Ask the Author: John Martin
Answered Questions (12)
John Martin
I like to think I'm a good observer, so lots of things I see and hear give me ideas I can twist to make my own. The novel I am working on now is called Blokes in Donegal. It's about three old blokes -- aged 82, 83 and 85 -- who travel from Tasmania to Ireland to discover their heritage. Comedy with a twist of mystery. I visited Donegal last year and no experience is wasted on me.
John Martin
Thanks for the question, Richard.
I think we are probably all a sum of our own experiences. In my case, I have 59 years of memories stored somewhere in my head -- people I've met, places I've lived in or been to, events that happened to me or someone I know.
On top of this, I worked as a journalist on various newspapers for 38 years so I got sneak looks at other people's lives and plenty of behind-the-scene looks at different things.
I like to think the vault of ideas is vast, especially when I need to start building a new character. I never base anyone on a particular person though. It's like I'm using those mix-and-match flick cards I had as a kid -Mickey's head, Donald's body, Goofy's trousers, Daffy's personality. All my novels are funny mysteries (the edgier end of Cozy Mysteries) so I usually give my main characters an extra twist or two.
I have two books on pre-order at the moment.
The first (due out at the end of February 2018) is a novella called Scrutiny on the Bounty, which uses a time and a place of my childhood as the opening setting. It's Hobart in 1974, not long after Australia's first legal casino opened in the city. I remember fears at the time that the casino might be a magnet for organised crime. This set my mind ticking when I started thinking through the novella, which is a prequel to Escape from Mac Bill's Island. I needed to explain how Mad Bill came to be on the island in the first place. I reimagined him as a young man on the run from the Chicago mob, which was trying to set up a Hobart branch.
My second preorder is Blokes on a Plane (due out the end of March 2018), which centres on three old men I have followed in a series of novels. When I started with them, one was the mayor, one was the disgraced town drunk and one was the council works supervisor. But now, due to the elimination of everyone else, they share a park bench and have to find common ground. None of them are based on real people but I've met their character types before and readers will have to.
The backdrop, however, is one I do know. During my time on Tasmanian newspapers, the mystery of the Tasmanian Tiger was a recurring story. Despite this marsupial having long been declared extinct, people claim to see it from time to time. I've tapped the humour in that throughout my Windy Mountain Tasmanian Tiger books.
If anyone is interested, the middle book in the series, Lie of the Tiger, is free in ebook form from Amazon, Apple ibooks, B&N, and Kobo.
I think we are probably all a sum of our own experiences. In my case, I have 59 years of memories stored somewhere in my head -- people I've met, places I've lived in or been to, events that happened to me or someone I know.
On top of this, I worked as a journalist on various newspapers for 38 years so I got sneak looks at other people's lives and plenty of behind-the-scene looks at different things.
I like to think the vault of ideas is vast, especially when I need to start building a new character. I never base anyone on a particular person though. It's like I'm using those mix-and-match flick cards I had as a kid -Mickey's head, Donald's body, Goofy's trousers, Daffy's personality. All my novels are funny mysteries (the edgier end of Cozy Mysteries) so I usually give my main characters an extra twist or two.
I have two books on pre-order at the moment.
The first (due out at the end of February 2018) is a novella called Scrutiny on the Bounty, which uses a time and a place of my childhood as the opening setting. It's Hobart in 1974, not long after Australia's first legal casino opened in the city. I remember fears at the time that the casino might be a magnet for organised crime. This set my mind ticking when I started thinking through the novella, which is a prequel to Escape from Mac Bill's Island. I needed to explain how Mad Bill came to be on the island in the first place. I reimagined him as a young man on the run from the Chicago mob, which was trying to set up a Hobart branch.
My second preorder is Blokes on a Plane (due out the end of March 2018), which centres on three old men I have followed in a series of novels. When I started with them, one was the mayor, one was the disgraced town drunk and one was the council works supervisor. But now, due to the elimination of everyone else, they share a park bench and have to find common ground. None of them are based on real people but I've met their character types before and readers will have to.
The backdrop, however, is one I do know. During my time on Tasmanian newspapers, the mystery of the Tasmanian Tiger was a recurring story. Despite this marsupial having long been declared extinct, people claim to see it from time to time. I've tapped the humour in that throughout my Windy Mountain Tasmanian Tiger books.
If anyone is interested, the middle book in the series, Lie of the Tiger, is free in ebook form from Amazon, Apple ibooks, B&N, and Kobo.
John Martin
No we haven't met, Robert. I like to befriend people with common interests in types of books though -- and I see we have quite a few in common.
John Martin
Hi Brian, Sorry I was so long replying. I didn't see your post. It'll be summer here next week and our BBQ is away being professionally cleaned. Just had a beer while watching the cricket but once this weekend is over I have three days to write 5000 words to reach 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month. That'll be a funny crime caper I'll publish late in 2017. I have two funny mysteries scheduled to come out in January (only for people on my mailing list) and June (Amazon). It's shaping as a busy year but I'm sure there will be opportunities for more beer!
John Martin
Pat, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to answer this. You asked where is my book available in ebook form. Which book? Major BS or Apples? Not that it matters. Both are out of print. I'm working on getting both of them back up though.
John Martin
Not me. Unless I forgot I write The Slaves That Time Forgot
John Martin
I don't believe in it. I think this is because I spent all my working life as a journalist on newspapers -- and meeting deadlines was a matter of necessity if you want to get paid. When you are writing fiction, sure there are days ideas don't flow. But there's always stuff to do. Work on a profile of a character. Do some research that's related to what you're doing. Proof-read/rework stuff you've already written. Write a scene from a chapter way ahead, and work out where it fits in later.
John Martin
I don't feel qualified to have any. Having been forced into early retirement, I'm attempting for turn a hobby into an income stream. I have a lot to learn myself as I writer, but even more as an ebook go-it-aloner. That's fun. I have four ebooks up, and two more in the pipeline, and I like having total control. But that control comes with the need to learn some new skills.
John Martin
A novel set in Windy Mountain, Tasmania, about a mysterious Irishman who comes to work in the Tasmanian Tiger Museum there. It's a mystery/comedy. Or maybe a comic mystery? Or a comedy with mysterious bits? Or a mystery with humorous bits? Sheesh, the readers will have to work this out for themselves. I heard there is now a genre called Tasmanian Noir. This is more Tasmanian Blah.
John Martin
I guess it's the same thing as completing a painting or building a nice piece of furniture. Satisfaction. A sense of achievement, knowing you've put long hours and all the knowledge and imagination you can muster into those 70,000, 80,000 or 90,000 words. I can't paint for nuts, I can't nail two pieces of wood together - but I can do this. If people enjoy it, that's a bonus.
John Martin
If the ideas aren't flowing, there are always writing-related tasks that need doing. I try to do something every day, even if it's tending to social media or listening to a relevant podcast. I plan to do NaNoWriMo in November so writing 50,000 words in the month will be at the top of the 'to do' list I like to write for myself (most the time that list lives in my head but I find it helpful to write down and cross items off if I have a lot to get done that day).
John Martin
I think I'm more of a discovery writer than a planner. I start out with a vague idea, a couple of characters I can bang together like rocks and see what sparks emerge, and I see how it all goes. Only when the story comes apparent to me, do I do planning. I know plotters would be appalled to hear this, but if it's any comfort to them I never take a shopping list to the stores either. It's nice finding those surprise ingredients.
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