Lesson Summary

John delves into the importance of character, plot, and quality in writing. Key points include:

• Meticulous attention to detail is crucial for maintaining credibility with readers.
• Insights into the editing process (Morgen was his editor at Bloodhound) and the collaborative nature of publishing.
• Challenges of marketing and social media promotion in the writing industry.
• Upcoming book draws from personal experiences during hunger strikes in Northern Ireland.

John's writing career journey touches on various aspects:

• His early interest in storytelling, starting with a childhood poem.
• Love for good stories and thrillers, rooted in his background as a film journalist in Northern Ireland.
• Participation in live events and the commitment social media entails.

Further insights into John's background and writing process include:

• His work in television, passion for creating fiction, and experience in drama and journalism.
• Focus on discipline in writing, preference for emergent writing, and the influence of characters in guiding the story.
• His current project on a children's book and emotional challenges of completing a first draft.
• Reflection on the impact of characters on reader engagement and maintaining consistency in book series.

John A Marley’s writing career started with a poem about two brothers who both liked sausages… their names were Butch and Dutch and his Primary School teacher Mr Murray liked it so much it made the main noticeboard at the entrance to Holy Child Primary School in West Belfast in Ireland.

A little older but none the wiser, John ended up as a film journalist in his native Northern Ireland, contributing to local newspapers, BBC Radio Ulster and latterly writing as the main film critic for the glossy magazine, Northern Woman.

John’s love of good stories came from the Irish predilection for telling a good yarn and the fact that there was nothing quite like sneaking away his dad’s battered paperbacks to read even though he knew they were meant for adults and not kids.

And so pulp fiction such as The Edge Westerns by George G. Gilman, the adventure novels of Alistair MacLean and the thrillers of Jack Higgins all served to whet John's appetite for a good story told at pace.

These days, his reading tastes still focus on thrills, spills and good plot and he can’t walk by a James Lee Burke, Dennis Lehane, Don Winslow or an Elmore Leonard without pausing to read a few pages… even if it is in a busy bookshop.

You can follow him on twitter here: @jamarleybooks and his books are on Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/author/B078WD8MS8.