Whitefish author creates characters to bring readers through the story

When John Zaiss submitted his first novel, a financial thriller, to publishers the rejections came back with a lesson he took to heart.

“It was a failure,” he said. “They loved the stories, but didn’t care about the characters. I decided that no matter what, my next book is going to be character driven.”  

At the time he was working a full-time job with three young children at home, writing at 4 a.m. before work and while traveling on airplanes and in hotels.  

Now retired, he has been able to devote himself to writing, spending several hours working each day. The Whitefish author recently released his third novel, “Tough Girl.” 

“I’ve read books where I’m almost speed reading them because it’s all plot. There isn’t a whole lot that I care about when it comes to the characters,” he said. “But as an author, once I can get you to care about my characters, and I use that along with a lot of back story, then the story will take care of itself. I want to pull the reader through the story, I don’t want to push them.”  

Zaiss grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He earned a degree in business administration and became a certified public accountant working for firms in Omaha and Dallas. Later he had a successful career as a financial advisor.  

He has always been an avid reader and often thought to himself while reading that he could do that. 

His first book “A Dedication” focuses on the journeys of a rebellious teenager and a retired Marine sergeant when they collide. Inspired by a family story, his second “Love, Lizzie” a historical fiction novel tells the story of two women 50 years apart.  

A man writing fiction from a woman’s perspective in the first person is a challenge because Zaiss wants to make sure to give his characters an authentic voice. It’s been a source of pushback from potential publishers.  

“It’s unique that a man is using women characters and speaking in first person,” he said. “But I feel comfortable writing women characters. I think they are more interesting than men characters and they generally have certain characteristics that make them more adaptable to any development in the story.” 

In “Tough Girl” two teenage girls who are thrust together during a horrible night at a homeless shelter and then 16 years later are reunited when they find themselves thrust into the treacherous world of international money laundering.   

The starting point for the book was that Zaiss — inspired by his mother who suffered great losses throughout her life — wanted to write a story about resilient women.  

"My mom is not in any way, shape or form in the book, but she is a resilient woman,” he said. “And so, I grew up in a household where that was a very important characteristic of a woman. And so, if I had to describe one word about the book it would be that it’s about resilient women.” 

The book has already gained attention. One of the main characters in the book wears a baseball cap and the cover of the novel features a blue cap with “tough girl” in gold lettering. Readers have reached out to Zaiss asking to purchase the cap, so he’s made them available with proceeds going to women’s shelters.  

“The hats are being bought for a lot of different reasons,” he said. “One mom bought one for her daughter who plays football, and one woman bought one because she’s going through chemotherapy for cancer. So, there’s a lot of different meanings to the hat. But I think a lot of women are identifying with that idea of resilience.” 

The thread that ties all his novels together is suspense.  

“As a fiction writer I make a bargain with the reader and that’s that I know something that you don’t know and if you turn the next page then I’ll tell you what that is,” he said. “I think that’s really an important attitude to have that as long as I’m maintaining the suspense, whether it’s through a medical doctor advising on an abortion or whether it’s a money launderer, that I know something and I’m tempting the reader to turn the page.” 

Already working on his next novel, Zaiss says it centers on a woman who is reconnecting with her family after leaving home. But exactly what shape the story will take is still uncertain.  

Writing about six hours per day, five days per week, and a successful day means putting down 1,000 words. Calling himself a slow writer, he says the process is “tedious.”  

“That’s just the first draft and capturing the story,” he said. “I start with an idea or a concept and then I’m different than most fiction writers because they have an outline. I let the characters tell me the story and they end up steering me in a direction that a lot of times I have no idea where that came from.”  

After that first draft, he goes back to look for inconsistencies, build character histories and make changes regarding the language. But during that first round he’s just like the readers he wants to pull through the story.  

“Literally with 50 pages, maybe 100 pages to go, I don’t know where the book ends,” he said. “That’s kind of fun.”  

Zaiss’ books are available online. For more information, visit johnzaiss.com.

Deputy Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@dailyinterlake.com.