Interview with Author John Scherber

I just finished a real treat: an interview of John Scherber, a novelist living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I'm in the process of reading everything he has written. When he writes about San Miguel, I like to think he has set the table for our move to the city in 2015.

Mike: Will you tell us a bit about Beyond Terrorism: Survival and what inspired you to write it?

John: I started thinking about terrorism several years ago and how the next wave would quite possibly be bio-terror, since it was so much easier to get across the border than a nuclear device. I started the book in Feb. of 2012, and after two drafts I still didn’t feel like I had the relationship right between the two principal players. It was only after two more revisions that I finished it this summer, and found it was unexpectedly timely. It’s not the CIA gung-ho kind of book you often see. It’s about how people survive because of their relationships and connectedness with each other. 

Mike: You seem to have criticism for both political parties in the book. We haven’t read about this aspect of you in your other books. Did you finally just get fed up with the whole government?

John: I have stayed away from politics in the other books because the subject wasn’t directly germane. But because the epidemic in this book brings down the government, I felt it was appropriate to suggest that while we can limp along with this unresponsive system under normal circumstances, it’s simply not up to handling a serious crisis. Politically, I’m an independent, a combination of both liberal and conservative, and I don’t like either party. 

Mike: Do you stay away from the subject living in San Miguel?

John: As a noncitizen, I can’t participate in politics in Mexico. 

Mike: Switching to Vanishing Act, why Wisconsin? What kind of research did you do for the book, and what was one of the most interesting things you learned?

John: I set it in Kenniston, WI, which is a fictitious name for St. Paul, where I lived for 25 years. I know the town well, and it has several old Victorian neighborhoods that suited the story.

Mike: My wife, who you will meet in San Miguel, is one quarter Chippawa. I admire writers that take on characters from another era. How did you gain insight into the Chippawas in “Vanishing Act” and their belief in ancient people that can change shape. What was one of your favorite things about writing about those characters?

John: I am fairly ruthless in misusing the cultures of anyone, including mine. Most of the wahkonen material in Vanishing Act was made up, a variant of the shape shifter legends of New Mexico. I like the way these older cultures bounce off the one we come from, and especially how they can reveal how we’re not really that ‘modern’ after all.

Mike: Why Wisconsin? What kind of research did you do for the book, and what was one of the most interesting things you learned?

John: Aside from going to Mesa Verde National Park, I did no research. But I am normally full of obscure and usually quite useless information that I can draw on for projects like this.

Mike: Your other novels take place mostly in San Miguel and Oaxaca in Mexico and the surrounding areas. Was it fun making the switch to the US?

John: I enjoy any change up, and this one was fun. The book started with a short story that was the narrative manuscript of Peter Welsh. I was looking for a horror magazine to publish it, and but when I surveyed the scene, most of them were pretty junky. I thought the story was much better quality than that. Then we came up with the idea of having it be the centerpiece of one of the Paul Zacher mysteries.

Mike : What did you do before becoming a writer? Have you always wanted to write? Will you tell us a little more about that progression?

John: I always wanted to write, and started in high school. In college, at Minnesota, I was in the honorary creative writers’ fraternity with Garrison Keillor. I got a salaried writing job out of college in the mental health field, and wrote two bad novels while I was doing that. I quit writing, thinking I couldn’t waste a year on a book and not have it be any good. I went into designing and building custom furniture, paneled rooms, and restaurant interiors. But I missed writing, and every three or four years I would try to go back to it, but I never could. I was blocked for 37 years. In 2005 the cloud lifted and I started with the first of the mysteries, Twenty Centavos. Now there are twelve.

Mike: You have written extensively about the expat experience in Mexico. How did you end up in San Miguel?

John: We did the beach vacation thing with the kids on school breaks, but we started to wonder what these old colonial cities were like in the interior. We looked at a number of them, and San Miguel seemed right for us. We love Mérida too, but we couldn’t do the climate.

Mike: What’s one of the first things you can remember writing?

John: A ghost story as a high school junior where I was criticized for using the word phantasmagorical.

Mike: One book that is very meaningful to me that you wrote is A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Everything I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I was Starting Out. You’ve written how many books since that book was published and is there anything that you could add to that book?

John: I’ve written three or four books since then. The only thing I would add would be some things I’ve learned about book promotion. All the writing points are sound and they still resonate with me. After the struggle I went through, that book really came from the heart. 

Mike: Who are your heroes?

John: Reading great fiction and nonfiction makes me a better writer. I always like people writing fiction who can keep focused on their job as a teller of stories. That’s why readers stay with us. I regard that as job one. Writers have a strong obligation to their readers that is not always respected. I try hard to never forget about it. My heroes are those writers who stay with it, no matter what, because it’s all about insight and persistence. You need to keep writing all the time because no one can teach it to you as well as the process itself does.

Mike: What are you currently reading?

John: Currently some nonfiction from John Gregory Dunne on the film industry, and I’m rereading The Brothers Karamazov.

Mike: What’s next for you?

John: I have two more mysteries in the works. One is about the Paul Zacher Agency coming up against a local shaman who is able to mess with their minds. The other is set in equestrian country; a terrain full of big egos, championship horses, expensive spreads, and privileged women. In March we’ll traveling to Chiapas to research locations and atmosphere for another Zacher mystery set among the highland Maya. Your readers can find out more about me and my work, as well as get a sample of all my 22 books at my website: www.sanmiguelallendebooks.com

Mike: John this has been a real treat for me. I hope it was enjoyable for you. Thank you. Bev and I will see you in San Miguel in February.