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QUESTIONS FROM READERS

Joan Johnston answers readers' questions about character inspirations, ideal writing environments and being labeled as a romance writer.

Brenda from Peoria, Illinois: Where do you get your ideas for your characters?

Joan Johnston: Dear Brenda, Writers are constant observers of life. I travel often, I read books across genres, and I belong to clubs and writers’ organizations. I see most movies the week they are released. And I grew up as one of seven kids who traveled the world with a dad in the Air Force. My characters are composites of all the people I’ve met --- and will meet --- along the way.

Mary from Owasso, Oklahoma: Does Ann Wade’s character take after anybody you know in real life?

Joan Johnston: Dear Mary, I actually have a friend I met at church whose first name is “Ann Wade.” She’s a wonderful person, but I stole her name for a female villain, who --- like many of my female villains --- is a composite of the “wicked” women I’ve known during my lifetime.

Marcia from Paradise, California: Do you consider yourself a romance writer --- or was this a label that others had given you?

Joan Johnston: Dear Marcia, I’ve written many wonderful romance novels over the past 22 years, which makes me, I suppose, a “romance writer.” My writing is growing and changing. Now I write romantic thrillers. These days I’m a thriller writer --- with great love stories in her novels.

Linda from Potomac, Maryland: Why did you choose to end A STRANGER’S GAME the way you did? Will you follow up on this storyline in the future?

Joan Johnston: Dear Linda, I knew from about the middle of A STRANGER’S GAME that I would be writing a sequel telling the story of Kate and Jack (secondary characters). I hope I left you wanting to read that book --- which I’m planning to write over the summer. With any luck, it will be in stores sometime next year.

Rebecca from Fort Irwin, California: When is the next book coming out (and can you tell us anything about it)?

Joan Johnston: Dear Rebecca, I’m currently working on the first book of a brand new contemporary thriller series, which features a brand new family, the Benedicts of Richmond. The first book, OUTCAST, will be in stores in March 2009. In OUTCAST, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent --- on the edge of sanity --- and the woman he loves are all that stand between the population of Washington, D.C. and a vengeful al-Qaeda operative determined to infect the country’s leaders with a deadly viral agent.

Tammy from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania: When reading about you, I noticed that you share time between Florida and Colorado and also travel to various locations to research your books. Do you have a favorite place to write? Do you have a favorite place that inspires you?

Joan Johnston: Dear Tammy, I make myself a nest in which to write --- a comfortable writing surface, a comfortable chair, good lighting, and something wonderful to see beyond the computer (the mountains or the ocean) --- and then go to work. The truth is, writers are always writing --- even when they’re not writing --- because most of the writing process goes on inside a writer’s head. I go to sleep with the character’s quandary in mind, then let my subconscious solve it overnight. I do my best work in the morning, because that’s when my brain is teeming with all the ideas it mulled overnight.

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