ASK ME ANYTHING …AGAIN AND AGAIN

Posted on by


John Ramsey Miller

Most published authors are asked to speak to groups of one sort or another. I am flattered when I am asked to address people who are interested in what I have to say. As I was preparing a yak-up about my work (and authoring in general) I’m going to be giving next week to people gathered up to support a university library, I thought about the most frequent questions I am asked. After addressing non-writers, readers, book lovers, funders and innocent bystanders, there is invariably a Q & A exchange. No matter where I am speaking, or what aspects I blather on about, when it’s time for questions people ask the same ones.


Q: Who are your favorite authors?

A: There are so many I never know where to start. I usually say it depends on the genre and when I read them. Truman Capote, Ken Follett, Frederick Forsythe, Ken Kesey, John lé Carre, Ira Levin, William Golding, James Brady, William Styron, Mario Puzzo, Willie Morris, Steinbeck, Eudora Welty, J.D. Salinger, J. G. Ballard, John Cheever, Tolkien, James Clavell, Tom Wolfe, Frank Herbert, and then we have contemporary authors, none of whom I can list here without fear of leaving out someone and hurting feelings. There are so many truly great authors out there.



Q: What are your favorite books?

A: IN COLD BLOOD, EYE OF THE NEEDLE, THE GODFATHER, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, FRANNY & ZOEY, SOPHIE’S CHOICE, LORD OF THE RINGS, DUNE, NORTH TOWARD HOME, CANNERY ROW, WHY I LIVE AT THE P.O., DOGS OF WAR, SMILEY’S PEOPLE… (Books by the people listed above)



Q:Do you write every day (on a schedule)?

A: Yes, but not always at the keyboard. These days I write when I want or need to.



Q: Where do you get your ideas?

A: Rarely from the same place twice



Q: What is your process?

A: I think a lot. I write. I think a lot more. I write. Like that. Over and over. It’s sort of a cycle that speeds and slows but never stops.



Q: Do you outline or follow characters where they lead you?

A: I never let my characters decide where to take me. I give them a road map and expect them to go exactly where I have made the marks. I am the choreographer. I think it is pretentious to say one’s characters are so alive they take over. As the author, unless you are either in control or on LSD. Your characters are in your imagination and on the page and are not actually alive and acting independent of your mind.



Q: When did you decide to become an author?

A: I have no idea when it started. I have told made-up stories and written since I was very young. Over time I more or less got increasingly familiar with an old friend.


Q: What advice would you give an aspiring author?

A: If you are published, yours will be one of 400,000 books published that year. If you don’t have a way of effectively promoting your book, it will not be widely read.



Q: Do you believe that everybody has at least one book in them?

A: In my experience, yes. And as often as not it’s a very bad book. Most people can start a book, but few have the drive to finish one, and fewer still have any idea how to write effectively. And of the books written only about one to two percent are worth reading. In my experience, the worst are autobiographies of normal people who think their experiences are going to interest other people, followed closely by humorous or inspiring stories they have collected.



Okay gang, are there any others you are asked that I’ve missed?

10 thoughts on “ASK ME ANYTHING …AGAIN AND AGAIN”

  4. Speaking of LSD, how did this conversation turn to breakfast?

    And continuing down this path of non sequiturs, I just have to say that John’s photo is perhaps the most writerly image I’ve ever seen. F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner have nothing on you.

  6. Joe, my attempt at humor was a bit stiff. I learned about Miller’s chicks just this past week, and Susie taught me that newborn chicks suffer life-threatening diaper rashes.

    No matter how far I travel down the rabbit hole, it seems there’s always more to learn about John’s enigmatic life.

    Phil

  7. One question I’m always asked is whether the main character in my current series, Kate Gallagher, is based on me. To which I reply, “To a limited extent, yes.” Then they’ll ask about other characters, especially Kate’s father. That character is in fact inspired by my own father (he loves the character, by the way). I also always get a lot of questions about Nancy Drew, because I wrote four Nancy Drews for the series as a contract writer. There are a lot of ND fans out there–sometimes they know more about the history of the series than I do!

  9. “…there will be more lying and spitting and drinking”

    Hrm…sounds more like my old logger days. I think that sounds like a good writers group to be part of.

Comments are closed.