Interview

John Saul's America Online Interview

February 17, 1997

AOLiveMC9: Welcome to AOLive, John Saul! Your hosts for tonight are Sandy (AOLiveMC9) and Robert (AOLiveMC4).

John Saul: I am very glad to be here!

AOLiveMC9: Let's get to our first question.

Question: Are you scheduled for any book signings in the San Francisco Bay area soon? Kathy
John Saul: I am not scheduled for any Bay Area signings until late summer if at all. I have been very busy finishing writing "The Blackstone Chronicles." And still have some re-writes to do on "The Presence" so I won't be touring at all for "The Blackstone Chronicles."

AOLiveMC9: Our next question comes from Pjfpear:

Question: Where do you get your ideas for your books? John Saul: Ideas for books come from practically any place...sometimes out of the nightly news. When I wrote "The God Project," fifteen years ago, the idea came from a news story involving designing human bodies. It took about twenty minutes to turn it into a concept for a book...wait a minute! Wrong book! I am talking about "Creature!" It took about twenty minutes to put together a plot line for "Creature"...based on that little tiny Dan Rather news item preview. Once the idea for a book came from spotting a town in Colorado sometimes books seem to come right out of the air...and sometimes I beat myself for weeks and cannot come up with a single good idea.

AOLiveMC9: Several aspiring writers are sending this question your way, John

Question: Are there any tips you can give to a beginning writer besides the standards like write every day and have strong characters? John Saul: Oh boy... ::laughing:: The problem with answers other than standard answers is that the standard answers are truth. The only advice I can give is to keep on writing. My main piece of non-standard advice is that I think people should write what they don't know about rather than what they do know about. And, it is always a good idea to go to Writers' Conferences. Especially the Maui Conference. Maui is probably the biggest conference in the world now... and probably gets the best collection of talent every year.

Question: Do you think you will use the serial novel format again? I am really enjoying "The Blackstone Chronicles," but I've heard a lot of complaints about the cost per installment. Not my complaint though.

John Saul: ::laughing:: I am really enjoying the serial format too. I am certainly seriously thinking about writing more about the town of Blackstone. As to the cost of the format I think it gives people an easy out if they do not like what they are reading. At least they have only spent three dollars for something they hate instead of seven dollars for something they are never going to finish. The serial format is lots of fun to do but very, very tricky. It's very difficult to keep everything straight. And when the first book of the serial is already published before the last two are finished you suddenly realize you can't go back and re-write anything earlier...::chuckling:: It has lead to some interesting traps. And some really interesting wiggles to get out of the traps. ::chuckling::

AOLiveMC9: I am sure the next question means... after yourself, of course!

Question: Mr. Saul, who are your favorite authors? John Saul: ::laughing:: I am certainly not my favorite author...I have so many favorite authors it is hard to single out anyone in particular. My all-time favorite who inspired me to be a writer were John O'Hara and Noel Coward. Both of whom are conveniently dead! My favorite genre has always been international spy thrillers. So of course I am really upset about the collapse of the Soviet Union! There is a big hole in the international spy market these days...I am very fond of Susan Isaacs. I am very fond of Richard North Patterson who I am currently reading. And the list goes on and on... I will read practically anything.

AOLiveMC9: The Yclep knows how to get his monies worth out of a question folks... :)

Question: Do you do all your own research for your books? Is there any special amount of time you give yourself for working on our books? Do you find traveling gives you more ideas? Have you had many rejections on your books? John Saul: OK, let's start from the top... I do very little research since I am paid to lie. I figure the great thing about fictions is that you can make it up as you go along...when I do need facts I do dig them up myself. I generally spend about four hours a day at the word processor. And it takes me about two months to write a full-length novel. but of course it takes a year to think up a good idea! Traveling gives me terrific ideas for locales but often an idea will come out of a locale or an old idea will fit perfectly with a locale. That has happened several times. With "The Unloved," the book was originally set in CA, and I didn't believe a word of it! Then it suddenly occurred to me if I set it in a decadent moss-laden, tree-filled swamp in South Carolina in a crumbling plantation house and filled the whole thing with the scent of magnolias it all made perfect sense! So with that book at least locale was everything.

Question: Hello Mr. Saul, it is a pleasure to have you with us...in the front of your books you have quotes from the "Book of Sorrows" I have been looking for it for a long time and don't know where to find it...can you help?

John Saul: This is the second or third time I have heard a reference to the "Book of Sorrows"...I don't recall having ever referred to it. I think Clive Barker refers to the "Book of Sorrows" which I think he wrote himself. And if anyone knows which book I referred to it in, I would love to hear about it! Apparently someone on AOL just said Dean Koontz wrote the "Book of Sorrows" and I think that's right.

Question: In the biography, it says that two films are in the works. Which books are they being based on?

John Saul: OK. There is a mini-series in the works for "Blackstone Chronicles." It will be six-hours done by ABC at the moment that is all that is in the works. But there has been interest in a lot of the other books but no deals yet.

Question: Do you usually base characters on people you know or are they all fictitious?

John Saul: ::laughing:: There are about nineteen traps in that question. For one thing authors who base characters on real people can be held liable for what they say about those people. That is not to say that certain traits of people I know haven't crept in to certain characters. Every now and then I put a real person in. Most recently the fire chief of Blackstone. Who was actually the fire chief of a little town in Washington and a dear friend.

Question: Did you see your self as a writer at a young age?

John Saul: Yes. The first person who suggested I be a writer was my seventh-grade teacher and I never really wanted to do anything else.

AOLiveMC9: LOL....

Question: Hello Mr. Saul, I just wanted to ask, why are you torturing me by releasing a book a month?...the suspense is driving me nuts. John Saul: Because I am a sadistic person! ::chuckling:: And I am personally out to get YOU, whoever you are! :-) Besides, it is fun!

Question: I read your book called "Black Lightning"...I enjoyed it very much. My question is, Is your new book anything like it? and are you planning to write any books along the same lines?

John Saul: Oh... the new book is nothing like "Black Lightening." "Black Lightning" was a real major departure for me... I don't know if I will do anything along those lines again. But if an idea that good crops up again I will certainly try to write the book!

AOLiveMC9: Can't wait to hear the answer to this question

Question: How did you come up with the name "Blackstone?" John Saul: ::laughing:: I was trying to figure out the title for the overall serial. I was trying to figure the name for the town that would have the...convey the right feeling. Since the Asylum is built of blackstone in my mind, or at least blackened stone it finally occurred to me that it was the perfect name for the town! It just seems to conjure up the right images.

AOLiveMC9: Hey, good question, Rj92083...

Question: Will "The Blackstone Chronicles" come out in hard cover after the end of the 12 episodes? John Saul: Ewwww First there is only six episodes... And there will be a hard-cover edition from the Literary Guild I think in October. And I think there will probably some kind of collected edition from Ballantyne at some point.

Question: You seem to love the east coast, but you do not live there, why is that ?

John Saul: I write ghost stories about towns with a past. And Anaheim CA is only about fifty years old. Hence no ghosts, no past, no story! The East Coast seems to be where all the neat old towns with creepy old houses are. And I wouldn't live there to save my life and I wouldn't live there to save my life!

AOLiveMC9: LOL

Question: What comes next after "Blackstone?" John Saul: After "Blackstone" comes the "Presence" which is NOT set on the East Coast. It is set on Maui. And that is all I am going to say about that.

Question: What is the longest amount of time it has taken you to write a book and what was the reason?

John Saul: The longest time......hmmmm oh boy. The longest amount of time it took me to write a book is about three months. The name of the book was Nathaniel. It took extra time because my mother was dying when I was writing it. The second longest took about the same amount of time and it took so long because the story was no damn good and I threw it away! I always find that the faster I write the better it is. Good advice to beginning writers....write FAST!

AOLiveMC9: I bet this next one will be a toughie for you to answer too, John.

Question: Hi Mr. Saul.. Welcome! at last...Of all your books, which one do you like the best? John Saul: OK... I have written so many books of so many different kinds.. that I have several favorites. "Black Lightning" is a favorite "The God Project" is a long-time favorite. "Sleep Walk" everyone but me didn't like is a favorite... and I have become increasingly fond of "The Blackstone Chronicles" as I have been writing them and I am hating the idea of leaving Blackstone. It certainly has become my favorite town of any town I have created.

AOLiveMC9: Could you gaze into your crystal ball and try answering this next question, John?

Question: Do you feel that we will be seeing more serial novels from various writers in the future? John Saul: That depends a lot on how successful the "Blackstone Chronicles" are a serial novel is a huge project for a publisher to take on.... it turns out to be a lot bigger than we thought in the beginning. I know at least two other authors are thinking about serial novels, both of them very big names that I won't mention as to whether the serials will actually happen will depend entirely upon if the form turns out to be a viable form of publishing. Certainly Stephen King broke new ground for all of us and without him I don't think "Blackstone" could have happened. But of none of us can expect the kind of sales that Stephen's work always enjoys. So I guess I am the great experiment. And we will see what happens!

AOLiveMC9: Time sure flew, we have time for one more question tonight.

Question: John, I love your books! When will the next parts of "The Blackstone Chronicles" be released? John Saul: ::laughing:: There will be a new chapter or new part of "The Blackstone Chronicles" every month until June. They should be in bookstores around the 5th to the 7th of each month. And then we will see where will go from there. I certainly enjoyed doing this, it was great fun!

AOLiveMC9: Thank you so much for joining us tonight, John... you were a wonderful guest! And thanks for all the great questions from our audience. Good Night all

John Saul: I certainly enjoyed being here, thank you so much for inviting me! I hope I can come back another time!