Kia ora,
Welcome to a new interrogation! 
Get comfortable and settle in … got a cuppa?

Who are you?
I’m Stephen Johnson, an Australian who has lived in Auckland for 35 years. My fiction journey started at 61 when I fled a media career to drive a motorhome around Europe for seven months. I wanted to escape work. Instead, inspiration struck and I returned with a travel thriller. Tugga’s Mob was a finalist in the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards for Best First Novel. It features a television crew with a knack for finding bodies. The fourth book in the series, For Amy, is about to go through the editing wringer. 
I’ve also written a historical fiction novel set during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and have just launched the Rebecca Cashmore thriller series which is set in my backyard. 
When not at the keyboard, you might see me walking Tamaki Drive or paddling a kayak along the coast. 

Favourite genre/s to read or write? 
Piles of thrillers, crime fiction and histories fill my Kindle, bookshelves and coffee tables. If I don’t answer emails, a mountain has collapsed. Espionage novels were my favourites until the Iron Curtain collapsed. Thank goodness Mick Herron’s Slow Horses series revived the genre.

Please tell us about your latest work: 
I’ve just published No Repeats, the first book in a psychological thriller series set in Auckland’s eastern bays. Rebecca Cashmore is a legal and media highflyer who balances challenging careers with a secret life. That public mask is ripped away during a home invasion.  

Do you like chocolate fish? 
I’m a chocoholic. Don’t get between me and my daughter’s chocolate pudding.

What’s your main character like? 
Rebecca Cashmore is a wonderfully complex character. She’s an intelligent, confident and glamorous celebrity adored by television audiences. She’s forced to battle with tall poppy syndrome – and worse – when viewers learn her personal choices go beyond societal norms.

Would you go to the pub with them?
I would happily join Rebecca at Channel 8’s local in Parnell. She would drink a white wine, then leave me to yarn with The Fossils. Her colleagues are news veterans whose careers were extended beyond their use-by-date by a Bitcoin success story.
Would you have them over for dinner?
My wife would allow the Fossils – but probably not the gorgeous, 43-year-old Rebecca whose home dungeon is just along the road. 
What music do they listen to?
Rebecca is known to do the Saturday household chores while humming Celtic tunes from Clannad and Enya.
What type of car do they drive?
Rebecca had to sacrifice the Range Rover Sport for an anonymous electric vehicle. Anything not built by the twat who bought Twitter. 
Are they a series character?
Rebecca is the central character. She’s already facing new dramas in the sequel, Don’t Kiss the Gecko. That will be published in 2025. 

What piece of advice would you give a new writer?
Write to your own rhythm. A morning walk or paddle fills me with ideas and energy to tackle the next round of manuscript wrestling. 

What part of writing do you find the hardest? 
Opening emails from the editors. My ego cringes at the anticipated corrections. Which one of us can’t see the woods for the trees! Sigh. I have a private hissy fit, then set about heeding their advice.  

Have you ever had lolly cake?
Today? I refuse to incriminate myself because my wife and heart surgeon might read this. 

Pantser or outliner? And why?
I’m a flexible outliner. The buzz starts with the story idea and builds until I’m holding a printed copy. I want to know where I’m going with the characters and plot. However, the first brainstorming, which might amount to half a dozen A4 pages, never mirrors the book that rolls off the printer. The characters often enhance the story – but I always know the ending.  

Do you write in silence? 
Occasionally I write with a cricket or baseball game on TV. Years working in newsrooms and TV studios taught me to zone in and out when required. If the words hold sway, I can always rely on a dozen replays to catch up with the wickets or home runs.

Do you like to listen to audio books? 
Not yet. I prefer ‘80s music in the car and hate ear buds when walking and paddling. They make me feel isolated from the world. 

Have you ever visited New Zealand?
I thumbed my way around New Zealand with a backpack for three weeks in 1979. I never expected to return with a Kwozzie family a decade later.

Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, or some other type of pet?
Sadly, most cats and dogs give me the sniffles. A budgie experiment ended badly – I stood on Ozzie and Kim flew away. My family might forgive me one day.

Where do you write? 
I’m lucky to have a garret overlooking the Tamaki River to Half Moon Bay Marina. It’s a beautiful setting – which I’ve turned into crime scenes for the Rebecca Cashmore series. That’s what writers do!

You can learn. more about Stephen in the following places:
Website:
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