major win. That's what gave me the confidence to attempt writing my first novel and, more importantly, seeing it through to completion. Also, form a critique group. The feedback and support you get is invaluable.
John J. Bonk
I'm not sure I've ever had true writer's block. I find that if I sit in front of my computer and mentally delve into whatever world I happen to be writing about, that the words will come. They may not be the right words at first, and they rarely are, but with enough reworking and polishing I can usually whip them into shape. I just have to devote the time and space to the writing and something will happen.
John J. Bonk
Madhattan Mystery, which was published in 2012 by Walker books, was inspired by the “Whispering Gallery” in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. The Whispering Gallery isn’t a gallery at all—it’s simply the hallway just outside the Oyster Bar Restaurant. It has low rounded ceilings and if someone whispers something facing one corner, the person standing in the opposite corner can hear it as clear as day. Fascinating! When I tried it out with a friend, I thought, “But what if people don’t realize they’re standing in the whispering gallery—and what if they happen to be criminals plotting out some terrible crime? Oh—and what if that conversation is being overheard by an innocent girl from out of town?” All of those “what ifs” blossomed into a mystery novel and a search for Cleopatra’s stolen jewels across Manhattan.
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