Tell me about yourself. Where are you from?
JK: I was born in Cumberland, Md but grew up in Baltimore where I attended high school and graduated with a degree in mathematics from Towson University in 1971. I practiced as a consulting actuary for 45 years, first in Baltimore then in Philadelphia for 15 years. I married my wife Marcie in 1974. She is also a consulting actuary. We lived in Bryn Mawr outside of Philly until 1990 when we moved back to my home town to raise our small children...Jonathan and Lacy. I then worked for a firm in Cumberland until I retired in 2015.
I have lived a life common to a white collar professional. Worked to get licensed, then as an associate then as a consultant/partner in my firm. My clients were middle to large companies, generally privately held but with a number of modest public companies. We consciously left Philly to ive in a small rural city to raise our kids, probably to the detriment of our professional careers but well worth the sacrifice, such as it was. Our children loved the small town and having us around, something that would have been challenging in a large city like Philly. They were educated locally then went off to college and graduate school (Jonathan to Hopkins and the Nietzsche School and Lacy to Yale and Wharton. They have business careers now and lboth live with e families, ironically, back in the hometown of Philadelphia.
Besides reading and writing, I golf, ski, travel and goof off. I participate each week in the Genepool Invitational ( a humor and word challenge run by Gene Weingarten, the humorist) and the New Yorker caption contest ( I am a one-time finalist). I write many letters to the editor and have been published in the Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Orlando Sun, as well as many times in the Cumberland Times News.
What genre do you read? Who's an author you read? Name your top 5 authors.
JK: I read only fiction, generally mysteries and adventure stories. My five favorite authors are Carl Hiasson, Gregory MacDonald, Joseph Heller, Robert Crais and Stephen Hunter.
What book are you reading right now, and what do you like about it?
JK: I am currently reading Robert Crais's most recent "The Big Empty"
Favorite sports.
JK: My favorite participatory sports are golf, hiking, skiing, biking and swimmimg. Occasional bowler. As a fan, I enjoy major league baseball and football, tennis and golf and college basketball.
Favorite thing about the state/country that you live in.
JK: Maryland is a fine state for us. Winter sports here in the mountains. We have had a home in Ocean City for forty years so we still enjoy going to the beach. Our family is centric to the Baltimore-Philadelphia corridor so the geography works out well.
How long have you been writing?
JK: I started writing for publishing in 2023 and have written now four books. Obviously, I have done plenty of writing during my professional career. I began writing Letters to the Editors after I retired in 2015. I was editor of my high school paper and won the Literary Award as a Senior for a short story. But after that, my concentration was on numbers, not paragraphs.
What inspired you to become a writer?
JK: My wife pointed out that the Maryland Writers Association ran a prompt challenge each month based on Maryland authors, both past and contemporary. I started entering these challenges of 100 word story stars based on the given prompts. Approximately 65 of these monthly entries were recognized by the MWA and published in newspapers around the state. Several of these I ultimately expanded into short stories and published in two anthologies..."Hillbilly Anthology" and' Where's That Bastard Owen?"
What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?
JK: I write the books and stories in my head, often while driving. We drive thousands of miles scooting around and I multi-task by plotting the stories. Once I start writing, the prose and dialogue just happen, followed by constant editing and tweaking. I do not formally outline or even scribble notes. I just start writing...so I guess you'd say I was a seat of the pants writer more than a plotter.
How do you celebrate finishing a book?
JK: A painter friend once told me the hardest part of being an artist is knowing when you're done. I know when I'm done. I don't celebrate but I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment. A favorite narrative formula for me is: strong female protagonist, cartoon villain, happy ending. When I get to the happ ending, I'm done. I'm satisfied.
What would you tell a writer who is just starting? What program do you use for writing? What advice would you give to a writer working on their first book? What’s your writing software of choice?
JK: I write everything in Word. I am no expert in that software…I am sure it has functionality far beyond what I use. I save constantly and keep the Edit function on. Like Hemingway, I proof each day what I wrote the day before…then start writing for the new day. Once a week, I reread from the beginning. I would encourage anyone who wants to write to just sit down and start. When you have written a passage that you feel is strong, ask some friends to read it and give you honest feedback. But only have them proof the stuff you think is strong. If they are not impressed then maybe you need to rethink your story or your stylings. If they like what you have done, move on and ask them again to read a passage say 50 ot 100 pages on from the first one they read. Get feedback from a few folks. If you’re writing fiction, get more female input…if your book is non-fiction, make your testing group more male. It’s a cliche but the thing most important is just to start writing.
How do you organize everything and find the time to sit down and write?
JK: I’m retired so I have time to write. I write very little at home…most of my writing is done in coffee shops, saloons and independent book stores. For My spirit animal would be…Scarlett Johansson me, the energy from patrons and folks just kibbitzing with you while you write is very helpful to my process. The attention you get while writing in public feeds your creative juices. But I do all my proofing and editing at home.
As an author, what would you choose as your spirit animal?
JK: My spirit animal would be…Scarlett Johansson
Who has been the biggest supporter of your writing?
JK: My biggest supporter as a writer is my youngest sister…she enjoys everything I write, even the crap.
How do you name your characters?
JK: Many of my characters have the names of relatives, friends, old associates. My villains are not named after anyone I’ve known, even if some of their villainous characteristics are those of real people. Sometimes, as an homage to works I admire, I’ll borrow a character name…but, generally, my major characters just have names that occur to me and my minor characters will have the names or similar names to folks I know and like. They often love that and buy several copies of the book to use as gifts.
Can you describe a typical day in your writing life?
JK: A typical day when in my hometown of Cumberland is to go to the independent book shop Lily Books and Cafe and sit in a nook they have for me and write. I am their artist in residence. We go to the Aspen Valley for a month each winter and I’ll hang out in coffee shops and bars there and write. Of the four books I’ve published, about 50% of the writing was done in Cumberland, the other 50% in Aspen
Tell us about your current release.
JK: My latest book is a historiographic meta fiction take on the assassination of John Kennedy. I uses an all-knowing narrator to guide the narrative over many decades of events, some historically accurate, some invented, leading to that sad day in Dallas. The voice and timber of the narrative telling is intended to be cheeky and amusing. The actual events contain many coincidental occurrences, as do my fictional overlays…ergo the name of the novel is “ Coincidence.” My narrative flow is Tarrentino-esque with flashbacks and plot points introduced in one chapter but not fleshed out until a later chapter. I enjoy writing dialogue and work hard, I hope, to keep the principal characters’ voices distinct and consistent. My rough construct models are books like “ Ragtime,” “ Catch-22”, and Gore Vidal’s DC trilogy. Even though the foundation of my tale is an historical tragedy, my intention is to humanize these historical folks and to needle the solemnity of a history with a stick up its butt.
Thank you for joining me here at Always Reading! -Melissa
