John DeDakis had a dream. Well, he had a lot of them, but since he couldn't be President of the United States he set his sights on journalism and eventually, on being a White House Correspondent.
A talented journalist, he worked for 45 years for media outlets CBN and CNN. He was a White House Correspondent and worked as a senior editor on Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room helping cover important stories. It was an exciting, successful, and rewarding first life. Part 1 of our conversation covers that first life.
But John had another dream. He had a story to tell. So while working as a journalist he started writing the first of five mystery novels, writing in the voice of a twenty-something female journalist, protagonist Lark Chadwick. So far Lark's had quite a ride - in books 4 and 5, she's a White House Correspondent and in his soon to be published 6th book, she's the President's Press Secretary. In his mystery novels, John says, he's worked through some major events from his first life including the suicide of his sister Georgia, and the death of his son Stephen from a heroin overdose.
In Part 2, we talk about John's life as an award winning full time writer, writing coach, manuscript editor, a leader of writing workshops at literary centers and writers’ conferences and host of a podcast, “One-to-One”, on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Turns out his second life, despite the glories and heartaches of the first, is his best life.
Mystery Novelist John DeDakis on His Successful First Life, Part 1