I was named for Joseph Conrad, my dad's favorite writer. Major influences include Thelonious Monk, one of the founding fathers of bebop in the 40's — he persevered as his music was often ridiculed, and now enjoys his greatest success posthumously. Gene Wolfe is another major influence — a writer in the sci-fi genre, Mr. Wolfe writes with grace, style and great intellect. Mom and Dad, too: Dad, who hated that I read comic books in my youth; he feared I'd never outgrow the trashy literature of my pre-teens. He now knows differently.

Author of January's Paradigm, available through BookSurge.com., Amazon.com, Half.com, and Alibris.com, Current Entertainment Monthly (Ann Arbor, MI) wrote: "Personal identity — the slipperiness and malleability of it — make up the major theme of the story ... (readers) will not be able to put it down". I recently completed the first draft of One Hot January, my new novel. I've worked in radio, acted in and directed numerous plays — drama as well as comedy (no musicals; tone deaf) — and have written theatrical reviews.

Born October 21, 1956. I have no desire to write the All American Best Seller — the first table I bypass in any bookstore I may visit is the Best Seller table. Being a best seller doesn't mean it's the best literature. I want to write what pleases me and hope that my audience will find me. One of my favorite quotes: "Men have called me mad, but the question is not yet settled ... whether madness is not but the purest form of intelligence. We will say, then, that I am mad." — Edgar Allen Poe. I live in Northville, Michigan. (Photo courtesy of Daina Bowman, Chicago, Illinois)

Writer's Manual
Read the transcript of a rather in depth interview I had with Writer's Manual several months ago.

January's Paradigm
January's Paradigm is a novel about marital infidelity from the male perspective with an unexpected twist of events and characters who cross lines of identity, space, and time.

"Men aren’t often perceived as victims of infidelity,” says J. Conrad Guest, author of just published novel January’s Paradigm. “Society is up in arms about men abusing women, but suggest that a woman can be abusive or manipulative in a relationship, and society turns a deaf ear.”

“Intriguing...this interweaving of writer creating a writer creating an alter ego creating a story that connects the writer to the alter ego to the ideal to the beast who lives within us all–and makes him whole again. If that’s hard to follow, January’s Paradigm isn’t. The book builds that mesmerizing fascination of watching puzzle pieces turn and twist, sizing themselves up, trying their varied edges, until they find their well-fitting places...and it is hard to close the cover until the last piece fits.” –Zinta Aistars, writer and editor for LuxEsto, Kalamazoo College alumni magazine, and author of three books.

Amazon.com
Read my reviews on books, videos and music CDs.

WritersNet
Visit me on WritersNet.