10 Statements – John W. Howell

John’s main interests are reading and writing. He turned to writing as a full-time occupation after an extensive career in business. John writes fictional short stories and novels as well as a daily blog.  His first novel, My GRL is available on Amazon and wherever e-books are sold. His second, His Revenge is just being launched and is available on Amazon and KDP Select.

John lives on a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of South Texas with his wife and spoiled rescue pets. 

 

Find me…

Facebook  –  https://www.facebook.com/john.howell.98229241
Twitter  –  https://www.twitter.com/HowellWave
Authors db  –  http://www.authorsdb.com/authors-directory/6604-john-w-howell
LinkedIn  –  http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-w-howell/48/b59/462/
Google +  –  https://plus.google.com/+JohnHowellAuthor/
Goodreads  –  https://www.goodreads.com/johnwhowell/
Shelfari  –  http://www.shelfari.com/johnwhowell
Amazon Author’s page  –  https://www.amazon.com/author/johnwhowell
Martin Sisters Publishing  –  Http://www.martinsisterspublishing.com

 

My personal motto:

“This life is the only shot you have so don’t mess it up.”

10 statements

1. A typical work day begins with… a quick review of the e-mail and blog post replies. I generally do this while having a cup of coffee. After that, it is time for a walk on the beach with the dogs. They have a routine which includes out in the backyard first thing, a nap and then a beach walk. Once I have conformed to the dog routine, I grab a bit of breakfast and then get down to writing the day’s one thousand words. I find if I do a thousand words first thing I am then available for other activities during the day.
2. I lose track of time… when I am deep into writing a critical scene. I have had some situations where I thought perhaps I was having some kind of consciousness problem. Since the time flew so fast, I thought I had blacked out. This is especially true when writing the last scene of a book.
3. I have always… wanted to be a writer. When I was in grade school, I used to drive my teachers crazy with the way I presented book reports and other assignments as if I was living in the situation. In high school, I took some creative courses only to give up since I didn’t meet the established criteria for the assignment. In college, I finally found a degree of freedom and so solidified my desire to write.
4. I have never… felt the need to achieve something in life bad enough to take advantage of another person. Growing up in a tough side of Detroit gave me a perfect excuse to duplicate the behaviors of some of my friends. It would be easy to join in the rough scrabble methods of gaining influence and credibility. Strong parental control made all of this to be unacceptable.
5. Home means to me… the place where my family and I share time together. My wife and I are empty nesters with the exception of three fur children. We all enjoy spending time doing very mundane things. I feel at home when we are all in the living room relaxing. The two boxers and cat have one couch and my wife and I the other. Our time is spent reading, talking, (yes the fur kids join in) and watching our one hour of TV. (a recorded show without commercials and 15 minutes of news)
6. I am inspired by… stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I continue to be in awe of our armed forces and first responder’s sense of duty even if it means giving up their own precious time on this Earth.
7. I would like to meet… Kurt Vonnegut. He has had the most influence on my writing. I like the way he used historical backgrounds for his stories as well as humor to make his points. He cleverly weaved a number of elements into his books including continuity of several characters that were not necessarily part of the story but an enhancement to it.
8. My worst character trait… is spending too much time worrying about things I can’t control. All my life I have had to have small pep talks with myself on getting out of the worry cycle. I found a system that seems to work is to ask myself,”What is the worst that could happen if my worry came true.” These worries in retrospect always seem to be ridiculous but at the time very real.
9. My best character trait… is my ability to see the positive side of any problem. I have had some real challenges in life but have managed to keep them from affecting my optimistic outlook. My personal philosophy is centered on no matter how hard things are they are only temporary and can be overcome.
10. The best advice I was given… when I started writing full time was to keep writing no matter what. I have finished four books and in those moments where I had questions about whether or not what I was doing was worthwhile, I remembered the advice and stopped the questioning. I simply went back to the keyboard and kept writing. I continually have periods of doubt but haven’t stopped writing yet.

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My GRL is the story of John J. Cannon, successful San Francisco lawyer, who takes a well-deserved leave of absence from his firm. He travels to a small Texas fishing town and buys a boat, unaware that his new purchase, renamed My GRL, had already been targeted by a terrorist group. John’s first inkling of a problem is when he wakes up in the hospital. He learns he was found unconscious next to the dead body of the attractive young woman who sold him the boat in the first place. John now stands between the terrorists and the success of their mission.

 

America loves John J. Cannon, its newest hero, and the President wants to present him with the highest civilian medal for bravery for saving the Annapolis midshipman from a terrorist plot to destroy them. While in Washington for the award ceremony, John unwillingly becomes an accomplice in another plan by the same group to attack the credibility of the US President and the stability of the worldwide oil market. There is no way out as John either becomes a traitor to America or causes thousands of innocent people to die if he refuses.

The second John J. Cannon Thriller moves from a barrier Island off the coast of Texas to Washington DC, then to Northern California, and finally to Ecuador. John is on the receiving end of an offer he cannot, refuse. His avowed enemy Matt Jacobs now wants John to help him shake the reputation of the US in the world political arena. If John refuses, Matt plans to murder innocent Americans including John’s latest relationship. John’s only way out is to pretend to go along with the plan and hope for a miracle.

 

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