John A. Heldt

For me, each new novel begins not with a keystroke on my laptop but rather with a book, a web site, or even a movie. It begins with an effor...

When it comes to reading thrillers, I must admit I’m a creature of habit. I am far more likely to read the ninth novel of an author I like t...

As a blogger and an author, I am occasionally invited to participate in activities designed to raise the profiles of bloggers and authors. S...

If there is one thing I’ve learned about readers in the past five years, it’s that they like books in bunches. So for the second time in two...

Like every other writer on the planet, I am often advised to write what I know. For more than five years, I have proudly ignored that advice...

I remember the day like it was yesterday. I clicked a button on a web page in the morning, waited impatiently for several hours, and finally...

The first thing I learned when creating the American Journey series was that writing a series was much different than writing a single nove...

I have never been a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. All too often, they are not realistic. They are things we should file under "...

One of the things I like most about this time of year is that people and organizations focus more on disparities in society and the needs of...

Fifty-five days after telling others I would not begin writing the fifth American Journey book until January 1, I have finished its first dr...

There is nothing like bringing a series to an end to focus the mind. Authors pay more attention to details and getting it right because they...

I am not a fast reader. I almost never finish a book before it’s due at the library and usually max out my renewals before bringing it back....

Like a lot of people, I love time travel. I’ve written nine time-travel novels and read or watched everything from A Sound of Thunder , Time...

I don’t watch a lot of movies these days. One reason is that I don’t take the time to watch them. Another is that I don’t find current offer...

In every series there is usually one novel the author looks forward to writing the most. For some, it’s the first book, the one that sets th...

She is usually the first person I consult on writing matters and the contributor I trust the most. She is the person most likely to recogniz...

It took seven weeks, a lot of sweat, and some swearing at the cat (just kidding), but I finally got it done. The first draft of Class of ’59...

Those who know me well know that I rarely keep my word when I say I will take a long break between books. The temptation to jump into the ne...

There’s a reason Sandra Brown , author of more than 50 New York Times bestsellers, is still going strong 35 years after publishing her firs...

As a reader for the past couple of years, I have really been a listener. More often than not, I have selected audiobooks over print and digi...

One of the things I enjoy most about writing time-travel novels set in twentieth-century America is learning about the people, customs, and ...

If there is one thing I’ve learned in four years as an indie author, it’s that people like certain things in the books they read. They like ...

As one who came of age in the early 1980s, I remember what writing was like before Microsoft Word, spell check, and the Internet. I remember...

When it comes to movies and books, I’m not a first-run or first-edition kind of guy. I will almost always wait until the works are inexpensi...

According to a saying popularized by newspapers, a picture is worth a thousand words. It can say things that even a hundred words cannot. It...

I barely remember the first time I read Of Mice and Men . It was one of those classics I read in school because I had to. As a teen in the 1...