Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Talent Tuesday: Welcome J.R. Lindermuth!




I'm thrilled to have J.R. as a guest for Talent Tuesday. Let's all make him feel warm and welcomed! :)

J.R. Lindermuth started sending stories to magazines when he was in high school. He got great advice and encouragement from a few kind editors, but it wasn’t until much later anything was accepted. Early on, he found his artistic talent led him to believe writing would be more of a sideline.

When he was drafted, the Army decided he had the makings of a journalist and provided training. After, he worked as a copy editor in South Korea for several years, then as a reporter and editor on stateside newspapers until retiring in 2000.

While his articles and short stories appeared in a variety of magazines, he had yet to seriously pursue publication of his novels. A rocky start with an e-publisher that went belly up shortly after publishing his historical mystery novel, “Schlussel’s Woman” didn’t deter him. He believes a writer should/can never give up. Eventually, he went on to publish seven novels, including three in the Sticks Hetrick mystery series:

Something in Common

When a lonely widow finds the severed head of an unknown young woman on her front porch in rural Swatara Creek, Pennsylvania, Police Chief Aaron Brubaker is baffled.


Cruel Cuts


A rash of animal mutilations and a vicious poison pen campaign directed against an ambitious young lawyer lead to murder in a rural Pennsylvania community.

Corruption’s Child

Retired police chief Daniel ‘Sticks’ Hetrick, still serving as unofficial consultant to his less experienced successor, has another murder to deal with in rural Swatara Creek, Pennsylvania


His latest novel, Watch the Hour, explores the turbulent relations between coal mine owners and their Irish employees in the 1870s Pennsylvania anthracite coal region.




The best advice he received came from an artist. As a boy, he wrote Thomas Hart Benton and asked how he could become an artist. Benton replied with one word: “Paint.” Lindermuth believes the same formula applies to writing. The only way to learn is by doing. Practice, perseverance and confidence.

When J.R. Lindermuth isn’t writing, reading or drawing, he enjoys spending time with his son, daughter and four grandsons. Aside from traveling, he likes walking, especially in the woods and mountains around his home. As the librarian of the county historical society, he helps patrons research their genealogy and is working extensively on his own. He’s fascinated by languages and has dabbled with Spanish, Korean, German, Hebrew and Japanese among others.

Where you can find him on the internet:

Jack's Place:
http://jlind11.tripod.com

MySpace:
www.myspace.com/jlind11

Blog:
http://jrlindermuth.blogspot.com

Author Page:
http://whiskeycreekpress.com/authors/JRLindermuth.shtml

6 comments:

June said...

Hi J.R. - wow, your books sound interesting. I'm going to check out your last one. (I taught for two years in the coal mining area of south western Virginia.)

Can you share with us your writing process?

(And thanks Jenny for having J.R. on your Talent Tuesday!)

Take care,
June

jrlindermuth said...

Thanks, June.
I'm not an outliner--at least not one who needs to know where a story is going from page one to the end.
Generally, I start with a character in a situation and build from there. Along the way I may jot down a few notes on scenes, descriptions, characters to build on later. But I like to be surprised. If I know too much in advance it tends to kills the momentum.

June said...

Thanks for the response!

Do you have a certain time of day that you write? A certain place?

How do you handle revision?

Take care,
June

jrlindermuth said...

Writing regularly--hopefully daily--is more important to me than the time of day. When I was working a regular job it was more likely to be in the evening. Now it's whenever I have the opportunity to get to the desk. And a lot of 'writing' takes place in the mind as you're thinking about a work in progress throughout the day.
Revision is a necessary and important part of the process. You do a first draft and then you refine it in addiional drafts. It continues after you submit it and then engage in give and take with your editor.

J.R. Turner said...

Thanks so much for spending your day with me, John. I'm sorry that it wasn't more busy. I'd love to have you back when the blog starts jumping again, if that'd be okay with you.

Loved reading your exchange with June ;) I hope that as quiet as it was (we did have over 60 hits today though :) ) you still enjoyed your time here.

Thanks bunches!
Warmly,
Jenny:)

June said...

Thanks, Jenny, for having J.R. visiting on Tuesday. I enjoyed his answers and am always interested in how an author "operates."

Thanks, J.R. for responding to my questions.

Take care,
June