John A. Heldt

As one who often writes about the things I've done and places I've visited, I rarely let an experience go to waste. Even when I can...

To many novelists, World War II is like catnip. With endless themes, storylines, and possibilities, it is a subject they can’t resist. I k...

The book has aged well. Even four decades after its initial release, it remains the definitive work on a defining American moment. That wa...

The question is as old as fiction itself. In a novel and other works of literature, which is more important? Writing or story? Depending o...

As book venues go, Coronado, California, is one that never gets old. Brimming with beaches, boats, shops, charming houses, funky trees, and...

The slogan, popular on motivational posters, tee shirts, and coffee mugs, has been at the forefront of my mind for weeks. "Three mont...

I rarely read books twice. There are simply too many new ones to waste time on old ones. I prefer discovery to rediscovery. On occasion, t...

As an indie author, I never tire of being recognized by those who have traveled the same road. So I was delighted to learn that London-based...

I don't play chess. I haven't in years. I haven't since the fifth grade, when I joined and briefly participated in a school ches...

In The Great Gatsby , F. Scott Fitzgerald depicted the Roaring Twenties in sharp contrasts. "The parties," he observed, "were...

The holidays are under way. No matter where you look, you can see the trappings of the season. Those of us who cannot see snow or Christmas ...

I like history. I like studying it, writing about it, and visiting it -- or at least visiting the places where it was made. For that reason,...

The first draft is the easy one. It's the rough, unpolished blob a writer pushes out in a manic frenzy. It's the tentative opening a...

The questions from readers usually begin with why. Why so many characters in your books? Why so many points of view? Why so many settings an...

Artists, it is said, are only as good as their tools. With good ones, they can soar. With bad ones, they can't leave the ground. Write...

For years, I've had a fascination with the 1920s. I don't know if it began when I read The Great Gatsby , watched people dance the C...

When it comes to selecting settings, I am a creature of habit. I usually pick the time and place of a novel weeks, if not months, in advance...

Even now, I can rattle off the names like days of the week: Wallace. Galveston. Princeton. Evansville. Gulf Shores. Chattanooga. Flagstaff. ...

According to an old proverb, too many cooks spoil the broth. While that may be true with some things, I have not found it to be true when ar...

I have been in this position before. When writing Mercer Street in 2015, I had to contend with the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs, you may recall...

Since joining the ranks of the sheltered in place, I have noticed the little things. Clean air. Quiet streets. Fewer planes in the sky. The ...

Let me say first, I feel fortunate. Unlike many who are struggling in these desperate times, my wife and I have the resources to weather the...

For someone obsessed with time travel, I took my time getting around to the gold standard of the genre. I didn't read Outlander , publis...

I admit I considered another course. After writing the Carson Chronicles, an exhaustive five-book set, I was ready for a change. But as I ...

Like others, I suspect, I put this one off. I prefer other genres and wasn't eager to jump into a long novel when I was in the middle of...

The row houses of F Street were more colorful and ornate. Ford's Theatre had a smaller lobby and a bigger stage. Even the forests of Nor...