Q&A With John Marrs

Tonight I have the honor of doing a Q&A with bestselling thriller author John Marrs. Some of John’s novels are “The One,” “What Lies Between Us,” and “The Marriage Act”.

Q: So John at what point in your life did you realize that you were called to be an author?

A: I didn’t, not for a long time. I worked for local newspapers close to where I live before gravitating to London to write for the nationals including the News of the World’s Sunday magazine, The Guardian and Daily Express. Eventually I went freelance, interviewing celebrities for all kinds of publication and in my spare time, I had a go at writing a book. It was rejected by 80 agents and publishers so I self-published and wrote two more. They sold well and were picked up by mainstream publishers and five years ago I eventually gave up journalism to write novels full-time. Only now, on book eleven, do I think of myself as an author.

Q: What advice do you give to anyone wanting to be an author? What advice do you give to anyone struggling with writers block?

A: The best advice I can offer to any aspiring writers is to just get on with it. You can over plot a story and spend way too long working on its intricacies when you could just be writing. It doesn’t matter how bad the first draft reads – and if it’s anything like mine, you won’t want another living soul to read it. But to have a completed book, in any form, is a huge achievement. I also don’t believe in excuses for not writing. It doesn’t matter if you only have five minutes a day or five hours. As long as you are writing, that’s what counts. Ten words on a piece of paper is better than no words at all.

Q: What do you like most about writing mystery thriller books and why?

A: It is a genre I enjoy reading. Often they contain twists and turns and I love trying to guess what might happen. The dark side of human nature fascinates me and I get to explore it through my characters. I put them and the readers through their paces.

Q: If you were to write in a totally different genre of books, which genre would it be and why?

A: I’m lucky that I get write in two different styles under my name. In the UK I write speculative fiction for one publisher, and psychological thrillers for the other. I’d be pushing my luck if I asked my readers to follow me in yet another literary direction. I can’t see them getting on board with me writing erotica or steampunk!

Q: Does Hollywood have the rights to any of your novels?

A: Yes. Before The One became a TV series on Netflix, my books The Passengers and What Lies Between Us were also optioned, the latter by Renee Zelwegger’s production company. Thousands of books each year are optioned and very few actually make it to the screen. So I won’t get my hopes up that either of them will be turned into anything until the first day of filming starts. But my fingers are crossed.

Q: Are you writing a new novel now? If so can you spoil a little bit about it?

A: I have completed my novel after the speculative fiction book The Marriage Act is released in January 2023. It’s tentatively titled The Stranger In Her House. It’s a psychological thriller about a woman whose mother’s life is infiltrated by a handyman, but who isn’t all he might seem. And I have almost finished another speculative fiction novel which might not be out until 2024.