Urban Reviews:  Can you tell us about your debut novel A Second to Die?
John Lilton:  Yes, I would be happy to. This novel is about an old school gangster named Caesar Slaughter, his woman Rachel and her crew. Caesar is a little unusual as a gangster in the sense that while he’s raised in the streets of Richmond, he’s also half black and half Native American and raised in that tradition also. Caesar gets crossed by one of his partners after they pull a drug heist together and sets out for revenge after he gets out of prison.

Meanwhile, his nephew gets killed for taking a dope package that belonged to the same drug dealer that Caesar and his partner had robbed. This hits him pretty hard and he goes through some soul searching about the life he’s leading, but knows that he has to remain true to the G Code and straighten the killing. In the midst of all of this he begins to understand the destructive power of the crack game, how it destroys more than just the individual but also the community as a whole. He decides to change his approach to things by destroying the dope he rips off and of course that becomes a real problem with some of his new partners and loyalties are tested.

Rachel, Caesar’s woman is at first appearance a sort of laid back, soft spoken, high maintenance chick. But she is just as dangerous, and in some ways deadlier than Caesar. A problem erupts when during a robbery a girl is accidently shot and Caesar takes her with him to get her medical care. When she gets well and has her freedom to leave she finds that she has become attached to Rachel and the girls but can’t decide whether she should sell Caesar out or not. She loves him and hates him at the same time.

Urban Reviews:  Where did you get the idea for this book from?
John Lilton:  From my lawyer. I know that sounds crazy but that’s the truth. The Caesar Slaughter trilogy is loosely based on the events that got me four life sentences in prison. After my trial was over my lawyer kept writing me and telling me I should write a book about my life and that I should write it as fiction because nobody would believe anyone lived that way anyway. He even offered to hire a ghost writer for me. I didn’t write anything for about eighteen years and then one day I just sat down and started writing. I changed the series of events that had happened in the seventies, updated it changing from heroin to crack and it just took off.

Urban Reviews:  Did you want to be an author or did it just happen one day?
John Lilton:  I tinkered with writing a novel when I was a kid, but I don’t think I wrote more than a couple of pages. I have always loved to read but never seriously thought about writing a book until I just decided to do it.

Urban Reviews:  What are your goals as an author?
John Lilton:  My biggest goal is to show how people who are truly into the life interact. In the Caesar Slaughter Trilogy, what I show is the interaction of old school code and values compared to the new thug code (or lack thereof) and lack of values. I think also, I try to show that there are consequences to your actions.

Urban Reviews:  As a new author, what has been your biggest challenge?
John Lilton:  Marketing, marketing, marketing. When you are new and no one knows you, it’s kind of hard getting out there because there are so many other authors. I have had to learn not only to become a writer but also to become a publisher. When I started this less than a year ago, I did not even know how to use a computer, so my learning curve was pretty steep and I have gone from that to where I am now, and it has been a tremendous journey.

Urban Reviews:  What ‘s the best thing that has happened so far as it relates to you book?
John Lilton:  I think one of the most moving experiences that I have had regarding the book, is while I was incarcerated, several of the guys read my manuscript. On different occasions, some of them came back to me stating that my description of the street life was very real and therapeutic for them in the sense that they did not realize the destruction they were causing through dealing dope. And some of them swore that they would never do it again. I think that if nothing else, that is the greatest satisfaction I can have for writing this novel.

Urban Reviews:  Do you have any other upcoming projects that you are working on?
John Lilton:  Yes, the second volume of the Caesar Slaughter Trilogy will be coming out very soon with the third to soon follow that.

Urban Reviews:  Do you have any favorite authors or books?
John Lilton:  I guess you could say my favorite authors were sort at opposite poles of each other. On the one hand, I loved the novels by Donald Goines; and on the other hand, I loved the works of Richard Wright and James Baldwin.

Urban Reviews:  What do you like to do when you are not writing or promoting your debut novel?
John Lilton:  I am involved with several community based projects. One is helping ex-felons find housing, job training and employment. Another thing I spend a lot of my free time doing is mentoring youth, especially those who have had scrapes with the law or who lack self-esteem. I am also a motivational speaker and that is beginning to take more and more of my time.

Urban Reviews:  Any final words you would like to leave with readers about yourself or your novel?
John Lilton:  Yes. A Second To Die is a novel that seems to touch people from all different walks of life on many different levels. I guess that is because I have written this novel in a way that you experience it more than read it. I enjoy hearing reader responses to the book . I am always open to suggestions.