Interview with John Morgan Wilson

Added May 15, 2004

Sharyn: John, let's start with some very basic questions. Have you always known you wanted to be an author?

John: I started making up little stories and writing them down when I was about five years old and reading them to any adult who would listen. I remember writing one about a man who stole something and got caught that ended with the words, "Crime doesn't pay!" Even back then, I recall they had a basic beginning, middle and end. I gues I'm a born structuralist.

Sharyn: When did you first start writing in earnest?

John: In high school, I began writing essays and poems that were quite bad, but I knew I wanted to write. I was enthralled by great novels and short stories. After dropping out of college in the middle of my sophomore year, I stumbled into a stringer's job covering sports for the local newspaper for no pay. When I saw my first byline on my first story on the front page of the sports section, I was hooked. I returned to college with a journalism major and English minor, began writing for magazines as a freelance and was publishing my own small community newspaper at age 24. It was the late 1960s and the paper was very political, what they called an alternative or underground paper in those days. I gave it away two years later to a friend, who's still publishing, it was a weekly more than 35 years later.

Sharyn: Do you treat your writing like a regular job with set hours and set goals every single day?

John: Yes, just about every day. Jan Burke says that although writing is work, it should never become a job. However, as someone who has earned a living as a writer most of my adult life, it is something of a job for me. It's how I pay my bills, without the benefit of spousal support, a family inheritance, a cushy job that allows me to write on the side, or any of those perks. Since my book advances are not enough to support me, I have to do a lot of writing. Discipline is the key. My motto is: Keep your behind in the chair and your head in the work.

Sharyn: Would you mind telling us a bit about your available novels and where they can be found?

John: I write two mystery series: The very dark and gritty Benjamin Justice mystery novels, for which I've won an Edgar Award (best first novel) and two Lambda Literary Awards (for best gay men's mystery). My latest Justice mystery, Blind Eye, set against the Catholic Church sex abuse crisis, is currently up for another Lambda Literary Award. I also write the much lighter, more mainstream, romantic and nostalgic Philip Damon series. My co-author is legendary bandleader Peter Duchin, son of the famed orchestra leader of the thirties, Eddy Duchin, and the Philip Damon character is patterned somewhat after Peter Duchin. The series is set in the world of high society dance orchestra music, beginning in the early 1960s. Our two Philip Damon novels are Blue Moon (now out in paperback) and Good Morning, Heartache. They are traditional whodunits, done with a light touch and wink at the reader.

Sharyn: Let's talk a minute about the Benjamin Justice series. Now Benjamin is an HIV-positive gay writer. How difficult was it to find a publisher willing to look at the first manuscript, even in this supposedly enlightened day and age?

John: It wasn't difficult at all. There have been many gay mysteries published before mine, some of them quite dark and sexually frank. My agent submitted the first novel in the series, Simple Justice, to seven publishers in 1995. Five found it too dark and rejected it; the other two wanted it because it was so dark and so different and the main character was so complex. Doubleday bought it and signed me to write three more in the series. It's now published by St. Martin's. The character did not become infected with the HIV virus until the third book, Justice at Risk. Blind Eye, the latest, is number five. Moth and Flame, number six, will be out in October, 2004.

Sharyn: How have readers reacted to Benjamin?

John: I seem to have a relatively small but loyal core following that grows a bit with each new book. It's certainly not a series for cozy fans or readers who are easily offended by material that is emotionally and sexually frank. Justice is a tough, troubled and complex guy who lives in a tough world and I don't mince words writing about his life. It's definitely for more adventurous readers. It generally gets good reviews and has won some important awards, though I'm sure there are those who aren't enamored of it. You can't please everyone!

Sharyn: Now the latest Benjamin Justice novel, Blind Eye, touches on a rather controversial subject, the Catholic Church sex scandals. What has been reader reaction to this novel?

John: It went into a second printing, so it seems to be selling OK and some of the reviews were spectacular. Booklist compared it to "the best of Graham Greene's mysteries," which is pretty nice. It's up for another Lammy award. I've gotten some very positive feedback, including an e-mail from the head of the largest group for survivors of priest sex abuse, a Catholic woman who told me, "Thank you for writing this novel."

Sharyn: What do you think makes Benjamin such a wonderfully dimensional character (other than your great writing *g*)?

John: When I sat down to write Simple Justice, the first novel in the series, I never envisioned or imagined he would evolve on paper as such a complex, troubled, reckless and contradictory guy, but that's how he turned out. When the writing is going well, the characters tend to reveal themselves to you as you write, and to surprise you. I also found a much darker and more powerful voice as I wrote than I ever had as a journalist. Fiction, and writing in the first person, seemed to free me up to tap a lot of stuff I'd bottled up inside me over the years from my own life. He's a flawed guy trying to do the right thing, which is true of a lot of us, I guess.

Sharyn: As a recent addition to Benjamin's reader base, I'm eagerly looking forward to the next book. What adventures/trouble will Benjamin find himself in?

John: In Moth and Flame, due out in October, 2004, Justice is on Prozac and in therapy in the aftermath of his horrific experiences in Blind Eye. He's trying, once again, to find some emotional stability and make a living again after destroying his journalism career with a Pulitizer scandal many years earlier. Things go pretty smoothly until...sorry, you'll have to read the book. But I can tell you that it's less intense and violent that some of the previous books. He's getting older and he can't keep getting into those kind of scrapes the way he once could.

Sharyn: Well, I'll definitely be picking up Moth and Flame. Now, you are also the co-author of another mystery series. Let's talk about the differences in writing solo and writing with a partner. Is it harder to write with someone else, to share their vision instead of just focusing on yours?

John: It's a much different challenge, that's for sure. The need for craft is still there but collaboration means finding a way to communicate with your writing partner, to draw material from him as he (or she) draws it from you, to make compromises when necessary, balance strengths and weaknesses, and find a way to write in a clear, singular voice and style in the end.

Sharyn: How do you resolve creative differences?

John: Peter Duchin is a very amiable guy and I'm the more experienced writer, and he let me have my way most of the time. But he wasn't afraid to speak up and make a contribution or even stand firmly on a point when he felt the need. He made a huge contribution to the characters and plot while I did most of the writing, at least in the initial draft of each novel.

Sharyn: I'm assuming that with a partner plotting is an absolute must. Otherwise, you'd both have different ideas as to where the story leads.

John: Yes, but I tend to be a strong plotter and work from an outline, anyway, though one always has to think of an outline as a flexible blueprint, allowing for shifts, changes in directions and surprises as the writing goes along. It's a creative process after all. Rigid outlines can be very paralyzing, if one follows them too closely.

Sharyn: Now Philip Damon is a bandleader in the mid-1960s, a different occupation for the hero of a mystery series. How did that idea come about?

John: Just after I finished my fourth Benjamin Justice novel, my agent called and asked if I'd like to write a mystery series with Peter Duchin, with a lead character inspired by Peter and his remarkable life and career as high society's preeminent bandleader who has lived and love among the world's most wealthy, powerful and influential people for decades. I met Peter at an event he was playing at the Ritz Carlton in Palm Springs. We had a couple of drinks, hit it off, and had a premise and some main characters for our first novel within the hour. Then I saw him play and got a glimpse of his rarified world and thought it would be a wonderful experience. So I went ahead and signed up to write two books with him.

Sharyn: One thing I noticed in reading the latest Philip Damon mystery, Good Morning, Heartache, was how music is a large part of the book. Granted, it should be, but the music never takes over the storyline. Was it hard to ensure the music never overwhelmed the action?

John: We wanted enough music in the book to keep it connected to Peter and to exploit that aspect of his life without it becoming what the story was about entirely. Perhaps if I was more musical myself, there might be more music in it, but I can't hum on key and no nothing about music technically. It was a lot of fun getting the music into the plots and playing with it a bit, having fun with song titles, that kind of thing. As I wrote, I constantly played the music of Peter and of his father for inspiration and mood.

Sharyn: All throughout Good Morning, Heartache, we see how the emergence of rock-and-roll is affecting attendance at Philip's concerts. How will Philip and his orchestra handle this competition in future novels?

John: Unfortunately, there will be no more Philip Damon mysteries, at least not for awhile. Berkley Prime Crime has decided not to publish any further adventures with Philip, so he's on hiatus, I'm afraid. Peter and I had a lot of fun with him in our two books, and I'm grateful for the chance to have worked with and known Peter, as well as his wife, Brooke Hayward.

Sharyn: I'm sorry to hear that; I really enjoyed Good Morning, Heartache. What upcoming events and novels can readers expect from you this year?

John: As previously mentioned, Moth and Flame, will be out in October. Currently, I'm writing a mainstream suspense novel with John Langley, the co-creator and executive producer of Fox TV's COPS, the documentary series that's now in its sixteenth season. Our novel revolves around a cameraman who shoots for a show much like COPS. We hope to have it finished by the end of the year and shopping it to a publisher. It's a dark, character-driven suspense novel that also blends in a murder mystery, set in the world of high-tech video and documentary taping. We're very excited about it.

Sharyn: John, I know I've picked your brain and forced you to think, but I'd like to take just a minute for a few fun questions. What is your favorite way to relax?

John: I used to be an avid backpacker but have slowed down with age, so now it's a tossup between reading and gardening, though I still do a lot of walking and enjoy it.

Sharyn: What is your idea of a perfect meal?

John: One that I don't have to cook.

Sharyn: Final question, will you ever stop writing?

John: Unimaginable.

Sharyn: John, thanks again for joining me. I had an absolutely wonderful time.

John: Thanks for the good questions and the chance to meet some of your readers.

Sharyn: For more information on John's previous novels and upcoming works and appearances, be sure to visit his website: www.johnmorganwilson.com.

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