How traveling full-time in Europe inspires writing: Conversation with author Johnny Shaw

Johnny’s early writing is inspired by where he grew up in Holtville, California near the Mexican border. He’s published four books all set in the desert where he grew up. “I don't think you think of the place you're from as kind of exotic until later and you start to see how different it is as you move around.” Once we moved to Europe he and I started to shift our perspective on the U.S. while at the same time learning more and more about various places that we stayed in Europe. Since living in Europe Johnny has set two novels in Romania and Serbia.

Johnny often writes in retrospect. We go to a place and something emerges without a preconceived agenda. “I don't go to a place to do research. I kind of go to a place and see if I could step in a story and then a few years later something interests me or a story I heard.” The more we learn about a place, its history, its culture, its folklore, its art, its food, and in particular for Johnny, its jokes, a story might emerge. Sometimes it’s hard to find the story right away and it arrives in the time it’s supposed to. Johnny’s has notes for stories set in Croatia, Georgia and Valencia, three places we love and have spent a significant amount of time.

Johnny talks about the importance of getting a place “right” in his novels. Living as nomads has given us an opportunity to stay longer in places and really sink into the culture. But that is still limited to what is happening in the present. When he writes in different decades that creates a bigger challenge. For example, he set his Romanian book in the 80’s during the Ceausescu era. Even though he was the same age as his main character in the 80’s, the U.S. in the 80’s was very different than Romania in the 80’s. Johnny explains that historical fiction writers have the issue of not being able to travel back in time, so they rely on research to craft the essence of a place.

Places and people are never quite how we imagine. We see images of people from foreign countries through the lens of our country of origins media. And even if we have a friend from a faraway country it is still different than going to their country and being surrounded and emersed in their language and culture. There are little things that we observe by staying longer that short term tourists would miss. There are expressions and stories and inside jokes that the locals tell each other that we are privileged to hear after making local friends and staying longer.

We’re both inspired by the people we’ve met in different countries. Johnny is curious about how the generations in the Balkans are so vastly different, mainly due to shifting borders and wars. There are people born in one country in Europe but their birth certificate says they’re from a different country. We have a Bosnian friend who lived through and fought in the war who’s just a few years older than us.

I asked if Johnny felt his writing has changed while on our travels. “I hope so. I mean my writing has changed for other reasons because tonally I'm interested in doing things or whatever… I'm trying things or I wanna explore things. And a lot of times it's just if I wanna be funny or I don't wanna be funny, like that's a real mood thing… as long as I'm still curious and… still going toward my curiosity.”

When it comes to writing, Johnny enjoys a challenge, not always knowing if he’ll be able to pull it off, though he usually does. It’s hard to imagine our travels not changing how we create or think about what we create. Johnny seems to be compelled by his curiosity as well as highlighting the underdogs. We never know how we’ll be inspired by a place but every place we visit always yields unexpected creative treasures.

 

Johnny Shaw Bio

Johnny Shaw was born and raised on the Calexico/Mexicali border, the setting for his award-winning Jimmy Veeder Fiasco series, which includes the novels DOVE SEASON, PLASTER CITY, and IMPERIAL VALLEY. He is also the author of the Anthony Award-winning adventure novel BIG MARIA, the heist novel THE UPPER HAND, and the crime extravaganza FLOODGATE.

His most recent novel THE SOUTHLAND is a departure from his usual comedic tone. It tells the story of three unauthorized immigrants in Los Angeles and the search for a missing boy.

His shorter work has appeared in Thuglit, Crime Factory, Shotgun Honey, Plots with Guns, and numerous anthologies. He was the creator and editor of the fiction magazine, BLOOD & TACOS, the former owner of the Los Angeles bookshop, Johnny's Used Books, and is currently the brainchild behind Johnny Shaw's Torn Pages.

Find Johnny’s writing on his website Johnnyshawauthor.com

You can also find his books on bookshop.org

Support Johnny on his patreon Torn Pages

 

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