Interview with JT Baroni

How did this book come about?

         While hunting whitetail one year, I stumbled upon a weathered tombstone in the middle of the woods. Waiting patiently for that big buck to cross my path gave me plenty of time to think about that lone grave’s inhabitant and ponder her story, which I was then driven to write.

        

Eerily enough, this is the premise of The Legend of Rachel Petersen, my first novel that Damnation Books in California published in 2012, which I have just recently revised, and then self-published. Between holding down a job as a transformer repairman and life in general, it took me two years to write the original book back then.

         However! I am now enjoying retirement, and in the first half of 2023, I revised the story by adding 165 pages and a new ending chapter. My ghost tale is now even more descriptive, has added details, and the final chapter comes out of the left field and smacks you upside the head!

Describe your writing habits

         I simply write when it’s raining or when the urge hits, but mostly when I think of a good scene and the thoughts are flowing. Sometimes the rough draft will sit on the shelf for a month or longer, and then I’ll dust it off and look at it with a fresh perspective. Only after ten or more chapters, when I get lost, do I start an outline.

Do you listen to music while writing?

         Sometimes I tell Alexa to play Santa Esmeralda, Supertramp, Bob Seger, INXS, the Golden Oldies, or the News. At times, silence, especially when I’m using the narrator function during editing.

Which authors influenced your writing?

         I enjoyed Harold Robbins’s The Adventurers, Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. I know I’m telling my age with that answer, but I enjoyed their books because they wrote captivating stories that held my interest to the last page.

Are there any projects in the works now?

            I’m 32 chapters into a psychological thriller. The plot revolves around a psychologist and an attorney who is planning to rule the world; they both share the same dark secret, but one of them has a deadly, ulterior motive. Three more chapters should finish it. Then edit, edit, edit… Keep your eyes open for “Tell Me about your Childhood.”

Author Biography

Living in Western Pennsylvania all my life, I’ve been an avid Whitetail hunter since old enough to tote a rifle, which is also about as long as I’ve had a fondness for word games and literature.

         While hunting one year, I actually did stumble upon the pictured, weathered tombstone in the middle of the woods.
​​​​​​​          Waiting patiently for any deer to cross my path gave me plenty of time to think about that lone grave’s inhabitant and ponder her story, which I was then driven to write. Eerily enough, this is the premise of The Legend of Rachel Petersen, my first published novel, which I recently revised.
          I call Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a small town outside of Pittsburgh, home.
​​​​​​​          My wife Becky and I share our home with two retrievers – Piper and Remmy.