Today we’d like to introduce you to John Cady

Hi John , it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

I am an individual whose goal in life was to have a loving wife, amazing children, and a job I love going to every day. Each and every one of these goals was met, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m a blessed man. On top of these life goals, I have also had a dream 25 years in the making to be a published author. This dream has finally been realized. I could talk until I’m blue in the face in regards to how wonderful my wife and kids are. They’re the reason I wake up smiling and go to sleep smiling. One of the reasons I smile in between those hours is thanks to the work I get to do day in and day out. I’m a teacher who gets to watch incarcerated students rise above and well beyond what they thought their potential was and what society sometimes thinks their potential is. When you see them walk across a stage and accept their diploma, you tend to tear up like it’s your own child being handed a diploma. As if this experience hasn’t been rewarding enough, they were also the inspiration for my breakthrough novel, Angela of Death.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

Culture shock has been a bump in the road in regards to teaching incarecrated youth. My exposure to the environment they’ve grown up in has always been limited to movies such as Boyz n the Hood and Menace II Society. Occasionally, I’d find myself trying to teach a student whose friend or family member was killed as recently as the night before. Earlier on in my career, I was insensitive enough to still expect them to complete the assigned classwork the following day. I now have so much advice for that younger, more naive version of myself. The most pressing of this advice is get to know your students, build rapport with them, build trust with them, and make your classroom a safe, welcoming learning environment for them. Nowadays, when I unfortunately still encounter these same bumps, I have learned to let those same students learn on their time when they’re grieving. My classwork in those instances should be the furthest thing from their mind. For some, my classwork is a welcomed distraction. In regards to my writing, the struggles I’ve faced were quite common: writer’s block and rejection. Twenty-five years is a lenghty period of rejection. You can’t let the rejection define you though. You need to let it drive you. If others can make it, so can you. I needed to keep pounding that into my mind.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

For most of those twenty-five years, I was trying to pen the next Catcher in the Rye. Coincidentally, my students groan at mere mention of Catcher in the Rye. What they enjoy is fantasy and inner city and/or urban fiction. If you could somehow blend the two, you’d have them turning your pages all of the way to the end in one sitting. Unfortunately, I wasn’t imaginative enough to create worlds and I didn’t know enough to write within their world. That all changed when I had a dream one night about a young Latina woman who just so happened to be an Angel of Death. Alas, my breakthrough novel, Angela of Death was born. Since its publication, a set of my books was generously donated to my school. My students devoured them and had nothing but glowing reviews for me. Mission accomplished. Twenty-five year drought over.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?

My favorite childhood memory was when my father used to read me adventure books like Treasure Island and The Swiss Family Robinson before bedtime. I would get lost in those worlds. I wanted to be Jim Hawkins trying to outwit Long John Silver and the rest of the pirates. I also wanted to live in an island paradise with the Robinson family, who also had to outwit pirates. There was a lot of outwitting pirates in my youth. The day he introduced me to the Disney adaptations of these stories, I was in heaven.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: John Cady – Author
• Facebook: John Cady Author
• Twitter: John Cady – Author (@cady_author)