Pump Up Your Book Chats with Historical Fiction Author John Milton Langdon

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John Milton Langdon is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and has a master’s degree in maritime civil engineering. Langdon retired and became a professional writer after an active and rewarding engineering career. Initially he worked in Britain but from 1972 until 2008, he dealt with project development in Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria. Langdon lives in the Austrian town of Klagenfurt which has a history stretching back to mediaeval times. Langdon has three children and five grandchildren from his first marriage and two step sons from the second. Langdon has many interests including travel, the British canals, music and literature but hiking in the mountains surrounding his home is a preferred leisure activity.

John’s latest book is a historical fiction titled Against All Odds (Tate Publishing).

You can visit John Milton Langdon’s website at www.jmlangdon.com.

Q: Thank you for this interview, John. Can you tell us why you wrote your book?

A chance visit to an island in the Elphinston Inlet (Khor As Sham) in Oman provided the inspiration for my story, and my retirement from full time employment gave me the time I needed to write it. The island is called Telegraph Island and anyone with Google Earth on their PC will be able to locate it quite easily.

In the middle of the eighteen hundreds a small group of British telegraph operators lived and worked at a repeater station on the island, as it was one of the links in the chain of repeater stations on the electric telegraph between Britain and India. This was at the very beginning of the electronic age that we take for granted now.

Standing in burning sunshine on a barren lump of rock, surrounded by a sea edged with equally barren but precipitous mountains, I could only marvel at the fortitude of men who could live and work under such appalling conditions. Water, food and all the other essentials of life had to be supplied by sea. They lived in Arab style huts made of barasti and must have suffered enormously in the heat and humidity. The operators spent long hours listening to incoming messages in Morse code which they then had to retransmit along the next section of the cable. It was small wonder that many became ill and the phrase ‘gone round the bend’ was coined by sailors recovering mentally sick personnel from the island which is beyond a bend in the inlet.

I felt there was a story to be told about these men, with the development of the telegraph system during the industrial revolution as a background theme. ‘Against All Odds’ is the first part of this story.

Q: Which part of the book was the hardest to write?

As I completed each chapter I would give a copy to my late wife and she would say “I like the story but – – – – -.” We both knew something was wrong with the manuscript but couldn’t identify the fault. Consquently I sent the first four chapters for a professional critique. In his first sentence the reviewer wrote, “I like the story but you are writing a technical report.” He was correct and after spending the whole of my working life as an engineer writing about technical matters it wasn’t surprising. Learning how to write fiction was the hardest part of the writing process and it was a technique that I continued to improve over all four books.

Q: Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?

There isn’t an underlying message but I hope my readers will gain an insight into the difficult and dangerous lives lead by our great, great grandparents, and the problems they overcame at the beginning of the age of electronic communication.

Q: Do you remember when the writing bug hit?

Yes. It happened when I sat on Telegraph Island and thought about the people who had lived and worked on that barren, cheerless place, one and a half centuries before.

Q: Besides books, what else do you write? Do you write for publications?

I have written some poetry for my own enjoyment, so none of it has been published. I have written a number of articles about the Province of Kärnten (Carinthia) in Austria; this is where I live. The articles were published in the House Magazine published by my company in Dubai and can be found on my homepage. www.jmlangdon.com

Q: Do you have a writing tip you’d like to share?

I did learn quite quickly that it was pointless to pursue a story line that was starting to lead the story in the wrong direction. It was better to go back a paragraph (or page) or two and develope a more satisfactory theme.

Q: Would you like to tell us about your home life? Where you live? Family? Pets?

I live in a town called Klagenfurt in Austria. It is the capital of the Province of Kärnten and has a history stretching back to mediaeval times. Since my wife died of cancer I have lived alone in a light and airy apartment on the third floor of a small apartment block. It has windows on three sides and I can see mountains – snow capped at present – from every window. My children and grandchildren live in Britain and one stepson lives in Klagenfurt with his wife and two sons. I don’t have a pet.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your childhood?

I was born in 1937 just before the start of World War II, so memories of my early years are coloured by rationing of food and clothing, the blackout, the air raid shelter, bombing raids and the deafening noise of the anti-aircraft guns sited a couple of miles away. All through that period, and for some years during the peace that followed the end of the fighting, my parents always managed to find or make something as a present for each of us four children for Christmas or a birthday. It was a happy childhood.

Q: Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

I am fortunate to have a room where I have my PC and all the books and papers that I have accumulated during researching and writing my four published books (and the unfinished ones).

Q: What do you do to get away from it all?

Hike in the mountains near my home and metaphorically at least, shout at the sheep.

Q: What was the first thing you did as far as promoting your book?

I arranged a book reading at a local club and was very pleased by the attendance and the number of books I sold.

Q: Are you familiar with the social networks and do you actively participate?

For me the social networking sites are largely a closed book at present. I have had a little experience with Facebook but cannot use it proficiently at present.

Q: How do you think book promotion has changed over the years?

In the past an author had to sign a publishing contract and the publisher promoted the book. Today anyone with a computer can publish and market their work totally independently.

Q: What is the most frustrating part of being an author?

Waiting for the first copy of the first book to arrive in the post.

Q: What is the most rewarding?

Holding the first copy in my hand because it is a reward for years of effort.

Q: How do you think book publishing has changed over the years?

In the past an author had to sign a publishing contract and the publisher produced the book. Today anyone with a computer can publish their work totally independently if they wish.

Q: If you had one wish, what would that be?

To have peace in the world.

Q: If you could be anywhere in the world other than where you are right now, where would that place be?

As my elder sister lives in Australia and my younger sister in New Zealand either country would make an acceptable destination.

Q: Your book has just been awarded a Pulitzer. Who would you thank?

If it was possible, I would thank my late wife. Without her encouragement the books would not have been written as I had no ambition to become an author.

Q: Thank you so much for this interview, John. Do you have any final words?

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to take part in this interview.

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How do you make sales happen for you?

A lot of hard work! I sponsor a lot of on line parties, festivals and contests. Book sales don’t magically happen, believe me. An author has to work hard to earn her readers. And then she has to work hard to keep them by giving them something they’ll enjoy reading. I try hard to make my books worth a reader’s time.

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