Talking Possibilities Transcript – Episode 2 – John the Author
You're listening to a podcast interview by disability support provider, Multicap, sharing stories of people living and achieving with disability.
Our host, Rebecca, interviews published author, John to find out more about his book and his plans for the future.
John: Hi, my name is John and I'm a Multicap client, and I've just started being an author.
Rebecca: Thank you very much for chatting with me today. I want to start by talking to you about high school. What did you want to do when you finished high school?
John: Originally, I wanted to get into multimedia. I thought that was the quickest way for me to get writing stories for TV and film. But I found that when I did the multimedia course, the course material was very difficult and there were a lot of tasks that they wanted me to do, which I found very tedious. So I dropped out then I went into maths. But I've always wanted to write stories, it's probably part of my Irish heritage to be honest.
Rebecca: How long did you study at University for?
John: Maybe two years of multimedia, and then about three years of maths.
Rebecca: Was University a good experience for you?
John: It was, it really helped me to discipline myself and learn what I was capable of. And it helped me learn structure that I would later use when book writing.
Rebecca: And John in the past couple of years, you've discovered a passion for writing books. Where did that passion come from?
John: Well, I always grew up watching a lot of TV, anime and cartoons. And when I was about in my teens, I decided to try fan fiction writing because I really liked Sonic the Hedgehog at the time. And so I tried writing fan fiction for Sonic the Hedgehog – and found I liked it. And around the same time, I was on a forum: a game forum doing sort of role playing stuff. And I really found a passion for that too. And my real desire for writing came because over time as I was growing up, the stories changed in their style. And I felt that a lot of the good styles of my youth were being gotten rid of. And I was very unhappy with the stories that they were telling us as I was getting older and older. And so I decided for myself and for others that I would try and write something that was more in tune with that older traditional style of Roald Dahl: lighter as opposed to this academic, very heavy read literature that's out these days.
Rebecca: And so then earlier this year, you published your first book called The Klazziah Chronicles: Lupin’s Gold. How did you come up with the storyline for your book?
John: Well, I always liked fantasy. And I had an idea of wanting to create a character that goes to a fantasy world. And I also had this idea in the back of my mind that I wanted to originally create a magical superhero fantasy team. I was a big fan of Sailor Moon and a lot of the Magical Girl anime and also Digimon Frontier. And then I found the anime fairy tale. It was recommended to me by one of my carers and I absolutely fell in love with that. And then I decided I wanted to write something that was inspired by the chronicles of Narnia and Fairy Tale. So I just toyed with some ideas and all of a sudden I got what I have now.
Rebecca: And John, you got to read your book to your grandmother before she passed away. What did your Nan say to you about that?
John: She was very proud. She said that she always wished she had the sort of imaginative capacities that I had. I can't remember her exact words, but she was very proud of me and she wished she had the imagination I did.
Rebecca: What did that mean to you to read your book to your Nan? Well, it meant that if my Nan really liked it then I figured that it must be something good because my Nan was an excellent judge of character.
Rebecca: John, you also recently read part of a chapter of your book to an audience of more than 80 people at the Capalaba Bar Hub. How was that experience for you?
John: Really good. And I feel like if I hadn't have had that opportunity, I wouldn't be doing this podcast right now.
Rebecca: That's giving you a bit of confidence?
John: Yes, and it's also allowed me to do something which I've always wanted to do and that's advertise my book, which is what I'm getting to do now.
Rebecca: Excellent. So tell me more then, what is your hope for your book?
John: Well, to be honest, I would love for it to become a television series one day and have movies written about it. And I just want it to be something big like the Chronicles of Narnia that has really blessed people when I was a kid.
Rebecca: You've also started writing your 2nd and 3rd books. What genre are they/what is the overall genre of the series?
John: Well, it's a fantasy series. I think it might be bordering on epic fantasy. It depends on how you define epic fantasy! But from what I understand about the way they define it, I think my stories can pass as epic fantasy.
Rebecca: And when are you hoping to release book two and three?
John: When I'm finished writing them, but it's taking me some time to write them. The best structure that works for me is to write a little bit here and then maybe go on a month's break and then when I get the inspiration back, I write some more.
Rebecca: And what have people said about your first book that you've released?
John: Well, my family basically said that it was very good and that they're proud of me. And I've had people from Multicap like Linda and people from the Power Bar Hub. Linda was really encouraging of me, she started a writers group: a writing class around the time I was writing my book. And so I joined that and it helped me develop my book and she was very encouraging with where she thought the book would go,
Rebecca: And where can people find your book?
John: On Amazon, if they look up The Klazziah Chronicles: Lupin’s Gold on Amazon books, it'll pop up.
Rebecca: So at the same time as you're writing, you've also been achieving some fantastic goals in your personal life, like catching public transport. What does it mean to you to be able to do this instead of catching an Uber?
John: Well, for one thing, it means that I get more funds to go towards other, more important things like my new drama classes and I'm doing. And I also got public transport to do Dungeons and Dragons. It's allowed me to do more activities.
Rebecca: And what other goals are you working towards at the moment?
John: I really want to get an illustrator for my book. Also, I’m working on going on a holiday at the moment. I would like to go just somewhere local, like Raby Bay or maybe the Gold Coast. I have not had a very good holiday for a long time, and so I think I need it.
Rebecca: So when you're not writing, how do you like to spend your time at home?
John: Well, one thing I like to do is play video games and another thing I like to do is watch movies. My biggest passion would be my faith life because I'm a Christian and I enjoy spending a lot of time developing my faith.
Rebecca: Congratulations on becoming an author and all the best with other books in the series. And thank you for talking with me today.