An Interview with John Locke of Lethal Books

 

I think a lot of guys have a bit of Donovan Creed inhabiting our psyches as a motive force, but we keep him in check. We tend to say or do what’s appropriate instead of releasing our inner Creed. I wanted to create a character that guys could relate to and connect with on a subconscious level. Of course, ladies have a completely different reaction! To most of my female readers, Creed is like the oversized dog you adopted that drives you nuts and constantly misbehaves. But just when you’re about to ditch him, he saves your life or surprises you by doing something so unexpected and endearing that he wins you over.

 

 We all love a character with flaws. Creed’s weakness is women. Do you think Creed will ever settle down again?

 I like to describe Donovan Creed as a smart aleck tough guy with a heart of bronze. While he eventually finds a way to save the girl or stop the bad guy, he doesn’t always do it in a linear fashion typical of most heroes, and he doesn’t always do it for the right reasons. He’s not a typical hero, in that he has close ties to organized crime and has a penchant for call girls. In Lethal People, he falls for the beautiful Kathleen Gray. In the sequel, Lethal Experiment, Creed has reached a crossroads in his life. He loves his lifestyle, but he loves Kathleen and her adopted daughter even more. His decision to commit to Kathleen and Addie is a difficult one, because by doing so, he could be putting their lives in danger. It’s a very difficult decision for him, and one that is influenced both ways as events unfold in the novel.

 

 

 Some of the characters in Lethal People are pretty bizarre. Other than surprising the reader, why did you choose to add such zany characters?

 I hoped they would be memorable and fun. Since a lot of books and movies and TV shows feature cut-and-paste characters, I wanted to create some that defy comparison.

 

In Lethal People, as futuristic as they might seem, every weapon and device is authentic. I researched all the prototype crowd control weapons and drones and satellite technology developed for use in the Iraq War. I spent an entire day researching a single painting for a few lines in a restaurant scene, and two days researching explosive devices and how they affect various structures. I researched all the LA cemeteries to find the one I wanted for a scene, including the type of bird that would be rare but possible for the characters to encounter. All my research is accessed by internet or through personal experience. Sometimes the simplest research is the best. In Saving Rachel, Sam Case finds an upturned purse on the floor. I didn’t know what might be inside a woman’s purse on a random day, so I asked my wife if I could dump the contents of hers on our kitchen counter and record them for the book. She said yes, and if you want to know what was in her purse that day you can find the answer on page 38! 

 

No pretentious language, deep messages or hidden meanings. My books have twists and turns, but I’m not trying to write the next great American novel, I’m trying to write the next FUN novel. I try to give my readers an adventure, with bigger-than-life characters, and hope to make them laugh out loud along the way.  

 

My novels are character driven, so before I do anything else, I decide who is going to be in the story. I really get into my characters’ heads, studying their personality traits and back stories until I know how they’ll react in different situations. Then I come up with a premise, and write what happens as they react to it.

 

Ayn Rand shaped my political world view with Atlas Shrugged. Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove taught me that it’s possible for a book to be epic, serious, and funny at the same time. 

 

 

I have never attempted to contact a publisher or agent. Because my free time is limited, I would rather use it to write novels than query letters. 

 

I see fewer people reading books than at any time in my life. Sure, every year there’s a Harry Potter or Twilight or whatever, but the vast majority of books sell less than 500 copies. I think hard and soft bound books will always have an audience, but I see electronic books as the publishing wave of the future. Content is king, and bound books are facing more competition than ever before. In the old days, books used to compete with three-channel television, movie theaters, and physical activities. Now they have to compete with video games, 500-channel TV, pay-per-view, movies on demand, interactive telephones, electronic books, the internet—the list goes on. I love books and all my life you could find my nose in one, but these days I spend more time on my computer than I do reading books. I think a number of publishing houses are going to go the way of newspapers, which is to say, they will be replaced by the internet.

 

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
The best advice I can give is to complete your first draft before you start editing. Just get the general story down on paper and don’t worry about it being perfect. You will have accomplished something meaningful, and it will keep you from getting discouraged. Once you’ve finished your first draft, you’ll have a story. You can always go back later and figure out how to tell it better.