Blog Hop — Going from One Web Site to Another

John J. Hohn, Author and Reviewer

Blog Hop. I never heard of one until a few weeks ago. But now, as the old story goes, I are  tagged in one.

A blog hop, as it turns out, is a bit like a chain letter. The person tagged, in this case yours truly, chooses to participate by answering four questions on his or her web site and then passes the request to others to do so as well. The multipliers are impressive if everyone tagged gets the blog hop going. No money involved, so here goes.

Barbara Hinske tagged me. Barbara is my most enthusiastic fan. I interviewed her for my blog a few months ago. She is an author in her own right and is now working on her third book. Her first two books, Coming to Rosemont and Weaving the Strands are featured on Amazon and selling at a brisk pace. Both are classified as Women’s Fiction, not exactly my cup of tea, but working in different genres has not kept us from being frequent and congenial correspondents.

Now the Questions:

What am I working on?

Barbara Hinske, Author
“Coming to Rosemont” and “Weaving the Strands”

I just completed my sequel to Deadly Portfolio: A Killing in Hedge Funds, which continues to sell at a steady pace on Amazon in paperback and Kindle versions. The sequel, Breached, takes place in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Detective Jim Raker, a favorite among readers, gets caught up in a murder investigation that leads to the discovery of a scheme to defraud landowners around beautiful Lake Hannah. Raker has a girl friend this time around.

The book will be out in a few weeks.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Both of my books are mysteries, but unlike many, I try to develop my characters more fully. One thing most frequently reported in the Amazon reviews is that readers find the characters are like folks they know in real life. That’s what I’m want to create. I research my work thoroughly. I want everything to be credible. No fantastic or improbable events to bail out a weak plot. Real people. Real situations.

Why do I write what I do?

Phil Kenney, Author of “Radiance”

I write about what I know. I have had a varied professional career, failed in business and prospered again, held two jobs at one time to get out of debt, raised a family of five kids only to have the marriage that produced my children fail, and finally met the woman whose companionship over the last 30 years has been a joy and a source of deep contentment. She has enabled me to find fulfillment in many areas of my life. I try to work my experiences into my mysteries. I call them literary mysteries. I like working with a  mystery because the plot provides a chassis for my story.

I would like to write a really great story, but I haven’t lived a great life. I haven’t hobnobbed with the rich and famous, traveled the world, been involved with political intrigue, international conspiracies or corporate takeovers. Last night my wife and I watched Tea with Mussolini. What a story! I could never have written anything like it. I’m a middle-class older American white guy. Maybe someday I’ll find the courage to write a straightforward literary piece and bore the living hell out of everyone who picks it up. I want to be a good writer. Trying makes me appreciate all the more the works of the truly greats like Tolstoy, Dickens, Green, Conrad, Dostoyevsky and others

How does my writing process work?

Steven M. Moore, Author and Blogger

I write an extensive treatment before I begin to write the book itself. The treatment quickly discloses the areas and subjects that I need to research. It also brings my characters into focus. I prefer a treatment to an outline because it is less confining. I know where I want to go but I can leave some of the direction open to the characters who can propose an alternate path. The book needs to breathe while it is being worked. Characters grow and reveal themselves as the story moves along.

Now I am going to tag the only other authors I know who also maintain web sites. I tag Phil Kenney, author of Radiance, which I reviewed some months back; Steven Moore, who will probably hate me for doing it (maybe not). Moore is the author of no less then eight novels. I am currently reading his fast-pace, international thriller, Aristocrats and Assassins. Finally, I tag S. Alini, whose uproariously A Husband by Midnight I reviewed also on this web site.

Thanks for visiting my web site. While you are here, I invite you to look through the other pages and my previous posts. My novel, Deadly Portfolio: A Killing in Hedge Funds, is available at Amazon in paperback and kindle version.