John Derr
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John Derr
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John C Derr, author of Another Christmas Carol

GET TO KNOW ME

Hello!

Thanks for visiting my site. I'm John.  That's me, above.  Hi!  

So, to meet your expectations upon visiting an "ABOUT ME" page I will share a little about myself.  I don't want to tell you too much in case you are only here to steal my identity.  It's a fine line I need to walk here. 


I was born in Western Pennsylvania. (Too vague?  Okay, Sharpsville. That's a real town.  Not to be confused with Sharpsburg, PA which is south of Pittsburgh.  Sharpsville is north of Pittsburgh.)  I was the fourth of five children in the family.  (A middle child . . . make all the assumptions you want.  I should add that my younger brother was born only 15 months after me. Psycholanalize away!)  I'm a Scorpio. (I am not into astrology, but whenever I mention I am a Scorpio to people who are, they typically react with the same concerned expression as those in the wizarding world of Harry Potter upon hearing the name Voldemort.)  


I was raised Catholic.


I am a graduate of Grove City College.


My first job out of college was as a claims examiner at Prudential's AARP Medicare supplement operation near Philadelphia.  I lasted four years, though I am not sure how.  I think they were glad to see me go.  I think that because on my last day, my manager said, "we are glad to see you go."


I went to work for Montgomery Newspapers, a group of community weeklies in the Philly suburbs.  I started out selling advertising to local businesses and kept moving up until I was the  Advertising Director.  Everyone who had been ahead of me in line for the position had either died or disappeared mysteriously.  


After 11 years there, I left for Lancaster Newspapers (now LNP | LancasterOnline) to be their Retail Advertising Manager.  By my 10th year with LNP, I was the VP of Sales & Marketing.  Again, the more qualified people ahead of me, and even outside candidates, met untimely, unexplained ends. About 8 years later, LNP made me disappear.  I was out on my ass and unemployed for the first time since college.


I was fortunate that my lack of gainful employment lasted only a month.  I was hired by the Chestnut Hill Local, a weekly newspaper in Northwest Philadelphia, to be their publisher. The previous publisher . . . yep . . . had just disappeared without so much as a note of explanation. 


In October of 2023, after five years with the Local, I left for a position at the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.  This time the person I replaced did not curiously disappear or slip these surly bonds shrouded in mystery. No. This time there was a typed letter expressing his reasons for his sudden and immediate move to the Arctic to live among the Inuit people. It was a bucket list thing, as I understand. 


At the end of 2021, in the throes of the pandemic, I finished my first novel and then I thought, "wouldn't it be fun to try to write one!?"   Actually, I had started writing "Another Christmas Carol" a couple of years earlier.  


I am married.  I have 4 children.  We have a dog.  We live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.


I hope  you will be a regular visitor to this site and that you'll look for my book.




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