- How long have you been writing?
 |
I
began writing dialogue for my stick-figure cartoons as a pre-schooler. I
started writing sagas on my summer vacations in high school and finally took a
shot at getting published in the 70’s. Before the Internet, the cost of mailing
queries and manuscripts made it impossible. When I bought my first PC in the
90’s, it was a new ball game.
2. How long have you been a published author?
I finally got the original version of Tiara
published in 2003.
- What titles do you have available?
Tiara (2003),
Destroyer
(2005),
Cyclops
(2006),
Wolfsangel
(2008),
Penny
Flame (2009),
The
Standard (2013),
Destroyer
- 2nd Edition (2013),
The
Fury (2013),
Stxeamtown
(2013),
Wolf
Man (2013),
Tiara
– 10th Anniversary Edition (2013).
As
you can see, I got pretty busy this year.
The
Bat came out on New Year’s Eve and Nightcrawler was my first of 2014.
- What made you choose the subject of this book?
I’ve
been intrigued by the concept of the vigilante going all the way back to the Death Wish
series of the 70’s and the real-life copycat Bernhard Goetz in NYC. Superheroes with superpowers just doesn’t do
it for me. The Bat got rejected by
editors because they were worried it
was going to be seen as a Batman knockoff, which was furthest from the truth. I decided on a female protagonist,
and even though the name Nightcrawler’s been
used before, I knew this was going to be completely different. She’s the
World’s Most Unlikeliest
Superhero, a party girl turned chemical manufacturing CEO and churchgoer who devotes her resources to
fighting crime. Everything and everyone is against
her but she takes her lickings and keeps on ticking.
 |
| John as a wrestler |
- Do you have any new titles coming soon?
King of the Hoboes is in the works as we speak. Veronika
Heydrich is an NYPD cop
going for the gold badge (detective) by infiltrating the Hobo Underground under suspicion of possible terrorist activity. Her life on the streets is an incisive glimpse into the deprivations experienced by homeless women in NYC. The antagonist, Adolf Hyatt, is a demagogue who raises his own questions and issues about our society and its attitudes towards our growing population of unemployed and homeless citizens.
going for the gold badge (detective) by infiltrating the Hobo Underground under suspicion of possible terrorist activity. Her life on the streets is an incisive glimpse into the deprivations experienced by homeless women in NYC. The antagonist, Adolf Hyatt, is a demagogue who raises his own questions and issues about our society and its attitudes towards our growing population of unemployed and homeless citizens.
- What is your favourite genre and why?
Looks like action/adventure
to me. It provides me with the excitement that draws the reader into the storyline, and
requires larger-than-life characters to meet the insurmountable challenge. I prefer historical and
contemporary fiction as it gives me the real-life
game-changing event as a backdrop, and allows the reader to walk away with their own perceptions as to how the
novels discuss similar situations and problems in modern society.
- What, to you, is the most exciting part of the writing process?
It has to be when the
characters take on a life of their own and begin writing their own storylines. Sabrina Brooks is a great
example. She starts out trying to keep her deceased father’s company from falling apart, and runs into big
problems convincing everyone a 24-year-old
female can follow her iconic father’s footsteps. Just as she starts making progress, her church family is
dealing with crises in helping the abused women in the congregation. She sends in the Nightcrawler and suddenly
finds her alter ego wanted by the
police. She can’t win for losing, and I was delighted in watching her find her
own way out. Sometimes your
character’s redeeming qualities dictate its own logic.
- If you could co-author a book with anyone, who would you choose and why?
Well, if Franz Kafka were
still alive, I think it would be a blast to get his take on my protagonists as anti-heroes. As a
dominant figure in postmodernist literature, he would be the go-to guy in interpreting the motivation and
development of a protagonist forced to
respond to an impossible predicament. I think he would’ve loved Sabrina Brooks.
- Where can readers find you on the web?
Just Google me up, there’s
about ten pages of John Reinhard Dizon --- and counting!
John's Amazon Page
John's Goodreads Page
John on Angelfire
John on Wattpad
John's LinkedIn Account
John on Shelfari
John on Smashwords
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