Ask the Author: John Houde
Answered Questions (6)
John Houde
Intriguing question!
Many of the subplots in my novel, the Criminalist, are distilled from my real-life experiences. Of course that's not substantial enough for a main plot, but it does lend authenticity to the narrative. Years back I did stumble across some evidence of "encoding" within early Christian art objects. Some friends of mine pursued it and became convinced that within the Greek and Latin inscriptions were buried ancient messages. Sounds pretty mysterious to me!
Many of the subplots in my novel, the Criminalist, are distilled from my real-life experiences. Of course that's not substantial enough for a main plot, but it does lend authenticity to the narrative. Years back I did stumble across some evidence of "encoding" within early Christian art objects. Some friends of mine pursued it and became convinced that within the Greek and Latin inscriptions were buried ancient messages. Sounds pretty mysterious to me!
John Houde
In my novel, The Criminalist, I created a delightful couple, Tina and Kyra. They represent an ideal couple for my protagonist, Paul, to observe and hopefully emulate. They are gay. I chose this storyline to allow Paul to see a healthy (and sometimes raucous) relationship but not to allow him to fall in love with either women in his vulnerable state.
John Houde
That's easy. You get to be the creator of a universe. It may resemble the real world or something from another galaxy. You get to create characters and make them do what you want. And sometimes they do what THEY want and you just follow along and tell their story...
John Houde
In the case of The Criminalist, the story literally took over my consciousness. I thought about plot holes and story logic all the time. It was not hard to sit down and write. The hard part was slowing my thoughts down to match my typing!
John Houde
Live! Try out new experiences. Having some interesting experiences makes your fictional story more believable. You know what people would do in a difficult situation because you've been there.
John Houde
After working in the forensic science field I felt I had been involved lots of interesting cases. Each case was a story in itself and I thought it would be fun to blend them into a continuous plot.
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