Thomson, John 1954-

PERSONAL:

Born June 17, 1954, in San Diego, CA; son of John (a law enforcement officer) and Neoma (a homemaker) Thomson; married; wife's name Carolee (a writer); children: Claire, Liv. Education: Humboldt State University, B.S., 1978. Politics: Liberal Independent. Religion: "Raised Roman Catholic; presently agnostic, with leanings toward Quakerism." Hobbies and other interests: Guitar, gardening, reading, hiking, bicycling, skiing, fishing.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Penn Valley, CA. E-mail—thoms1@pacbell.net.

CAREER:

U.S. Department of the Interior, Sacramento, CA, wildlife biologist and conservationist. Nevada County Literacy Council, volunteer and literacy tutor; Nevada County Land Trust, member; schools volunteer with "Salmon in the Classroom Project."

MEMBER:

Nature Conservancy.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Thomas D. White Natural Resources Conservation Award.

WRITINGS:

A Small Boat at the Bottom of the Sea (young adult novel), Milkweed Editions (Minneapolis, MN), 2005.

Contributor of articles and short stories to periodicals, including University of Portland Review, Spitball, Outdoor California, California Waterfowl, and Pacific Coast Journal,

SIDELIGHTS:

John Thomson told CA: "My writing career has very much been juxtaposed with my career in wildlife conservation. I began writing, mostly short stories and even a little poetry, purely as an avocation, and later became a bit more serious about it, while also trying to balance a yearning to ‘save the planet’ and raise a family. I was fifty when my first novel was published, though I did have a few short stories published in literary magazines. I feel some momentum these days and expect more books to come out in the next three or four years. I got a load of confidence when I saw A Small Boat at the Bottom of the Sea reviewed positively in the New York Times, though it was a very brief write-up. I enjoy writing for young people because, in some ways, I feel like I've never lost that sense of adventure and curiosity I had when I was a kid, and writing for that age group just feels very natural to me.

"I write whenever I have time, but I do require quiet, so I'm often up before five o'clock in the morning, before my wife and daughters. My advice for aspiring writers is that old cliché about never giving up. I know it's said all the time, but it's really true. Also be careful not to try too hard to get published. Sometimes writers compromise their voice and passion for that, and they end up writing something of lower quality.

"The writers who have influenced me the most are Jack London, John Steinbeck, and William Styron, but these days, my far-and-away favorite author is Willa Cather. She was one of America's greatest authors, I think, but one I didn't really discover until later in life—which is pretty typical for me about most things."