I asked five questions plus a bonus question. First to reply were Johnny Boggs and Larry Wood. Here are their bios and responses:
Johnny D. Boggs has been a full-time novelist and freelance magazine writer since 1998. He has won a record-tying seven Spur Awards from Western Writers of America, the Western Heritage Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, an Arkansiana Juvenile Award from the Arkansas Library Association and the Milton F. Perry Award from the National James-Younger Gang. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife, son and two dogs.
Larry Wood is
a freelance writer specializing in the history of Missouri and the Ozarks.
He is the author of fifteen nonfiction history books, two historical
novels, and hundreds of stories and articles. He maintains a
blog at www.ozarks-history.blogspot.com,
and is an honorary lifetime member of the Missouri Writers' Guild.
Larry's co-author on "Charlie Cries All Night," the MOTO V story, is
his long-deceased father, Ben L. Wood. Larry resurrected the story from his
dad's unpublished files and made numerous changes, but the basic plot belongs
to Ben Wood. Ben was an essayist and poet whose work appeared
in publications ranging from The Ozarks Mountaineer to the Kansas
City Star.
1. What sparked your writing bug?
Johnny Boggs: Third-grade English. The
assignment was "write a tale." I have no idea what I wrote, but I
remember the feeling I got while writing it. This was my calling, I decided,
and I still get that feeling when I sit down at my computer.
Larry Wood: I more or less drifted into writing by default
during college when I ended up majoring in English because I made better
grades in English than my other classes, but the idea of being a writer was
probably planted much earlier, since my dad was also a writer.
2. Please summarize your story in MOTO V.
Johnny Boggs:The tongue-in-cheek "Meet the
New Dick Powell" has the Ozarks-born actor returning home because his
career is washed up in Hollywood. He's mistaken for a private eye, and, having
just been rejected for the lead role in "Double Indemnity," decides
to play a tough-guy in a real-life situation.
Larry Wood: My dad, author of the first draft of "Charlie
Cries All Night," was a correctional officer at the Medical
Center for Federal prisoners in Springfield. Thus, the idea for the story,
about an escaped, psychotic convict who terrorizes a
nurse working late at a doctor's office, although the story was not
originally set in Springfield.
3. Where is your favorite place in the Ozarks? Please
describe it.
Johnny Boggs: The Buffalo River. Rented a cabin
there for a long weekend in 1990, bought a wooden chest at a shop outside of
Eureka Springs, drove back to Dallas. I put a dozen roses and an engagement
ring in the chest, and when Lisa opened it, I proposed.
Larry Wood: The nature trail at the Wildcat Glades
Conservation and Audubon Center just south of Joplin on Shoal Creek. It's not
necessarily the most scenic place in the Ozarks, but it's a place I
go regularly for relaxing walks in a natural setting.
4. What writing accomplishment(s) are you most proud?
Johnny Boggs: The seven Spur Awards from Western
Writers of America blow my mind. I think I'm most proud of the first one,
which I got in 2002 for "A Piano at Dead Man's Crossing," because
that was for a short story, the hardest form of fiction to write. (Donna's note: Seven spurs--Wow! And I agree about short fiction being the hardest form of fiction to write.)
Larry Wood: As a longtime member of the Missouri Writers'
Guild, I think that being named an honorary lifetime member of the
organization in 2016 is probably the thing I'm most proud of in my writing
career. (Donna's note: That is an amazing accomplishment!)
5. Many of my blog visitors are also writers. What writing
advice can you share with them?
Johnny Boggs: Write. Write. Write. Read. Read.
Read. Rewrite. Rewrite. Rewrite. Rewrite. Rewrite. And don't miss your
deadlines. (Donna's note: I agree, and I would add you were first to submit your interview responses, so you are serious about deadlines.)
Larry Wood: Have a writing routine and stick with it. It
doesn't even have to be a routine in the sense that you write at
exactly the same time every day for exactly the same length of time, but you
have to have something resembling a routine that shows you're committed to
writing. In my own case, I write every day, seven days a week, with very few
exceptions, but sometimes I write an hour, sometimes four or five hours, and
not necessarily at the same time each day. It's somewhat like my exercise
routine. I don't walk or jog at the same time every day, but I don't feel the
day is complete if I don't do one or the other some time during the day.
Bonus Question: Where can readers find more about you?
(Your website, blog, Facebook, etc.)
Johnny Boggs: https://www.facebook.com/johnny.d.boggs
Larry Wood: My blog on regional history can be found at www.ozarks-history.blogspot.com,
and I have an author Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLarryWood/.
Johnny and Larry, thanks for your replies.
Over the next weeks I will post responses of the other contributors.
