Preston Hollow Author Releases New Revenge Thriller
J.K. Franko’s sixth book is titled Killing Johnny Miracle
Preston Hollow resident J.K. Franko’s latest novel, Killing Johnny Miracle, debuted in September with a focus on revenge.
“It does what all the other J.K. Franko novels do,” Franko said. “Lots of twists, unexpected twists, and a little bit of a legal element as well. I practiced law for years before getting into this.”
Killing Johnny Miracle is set in Fredericksburg, a place Franko and his wife frequented while living in Austin.
This is Franko’s fifth fiction book and sixth overall. His past work includes a revenge trilogy — Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth, and Life for Life — a novella that complements the trilogy, and a guide for first-year lawyers.
He got into writing about 20 years ago but didn’t have his first published work until 2019.
“It’s something I was really always interested in, but I was very bad at,” Franko said. “I wrote and wrote and wrote, and I think I’ve got like six or seven books in various stages of incompletion in my laptop somewhere, and Eye for Eye was the first book that really came together from start to finish as a good book.”
When writing, Franko describes himself as a planner, rather than a pantser (someone who flies by the seat of their pants). He writes the first chapter, then the last one, and alternates until there are five on each side, then fills in the middle.
“By having a very clear destination written out, it helps a lot in terms of actually getting to where you’re going,” Franko said.
Then comes lots of revision. The first draft of Killing Johnny Miracle was 40,000 words, and the final copy is around 100,000.
“It’s really a very iterative process, and I probably went through 60 revisions of the book before finally coming out with it,” Franko said.
His books are self-published in English, but he works with a publishing company to also publish them in Spanish thanks to his mother-in-law, who submitted a translated version of his first novel and obtained interest from a Spanish publisher.
Franko recommends his books to everyone, but specifically those who like crime thrillers and books with twists. He also notes a female empowerment theme through his novels.
“All of my books, the way they’re structured, there are basically two independent story arcs going on that come together at the end,” Franko said.
Going forward, Franko’s goal is to keep writing. He plans to continue following the revenge motif for the next at least two or three novels and hopes to see his work made into a show or film.
