Merida Johns

May was Stephen King month for my reading diversion!

You might ask (and rightfully so) why thrillers and horror would attract a women's fiction writer. 

It starts with, "Once Upon a Time, a women's fiction writer read Stephen King's Writing: A Memoire of the Craft, which led (horror of horrors) to reading his first novel, which led to reading his last novel . . .

Read the reviews and then the books—if you dare.

May 13, 2021

Review of On Writing: A Memoire of the Craft – 5 stars

Just finished this great read! What a storyteller. The first part of the book is the memoir of the author's early days--I enjoyed this so much and found myself laughing out loud with many passages. I could so relate! The early memoir laid the groundwork for the rest--What is Writing, The Toolbox, and On Writing. Too many words of encouragement and insight to quote. And the book lists: POW! A real gem. Thank you! 

May 17, 2021

Review of Carrie by Stephen King – 5 stars

For me, this was more than a thriller or horror fiction—it is a story whose bedrock is about bias. The author connected the plot by artfully playing on implicit prejudices—biases about difference, privileged teenagers, people in privileged positions (Chris' father), religion, and bad boys, to name a few. The character development of Sue, Rita Desjardins, Tommy, and Henry Grayle, who were able to put themselves into the "other's" shoes, were takeaways and learning lessons . . . but in the end, predispositions overruled knee-jerk reactions and judgment, including those of the main character. The intermingling of dialog, inner dialog, news clippings, letters, interviews, and court proceedings with the third person POV was a strategy that kept the story fresh.

June 1, 2021

Review of Later by Stephen King – 5 Stars

Relationships!  It's all about relationships between parent and child, lovers, siblings, and of course, a psychopath who intrudes and tries to commandeer the life of the story's narrator.   As with other King novels, this is more than a crime thriller or horror story.  The relationship between a single mother and son with its ups and downs rings authentic and beautifully told. The conflict between lovers and the sorrow of lies and betrayal is another facet ripped from everyday life. Extracting the paranormal dimension, the primary antagonist is familiar to any reader who has encountered or lived with an abuser and narcissist. 

As many know, I began writing a novel in late winter of 2018. Writing fiction was always a dream—to use my creativity in imagining and writing about regular people and how they faced and overcame challenges. However, it wasn't until meeting and overcoming a significant medical challenge myself that I put a computer keyboard to a digital screen and started writing my first story, Blackhorse Road. Writing this novel has been a journey of fulfillment, personal introspection, insight, and, yes, a stress reducer.

During this chaotic and uncertain time, polishing off my novel during its last round of copyediting has given me a quiet place to hang out with the book's characters. And my characters, in turn, have provided me with a therapeutic escape and the energy to come back and face the real world.

I think all people have a gift of storytelling—after all, we share stories every day with our family and friends! Give yourself a gift of time to put the computer keyboard to a digital screen and write a story, creating characters that will give you a therapeutic escape and a quiet place to hang out for a while. 

Originally published LinkedIn March 20, 2020

Who is the loathsome villain in Blackhorse Road that makes our protagonist, Luci, shine in the end? 

To avoid a spoiler, I will not share who plays the villain. But I will share the five thresholds that any villain of mine must cross before being worthy of the role!

The first bar is that my villain must be relatable. I ask myself, What is the villain's hook?  What draws the readers to the villain's web?  Who in the reader's life might the villain represent. It could be a crazy uncle, an overcontrolling parent, a bully, an unfaithful spouse, a deceitful friend, a competitive sibling. On the other hand, the villain can easily be an inanimate object that dredges up readers' visceral feelings—a storm, a sickness, a haunted house, an imaginary monster.  Haven't most of us been there?

The next threshold is all about relationships.  My villain has to have a close personal connection with the hero.  Whether the villain is a person or an inanimate object, the relationship between the hero the villain must make the reader feel the connection, too.  The villain must get into the hero's space, in her head, and obstruct her way, and readers must feel the villain getting into their space, in their heads, and obstructing them too.

The villain has to be a strong adversary.  In other words, the villain must be a worthy opponent—no sissies or milk toasts for my heroes!

The villain must push the reader's buttons, making the reader want to reach into the book's pages and shake sense into or evil out of the villain. 

The final threshold is that the villain must evoke readers' empathy—there's something more to villains than painting them in evil. This doesn't mean that readers excuse the villain's behaviors or fail to demand justice for the hero.  Instead, it means that readers must grow with the hero. Readers must walk the same path as the hero in transformation and come to understand the villain's perspective and what makes the villain tick. Blackhorse Road will make readers hate the villain. But it also leaves many breadcrumbs along the hero's path so that readers come to understand the villain and hopefully have a wee bit of empathy for the villain even as they celebrate the hero.

Tony Hoagland, author and poet, writes that "The glory of the protagonist is always paid for by a lot of secondary characters."

In Blackhorse Road, time is not an add on or a placeholder. Instead, it is a secondary character that adds depth and perspective to the protagonist, antagonist, and other secondary characters. 

Stories are about relationships with people, but people also have a relationship with the eras.  I wanted to make those relationships come alive in Blackhorse Road, whether it was a treacherous immigration period, a turbulent social justice era, or a time when many people lost all hope.

Readers tell me that they connect with the different time periods represented in the story in Blackhorse Road. Just as they form relationships with secondary characters that are people, they also form connections with different eras in the story.  For some, the association is most acute surrounding the Irish immigration to Canada between the 1830s and mid-nineteenth century. For others, it is the mid-1960s or even a sliver of time, such as the street dance scene.

Readers might ask, "How do you turn an era into a secondary character?"  I connect people to eras by reading old letters, diaries, or other firsthand accounts of the period. These documents reveal a relationship between a person and an inanimate object, and through this relationship, it becomes easy to turn an era into a secondary character.

It's my hope that that as readers connect with Luci, the protagonist, and Sam, Barry, Shelia, Chris, and the other secondary "people" characters in Blackhorse Road that they also feel a bond with the time eras in which the people in the story lived as well.

The first virtual book club discussion for Blackhorse Road is happening tonight!  So excited to hear the insights and answer the questions from the twelve members who hail from Maryland.  

As soon as I saw this article, I had to share with the readers of Blackhorse Road. "A novel changed the life of Francesca Lo Basso—and there's scientific evidence that she's not alone."

This is exactly what I hoped for Blackhorse Road.  Read the article from The Greater Good Magazine--Science-based Insights for a Meaningful Life

How Reading Fiction Can Shape Our Real Lives

Thrilled with the new review of Blackhorse Road from Our Town Book Reviews: 

"A really nice read. What a picture of life in the 60's. This book deals with so many items, emotions really. From the moment I began to read about the true hardships, the real picture drawn by the people trying to immigrate I wanted to keep reading to see what happened. I wanted to see where this was going to lead. At first I thought the letters would create a back and forth kind of reading confusion. That didn't happen here. Everything centered around Luci in one way or another and the author seemed to be able to weave this story without any confusion, Even no hiccups to my reading which I thought surely would happen. This is an interesting book, suitable for all ages. "

https://www.ourtownbookreviews.com/2020/08/black-horse-road.html

10 Quotes To Live By are highlighted today on the book tour for my novel Blackhorse Road! Thank you to Joanne for giving me the opportunity to share these from the characters in the book to use as fuel to power up your week https://joanneguidoccio.com/2020/08/17/10-quotes-to-live-by/#comment-95839

Blackhorse Road just got its first Amazon review--5 stars!  Check it out on Amazon.

Since its release two weeks ago, I've been receiving emails and texts about readers' reactions to Blackhorse Road.  A theme that seems to be running through the messages is that this is a compelling story that has something in it for everyone.  The characters, events, location, and plot affect readers differently—but there is no doubt that each has come away being transported to an unexpected place within themselves.

Here is a place for readers to post their comments and reactions and to share their Blackhorse Road journey with other Blackhorse Road travelers.