“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
...is a thriller author who seeks elegance in writing.
About Me 1
John's training in Chemical Engineering (undergrad) and Linguistics (masters), led to a Computational Linguistics career in support of translation into the world's minor languages. He authored applications that addressed dictionary building, natural text analysis, text translation, and film dubbing; and later managed a department that created oral language-to-language translation software. He has spent considerable time supporting language work in Indonesia, the Philipplines, India, and several countries in Africa. "I've always loved the challenge of figuring out how languages work, and how to best communicate so that the words do not get in the way of the intended meaning and emotion."
Background
About Me 2
John found the shift from engineering to authoring to be a logical progression. "I've always been a sucker for a good, complex plot; one where the protagonist is in over-his-head, yet somehow wins in spite of overwhelming odds." He seeks to apply Engineering Elegance to his writing. An elegant solution is one which accounts for all of a problem’s requirements in a manner that is simple and satisfying. John believes that elegance is essential for a satisfying reader experience, and shows up in such areas as plot, minimizing backstory, and the avoidance of extra words. He blogs about elegance in his substack.
Elegance
About Me 3
John is addicted to a good plot. "I was inspired many years ago by James Clavell's Tai-Pan and Nobel House. In both of these there are threads upon threads, making life difficult for the protagonist, yet crafted in such a manner that I was never lost or confused." JS often crafts his plots during multi-day bikepacking trips, yet allows for a story to morph during the writing process. "The drafting process will frequently lead me in suprising directions, and I find myself updating my plot to accomodate."