As part of a Blog Tour organized by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, I am happy to have John Carenen as my guest today and showcase his most recent release and the third book in his Thomas O’Shea mystery series, The Face on the Other Side.
How I Got Started by John Carenen
Sometimes people ask how I got started as a writer. A fair question. I’d have to say in high school, where I was the Sports Editor and Features Editor of THE CLINTONIAN, my high school newspaper in Clinton, Iowa. I was also allowed to write an anonymous satire column, by “Needled.” It was called “In The Groove” and sparked lots of sparks, including from faculty, who wanted me banned.
But my faculty sponsor refused to ban me. About that time, I was also taking a Creative Writing course from that same faculty sponsor, who was also a free-lance writer. And still is, with over 100 books published that he authored or co-authored. His support in the school paper brouhaha and encouragement in the Creative Writing class gave me a tremendous boost. And I have to admit the attention I garnered, mostly positive, was also a confidence-booster. It was cool that my peers liked my writing.
Now that you know how I got started as a writer, you might wonder what kept me going. I can tell you that it was hard, with many, many rejections ranging from mass-produced to one or two that said, “Try again.” Finally, I sold a humorous piece to Reader’s Digest, and that one sale kept me going for a long time, with further sales to that same magazine, mostly self-effacing humor pieces.
But more important than the checks from Reader’s Digest was the encouragement and support from my long-suffering wife, who constantly buoyed me up when I was down after receiving still another rejection. So now I give her the credit. I would have quit a long time ago except for her. Thank you, Lisa!
About The Face on the Other Side
He’d promised Sheriff Payne that he wouldn’t take any more matters into his own hands. So, when on a leisurely morning drive, SEAL-trained Thomas O’Shea sees two girls attacking a boy on a sidewalk, he opts not to intervene. When the boy is later murdered in the local hospital, though, all promises are off. What seems at the start to be a simple case of gang activity turns out to be far more. Even O’Shea, who has seen more than his share of evil, could not have guessed what is about to transpire…
You can get your copy on Amazon.
Giveaway
Click here to enter a rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win a set of signed copies of The Thomas O’Shea Mysteries.
About the Author
John Carenen, a native of Clinton, Iowa, graduated with an M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from the prestigious University of Iowa Writers Workshop and has been writing ever since. His work has appeared numerous times in Reader’s Digest (including a First Person Award), McCall’s, Dynamic Years, and other periodicals. He has been a featured columnist in newspapers in Morganton, North Carolina and Clinton, South Carolina. His fiction has appeared in regional literary magazines. A novel, Son-up, Son-down, was published by the National Institute of Mental Health. He is happily married to (long-suffering) Elisabeth, and they have two grown daughters, Caitlin and Rowe. When he isn’t writing, he thinks about getting in shape, cheers for the Iowa Hawkeyes and Boston Red Sox, and takes frequent naps. He has traveled extensively, having visited 43 states and 23 countries. He is a USAF veteran, having served in the Philippines and Massachusetts. A retired English professor at Newberry College in Newberry, South Carolina, he is hard at work on another novel.
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