Sheppard, John L. 1963–

(John Lawrence Sheppard)

PERSONAL:

Born 1963, in Lakewood, OH; married, wife's name Helen. Education: University of Florida, M.F.A., 1994.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Round Lake Park, IL. E-mail—johnsheppard@mac.com.

CAREER:

Writer. Also worked as a college teacher in Florida and civil servant in Chicago. Military service: U.S. Army, 1987-91, served in Germany.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Midnight in Monaco, Xlibris (Philadelphia, PA), 2000.

Bad Men Driving, Writers Club Press (Lincoln, NE), 2001.

Carl versus the Men from Mars: Bombast, Drivel, Odds, and Ends, Writers Club Press (Lincoln, NE), 2002.

The Runner-Up, iUniverse, 2003.

Small Town Punk, Ig (New York, NY), 2006.

Also author of the John Sheppard blog.

SIDELIGHTS:

John L. Sheppard is a writer who served for four years in the U.S. Army as a graphic artist. Aside from writing, he has worked variously as a college teacher in Florida and a civil servant in Illinois. He also earned a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Florida in 1994. In 2000, he published his first novel, Midnight in Monaco. He continued publishing a novel each subsequent year, including Bad Men Driving; Carl versus the Men from Mars: Bombast, Drivel, Odds, and Ends; and The Runner-Up. Sheppard earned commercial success with his 2006 publication, Small Town Punk.

Small Town Punk relates the story of four teens, Buzz, his sister Sissy, Dave, and Albino, growing up in the punk scene of 1980s Sarasota, Florida. The stories of their mundane lives are familiar to many who grew up in that scene, but reviewers had mostly positive comments for the novel. Kevin Allman, writing in Portland, Oregon's Williamette Week, said that the three strongest assets of the novel were ‘a fine sense of detail, a raggedy-ass charm, and the best-friends relationship between Buzz and Sissy.’ Michael Cart agreed with the assessment in a Booklist review, affirming that ‘Sheppard is at his best, though, when he's writing about the relationship’ between Buzz and Sissy. In the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Daily Nebraskan, John Wenz wrote that Sheppard's novel ‘is an intriguing and quick read.’ Erin O'Brien, writing in the Cleveland Free Times, thought that Sheppard ‘shines brightest when he transforms a mundane detail into a surprise right hook."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2006, Michael Cart, review of Small Town Punk, p. 33.

Daily Nebraskan (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), March 26, 2006, John Wenz, review of Small Town Punk.

Free Times (Cleveland, OH), March 21, 2007, Erin O'Brien, review of Small Town Punk.

Williamette Week (Portland, OR), March 7, 2007, Kevin Allman, review of Small Town Punk.

ONLINE

John L. Sheppard Home Page,http://homepage.mac.com/johnsheppard (October 10, 2007).

John L. Sheppard MySpace Profile,http://www.myspace.com/smalltownpunk (October 10, 2007), author profile.

Small Town Punk Web site,http://www.smalltownpunk.com (October 10, 2007).

WritersNet Web site,http://www.writers.net/ (October 10, 2007), author profile.