A graduate of Stanford University and University of Michigan Law School, John C. Ford gave up his lawyering ways to pursue the craft of writing. In a city full of concrete aspirations, Mr. Ford's move is nothing short of inspirational. His debut novel, The Morgue and Me is earning rave reviews from the New York Post and the Los Angeles Times. Recently, the new author decided to answer a few of this Half Pint's burning questions about what gentlemen should read, vampires, and vicious evil rumors.

You'll find that the reviews are correct: Mr. Ford is an absolute hit.

The phrase gets thrown around, but today what does it take to be a "well read" man?
Ahh yes, being “well read”--a high compliment.  It definitely suggests familiarity with a depth and breadth of high-quality books, but I think the term gets reserved for those who not only have knowledge, but a certain amount of class.  I don’t think the guy who puts a McSweeneys or n+1 on ostentatious display on his coffee table and blathers on about comparative lit theory gets called “well read.”  Other terms come to mind, but not that one.  My theory:  if you talk about a book, you should do it for some other reason than to show off the fact that you’ve read it.

What is a book that should be read by every man before the age of 20? 30? 40?
20 -- A Separate Peace, John Knowles (it’s deep but accessible)
30 -- Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald (it’s Fitzgerald)
40 -- The Brothers Karamozov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky (it’s brilliant)

This is too much fun; I can’t help answering twice:

20 — Call of the Wild, Jack London (for the life metaphor)
30 — Appointment in Samarra, John O’Hara (for the cautionary tale)
40 — Lolita, Vladamir Nabokov (for the character study)

Name a few of the best bookstores in DC.
You could start and end with Politics & Prose.  But I highly approve of bookstores with liquor licenses, so for that I’ll add Kramerbooks.  I’m also a fan of Capitol Hill Books near Eastern Market.  Charmingly messy stacks of books all over the place, in every conceivable subject; the place is right out of a Dickens novel.

What made you want to be a writer?
Excuse me while I lie down on this couch here, doctor.  Actually, no, you don’t want to suffer the self-analysis.  There are probably innumerable reasons, but two stick out.  First, I get great pleasure from the craft of writing—ordering words on a page in a (hopefully) pleasing way.  Also, I’m an observer by nature, and greatly curious about people.  Put those elements together, and I guess you get a novelist.
 
Favorite word: 
So tough!  I love words that are a little different, and very evocative of their own meaning: halcyon, mellifluous, bloviate, the list could go on.  One that seems particularly apt for this forum is “bespoke.”  So classy.
 
Hardback or Soft cover?
Hardback.

Best Form of Communication: Text, Email, or Paper?
Twitter isn’t an option?  Kidding.  Paper in a walk.

Describe the plot of your new book in 10 words or less:
Sam Spade, as a teen, working in a morgue. 
(Phew!)

In the dawn of kid wizards and vegitarian vampires, why a detective drama?
One great piece of writing advice I got early on was: write the kind of book that you would like to read.  And me, I love crime stories.  (Though I have nothing against kid wizards or vegitarian vampires.)

Would you ever work in a morgue?
I’m still scarred by the experience of dissecting a frog in seventh grade, so probably not.

There is a vicious rumor that you began writing this during a $500 million dollar trial.
Is that true?
Guilty, your honor.  It was a very long trial, full of very long days, on a subject that was not necessarily riveting, and I guess my imagination got the better of me.  I didn’t actually write too much of it then, but I had a plot by the time the jury came back. And we won the case!

What drew you to create this character? This story?
I have to give my brother credit for suggesting making my main character a kid, and using a morgue as a setting for the story.  I can still remember a phone conversation in which I was brainstorming with him, and he suggested those two things.  Once I tried to imagine what kind of kid might take a job in a morgue, it was very easy to get excited about that character and build the story around him.

Finally, when and where can everyone is DC run to buy this masterpiece?
It’s out in the world on June 25th.  You should be able to pick it up at most bookstores (including Politics & Prose), and it’s also online at all the usual places: Amazon, BN.com, and Indiebound.com. 

Thanks so much for having me on The Half-Pint Gentleman, and happy reading!