You know, creativity is a strange and wonderful thing. It refuses to be put in a box, at least for me. I've always been a writer. That's what I tell people who meet me and see all the books I've published: "How long have I been writing? Well, 13 years professionally ... but I've 'been a writer' all my life." But back in the day, I also used to draw a lot. Both of my parents are painters -- not the kind who paint houses, but the kind who make and sell art to hang on walls. Both of my kids are...
7 days ago • 9 min read
This is super fun! I've got two new updates to share: One about my first series, and one about my newest project, which returns to one of my oldest story worlds. First update: VAMPIRES You know my super-popular (and oldest) series, Fat Vampire? The one that's sold a million copies? The series that was bought by SyFy and turned into a TV show called Reginald the Vampire? The TV show in which I TEEEEEEECHNICALLY have a cameo -- appearing for upwards of four seconds as the essential character...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Happy Saturday! You're going to absolutely love this. I tried to do one thing and ended up with something so much cooler. Something that you, as one of my faithful readers, will dig the hell out of. As part of the promo blitz for my new book (don't get excited; I wrote this one for authors), I asked my friend and constant collaborator Sean Platt to join me for a little recorded discussion. The goal was to chat about how we Sean and I had ALWAYS broken rules as a writing team -- NEVER obeyed...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
I got an email from a reader named Dana the other day, asking a question about whether I “see” my stories in my head as I write them. I wasn’t sure at first. It took some thinking. Because yes, I sort of see them … but not in the same way I saw this in my living room at the time: Rico thinks he's a lot smaller than he actually is. I told Dana that it’s actually both ways for me. Which was intriguing, because I’d never thought about it before — and because it doesn’t make much sense that I...
2 months ago • 2 min read
I’m doing something completely new for me in about a month … and this comes after doing about a billion OTHER new-for-me things over the past year and a half. You’d think there wouldn’t be any new things left, but it turns out they just keep coming. My current new thing is: I’m attending a Comic Con to sell my books. It’s both exciting and intimidating. I sell live all the time, but this will be my first convention … and cons have different rules — and require different setup equipment — than...
3 months ago • 2 min read
A friend and avid reader (Hi, Rachel!) asked me a curious question the other day ... one I'm not asked very often. It was: Do you [meaning me: Johnny] read other books? Or does it burn you out after writing your own books all day long? It's a fair question ... and a loaded one for me, because one of my favorite for-authors books is Stephen King's On Writing, and in that book King says that writers absolutely must read. He's pretty clear about how he feels. In his mind, people who don't read...
3 months ago • 3 min read
The other day I got an email from a reader named Greg, who asked about the kind of thing we authors never expect but absolutely love. He said: "For the very first time, I discovered I could buy your books directly from you ... Henceforth, that will be my process for your stuff." (He then went on to say how much he hates the word "henceforth." But I digress.) I was super pleased by Greg's email -- not only because he'd bought a book (which is always great) or because he'd bought it directly...
3 months ago • 4 min read
Hey everyone! I'm just now getting my wits back about me. Last weekend I set up a booth at the Pecan Street Festival here in Austin, and it was both exhausting and exhilarating. But more about that in a second. You're readers, so although I'm sure you're super interested in my comings and goings (or possibly not at all), you're more interested in books. So first, an update on that. My new trilogy I mentioned a few weeks ago that Sean Platt and I have started writing together again after a...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Hey there, Austin peeps! I wanted to let you know that I'll be at the Pecan Street Festival this weekend (May 3rd and 4th). It's a cool affair with live music, rides, all sorts of activities, and of course tons of local craftspeople like me. If you'd like to get out of the house for some awesome festival fun, I hope you'll come out and see me again! This year, they're holding the Festival at the Hill Country Galleria in Bee Cave rather than its traditional location on 6th Street, formerly...
5 months ago • 2 min read
One interesting thing about meeting readers face-to-face like I've been doing lately is the instant, two-way nature of our interactions. It's a different experience than the asynchronous, often-one-way street of email that I'm used to. I don't just "broadcast and wait" like I do when I send these newsletters. Nope -- live people actually tend to talk right back at me. Go figure. They react to my books. They show interest. More often than not, they tell me that they like to read "all sorts of...
5 months ago • 4 min read