John Grogan, Best-selling author of Marley & Me

John Grogan, Best-selling author (we’re talking 5 million copies sold…and a movie…and a fantastic NEW book)

During a successful career as a journalist and columnist, John Grogan wrote a farewell article to his crazy yellow lab, Marley, and the rest, as they say…is an international best-seller and a major motion picture staring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston.

John’s writing books full-time now and recently released his second book – a memoir called, The Longest Trip Home. You see, John Grogan started from humble beginnings laden with Catholicism, pudginess, an out of control head of hair, a knack for causing a lot of trouble and a natural gift for writing. I can’t put it down – being most drawn to the rawly authentic way he’s matched his writing and his storytelling so precisely to the mood, age and level of innocence he actually had when he lived each precious piece of life as a boy in Michigan.

The Interview

The Daily Norm: My readers and I would like to make sure you are, in fact, human – it levels the ‘normalcy’ playing field. So do you eat, go to the bathroom, bleed and cry? We’re happy to hear some proof if you want to supply it…

John Grogan: Guilty as charged of all of the above. Love to eat, and I confess to having no self-restraint while on book tour with a HarperCollins Amex card burning a hole in my pocket. Bring on the crème brulée! And yes, I wept like a baby while writing the ending chapters of both Marley & Me and The Longest Trip Home. What a wimp I am. (It’s okay, John…we all cried like babies. In fact, I also recall hyperventilating…)

TDN: What’s your daily schedule on a normal day?

JG: In February 2007, I quit my job as a columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer to work on books full-time. Ten months later, I had a finished manuscript of The Longest Trip Home. I thought I would miss newspapers after a 20-plus-year career, but I’ve been plenty busy without the day job. On a typical day I get up about 7, make strong coffee, read the New York Times, check email, then begin my to-do list: On some days it’s to write another chapter, on others to weed the garden. Throw into the mix blogs, contracts, speaking engagements, bookstore appearances, and of course Twitter and Facebook, and my days are pretty full. Try to find time for a walk around our 19-acre mini-farm each day, too.  I usually take a break when my kids get home from school, but then work into the night, usually until 1 a.m. or so.

TDN: Name one thing that you have to do on a regular basis that you despise. What lengths would you actually go to, in order to delete it from your schedule?

JG: Anything to do with taxes and the IRS. Paying the tab is bad enough, but the paperwork and bureaucracy drive me insane — even with the help of a good accountant. When you have a book out in 40-odd different countries, that’s a lot of paperwork and arcane tax code to go around. I fantasize moving to Antarctica where there would be no tax forms, just penguins, which are way cuter.

TDN: What would you change about your work, industry, profession or self if you could change anything?

JG: I’d make myself a little less neurotic about my writing. I live in constant fear that a single burp, hiccup, or sideways glance will shatter my writing mojo and dry up the words.

TDN: Is there any life stage or event you would have skipped (like geometry) on the way to where you are now? Would it have been missed?

JG: I could have pulled a Rip Van Winkle snooze through all of 10th grade and no one would have missed me, nor would I have missed a thing in my education. I write about the write-off year in The Longest Trip Home. Let’s just say I didn’t handle the transition from regimented Catholic education to public schools very well.

TDN: What was your main stepping stone to getting to where you are today? (Person, place, thing, luck, pluck, virtue?)

JG: Two teachers really helped: A Catholic brother my freshman year who saw I had some writing talent, but knew I was sloppy and lazy. He rode my ass relentlessly until I finally realized good writing takes more than raw ability; it takes a lot of hard work. A later teacher saw some glimmer of promise in me and encouraged me to start journaling. Those journals were my first step toward a career of first-person narrative writing.

TDN: What word or phrase do you say most often?

JG: “So, anyways…”

TDN: What is your single biggest accomplishment?

JG: Most people would expect me to say Marley & Me, a first book that totally changed my life. Actually, it’s my three beautiful, wonderful, funny children who, while admittedly accelerating the graying of my hair, bring me immeasurable joy and pride.

TDN: Is there anything that you can’t live without? (besides food, water and oxygen)

JG: Good, live music. (OK, the real answer is sex, but I didn’t say that.)

TDN: What’s the best part of your life?

JG: After my family? The relationship I have with readers. I receive emails and letters every day from all over the world, and they not only warm my heart, they give me the creative jolt I need to keep going. At my book signings, I swear I’ve met some of the nicest humans on the planet.

TDN: And have you figured out how to get more of it?

JG: Write more books.

TDN: Who do you most admire? Why?

JG: Men (and women too) who can hand-cut a perfect dovetail joint, drop a tree on a dime, and survive handily if tossed inadvertently into the deepest, most inhospitable wilderness. I’d also love to have dinner with Bill Clinton.

TDN: What is your ultimate motivation tool?

JG: Travel. Usually on about Day 4 of any trip, I begin to unwind and the words and ideas start coming in rapid fire. Problem is, I usually don’t get around to writing them down.

TDN: If someone wanted to be you or do what you do, what would you say to them?

JG: Watch what you wish for.

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Where to find John Grogan:
www.johngroganbooks.com
Twitter
Facebook

And, if you want to read more from Julie Roads, creator of The Daily Norm, go here.

Tagged as: author, best-sellers, best-selling author, columnist, dogs, HarperCollins, John Grogan, journalist, Marley and Me, new york times best seller, The Longest Trip Home, yellow labs