Interview with John Worsley Simpson

When did you know you wanted to be a writer? 
At the age of 6, when I discovered the magical world of adventure books and realized I could create my own escape-to world with words, and that I could be my own hero. 

What genre do you write, and why? 
I write crime fiction because that's a story-telling, linear genre and I love story books, from Wind in the Willows to Get Shorty. I read and write books of fiction that have plots. If I were going to write about the "human condition," it would be in the form of non-fiction--journalism, which I've also done for many years. I enjoy reading--and try to write--books that are grounded in reality, but are larger than life, books that parallel the real world, but take a much more interesting, exciting, stimulating path of adventure. 

Tell us about your latest book. 
Missing Rebecca is all about people who aren't what they appear to be, who don't behave in the way they're expected to behave. It's about deceit and double-dealing with the rich and powerful and very greedy drug industry, and in particular one member of which that will stop at nothing to reap the tremendous profits from having an exclusive market for a highly effective medication. Rebecca and Liam meet at a medical conference, and within weeks, the two, who know almost nothing about each other's past, are married, and then--on a shopping trip to a local mall--Rebecca vanishes, and Liam sets out to find her, in a search that puts him in great danger and leads to a surprising and very shocking conclusion. 

What marketing methods are you using to promote your book? 
This is my fifth novel. The four previous have all been published by a mainstream print publisher and have been promoted with bookstore signings, launch parties, various interviews and favourable reviews in major newspapers. I have published Missing Rebecca through Kindle and Amazon's CreateSpace, the result being that none of these marketing devices is easily obtainable. I'm a novice at self-promotion, but I'm trying to make use of the various social media, including Twitter, Linked-in and (as much as is allowable) Facebook. I hope to place the CreateSpace print version in bookstores in the area where I live and in the towns where the action takes place in the book. I am hopeful that a virtual tour using sites such as your particularly professional one will provide the publicity that I need. Clearly, it doesn't matter how well written a book is, if no one knows it exists, no one is going to buy it. 

What formats is the book available in? 
E-book--at present Kindle only, and in print through Amazon's CreateSpace. 

What to you like to do when you're not writing? 
Play the piano, golf, play pool, ride my bike, go to movies, read and watch quality television--not necessarily in that order. 

John Worsley Simpson
What's your favourite quote about writing? 
People do not deserve to have good writing, they are so pleased with bad. --Ralph Waldo Emerson 

What's the best thing about being a writer? 
There are two kinds of essential value-producing people in the world (probably in the universe): scientists who discover and invent things that expand and improve our physical world (doctors, engineers and similar are part of this category), and artists (including philosophers, theologians, visionaries) who explode (even create) ALL of our world. They expand the universe: they make it limitless--in fact, I would say, they actually create it. Now, I am not claiming to be in the forefront of that group, but I do clutch to the coattails of its members--and that's more than enough. I have to say I don't separate writing out from any of the arts, but I assert that the arts are--well, I say the arts are everything, truly everything. Think about it: without them, what do we have? A life that's nasty, brutish and short--Life's a bitch and then you die. So, to the question: 
What's the best thing about being a writer? It makes you a god. How could one aspire to anything greater than that? 

Where can people find out more about you and you writing? 

Anything else you'd like to add? 
Only that I appreciate the opportunity that websites like this afford writers and how impressed I am with the quality of this site.

2 Comments

  1. CMash4 September 2012 at 13:42

    Very interesting read and post. Nice interview. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joylene Nowell Butler4 September 2012 at 16:58

    It certainly was an interesting post. Never get tired of hearing the story behind the book. Thanks. I'm coming in from IWSG.

    ReplyDelete

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