Jon Gray Lang Interview Published on: 20, Apr 2021

I was originally born in Perth, Western Australia since that’s where my parents met. My father’s side of the family is from Australia and my mother was vacationing there. My mother’s side is from the United States, and at the time, there were more job opportunities there. We flew to the USA and I spent most of my childhood in the Washington DC area.

I have to think about that for a minute since I don’t tend to focus on the things I cannot change. Oh yes, I wanted to be a pilot for the Air Force but when I turned 15, my 20/20 vision changed to 20/400 in one eye. That was the end of that dream!

It depends on my mood. I love history and I am always diving into some other facet that I want to know more about. Sci-Fi and Fantasy have always been my go-to genres, but there are times when I want to dive into a great mystery or thriller. Oddly enough, I’ve been reading more horror as of late as seems to fit with the times.

As a screenwriter, I had three books that referred to constantly in the beginning. They are The Portable Film School by D.B. Gilles, The Playwright’s Handbook by Frank Pike and Thomas G. Dunn, and Making a Good Script Great by Linda Seger. On the directing side, I found Film Directing, Shot by Shot by Steven D. Katz to be a great source.

The very first long-form story that I wrote was back when I was about twelve. It was a fantasy adventure that only my family ever read. I thought I’d lost the only copy of it, but recently found it in the bottom of a box a couple of years ago! It was a fun little read and really bad, but it made me happy to see such passion back in the day. Oh, if it isn’t obvious, I have no plans on torturing anyone else with a published version.

The Matilda series was initially an idea I had for a television show that kept getting pushed on the back burner. I sat on the bones of the story for close to a decade before I decided I had to tell the story if even to just get it out of my head. I had always wanted to write a book and I threw caution to the wind. Now, here we are, three books in with the next two in different states of readiness and I’m having a blast!

Twistin’ Matilda was a wild ride! I went into the second book of the series with my plans sketched out and I thought I had all my i’s dotted and my t’s crossed. Instead, the characters dragged me on a whirlwind tour through their universe! I was left gasping for air and one of the most fun writing experiences of my life.

For me, it’s almost entirely about the characters. You can have an amazing world with a believable setting but if the characters don’t grab me, there’s a good chance I’ll put it down. If I can connect with one of the characters and I mean I don’t even have to like them, then I’ll keep reading. After that, sticking to the rules of your world would be the next big one.

I believe this with all my heart. The best way to find out what connects with you and what turns you away is by reading other works. I think it’s a good idea to read genres that aren’t necessarily your cup of tea, as well. Different genres have a different feel to them, and you just might find something you like about that!

Screenwriting is a hard business to get into and seeing how your ‘vision’ changes under someone else’s control can be both amazing and disheartening. One of the more rewarding parts of the process is working with other writers and seeing how others interpret your work. Since film making is such a group effort, learning to not be beholden to your work and make adjustments on the fly are skills you have to learn. It can be incredibly rewarding and exhausting at the same time.

Funny you should ask that! The Matilda series is chockfull of music that inspired me in the writing process, and it doesn’t hurt that one of the characters is a musician. I like various forms of music for different reasons, rock, rap, R&B, honky-tonk, country, classic rock, ragtime, electronica, industrial, metal, pop, folk, and lately, jazz.

One of the coolest things to witness is watching an actor take your written words and transform them in a way you as the writer hadn’t thought of. As an actor, getting to inhabit the skin of a character and give it a voice is a thrilling experience. The best qualities of a great actor, to me, is the ability to completely disappear into a character, their mannerisms, their thoughts to the point you no longer see the actor.

After I finished writing the Matilda, I held onto it and researched publishing options and processes for over a year. For practice, I released my novelette, Nun with a Gun: Town with No Name and learned a bunch of things I hadn’t quite picked up in my research. I released the Matilda next and that went smoother. After all that, the main thing that I changed in my process had to do with the physical appearance of the story in paperback and eBook form. It had to look and feel enticing.

I have a couple of projects on the burner right now. I just sent the fourth book in the series, Secret Matilda, off to my editors and I look forward to seeing what they have to say, and what I must fix! I am also halfway through the first draft of the final book in the series, Waltzing Matilda. I can’t wait to get those two out and jump back into the world of the Nun with a Gun!

AllAuthor has been incredibly easy to work with! The website is easy to use, and the weekly mock-ups are awesome. The book cover contests are a fun addition to the whole process! I really like working with them.