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MEET JOHN HICKS
by Bonnie O'Brian

Is there anything about yourself that you’d like to share - hobbies, where you were born, special talents other than writing, what other jobs you had before you became a writer?

John Hicks

Not unlike most writers today, I have a day job that allows me the luxury to also write. For the past 21 years I’ve been a firefighter/paramedic for Los Angeles City Fire Department. Not only does this keep me physically active, it also gives me inspiration for my writing career. Two of my books are tied closely with my experiences as a firefighter.

If you didn’t write as a child, then when did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

I was a late bloomer. Though I had written a little in high school, I didn’t start writing seriously until my mid-thirty’s. My neighbor was in the entertainment business, and every weekend we would talk about the current movies that were out in theaters. I would always comment about the number of sequels that they made and that I had my own original idea for a movie in my head. So, I started writing it down. Soon though, what I thought would be a ten or twenty page treatment or idea for a movie, quickly grew into a hundred and ninety-two pages. Thus, my writing career began.

Do you work on more than one book at a time?  

Yes! I find the more I write, the more active my imagination becomes. I sometimes get stuck. I like writing two books at once, because when I get stuck on a part in one book, I simply work on the other book until I can work out the problem in the first one.  

Do you write every day and do you have set hours that you work?

I write when the moment strikes me. It could be at three in the morning, or even during down time at the fire station. I always keep a pad of paper with me because I find an idea not written down is soon easily forgotten. I seem to get most of my ideas, however, early in the morning, but I write my best after dinner.  

What do you most want the students to get out of your school visits?

The thing I hope most that my students take away from one of my presentations is the thought that they too have the ability to write a book. All they have to do is start reading on a regular basis. I truly believe a good reader with the right inspiration can be a good, if not great writer!

 Have any of your fiction stories been about real people or events?

Yes and no. In my book, THE GHOST OF FIRE COMPANY 18, I used a lot of my own experiences as firefighter for the action sequences; however, I changed them slightly to fit the characters and the settings. In all my books I try and convey my true feelings about life, using my own children and the feelings I have for them for inspiration.

 Which of your books did you most enjoy writing?

Just like a parent, I think about my books the way I think about my children. It is hard to pick a favorite. I would have to say, however, my first book, DIVIDED WORLD was the most fun to write. Not only did I have the entire book in my head which made it easier to write, it also opened up the world of literature to me that changed how I viewed certain things. Now instead of having to enjoy an entire book or a whole movie, I now find pleasure in taking away only one or two lines from them that I know was pure inspiration for that screenwriter or author to write.

 When is your next book going to be in book stores?

I hope to have the next book out by spring. It is titled, THE DAY CHARLIE LOST HIS WEIRDNESS. I am just finishing up the editing stages and have the artist working on the cover art.