Good afternoon, everyone!
Today, I've got something very exciting to share with you all. I recently was able to get in contact with one of our JCP authors, George Justice, to ask him a few questions about his novel, Greezy Creek, as well as his journey as an author.
Greezy Creek is George's first novel, and the synopsis can be found below:
Kentucky's Appalachian Highlands (circa. 1930's) is a world where habits and customs often bewilder... where the ties of kinship and ancestry hold to unswerving lines, where moonshiners leave incipient trails and the strains of hard times too often coalesce into the empty-eyed face of hardscrabble.
It's where Bobby Yonts and Rubin Cain (as good as brothers) come of age and test the limits of things new and out of bounds. But it's the odious hand of cruelty that underscores the unraveling of their naivety and binds them to the unwritten code of the mountains, one which guarantees you're going to get what's coming to you.
A first-person narrative, Greezy Creek tells of an Appalachia honed by the unacquainted ways of the Scot-Irish hybrids cloistered in its deepest regions. The story follows two childhood friends, Bobby Yonts and Rubin Cain, as they learn and grow into adulthood.
This novel takes readers behind the veil of a family known for its fierce ingrained independence; a family bound by self-determination and all that's necessary to survive. Yet, even from their bittersweet and ill-famed existence comes the imprint of their wit and wisdom, the uniqueness of their wilderness ways, and what it means to be bound by blood.
You can purchase George's novel at JCP's bookstore, Books & Gifts, or online here.
My interview with George can be found below. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed talking with him!
BOOKMARKED: How long have you been writing, and what inspired you to be an author?
GEORGE JUSTICE: Writing has always been my passion, but it wasn’t until I started receiving high marks and accolades as far back as high school that I began to realize I had a gift. It is one of those gifts that keeps on giving. I was always sharp-edged about word usage, syntax, and sentence structure, which prompted me toward a degree in English and Creative Writing. While attending the University of Detroit, I was one of twelve selected from a field of over 300 to participate in a semester-long creative writing symposium by writer-in-residence, John Gardner. I was chosen on the merits of what I submitted. The personalized attention from such a noted writer and author was incredibly rewarding. The highlight, and at the risk of sounding grandiose, Mr. Gardner invited me to his home for dinner. Of the twelve in his class, I was the only one to receive an invitation. I was honored beyond words. But then, as a way of punctuating the occasion, he made a point of mentioning how gifted he thought I was, and that the short story I’d written for his class was no less than remarkable. Before the evening ended, he drew me aside and said, “I want to pay you the highest compliment I have.” He then looked me dead in the eyes and said, “Your story is so well done that I wish I had written it.” So, there you have it, Allison. A passion fired by the likes of John Gardner. I’ve long held that you don’t decide to be a writer. Instead, you discover that you are one. I discovered it early on, and it remains with me even to this day.
As far as inspiration goes, John Steinbeck was the first author to open my eyes to the vast beauty and limitless reach of language.
How did you get the idea to write Greezy Creek? Where did that story come from?
I was born in Pikeville, Kentucky (the nearest town to Greezy Creek), right smack dab in the heart of Appalachia. My mother and father were both born and bred in Greezy Creek during the 1930s and '40s. It was a hardscrabble life they endured just to survive. No indoor plumbing. No running water. No electricity. We lived there until I was five, then moved to Detroit sometime after WWII. My father wasn’t big on being a coal miner, so he and my mother packed up everything they owned (which didn’t amount to much more than a couple suitcases and a few cardboard boxes) and moved to Detroit, where the work in the automobile factories was plentiful. A big part of our hillbilly culture was storytelling, and I grew up listening to Mom and Dad’s endless accounts of their lives in the hills and backroads of Kentucky (from the way they courted to the way they worshipped; from the parlor games they played to the way they attended school; from the songs they sang to the crops they grew, etc., etc., etc.)… all of which were captivating, mainly because they captured the real life struggles and joys of a culture as authentic as America itself. After a time, I began to write down their accounts, because I knew down deep they were stories that needed to be preserved… stories about a time and place all but gone, and with characters and events worth remembering. Today, I have an extended family of over 200 who still reside in those magnificent verdant valleys, and who serve as the cornerstones to my story.
What do you want potential readers to know about your novel?
That Greezy Creek is character driven with rich historical insights, from flora and fauna to habits and customs; from colloquialisms and language to superstitions and all that’s necessary to survive; from self-determination and the empty-eyed face of hardscrabble to the roundabouts and cruelties of the seasons; from the imprints of wit and wisdom to hard times and what it means to be bound by blood.
What advice do you have for people who are interested in becoming an author but maybe aren’t sure how to get started?
First, there has to be the desire. For those with a “natural gift” of stringing one word after another into complete and declarative sentences, the process is simply the act of honing those skills, and that comes by "doing." There are college programs designed especially for those people to help refine those gifts. The thing to keep in mind is that it is not a process that happens overnight. It is long and arduous and requires a LOT of self-discipline. Expect setbacks and times when you will sit and stare at the computer screen and nothing happens. I mean NOTHING (I call it “dead times” or more commonly known as “writer’s block”). But it’s those with a determined “want” who will outlast such times. It is also extremely important to read… a lot! Nothing keeps you more aesthetically alive than reading and getting a sense of how sentences work… and even how they don’t. For those who don’t have an innate instinct for capturing the written word, the road will be much harder, but the same opportunities await them if they are willing to avail themselves to the rigors of schooling and applying by doing.
What novels are you currently reading? What are some of your favorite books of all time?
I’m currently reading Barbara Kingsolver’s “Poisonwood Bible” and “The Boys in the Boat” by Daniel James Brown… both of which are marvelous. I am most always reading two books at any one time. I simply love reading. Some of my all-time favorite books are “East of Eden” and “The Grapes of Wrath,” both by John Steinbeck. I also love a good mystery thriller, especially those with tense courtroom scenes like “Presumed Innocent” by Scott Turow. I’m also very fond of Stieg Larsson, who wrote “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” series. His writing is remarkable. He left us much too soon.
Do you have more novels planned for the future?
Yes! I have recently finished my second novel (“Edenfield”) and I’m hard at work putting the ending to my third novel together (“Lehigh Tucker”).
Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans/supporters?
Yes! I would like to offer many, many thanks to my ever-growing audience, and for recognizing quality literary fiction. I will make every effort to continue giving them my absolute best. They deserve no less.
Allison Chudina
Editorial & Retail Assistant
Jan-Carol Publishing, Inc.
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