Authors To Watch: John DeSimone, Author of The Road to Delano #authorstowatc

John DeSimone is a published writer, novelist, and teacher. He’s been an adjunct professor and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. His recent co-authored books include Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan (Little A Publishers), and Courage to Say No by Dr. Raana Mahmood, about her struggles against sexual exploitation as a female physician in Karachi. His published novel Leonardo’s Chair published in 2005.

In 2012, he won a prestigious Norman Mailer Fellowship to complete his most recent historical novel, Road to Delano. His novels Leonardo’s Chair and No Ordinary Man have received critical recognition.

He works with select clients to write stories of inspiration and determination and with those who have a vital message to bring to the marketplace of ideas in well-written books.

website & Social Links

Website  → https://www.johndesimone.com/

Twitter  → https://twitter.com/JRDeSimone

Facebook  → https://www.facebook.com/bookwriter718/

 

 

Jack Duncan is a high school senior whose dream is to play baseball in college and beyond―as far away from Delano as possible. He longs to escape the political turmoil surrounding the labor struggles of the striking fieldworkers that infests his small ag town. Ever since his father, a grape

grower, died under suspicious circumstances ten years earlier, he’s had to be the sole emotional support of his mother, who has kept secrets from him about his father’s involvement in the ongoing labor strife.

With their property on the verge of a tax sale, Jack drives an old combine into town to sell it so he and his mother don’t become homeless. On the road, an old friend of his father’s shows up and hands him the police report indicating Jack’s father was murdered. Jack is compelled to dig deep to discover the entire truth, which throws him into the heart of the corruption endemic in the Central Valley. Everything he has dreamed of is at stake if he can’t control his impulse for revenge.

While Jack’s girlfriend, the intelligent and articulate Ella, warns him not to so anything to jeopardize their plans of moving to L.A., after graduation, Jack turns to his best friend, Adrian, a star player on the team, to help to save his mother’s land. When Jack’s efforts to rescue a stolen piece of farm equipment leaves Adrian―the son of a boycotting fieldworker who works closely with Cesar Chavez―in a catastrophic situation, Jack must bail his friend out of his dilemma before it ruins his future prospects. Jack uses his wits, his acumen at card playing, and his boldness to raise the money to spring his friend, who has been transformed by his jail experience.

The Road to Delano is the path Jack, Ella, and Adrian must take to find their strength, their duty, their destiny.

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We welcome you to My Bookish Pleasures! Can you tell us how you got started writing fiction?

It all began with a desire to write. I began early, in my teens, but didn’t take it seriously until in my 30s. I chose fiction because it’s what mesmerizes me, a great story well told is one of the finest pleasures in life. 

Describe your writing process. Do you plot or write by the seat of your pants? When and where do you write?

In the beginning, I just wrote. Discovery through writing was so much of the process. As I go from book to book, I realize that I can discover my story in other ways, so outlining using key plot points has become the focus of my early work. 

Can you tell us about your most recent release?

The story is set in 1968 and a strike by field workers in the grape fields has ripped an otherwise quiet central California town down the middle. Jack Duncan is a Delano high school senior who is on his way to earning a baseball scholarship, hoping to escape the turmoil infesting his town. His mother has kept from him the real cause of his father’s death, who was a prominent grower. But when an old friend hands Jack evidence indicating his father was murdered, he is compelled to dig deeper. This throws him and his best friend and teammate, Adrian Sanchez, whose father is a striking field worker, into the labor conflict led by Cesar Chavez. Road to Delano is the path Jack and Adrian must take to find their strength, their duty, and their destiny.

How did you get the idea for the book?

Road to Delano began after I read a book of essays on the history of nonviolent action. Cesar Chavez was the subject of one of the essays, and that set me off on a search for sources.

Of all your characters, which one is your favorite? Why?

Well, this is a challenge. I enjoyed writing Jack, because he moves from naïve to informed, and now he must become a man of action or events will cave in on him. 

What was the most challenging aspect of writing your book?

I tend to write way more text than I need. Trimming it down, making it into one whole complete book with all the plot lines converging. 

What projects are you currently working on?

The sequel. 

What advice would you offer to new or aspiring fiction authors?

Discipline yourself to write in some form every day. Get help from the experts in the field or genre you choose to write in. And stay persistent. Persistence is more important than any other quality. If you are constantly improving, sometime in the future you will write a good book. Maybe better than you ever imagined.