Book Stop Corner

Welcome to an all new Author Q&A Session and today we have M.J. Johnson, who is here to talk about his life, his incredible books, and a lot beyond books! So scroll before to know more about this author.

Read the review of Roadrage
Read the review of Niedermayer & Hart







Me: Hello and welcome to my blog, Martin. Congratulations on your new book, Roadrage. Can you tell us briefly about the story behind Roadrage?

Martin: Hi Aditi, I am delighted to be asked to contribute to your blog. I’m so very glad you enjoyed reading Roadrage. The story’s background briefly: the book concerns a man called Gil Harper who at the start of the story is driving home after Christmas lunch with his late wife’s parents. His wife died in a tragic accident some five years before, and Gil has spent much of the interim time in a sort of reclusive mourning. He is only now starting to rebuild his life again. The weather on the motorway is dreadful and most people have heeded the warnings not to travel issued by the emergency services. Gil encounters another car on the road whose driver wants to goad him into some reckless games of brinkmanship. It is terrifying and, considering the road conditions, very dangerous. Poor Gil is badly shaken by the experience but reaches home safely and puts it out of his mind. However, very shortly afterwards he finds his personal property has been damaged. The attacks soon escalate and appear to become more personally motivated. It soon becomes clear that the assailant will stop at nothing to hurt Gil. We start to suspect those around Gil as the cause of these attacks: his new flame, Sally; her ex-lover Michael; various friends and acquaintances. Yet, we wonder too if the onslaught is personal at all, or whether Gil has simply been the random target of someone filled with hate. We are privy to the assailant’s diary entries and are given some insight into the state of his mind.


Me: What/who was the inspiration behind your book, Roadrage?

Martin: The basic idea for the story came to me very early (about 3.00am) one morning: I was driving on a motorway and my wife and son were both asleep in the car, I overtook the only other car in sight that was driving very slowly on an otherwise deserted road,and although at my increasing speed I should have quickly sailed past, I suddenly realized they were still alongside - the faster I went, the faster he went, when I sped up, so did he. I found myself  almost involuntarily racing against him (or her, I never actually saw the driver), but then I came to my senses and thought, “What am I doing, my loved-ones are asleep in this car ... am I prepared to risk their safety for the sake of challenging an idiot?” I immediately slowed down and pulled in behind the other car. The driver responded at once, dropping his speed and forcing me to sit on his tail at 40mph for the next few miles before I took my exit. He clearly enjoyed the control he was exerting over me. Fortunately, I had been very close to the end of my long journey when the encounter took place.I put this personal experience together with an idea sparked off in a long telephone conversation I had with a friend on the subject of revenge and hate. I personally find the underlying concept behind Roadrage very scary - it contains no supernatural shenanigans like there are in Niedermayer & Hart , but I believe, as do many of its readers, that it is in many ways an altogether darker, more frightening book.


Me: When did you begin writing? And how will you describe your journey as an author so far?

Martin: I’d always intended to write at some stage in my life. I was a keen writer as a boy at school and as a young actor in my twenties I wrote a few comedy scripts with friends. These were generally received quite well and several TV producers encouraged us to keep going until we sold something. Then one or other of us generally went off somewhere to work and the project would be postponed or abandoned. I didn’t consider I had the stamina or self-discipline required for writing a novel until some years later.I first wrote Niedermayer & Hart over a decade ago. I sent it off to a major publishing house and they got back in touch and told me they were very interested.  I was taken out to lunch by one of their editors. They assured me that they were very keen, however, horror wasn't doing very well in the UK back then. To cut a long story short, after well over a year of humming and having they changed their mind. Back then self-publishing wasn't an option - ebooks and digital printing have since then democratized publishing.  I felt pretty crestfallen and didn't write anything again for six years. Then I started again - updated and redrafted Niedermayer & Hart and brought it out under our own imprint Odd Dog Press, as a print book and ebook. I didn't even attempt to find a publisher for Roadrage - it's published in the same way. If my books ever get traditionally published, it’ll be because they came looking for me - I’m not being conceited or grand, I simply refuse to put myself through that ordeal again.


Me: Your debut book, Niedermayer & Hart, has an unusual plot. Can you tell us briefly about it and what was your inspiration behind Niedermayer & Hart?

Martin: The basic premise for Niedermayer & Hart grew out of a nightmare I had when I was about fifteen. I remember telling a friend that I'd had a terrifying dream that I thought would make a great horror movie.It was of course many years later when I actually developed the story. I wanted to make the book a page-turner,  a ‘ripping yarn’ and thoroughly good read, rather than just a straightforward horror story. It is set in the recent and more distant (medieval) past. I personally love to be intrigued by a book, and the writer in me likes the idea of making the reader think, “How on earth is ‘he’(me I mean!) going to reconcile the two very different strands of this story in only another hundred and fifty pages?”  The book’s main theme is courage and friendship in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. A few readers have told me they felt (metaphorically speaking) like punching the air and yelling at times whilst reading the book - this was definitely the response I was after!


Me: Niedermayer & Hart sounds like a book which required a lot of research. How did you do it?

Martin: Research is vital for the credibility of any book and there’s no short cuts really, it is simply a lot of graft. It cannot be avoided at any cost. However, I think the really important thing I’ve learnt about researching is to be ruthlessly focused on the needs of the story, and avoid getting bogged down in what may be extremely interesting or indeed edifying material that isn’t absolutely vital to the tale I’m trying to tell. Always double, or better still, triple-check your facts! I’m very lucky to have a wife who loves doing any kind of research. She has been a great help in both this area and with story continuity, proof reading etc. 


Me: How much time did it take to finish your debut novel? Was it an excruciating process or a thoroughly reliving process?

Martin: I wrote it in three or four drafts over about a year. I simply love the process of writing, making each sentence flow and blend comfortably in a paragraph. I am quite ruthless about cutting what I deem is redundant or unnecessary within the storyline. The stuff I write is most certainly story-led, however, it’s my aim not to make either the writing or the tale too simplistic. An editor at a major publishing house once told me that, “Readers of commercial fiction aren’t interested in the ‘human condition’” - I fundamentally disagree with this statement.


Me: Tell us one trait of each of your protagonists, Jim Latimer and Gil Harper, that intrigue you the most.

Martin: Both my main protagonists are men on the edge: Jim is trying to deal with an addiction problem to alcohol, he’s no longer drinking but is still in a pretty raw, confused and disorientated state; Gil Harper is a kind and gentle-hearted man who at the start of Roadrage is still grieving the loss of his wife and child. What they have in common is a natural resilience, to fight on once the chips are down. They are both unlikely heroes, I wanted to make them feel like real people - the kind of people it’s good to know exist.


Me: How can you describe your normal writing day like? And how do you unwind after a long day's work?

Martin: I work methodically. I start at 9.00am (I’d start earlier but I’m no use to man nor beast before 9!) and when I’m working on a first draft I keep at it, breaking for only a short lunch, until I’ve produced a minimum of two-thousand words. I expect to produce an appropriate amount of text with any subsequent drafts - usually a minimum of four or five drafts. A day’s work is generally somewhere between five and seven hours. I used to work my first drafts in long-hand but now I do all my writing on a keyboard. I’m borderline dyslexic (I only discovered this out after I’d written N & H) and I’m so much faster on a computer, and I’ve noticed no deterioration in quality, and possibly an improvement. I have a reliable team of friends who help with proof-reading - a fresh pair of eyes is essential - it’s very difficult to proof-read your own work.


Me: What's next up on your writing sleeves? Can you tell us briefly about it?

Martin: Last year I completed a first draft of the follow-on book to Niedermayer & Hart. I wanted N & H when it came out to look like a stand-alone title, just in case it didn’t go down very well with readers, so I didn’t give any hint that I’d always planned for it to be the first part of a bigger story.


Me: Thank you Martin for sparing time to have this interview with me. I can only wish you luck in all your future endeavors.

Martin: Thanks to you too Aditi for inviting me along to your blog. Incidentally, I was very impressed by the quality of your questions - they certainly made me scratch my head a few times in search of answers. Thanks in particular for not asking me what my favourite color is! And finally, thanks for taking the time and trouble to read both my novels and for writing excellent reviews for them. I just can’t tell you how vitally important reader reviews and blogs like this one are for us indie writers. I can only reciprocate, Aditi, by sending you the same good wishes you directed towards me in all your future endeavors.
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Martin's Bio:


Martin was born in South Wales. He trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and has worked extensively in all areas of the theatrical profession. He is married and has one son. 'Niedermayer & Hart', a supernatural thriller, is his first book. His most recent novel, a psychological thriller called 'Roadrage', is now available. He is working on a new book but he still isn't talking about this yet.
















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