10 Questions with John Dixon
1. Your background as a boxer, youth services case worker, and prison tutor all seem to influence your novel Phoenix Island. Specifically, how did your background help you write the novel?
It’s funny. When I was writing, I didn’t put much thought into my past experiences, but all of those things clearly played a big role in every step of Phoenix Island, from premise through marketing. I’ve always loved fighting, and I’ve spent my life trying to help kids and adults who’ve gone astray, so it makes sense that I ended up writing about an incarcerated boxer. It was fun to create Phoenix Island, the nightmare cousin to real-world teen boot camps, and I loved writing the fight scenes, which played out in my head like movies.
2. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
It would have to be the Bible, which I read every day, though I would go insane without fiction. On that side of the fence, I would choose The Stand by Stephen King, my favorite story, a sprawling epic that I return to time and time again.
3. Your fight scenes are wonderfully written. How much did you draw upon your own combat sports experiences in crafting these scenes?
Thanks. Fighting has always been a part of my life. I come from a family of fighters – though I was the only boxer – and a town full of fighters. In elementary school, the boys would run to the back of the recess yard, slip behind the pine tree hedgerow, and toss knuckles. It was sort of two-thirds play, one-third serious. We’d get black eyes and split lips, but nobody was out to kill or anything like that. Middle school, things got more serious, as the various elementary schools came together, and we got bigger and cagier. Fewer fights but more serious. High school, it was serious business, though by that time, I was boxing and no longer interested in fighting outside the ring. Boxing became the center of my life for quite some time, and I trained in and hung out with practitioners of various other martial arts. I’ve always been interested – okay, obsessed – with fighting… so when I write fight scenes, I’m drawing on a lifetime of experiences… though I’m not fully aware of it, if that makes sense. It’s not like going to a dusty filing cabinet for the right details. Those scenes write themselves. I have a lot of fun writing them, especially if they’re emotionally charged, and they tend to rush out of me in a flood. Emotional charge is a really big deal. Too often, writers focus on fighting technique, describing specific attacks and defenses, sometimes in excruciatingly precise detail. Without emotion, these fight scenes feel choreographed and antiseptic.
4. What current writing projects are you working on?
I just finished the first draft of The Point (Del Rey, 2017), about a top-secret training program at a near-future West Point for cadets with extra-human abilities. It’s basically the X-Men go to West Point, and I had a blast writing it. Now I’m waiting on editorial notes and working on two books: a gritty crime thriller called Closing Time and Rolling Thunder, the first in a series of thrillers starring Jud Rawlins, a two-fisted drifter who helps people who can’t help themselves.
5. When you started writing Phoenix Island, did you intend for it to be a series, and how many additional novels will be part of that series?
I had intended to write several books about Carl Freeman, but the series landed on the back burner. Phoenix Island and Devil’s Pocket have done far better than I ever expected, garnishing wonderful reader reviews, winning back-to-back Bram Stoker Awards, and inspiring a major CBS TV series, Intelligence, but they still haven’t “earned out” their advance. I was only under contract for the two books, so once I’d delivered those, I had a long talk with my agent and decided to pause the series for the time being. I have a six-month-old daughter, so I have to focus on projects that will pay the bills. I do hope to come back to Carl, though. I miss hanging out with him, and there’s a lot of story left to tell.
6. What made you start writing?
I first started writing stories in third grade, thanks to my wonderful teacher, Mrs. Wolfe, who allowed me to write about all kinds of crazy stuff and who typed up one of my stories – I still have an original copy – and told my parents that I would be a professional author when I grew up. I can’t exaggerate the impact of her allowing me to write what I wanted to write, no matter how weird or ghoulish. I wrote a crazy story, over ten pages, about vampires and werewolves that I’m almost certain culminated in a crucifixion. Weird for an eight-year-old, right? But she was cool. I thanked her profusely at the end of Phoenix Island, and last year, when I wrote a novelette called “Chop Shop” for V-Wars: Shockwaves, I had to grin. I’d come full circle. It was the first time since third grade that I’d written about vampires and werewolves… and man, was it fun.
7. If you could choose one boxer who has ever lived to watch your back in a tense situation, who would you choose?
Jack Dempsey. Dempsey certainly wasn’t the best fighter of all time, but he led a rough-and-tumble life and fought with a brutally abrupt aggressiveness that would have translated well outside of the ring. Plus, I think of Jack Dempsey when I’m writing my new character, Jud Rawlins, so it would be cool to hang out with not only a boxing icon but also, kind-of-sort-of, one of my characters.
8. What is your best quality as a writer?
I work hard. I’m a blue-collar writer… not the most talented, just really, really determined.
9. If you could pick one other author to collaborate with on a novel or story, living or dead, who would it be?
Elmore Leonard. He was my favorite stylist, I loved his characters, and his books always make me laugh. Also, he was a fantastic human being, from what I hear, so it would’ve been fun, learning from him.
10. If Hollywood was making a film adaptation of Phoenix Island, and the director asked you to cast the role of Carl Freeman, who would you choose?
Not Josh Holloway. He’s a great actor and a nice guy, but when the producers of Intelligence, which was based on Phoenix Island and my pitch for the series, cast him, I was simultaneously thrilled and befuddled. On one hand, we’d just landed a top talent – probably the top available talent in TV at that moment in time – but on the other hand, Carl was sixteen, and Josh was in his early forties. Ultimately, the show ended up being way, way different than the book. I have my rights back now, though, so I do think about the question. If Hollywood makes a feature film, sticking closer to the book, I’d like to see someone younger in the role, like Taron Egerton, who played Eggsy in Kingsman. Ultimately, I’d want a tough-looking kid who could throw a convincing combination.
It’s funny. When I was writing, I didn’t put much thought into my past experiences, but all of those things clearly played a big role in every step of Phoenix Island, from premise through marketing. I’ve always loved fighting, and I’ve spent my life trying to help kids and adults who’ve gone astray, so it makes sense that I ended up writing about an incarcerated boxer. It was fun to create Phoenix Island, the nightmare cousin to real-world teen boot camps, and I loved writing the fight scenes, which played out in my head like movies.
2. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?
It would have to be the Bible, which I read every day, though I would go insane without fiction. On that side of the fence, I would choose The Stand by Stephen King, my favorite story, a sprawling epic that I return to time and time again.
3. Your fight scenes are wonderfully written. How much did you draw upon your own combat sports experiences in crafting these scenes?
Thanks. Fighting has always been a part of my life. I come from a family of fighters – though I was the only boxer – and a town full of fighters. In elementary school, the boys would run to the back of the recess yard, slip behind the pine tree hedgerow, and toss knuckles. It was sort of two-thirds play, one-third serious. We’d get black eyes and split lips, but nobody was out to kill or anything like that. Middle school, things got more serious, as the various elementary schools came together, and we got bigger and cagier. Fewer fights but more serious. High school, it was serious business, though by that time, I was boxing and no longer interested in fighting outside the ring. Boxing became the center of my life for quite some time, and I trained in and hung out with practitioners of various other martial arts. I’ve always been interested – okay, obsessed – with fighting… so when I write fight scenes, I’m drawing on a lifetime of experiences… though I’m not fully aware of it, if that makes sense. It’s not like going to a dusty filing cabinet for the right details. Those scenes write themselves. I have a lot of fun writing them, especially if they’re emotionally charged, and they tend to rush out of me in a flood. Emotional charge is a really big deal. Too often, writers focus on fighting technique, describing specific attacks and defenses, sometimes in excruciatingly precise detail. Without emotion, these fight scenes feel choreographed and antiseptic.
4. What current writing projects are you working on?
I just finished the first draft of The Point (Del Rey, 2017), about a top-secret training program at a near-future West Point for cadets with extra-human abilities. It’s basically the X-Men go to West Point, and I had a blast writing it. Now I’m waiting on editorial notes and working on two books: a gritty crime thriller called Closing Time and Rolling Thunder, the first in a series of thrillers starring Jud Rawlins, a two-fisted drifter who helps people who can’t help themselves.
5. When you started writing Phoenix Island, did you intend for it to be a series, and how many additional novels will be part of that series?
I had intended to write several books about Carl Freeman, but the series landed on the back burner. Phoenix Island and Devil’s Pocket have done far better than I ever expected, garnishing wonderful reader reviews, winning back-to-back Bram Stoker Awards, and inspiring a major CBS TV series, Intelligence, but they still haven’t “earned out” their advance. I was only under contract for the two books, so once I’d delivered those, I had a long talk with my agent and decided to pause the series for the time being. I have a six-month-old daughter, so I have to focus on projects that will pay the bills. I do hope to come back to Carl, though. I miss hanging out with him, and there’s a lot of story left to tell.
6. What made you start writing?
I first started writing stories in third grade, thanks to my wonderful teacher, Mrs. Wolfe, who allowed me to write about all kinds of crazy stuff and who typed up one of my stories – I still have an original copy – and told my parents that I would be a professional author when I grew up. I can’t exaggerate the impact of her allowing me to write what I wanted to write, no matter how weird or ghoulish. I wrote a crazy story, over ten pages, about vampires and werewolves that I’m almost certain culminated in a crucifixion. Weird for an eight-year-old, right? But she was cool. I thanked her profusely at the end of Phoenix Island, and last year, when I wrote a novelette called “Chop Shop” for V-Wars: Shockwaves, I had to grin. I’d come full circle. It was the first time since third grade that I’d written about vampires and werewolves… and man, was it fun.
7. If you could choose one boxer who has ever lived to watch your back in a tense situation, who would you choose?
Jack Dempsey. Dempsey certainly wasn’t the best fighter of all time, but he led a rough-and-tumble life and fought with a brutally abrupt aggressiveness that would have translated well outside of the ring. Plus, I think of Jack Dempsey when I’m writing my new character, Jud Rawlins, so it would be cool to hang out with not only a boxing icon but also, kind-of-sort-of, one of my characters.
8. What is your best quality as a writer?
I work hard. I’m a blue-collar writer… not the most talented, just really, really determined.
9. If you could pick one other author to collaborate with on a novel or story, living or dead, who would it be?
Elmore Leonard. He was my favorite stylist, I loved his characters, and his books always make me laugh. Also, he was a fantastic human being, from what I hear, so it would’ve been fun, learning from him.
10. If Hollywood was making a film adaptation of Phoenix Island, and the director asked you to cast the role of Carl Freeman, who would you choose?
Not Josh Holloway. He’s a great actor and a nice guy, but when the producers of Intelligence, which was based on Phoenix Island and my pitch for the series, cast him, I was simultaneously thrilled and befuddled. On one hand, we’d just landed a top talent – probably the top available talent in TV at that moment in time – but on the other hand, Carl was sixteen, and Josh was in his early forties. Ultimately, the show ended up being way, way different than the book. I have my rights back now, though, so I do think about the question. If Hollywood makes a feature film, sticking closer to the book, I’d like to see someone younger in the role, like Taron Egerton, who played Eggsy in Kingsman. Ultimately, I’d want a tough-looking kid who could throw a convincing combination.
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