An Interview with John Tynes

John Tynes is a physician, author, photographer, and world traveler who delights in the constant surprises delivered by the human experience, and who loves sharing tales of those surprises and the lessons learned from them.

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Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

The title of Scattering Dad was, in many ways, my own internal “elevator pitch” for the whole story. It sprang from a conversation I had with my wife and children after my mother died, as we pondered the best way to scatter her ashes and honor her memory. Of course, that particular scattering was significantly less, uh, dramatic, than the scatterings the novel portrays, thank goodness.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

I remember thinking, “That’s it. That’s exactly the mood of the story.” I loved the colors and the sense of space and solitude in parts of America, some of which I tried to capture in the adventures my characters experience in the novel.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I have always been captivated by a good story, and I have written and published shorter works off and on throughout my life. This novel is my first attempt at long-form fiction, and I tried very hard to capture the full range of emotions that we all experience and cope with as we move through life.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I have worked as a physician for most of my life; caring for my patients and my community has been a powerful and rewarding calling for decades. The practice of medicine is another expression of creativity that I have cherished, even as I have also expressed myself through photography and writing. I have a special kind of passion for the visual experience that I have chased through photography (shameless plug: tynesphoto.com) and I enjoyed working to capture visual images in prose for Scattering Dad.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

It’s nice to have some closure with this story, and to feel that I did the best I could with it, for better or for worse. Now I can finally let it go mentally and move on to other ones.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

I would probably pull up some moody Americana or folk songs, maybe some atmospheric tracks by Enya or other artists creating soundscapes to accompany long, solitary drives across vast spaces.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

I hope readers reflect on the relationships that they have with their own families, and realize that it’s never too late to repair the damage that we often cause to the people who are closest to us.

What creative projects are you currently working on?

I have two more novels in progress, and also a collection of previously published and new short stories. Sometimes I find it hard to focus on one project at a time; maybe that’s why I tend to lean toward short fiction, but Scattering Dad was really satisfying, so I’m confident I’ll get another novel out soon.

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

I have really enjoyed working with Atmosphere Press, and I especially found my time with my developmental editor to be invaluable; it really made my characters more consistent and my narrative arc more powerful. Also, I was amazed at how meticulous and thorough my proofreaders were. The design team listened carefully to my ideas for the cover, and the marketing folks are now guiding me through a process post-publication that I would not have had a clue how to do well on my own.

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