John Park interview

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

When did your love of books begin?

My love of books began early in my childhood. I was born in Korea and I moved to Singapore when I was seven.  While I grew up traveling all over the world, I settled in the United States. I went to high school in Pennsylvania, Franklin and Marshall College, University of Pennsylvania for Graduate School, and Cardozo Law School. My career path included being a teacher, a firefighter and owning a real estate business. I also worked for the US government of a short period of time and I was elected to a local school board for over ten years.

The first book I really fell in love with a book I received when I was seven years old. I remember my mother bought me this book to help me learn English. It was a large book on mammals.  It had almost all of the known mammals in alphabetical order. There was a full color photo of each animal, a small world map of their habitat and a short paragraph about the animal. I loved looking at the color photos and reading about each of the creatures.

After college and working for the government, I was burnt out and went to live in Paris for a few years. There I was able to take classes in English and French through Boston University. In my Strategic Studies courses, I learned about the cold war and use of military and non-military force. At that time, I was fortunate enough to witness the fall of the Berlin Wall and began to think about writing stories. I actually wrote a novel on a type writer there. The book was a science fiction story based on the Cold War and the collapse of the USSR. While I submitted it to several agents it did not get picked up. I turned away from writing, focused on law school and shelved the idea of becoming a writer.

When did you start to have the wish to become an author?

Following my varied career path, I was fortunate enough to retire early. Since the rise of Covid-19, my interest in writing was reignited. I did a lot of research on the current state of the publishing industry and found a writing software that was easy to use. So, I began writing my latest novel. The first draft is nearing completion as I write this. For those who want to write, if you’re serious and it’s not just an idle whim, you will return to it. It’s been nearly thirty years since my first unpublished novel, but I’m back and hope to publish this book by the end of 2022. So far, I have met a lot of supportive people in the writing community. I think with the support of the community, I will be able to get my newest book published.

Tell us about your book/books:

The book is about the discovery of a world ending comet that is about to hit the earth. The government tries to deflect the comet using conventional and nuclear weapons, while scientists begin to suspect that the comet is actually an alien spacecraft. As a result of the use of the weapons, the alien spacecraft is damaged. The aliens reluctantly defend themselves and attack earth. As this crisis is unfolding, a group of extreme right-wing terrorists led by a religious fanatic are doing their best to exert their influence as the federal government is falling apart.

Where can people connect with you?

Twitter

Website