Interview with John & Betsy Gates,
authors of Businessman's Prison
Interview by
Mehroo Siddiqui
John Gates was
born in St. Louis, Missouri, and received a Bachelor’s in Business
Administration from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas.
Throughout his career, John held top-level positions at several Fortune 500
companies, where he personally witnessed corporate scandal. As president of
Sunbeam-Oster, Canada, John had direct dealings with the infamous Al “Chainsaw”
Dunlap, former CEO of Sunbeam-Oster. Dunlap later became the center of an
investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission that ended with him
being fined $15 million and becoming barred from ever being an officer of a
United States corporation again. At Sunbeam, John gained firsthand knowledge of
what happens when accounting principles are intentionally and illegally
manipulated for the personal gain of executives, all before companies like Enron
ever made these practices notorious. John also worked for Polaroid Corporation
and Campbell Soup Co., and served as president of Honeywell Automotive, Canada,
and AlliedSignal Automotive, Canada. Now retired from corporate America, John
and his wife, Betsy, share a combined 27 years of various senior management
positions held in ten different Fortune 500 companies.
Born in San
Francisco, California, Betsy Gates earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic
Design from California State University. She later decided that graphic design
wasn’t for her and immersed herself in the business world. During the course of
a very successful career, Betsy served as manager at several high-profile
companies and has more than 17 years of experience in sales and sales
management. She is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and also volunteers
for Meals on Wheels.
Having lived
their lives in corporate America for more than 25 years, John and Betsy’s
perspectives of the business world have changed drastically over the years. They
have combined their experiences and thorough knowledge of the business world to
write Businessman’s Prison.
John and Betsy
have three grown children and currently reside on a farm in West Plains, Mo.,
where they retired their business suits to raise Holstein Heifer Dairy cows.
John is a full-time writer and Betsy works for the city of West Plains, Mo. They
enjoy traveling and farming. Businessman’s Prison is the Gates’ first
novel, and they are currently at work on a second book.
Tell us about
your experience as first-time writers. Since you were in the corporate field
earlier, was this transition into the writing world a problem?
The transition from the corporate umbrella to the writing world has as many
similarities as it does individual eccentricities. Each had entry points that
catapulted us into the arena. We began planning for the change several years in
advance, constantly gathering ideas along the way. We made sure our financial
house was in order; saving money, paying off our mortgage, etc. From there, it
felt like jumping off a cliff hanging by a weak bungee cord. You know you might
hit something, you're just not sure when. Both thrilling and frightening.
Did you wish you
had tried your hand at it earlier?
Yes and no. Yes,
earlier success might have allowed us to produce more works. But, years of
observing people, their behaviors and patterns and simply living life seemed
necessary to impart to the reader the true feeling of sitting in the front row
seat, up as close as possible to what Businessman's Prison is like.
Ironically, we completed this novel prior to the avalanche of corporate scandals
that began to develop right in front of the whole world.
What made you
decide to write a novel in the first place?
For us it is truly moving into a second adulthood. We wanted to enhance and
challenge ourselves to develop true purpose. As well, we desired to make a
literary contribution to society that would be enduring, well written with the
highest of standards, having impact, tasteful, and containing a moral thread.
Your novel is about corruption in corporate America. Could you talk to us a
little about it?
In our career lifetime, there have been various paradigm shifts in the way
corporate business functions. One of these shifts altered the historical events
of the 21st century: the implosion and scandal of corporate giants like Enron,
WorldCom, and HealthSouth to name a few. CEO status skyrocketed to parallel that
of a rock star or major sports figure with astronomical financial compensation
packages, whether they improved the corporation or not. With mega mergers and
bigger stakes comes bigger risks. The celebrity status brought more scrutiny,
conversation, and pressure. What superhuman was capable of filling these huge
shoes? A breed of seemingly genetically superior humans evolved. A highly
specialized elite group who required virtually no sleep, impervious to disease,
thrived on chaos, and created more genius in a month than many could in a
lifetime. But as the stakes became higher it seemed the wealth, fame, and power
underwent a metamorphosis into greed, infamy, and anarchy. When these cracks in
the armor began to evolve, we decided to put them under the microscope.
You must have
had an aim in mind when you sat down to write it, as well as a specific
response, from the readers, that you may have wanted to elicit. What were they
and to what extent have they been achieved?
We felt the reader would like to live vicariously through the Businessman's
Prison characters and see justice served up, one way or another perhaps
achieving a sense of satisfaction which is lacking in our current judicial
system. White collar crime is in an embryonic state with only the recent
legislation (Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002) enacted to stave off further criminal
activity which up until recently evoked little consequence.
The response has been very positive from a broad range of readers; from
corporate presidents, sales and marketing executives, administration people,
corporate retirees to small business owners, homemakers, and
dentists/doctors/physical therapists, etc. who are not necessarily familiar with
large corporate internality. Radio interview requests are rolling in daily,
riding along with the current tidal wave of CEO trials.
What, for both of you, is the best part about writing? And what is the worst?
The best part about writing is manufacturing three dimensional characters out of
a one dimensional piece of blank paper. We get so wrapped up into the people we
create that they almost seem real. As most writers would tell you much of the
creation comes from bits and pieces of persons, places, and things from our
past. There's nothing like seeing the real book, the cover, and the finished
product of such an arduous effort.
The worst is
stubborn artistic differences in co-authoring and particularly punctuated by
also being marital partners. In the final analysis, someone must concede in
order to move on. Humor is a great remedy for this condition.
Was there ever a point, while you were writing, when you felt you couldn't go
on? Why did you feel that, if you did, and how did you overcome that obstacle?
Yes. There is an anonymous saying that reads, "A task without a vision is
drudgery. A vision without a task is a dream. A task with a vision is victory."
Overcoming obstacles is part of the "task" territory and in our view, the
biggest part of character building. Testing our own fortitude, persistence,
especially when the road gets tough; this is what life is about. It's not "let's
make a deal," it is the deal. If Businessman's Prison impacts the reader
in any way, shape or form, then we have done our job.
Tell us about your writing schedule. You are also working on a second novel I
believe. Do you follow the same schedule or has it changed in some way? How long
did it take you to complete Businessman's Prison?
Our writing schedule: we don't have one. We seem to be two people with moments
of brilliance and many gaps in between. We chart a lot of our work to keep the
plot on course with a logical progression. With two people working on the same
material it seems to require a different structure. One of us might work on
character development while the other maps out the plot. Sometimes we work days
in a row and other times it's sporadic. An average would be four to six hours
daily.
Book two is presenting different challenges. The material required more research
so our schedule is different. Plus, Betsy is working full time so our nights and
weekends are filled with working on our current material.
It took more than 27 years of our careers, more than five years of research, and
two years of writing to complete Businessman's Prison.
What is your second novel about? Is it also related to the corporate world?
Speaking of which, what was the response of your former employers, colleagues,
and friends who still belong to that world when Businessman's Prison came
out?
Our second novel is about two San Francisco powerhouse corporations, Germetics,
a world leading pharmaceutical conglomerate, and Pinnacle, the premier food and
cereal giant, collaborating to create the ultimate anti-aging fountain of youth
product-- a marriage of medicine and nutrition; but when the project ends up
going haywire, it results in foul play and murder. A new unique fictional
character emerges who will likely surface again in subsequent tales.
Our colleagues have said the following:
"Riveting roller coaster ride on a corporate train with the wheels spun off. JB
Gates takes corporate power struggles to a whole new level."
"Top shelf, JB Gates obviously knows what goes on in big corporations and adds
spine tingling intrigue to create a story like no other."
"My time for reading novels and books is limited, but once I started into this
one, it was hard to put down. Whether you are familiar with the business world
or not, this novel is easy to relate to. It has everything: suspense, mystery, a
web of entanglement that will keep you guessing, i.e., who's the good guy, who's
the bad guy and how is everything going to fit together. The ending was the
absolute ultimate and I think this book would MAKE A GOOD MOVIE. I'm looking
forward to the next book by this author."
"The Gates did a wonderful job of painting what it is like in corporate
America. A man who gave his heart and soul to the company and a career and now
he is trapped in 'jail' and it is hard to get out. This should be required
reading for any college business student before they enter the work-place. Even
though this is supposed to be a fiction book, I kept reading and saying to
myself, this sounds just like what happened to me."
"The authors understand what it is like. I can't wait for the sequel from these
new and upcoming authors."
How did you find a publisher for your first book? Did you have an agent who
helped you or did you feel that was unnecessary? Was it difficult to find a
publisher because you were writing for the first time? Did you get any
rejections and if so, how did you deal with them?
We self published first. Then, we discovered a huge road block on
"print-on-demand" books for distribution. Fortunately, we found a new publisher
when we had our booth at Book Expo America. Like Stephen King mentions in his
book, On Writing, we too could wallpaper a room with rejection slips from
agents, major book publishers, and others who simply would not look at an
"unknown" author.
Our best advice? Constantly read novels by successful authors. Read all you can
about writing. Develop Teflon skin. Totally commit to and believe in your works.
Develop your own style and be prepared to endure and persevere.
What about the editing process of the book? Did it surprise you in any way?
If so, how? What were you expecting?
To us, editing is like real estate. In real estate, it's all about location,
location, location. In writing, it's editing, editing, editing.
The surprise? Know when to stop editing.
We didn't really know what to expect. However, during the process we found
ourselves expecting to be a big part of the process, but dreaming we didn't have
to be.
Did you have any help in drafting a proposal for the publishers? How did you
manage that?
No. We approached drafting proposals just like we did in our corporate
positions. We applied the same level of professionalism, research, and standards
that we did with previous presentations.
We managed by writing, then re-writing, then removing anything that wasn't
germane to the process.
How did it feel
when the first reviews of your book came out?
It feels great to know our work is finally being seen on a larger scale. Like
real estate, writing seems to be about exposure, exposure, exposure.
Which writers do you admire? Did you try to emulate them when you began
writing? Was there anyone around to guide you and help you with the whole
writing process, if so, who? And if not, was this a problem?
We admire many writers and our tastes are widespread and eclectic. We have not
tried to emulate as such, but rather study various styles of many successful
authors as mentioned before. Then, we closed all the materials, put everything
away, and wrote from our own hearts.
We hope our own unique style is appealing to many.
What plans have
you for the future? Do you plan to write more books that are based in the same
setting of corporate America or do you plan to branch out into different
directions? Could you elaborate on that please?
We already have several other novels plotted out again in the corporate milieu
full of more intrigue and murderous mayhem. We may branch out eventually. John
has more interest in horror than Betsy and he is currently working on a "horror
murder mystery." He also is laying plans for two historical fiction books.
Any advice for first-time writers hoping to get their work published?
Persistence, persistence, persistence. You must believe in yourself 110%-- your
writing will reflect this. If you don't believe and aren't totally committed to
the notion of being an author, your work will reflect that. Either way, we have
discovered a big part of writing-- you have to actually finish the book.
Originally from Pakistan, where she
worked in the publications department of an organization, Mehroo Siddiqui is
currently doing her Masters from George Mason University in Virginia.
