Facebook is a funny thing. I’ve got a love / hate relationship with it. Some days I get all annoyed about its non-privacy policies, while on other days I’m thrilled to stay in touch with old friends.
John Mulhall
Johnny Mulhall is an old buddy from junior high. We were in the same classes, including student government all through high school. I had a horrid perm with huge bangs….and he had an equally bad mullet. I can say that, right?
He runs a busy marketing agency, catering to clients’ needs for event planning, commercials, social media, multi-media and more.
Johnny has always been very creative, so I wasn’t surprised to see that he’d started writing a book. And just a few months later, he self-published it, making it look super easy for just about anyone to do. I’m sure it’s not, but let’s just pretend it is!
Enjoy the Q&A!
How long have we known each other?
I’m pretty sure we met in Junior High. So…almost thirty years? But, is that possible? We’re not that old, are we? [laughs]
How’d you get into the event production business?
Well, as you might remember, I started a mobile DJ business in high school. So, I was always on the periphery of large events. I was always around that industry….used to it. Then, in the mid-90’s, I started working on the multimedia side of an event company as a video editor. I did that for about a year or so before moving on to other jobs within the video production industry. In 2004, I was presented with an opportunity to join a mid-sized events company as the Vice-President of Multimedia, and I found that I had kind of naturally developed some skill sets that applied to both producing and directing corporate events, awards shows, that kind of thing. I did that for a few years. Now I run a creative agency, Mothership Creative, and we tend to support a very broad range of creative needs, so offering events just seemed like a natural idea.
What moment do you recall as being ‘the’ moment that inspired you to become a writer?
Star Wars, even though I didn’t know it at the time. Seeing the original Star Wars in the theater in 1977 inspired me to be a storyteller. The realization that I’d be telling those stories through writing, however…that came later.
Geddy’s Moon by John Mulhall
Your book, Geddy’s Moon, is 20 years in the making. What took so long??!!!
[laughs] Well, the short answer is: I just wasn’t ready back then. I started the story, the outlines, I knew the characters, but I wasn’t ready to properly convey the mature emotions that needed to be conveyed at a few points in the book. I wasn’t ready to knuckle down and do the work. And I wasn’t ready for the criticism. Back then, I didn’t connect with the idea that everything is subjective. Criticism of my story was akin to criticism of me as a person. Now, I know better.
What’s the inspiration behind the story?
I usually tend to take several different story ideas and toss them in a pot together, let them simmer, and then see what soup comes out of it. So, of course, there are several inspirations for Geddy’s Moon as well. However, the main plot line was inspired by a college psychology class. We were studying psychogenic fugues, which are now more commonly referred to as dissociative fugues. These are instances where people suffer amnesia, usually after a severe trauma, and sometimes wander off in that state. Sometimes, they even construct new identities, whole new lives. I found myself wondering what thing could be so awful that someone would just delete their life. And my mind tends to manufacture creepy answers to questions like that.
Why is that? Was it all the Stephen King you read in elementary school? 🙂
Oh, Stephen King has got to be at least somewhat to blame, sure. [laughs] Along with Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon. H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, Richard Matheson, C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl; I could go on and on. But, I also feel like I was equally inspired by Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, George Lucas, Quentin Tarantino, Frank Capra, and Alfred Hitchcock, just to name a few others. I think you’ll find those influences in my writing as well. Movies and books are just different mediums in which to tell stories. I’ve been told I write cinematically, which doesn’t shock me because I really love movies. Truly though, it’s impossible for me to say who has influenced me the most. I think it changes from week to week, and depends on what I’m writing in that moment. I draw inspiration from a wealth of sources, and I’m grateful for all of them.
Describe the process writing this book was for you. What were your goals, parameters, decisions made along the way?
When I decided to revisit this project – pull it out of the attic and dust it off – I took a very logical and regimented approach. I looked at it as a writing assignment. When you do work for clients, there’s no missing deadlines; if you do, you tend not to work for those clients again in the future. And there’s no allowance for writer’s block. I looked at the process of writing Geddy’s Moon under those terms. I set deadlines and met them. My goal was simply to meet each milestone. One page after another, day after day, and soon you’re done. Some days were torture, and some days were bliss, but I met my schedule. Actually, I ended up being ahead of schedule, all in all; I finished the first draft in 77 days. I knew that my primary objective was completing the book. That’s an accomplishment most people never achieve, so I knew that even if people read it and nodded politely, it was something that I could be proud of. The fact that people really started to respond to it was a fantastic bonus. That meant taking it to the next level.
What has been the biggest surprise about this project?
The enormity of it all. If you had told me a year ago that writing the book would be the easiest part, I wouldn’t have believed you. It’s a crazy process.
Is that because you self-published? Who is Blanket Forts Books? Sounds like something we’ve got going on at our house with the boys every weekend!
Exactly right! [laughs] Yes, I’m self-publishing, or maybe it’s more appropriate to say I’m boutique publishing. Blanket Fort Books is a new publishing company that was formed primarily to publish Geddy’s Moon, but that will likely not be the end of it. Publishing is a shifting business model, right now. The only ones being supported are known commodities, the guaranteed money earners, but that’s not really sustainable. Where are the next big names coming from if they’re not being nurtured? Plus, it just doesn’t make sense for authors to retain so much responsibility and yet relinquish so much ownership. So…Blanket Fort Books came to be.
Were your friends and family supportive? Anything unexpected that happened?
Oh yes, everyone has been very supportive. I’m very fortunate to have the friends and family I do. I just wish my father were alive to see this, because I know that he would be loving it. He was an avid reader his whole life, and this would’ve thrilled him.
Where can we find the book?
Right now, Amazon is the only place to find it; it’s currently only available on Kindle. However, the hardcover and trade paperback versions are right around the corner, and eventually the book will be on other e-formats as well.
Do you have plans to produce a movie?
No, I personally do not. I was fortunate in that I got to tell the story I wanted to tell in the manner I wanted to tell it. That being said, I would be very open to seeing someone else adapt it for the big screen. That would be fun. But I’d want to be in the audience for that.
Is there another book in the works?
Several, actually. But my life is so crazy busy, it’s going to come down to a matter of demand. If people end up wanting more, I have much more to say. If not, this has been a fun ride, and I’ll shift my focus, and move on to tell other stories in other ways.
What suggestions do you have for those interested in writing a manuscript?
Well, of course, they need to have a story to tell. Then they need to write. It’s really as simple as that. Writing classes, seminars, how-to books…those are all fine. But, at some point, you have to dive in and learn by doing. And failing. All of those others things can actually become obstacles to writing if you let them. Writing is the single best thing you can do in order to learn to be a writer.
What’s your top 10 horror reading list?
Misery – Stephen King
Hell House – Richard Matheson
The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson
Red Dragon – Thomas Harris
I Am Legend – Richard Matheson
House of Leaves – Mark Z. Danielewski
Boy’s Life – Robert McCammon
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Ghost Story – Peter Straub
Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury
About meesh
Sounds like you have a passion for Horror and the Paranormal. Geddy’s Moon sounds very interesting. If you write what you are passionate about you put a lot of love into your story. I’m looking forward to reading it.
Thank you! I agree. It’s hugely important to be passionate about your pursuits.
You’ll have to let me know what you think of the book. 🙂