This is a sign from the zoo in Gelsenkirchen. The wrongness inspires.

Author Interview: Tom Johnson

S. I. Hayakawa once said, "It is not true that we have only one life to live; if we can read, we can live as many more lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish." One of Tom Johnson’s favorite quotes, he has certainly created many lives to live in his collection of published books. Tom who mostly writes fantasy, superhero, and mystery books took some time to answer some questions for Books to Read. 1. When did you know you wanted to write books? Tom: I’ve had the writing bug since about age 10 when I tried to write and draw a horror comic book story. In the early 1960s I was stationed with the US Army in France and working as desk sergeant for the MPs. While the units were on patrol, keeping the world safe from communism, I started creating characters and writing short action scenes, but now I was interested in jungle stories like Tarzan – I had recently discovered Edgar Rice Burrough. 2. What was your first book published? Give a brief synopsis. Tom: My first published book was a non-fiction in 1980 when I researched a popular hero character from the pulps, an early spy called Secret Agent X. But if you wish, let’s go back a bit. Remember those slow nights I tried to create fiction in France? Well, after a tour in the jungles of Vietnam in 1970 the writing bug wouldn’t leave me alone and I took some of those characters and plots I created in France and wrote two SF novels in pencil, Jur: A Story of Pre-Dawn Earth and Savage Land of Jur. I had the first story typed into manuscript and made copies and sent them to SF publishers. The rejection slips started coming in just as fast as I mailed them out. So I stuck the manuscripts in a drawer and concentrated on learning the writing craft. Through the 1970s I wrote articles for magazines, and newspaper columns, and it was during this time that my first book was published, the non-fiction research into Secret Agent X. 3. What inspired you to write the story? Tom: I had been collecting the pulp literature of the 1930s & ‘40s, and noticed that little was really known about some of the early magazine heroes of that period, and the magazines were still cheap and fairly easy to obtain, so I bought complete runs of most of the character pulps and started reading and researching them. My wife and I also started a hobby magazine called ECHOES in 1982 under our new imprint, FADING SHADOWS. ECHOES quickly picked up readers from the US, Canada, Europe, Africa, and Japan, and fans of the old pulp magazines began contributing articles and art. We published ECHOES for 22 years, ending in December 2004. In 1995, we had started fiction magazines also under the FADING SHADOWS imprint, and these also ran until December 2004, a run of nine years with new stories in the pulp tradition. I was also writing new stories during this period, and in 2002, after a suffered a stroke, I rewrote that first JUR novel with the help western author, James Reasoner, and submitted it again. It was finally accepted and the publisher wanted the second novel, and a third. After a lot of rewrites I was finally publishing those old plots I created in France so long ago. 4. What was your feeling the first time you held your first published book in your hands? Tom: Well, of course, I bought a lot of extra copies to give to all my family and friends. I had struggled to become a writer, and to finally see a book in my hand, whether the 1980 non-fiction on Secret Agent X, or the 2002 fiction novel, Jur: A Story of Pre-Dawn Earth, my dream had finally come through. 5. What is you latest book? Brief synopsis. Tom: Several more of my non-fiction research books were eventually published, as well as more novels, short story collections, and anthologie. My most recent fiction novel is The Man In The Black Fedora, which has been receiving some nice reviews. “Crime is on the rise in New York. Teams of professional thieves rob an art gallery and museum, while across town hoodlums murder elderly shop owners. From the chaos rises a new hero! His team will challenge the underworld for a reckoning.” 6. Are you working on anything now? Tom: I’m writing children stories right now. A Canadian publisher is preparing his 5th anthology, and I’ve been writing for his anthologies since Volume 3, with several stories per volume 7. What did you want to be “when you grow up” as a child? If it changes explained why your aspirations evolved. Tom: I wanted to be an entomologist while in high school, but a poor boy wasn’t going to college without money. I joined the Army for a couple of reasons, the first was to get away from ranch and farm life. My dad was a cowboy and wanted me to follow in his footsteps. The Army was a better choice for me than working a life as a cowboy. The Army put me in the MPs, and I liked Army life, and decided to make a career in the military, thus I never continued my schooling for entomology or paleontology (another deep love). However, I never lost my interest, either, and readers will find something about both entomology and dinosaurs in my books. 8. Anyone(s) who you contribute to you wanting to be a writer? Tom: The great writers of the pulp magazines, and that includes Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan), Robert E. Howard (Conan), Lester Dent (Doc Savage), Walter B. Gibson (The Shadow), and the classics like Call of The Wild, White Fang, Treasure Island, etc. 9. What advice would you give someone who wants to publish their first book? Tom: Never give up. If you’ve got the writing bug, there is no hope for you, you are going to be a writer, so tough it out. You’ll make it. Look how long it took me. 10. With the knowledge you have now about publishing books what advice would you give yourself years back when you first started? Tom: Take writing courses. Learn the in-roads to writing, and read the genre you want to write. 11. Where can we find you and your books (website, email, social media, etc.) Tom: Website http://jur1.brinkster.net/index.html FADING SHADOWS http://fadingshadowsbooks.blogspot.com Amazon Page https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008MM81CM Face Book https://www.facebook.com/tomginger.johnson

6 Creative Self-Isolation Activities That Don’t Involve a Binge Watch

As more cities go into lockdown mode and more people around the world retreat into their homes, there’s been a proliferation of recommendations online of books, movies and television shows to breeze through while in self-isolation (you can find our own guide here). But as it becomes increasingly likely that this period of social distancing will continue for at least the next few weeks, it’s time to start thinking of things we can do to pass the time that don’t involve turning on the TV. Read on for a list of self-isolation activities that will challenge your mind, engage your hands and offer a respite from the binge sesh on your couch.

Learn a new skill

Now’s a great time to fire up that Duolingo or Babbel app and refresh your knowledge of whichever foreign language you studied back in high school or college, or even learn an all-new language you’ve always dreamed of being able to speak fluently. According to LiveScience, “learning a second language may help improve brain function regardless of when you start.” If you’ve always wanted to learn how to draw or paint, order a box of supplies online or turn to the myriad apps available on the iPad to get you started, like Procreate, Linea Sketch and Paper by WeTransfer. If you’ve got kids in the house, keep them entertained with New York Times-bestselling author and illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s daily series that teaches young children how to draw.

Play some brain games

Classic board games—Scrabble, Pictionary, Monopoly—make for great screen-free activities during this period of self-isolation. You could also do a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle with the whole family, challenge your roommate or partner to a game of chess, or play a competitive game like Taboo or Charades. For a solitary activity that still challenges the brain, sign up for the daily New York Times Crossword, available to Times subscribers at 50% off, for 4 CAD/month or 24 CAD/year.

Take up a craft

Make your self-isolation activities productive. Take up needlework, knitting or any other craft-based activity that involves your hands. We Are Knitters, a Canadian knitting company, sells a variety of kits for petit point, crochet and of course knitting, that include needles, yarn and pattern instructions. Toronto’s Rose City Goods offers a DIY Quilting Kit, which is available for purchase online at a discounted price of 54 CAD. The DIY Kit includes a cotton quilt top, cotton batting, two spools of cotton thread and sewing instructions.

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In @kristinfraley’s words: “my workplace is closed for the next few weeks so I’m just catching up on a few projects I have here at home 🌿” #StayAtHome #ChooseJoy

A post shared by WAK 🐑✌🏻 (@weareknitters) on Mar 17, 2020 at 3:05pm PDT

Take online classes

Services like Coursera and Skillshare offer free online classes on a range of subjects, such as animation, creative writing and philosophy. For Ivy League-worthy classes, turn to EdX, which offers free online courses from 140 leading institutions like Harvard and MIT. For something a bit lighter, check out Daily Art, a free app that essentially functions as a mini crash-course in art history. Every day, it presents users with a new work of art—ranging from classic to contemporary—along with a short explanation of the story behind the artwork. The app is available in a range of languages, including Korean, Polish and French.

Take up a home organization project

You know that household chore you’ve been putting off for months? Now might be the time to actually do it. Whether that’s reorganizing your pantry, doing a spring clean of your closet to figure out what you’d like to keep vs donate, repotting your plants, organizing your bookshelves or sorting out that junk drawer (everyone’s got one)—there’s never been a better time to dive in. For some great DIY home ideas, follow blogs like Vintage Revivals and I Spy DIY for inspiration and useful tips.

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Are you as obsessed with caning as the rest of the design world!? GOOD!! I’ve got a tutorial on the blog today for this cane panel wall that we built for @real_simple and we are diving deep into the how to! It’s one of my favorite projects ever and I am itching to do more caning soon!! What do you think, is this something you’d try!?Tutorial is linked in my profile! . #fearlessdiy #diy #realsimple #sodomino #showemyourdiy #masterbedroom #bohostyle

A post shared by Mandi Gubler | Fearless DIYer (@vintagerevivals) on Feb 13, 2020 at 2:05pm PST

Soak up some culture

Museums, theatres and concert venues may be closed for the foreseeable future but that doesn’t mean we can’t still get our culture fix. Musicians like John Legend and Neil Young have taken to live-streaming concerts from their living rooms, while The Metropolitan Opera in New York is offering a free opera stream every night. “We’d like to provide some grand opera solace to opera lovers in these extraordinarily difficult times,” the Met’s General Manager, Peter Gelb, said in a press release. “Every night, we’ll be offering a different complete operatic gem from our collection of HD presentations from the past 14 years.” Meanwhile, museums like the Guggenheim in New York, the Musee d’Orsay in Paris and the Tokyo National Museum offer free virtual tours, so you can experience their magic from the comfort of your couch. You can also go inside Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum and the Vancouver Art Gallery using Google Street View, and check out virtual exhibits from some of Canada’s other cultural institutions here.

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