Halifax County and His Faith Inspire John Theo’s Writing
John Theo Jr Courtesy of John Theo Jr.
John Theo and his family moved from the Northeast to South Boston to enjoy a slower pace of life and to spend more time together. As a bonus, he found inspiration for his storytelling.
When asked if his new home influenced his writing, John said, “I never expected to write about this area, but its history and characters are rich. I have met so many wonderful people since moving here. Amazing, three-dimensional characters I’ve pulled from for my stories, along with some crazy tales. What’s also perfect about Halifax County is its proximity to Washington, DC. By setting my Brandon Hall mystery series here, I can tie it directly into DC and geopolitical storylines. So, in one chapter, my protagonist (a full-time farmer and part-time private investigator) may check on a fraudulent insurance claim filed by a local farmer. In the next chapter, he’s in DC working a side job to protect a senator. You could never do that with a Boston, Chicago, or New York-based character.”
The first novel in the Brandon Hall series is Murder at Cluster Springs Raceway. In it, according to the publisher’s synopsis, “a deadly auto accident at a southern Virginia racetrack draws private investigator Hall into a new case. When young race car driver Drew Schilling dies in a fiery crash, his politician father hires Brandon to investigate. Virginia Senator Gregory Schilling believes his son’s death was not an accident, but a politically motivated murder. With the help of friends, Brandon uncovers evidence which ties the raceway death to the rapidly changing political landscape in the United States.
“Brandon Hall is an army veteran who owns a cattle farm in the quiet southern town of Nathalie, Va. It has been just over a year since the death of his two-year-old son at the hands of a drunk driver. Together with his wife Annie, and ten-year-old daughter Emily, the Halls struggle to recover from the devastating loss. Each day is a spiritual, emotional, and financial struggle.”
In addition to the mystery series, John has written science fiction, dystopian stories, ‘nautical’ murder mysteries, and a young adult series. He said he “randomly started writing in high school,” and while his writing “wasn’t inspired by anyone directly, indirectly, there were a lot of influences. Growing up in the 1980s,” he said, he “was influenced by everyone from C.S. Lewis to George Lucas to Stan Lee. It was a very creative decade, especially for film, as CGI (computer generated imagery) had yet to be invented, and movies had to be very character-driven.”
Perhaps his early reading played a role in his interest in creating characters, as did his faith. John grew up in the suburbs north of Boston and said much of his youth was spent buried under stacks of comic books. He latched onto any story involving far-off places and fantastical characters. Years later, he realized the novels and movies that impacted him on the deepest level had a spiritual component. In hindsight, he said, he realized that his “youthful obsession with these stories was, in fact, a longing for the Divine.” The novels he now writes have a Christian perspective. And, like the stories of his youth, John enjoys tales with an otherworldly component to them and a good measure of action, adventure, and romance. He said, “We are here for a blink of an eye and then gone. A true ‘Happily Ever After’ in fiction stories and life is only attained with an eternal perspective and our hope in Jesus.”
When asked if he had a favorite among his books, John replied, “It is hard to have a favorite, although my focus in graduate school was young adult fiction. So,” he said, “I would say my young adult (Y/A) books hold a special place in my catalog and heart. With young adult fiction, you can write about many adult themes, such as life, death, and the afterlife. You can also scale it back to focus on experiences like a youthful first crush, whereas with adult novels you are mostly stuck with adult storylines.”
In his Rucksack Kids series for young adults, John offers readers the adventures of the Bartlett children of Wolfhollow, NH, who solve hometown mysteries. The local newspaper dubs them ‘the Rucksack Kids’ because of the rucksacks they carry containing the tools needed to help them solve the mysteries they encounter.
In both his Y/A and adult novels, John strives to offer engaging stories free of “gratuitous sex and curse words.”
About his writing process, John said it “is very unconventional. Most writers need silence and long windows of time to work on their craft. I own a small business and have four children ranging from three to 13, so I’m constantly being pulled in multiple directions. I write in-between customers in 10 to 15-minute increments throughout the week. I have yet to meet another writer who does this. It’s not ideal, but it forces you to be hyper-focused and efficient.”
John’s ‘day job’ is that of owner of Cozy Cave Self Storage and More in South Boston.
He received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Salem State University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Mass. (now part of Lasell University). For almost two decades, his writing portfolio included roles as a movie critic, a magazine freelance writer, and a college professor, where he taught screenwriting.
He said his wife Karin “has stood by my side for almost 17 years and is the love of my life. We’ve been blessed with four children, who keep me humble. My oldest daughter, Leah, has co-authored several middle-grade books with me called The Rucksack Kids. This mystery series is a throwback to stories like The Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, and The Hardy Boys.”
John’s published novels include The Grotto Under the Tree, Cape Ann, Mission Trip, Genesis and Exodus, Clarke, White Mountains’ False Flag, Murder at Cluster Springs Raceway, The Dismal Swamp, Beneath DC, Adrenochrome, Cape Charles in Crimson, and The Rucksack Kids, Books 1-4. All of his books are available on Amazon and at www.johntheo.com. Signing and author events are also announced on the website.
306 Webster St
South Boston, Va. 24592
(434) 579-2856
www.JohnTheo.com
