An Interview with Johnny Russell
What was your most interesting
book?
The Encyclopedia.
My mom, rest her soul, didn’t believe in door-to-door salesmen. I saw those guys get slammed on more
than a few times. Not so when the encyclopedia salesman came around, man! Somehow she knew the knowledge
her children needed was contained in those books.
When did you first start writing?
I’ve been writing every day
of my life since I was elected editor of the high school newspaper. Most of the writing has been police reports. I may not
look it, but I’ve have had a thirty year career as a San Diego Police Officer. In the interim I have published several
articles in the SDPD and SDPOA publications.
Do you still read the encyclopedia?
Yes, the internet version. A few years back, I read an interesting
statistic that says 12.9 million US Families are headed by a single parent, 80% of which are female who are at high risk of
losing, or have already lost their child to the streets. While working with street gangs, I found these
stats to be self-evident.
Is that when you wrote FIRST BLOOD?
I decided a major work of fiction was needed to shock as well as edutain the masses and
came up with the award winning novel FIRST BLOOD. It received its honors
in the Fiction Unpublished 2008
PSWA Writing Competition. ISBN 9780595503872, available
on Amazon, and all online outlets.
What’s the book about?
FIRST BLOOD starts in Texas in the late 1950’s. It centers around a mother of six who
has a cheating husband. With the help of her BFF sister she moves out to California where she finds a job and the man of her
dreams, all love but no marriage. In the interim her son turns into a street thug. The meticulous old Detective Lemoore is
like the encyclopedia. He has spent many years compiling crime stats on single parent homes to bolster his prophecy. History
holds his predictions to be true.
Who is your target group?
I wrote FIRST BLOOD for the single
parents with wannabe children. If we are aware that through our children’s development that it’s walking, talking,
and looking like a duck, without some intervention, it’s will end up where it’s heading.
Do you have any other projects?
Yes, I’m currently working on two screenplays. The fantasy, action, adventure BRADLEY ASHE. Here’s
the logline: To save the Earth three rookies must go head to head with deadly alien invaders, but only one holds the key to
prevent world annihilation. The other is called PARENTAL GUIDANCE, which is an adaptation of the novel FIRST BLOOD.
