Jon Lindstrom on Becoming a Bestselling Author (EXCLUSIVE)
Actor Jon Lindstrom has received accolades for his performances as Kevin on GENERAL HOSPITAL and Craig on AS THE WORLD TURNS as well as other roles in primetime and film. But Soaps In Depth caught up with the daytime star at a recent book signing to find out how it feels to now also be a bestselling author!
“Unlike anything I ever expected would happen,” Lindstrom told us of the success of his USA Today bestselling novel Hollywood Hustle. “It’s a whole new feeling and I hope it’s one that never goes away.”
When the actor lived in New York City, he frequented The Mysterious Bookshop and now marveled that he was doing a book signing there. “To see that?’ he said, gesturing at the stack of hardcovers and the crowd waiting patiently. “To see some people showing up? Yeah. I just signed about 60 books that are already pre-sold. And I’m a featured title in their book club. Yeah, it’s been a year of firsts.”
Lindstrom had previously written some screenplays, but narrating some audiobooks inspired him to pen his first novel. “I narrated some really good ones,” he explained. “People like Blake Crouch and Alex Finlay and Don Winslow. And I also narrated some not-so-good ones. And I thought I could do better. I didn’t really believe I could, but guys like Alex and Blake gave me the inspiration to try it out. It was just time. It was something I’ve wanted to do for decades.”
Of course, finding the time to write turned out to be rather challenging given his day job at GH. “I wrote for about a year and then they brought back Ryan Chamberlin and so I was suddenly doing twin duty,” revealed Lindstrom. “And I didn’t have time to write. So I had to put it down for about a year. And then the pandemic hit, so I could pick it up again.”
When GH went back into production after lockdown, however, they picked up right where they left off. “So I was right back to twin duty,” he added. “So I had to put it down for another six months. And so it was after that that I was finally able to finish it off. So it was a real juggle for a while.”
With Ryan now deceased and Lindstrom only playing Kevin, he has more time to write again and is currently working on his second book. “I’m about halfway through it now,” he revealed. “It’s another Hollywood-based crime story. Not a sequel. Just… same universe. But characters might tangentially pass through. The series is really about Hollywood-based crimes in L.A. But it’s not about [Hollywood Hustle’s main character] Winston Greene becoming a crime-fighting movie star. I think that would be stretching it!”
