recent interviews, reviews, and news
"John Claude Bemis: Gratitude to my Critique Group"
|
November 8, 2011
Writing novels is a team sport. I am super lucky to be part of a critique group of four fantastic writers. We've been meeting regularly since before any of us were published. Now, six years later, our group has more than 9 books published (or under contract). Get the inside scoop from one of the Adverb Fight Clubbers on the 'Smack Dab in the Middle' blog here. |
contest winner! contest winner!
September 2, 2011
Congratulations to T.D., who was randomly chosen among those who clicked the Facebook 'like' button on this site.
She won TWO signed copies of This Girl is Different - one to keep, and one for the public library or school library of her choice!
Stay tuned for more contests!
Congratulations to T.D., who was randomly chosen among those who clicked the Facebook 'like' button on this site.
She won TWO signed copies of This Girl is Different - one to keep, and one for the public library or school library of her choice!
Stay tuned for more contests!
a peek at the creative space of jj johnson
"creative spaces" interview by writerjenn:
July 18, 2011
Excerpt: Describe your workspace.
My workspace is my MacBook Air and an imaginary bubble surrounding me. As much as I’d love a home office with an antique desk, bookshelves, art, and dappled sunlight filtering through the windows, that is so not my reality. My house is too tiny for an office, and my daily obligations wouldn’t allow me to spend time there anyway. So I take my work—and my bubble—with me. I write in coffee shops, at my child’s school, the public library, the dining room table while kids light-saber duel around me...
See the whole interview here.
July 18, 2011
Excerpt: Describe your workspace.
My workspace is my MacBook Air and an imaginary bubble surrounding me. As much as I’d love a home office with an antique desk, bookshelves, art, and dappled sunlight filtering through the windows, that is so not my reality. My house is too tiny for an office, and my daily obligations wouldn’t allow me to spend time there anyway. So I take my work—and my bubble—with me. I write in coffee shops, at my child’s school, the public library, the dining room table while kids light-saber duel around me...
See the whole interview here.
norwich high school alma mater visit, Norwich, NY, May 25, 2011
independent weekly interview
a conversation with j.j. johnson
April 27, 2011
Excerpt: What initially inspired this story?
Obama was campaigning and I was thinking about change and the system, and speaking your mind and free speech. I was thinking, 'What if you grew up outside the system? What if you viewed high school through different eyes?'
And I wanted to look at how free speech can cross the line into bullying, because Evie, our heroine, is very much about free speech and all her rights, but that part of her revolution gets out of control, not in her hands, but in other people’s hands. It’s about the responsibility that comes with free speech, both to your community and to yourself...
See the complete interview here.
April 27, 2011
Excerpt: What initially inspired this story?
Obama was campaigning and I was thinking about change and the system, and speaking your mind and free speech. I was thinking, 'What if you grew up outside the system? What if you viewed high school through different eyes?'
And I wanted to look at how free speech can cross the line into bullying, because Evie, our heroine, is very much about free speech and all her rights, but that part of her revolution gets out of control, not in her hands, but in other people’s hands. It’s about the responsibility that comes with free speech, both to your community and to yourself...
See the complete interview here.
The Regulator Bookshop book launch, April 27, 2011
"that cover girl" - judging a book by its cover
An interview revealing how I really feel about the cover of This Girl is Different.
March 17, 2011
JJ: I really didn’t have a sense of what the cover might look like, and I didn’t give any concept input to Peachtree. The only thing I knew for certain was that I did NOT want what I call a “headless girl body” cover: those YA covers with a photo of a skinny teenager, wearing trendy clothes, whose head is either cropped out of the picture or hidden behind some object. I assume those covers are trying to encourage readers to picture themselves as the heroine (“insert your face here”), but I think they’re very objectifying. Our culture already tells girls to think their bodies and clothes are the most significant part of their identity, and “headless girl body” covers reinforce that idea. What does it say when the heroine of a novel doesn’t have a head worth including on the cover? It’s a subtle message, but it’s unhealthy. Readers need to see whole people, with strong minds and smart brains attached to their healthy bodies....
See the complete interview here.
March 17, 2011
JJ: I really didn’t have a sense of what the cover might look like, and I didn’t give any concept input to Peachtree. The only thing I knew for certain was that I did NOT want what I call a “headless girl body” cover: those YA covers with a photo of a skinny teenager, wearing trendy clothes, whose head is either cropped out of the picture or hidden behind some object. I assume those covers are trying to encourage readers to picture themselves as the heroine (“insert your face here”), but I think they’re very objectifying. Our culture already tells girls to think their bodies and clothes are the most significant part of their identity, and “headless girl body” covers reinforce that idea. What does it say when the heroine of a novel doesn’t have a head worth including on the cover? It’s a subtle message, but it’s unhealthy. Readers need to see whole people, with strong minds and smart brains attached to their healthy bodies....
See the complete interview here.