John R.
Beyer spent nearly ten years in law enforcement in Southern California as a street cop, a training officer and a member of the
elite SWAT team. After leaving the force, he continued in public service
entering the field of education. During his tenure, he served as classroom
teacher, school administrator and district administrator, and was an integral
part of the gang and drug force in San Bernardino. While in both worlds he earned a Doctorate in School
Administration and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.
During
all those years, he never gave up the passion for writing – both fiction and
nonfiction. He has been published in numerous magazines, newspapers and the
like for decades, writing on a variety of topics. His latest short stories in
the past year can be found in Foliate Oak Literary Magazine (2016) and GNU
Journal (2017). He is also the author of three highly praised internationally
known novels – Hunted (2013), Soft Target (2014) and Operation Scorpion (2017).
He won
the 'Write Well Award' in October of 2018 from the Silver Pen Writer's
Association for a fictional short story.
His
newest novel, ‘Iquitos – the Past Will Kill’, was released in November of 2018
by Black Opal Books bringing two of his protagonists together for their first
investigation. Jonas Peters and Frank Sanders will work hand in hand with an
international incident which left undetected could cause a catastrophic issue
for the United
States.
They are friends and they are good at they do. Catching the bad guys.
Website
Address: http://johnrobertbeyer.weebly.com/
Blog
Address: https://jandlresearchandexploration.blogspot.com/
Twitter
Address: @Drjohnrbeyer
Jonas
Peters and Frank Sanders team up to solve a string of murders, starting with the
intentional and fatal bombing of a local coffee shop in downtown Riverside—a
usually calm city in Southern California. Dozens are dead after an explosion
rips apart the Coffee Grind, leaving dozens of others gravely wounded. Frank
soon finds himself up to his elbows assisting the bombing victims, especially
when he discovers that Jonas was walking to the Coffee Grind to meet up with
his fiancée, but he never made it. In an instant, all their lives are thrust
into a trail of death and destruction carried out by an unknown psychopath.
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Thank you for this interview! I’d like to know more about you as a person
first. What do you do when you’re not
writing?
My lovely spouse, Laureen, and I love to travel. We have a
blog, J and L Research and Exploration that deals with naturally, research and
exploration which is a great way for us to travel the globe. In the real world
though I am in education – teaching English and World History to 7th
graders – yes, my halo is bright but tilted at times dealing with these lovely
youngsters. But to their credit they are full of energy and the desire to investigate
their creative writing skills is right up my alley.
When did you start writing?
I started writing when I was in middle school with a
passion. Short fictional stories dealing with strong protagonists and simple
plots. That evolved into non-fictional pieces for newspapers and magazines.
After meeting Ray Bradbury I really got into writing fiction again and have
numerous short stories as well as novels published. It’s always been a passion
for me and hopefully always will.
As a published author, what would you say was the most
pivotal point of your writing life?
There were so many pivotal points after being published but
I remember one from years ago. I has a small story published in a history
magazine and one day at a local book store I saw a gentleman reading the
magazine and as I walked by I snuck a peek (I know – I know) and he was reading
my article. A moment later I heard him say to a lady who had walked up to him,
“That was a really good story.” It was such a humbling but wonderful moment.
If you could go anywhere in the world to start writing your
next book, where would that be and why?
In fact, I am writing a historical fiction novel on Vlad
Dracula – and would love to return to Romania
while I finish the work. We spent a month there a couple of years ago
conducting research, and the country is so beautiful. It would be the perfect
setting to actually sit and write the novel while staring out over the river Danube.
If you had 4 hours of extra time today, what would you do?
Four extra hours a day would be great, but again after a
while the same thought would invade my brain, ‘there aren’t enough hours in a
day.’ But, if that were the case, I would write more and exercise more – the
writing for keeping the brain active and the physical exercise for the health
of the body. What an awesome way to spend an additional four hours.
Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done
yet?
I think on the east coast of the United
States. Perhaps somewhere in the wood of New
Hampshire, with a small lob cabin as the main
homestead. No idea what the story line would be, but I’m sure one would pop
into my head while having a cup of coffee on the front porch watching deer
dance across the front yard.
Back to your present book, Iquitos, The Past Will Kill, how did you
publish it?
My publisher is Black Opal Books out of Oregon.
They are a traditional publishing house and chose to publish my first novel, Hunted, and I have stuck with them for
the following three novels.
In writing your book, did you travel anywhere for research?
We traveled to Peru
for the research into the Peruvian rain forest near the rather large village
of Iquitos on the Amazon
River. It is the largest city in the world where the only way to
arrive there is either by boat or by air. No roads lead to Iquitos.
There is no way to get there by car. Spending a month getting to know the
layout of life in the Amazon was amazing.
Why was writing, Iquitos,
The Past Will Kill, so important
to you?
Jonas Peters is my protagonist along with his friend Frank
Sanders. Both former cops turned private detectives in Southern
California, and the thought of writing about an alien landscape
such as the Amazon had always been of interest to me. I just needed a plot line
to follow and after asking myself ‘What if something had happened in Peru
in Jonas’s past life that came back to haunt him?’ The story worked its way out
after that. There was a story to be told and a great location for it to happen.
Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think that
is?
Characters and situations occur in my head on a daily basis.
I have never suffered through writer’s block and the tapping of the keyboard
comes easy for me. Of course, not everything is written wonderfully – I have
thrown away or deleted many chapters over the years knowing the words and
effort were not going where I wanted them to travel. It’s part of the game – a
good idea and write about it. If it works it works and if it doesn’t – then
chuck it and start afresh.
Any final words?
I want to thank you for this opportunity telling your
readers a little more about me and the craft I love. If anyone would like to
follow our real life adventures then please visit us at
jandlresearchandexploration.blogspot.com.
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