Episode 71
How to Find Your Unique Creative Voice with Author Davon and Greene
Growing up as the son of author and composer BB Johnson AKA Joseph Greene (Together Brothers, Across the Alley from the Alamo) DaVon and Greene (the pen name of Jonathan Greene) knew writing was in his blood.
Drawn towards cartels, crime, and drugs DaVon and Greene completed his first serious undertaking in his early teens and gave it to his father's friend, Saul David (Director: Logan's Run and Fantastic Voyage) to get an honest critique. Saul was intrigued, but wasn't overwhelmed. His critique sent DaVon and Greene’s life into a whole other direction, putting down the pen and entering the world that he wrote about in an endless cycle that there was no escape from, ultimately leading to incarceration.
After jail, employment was hard to find, so when DaVon and Greene’s now wife offered him a job interview at a beer company he seized the opportunity. Working hard he rose through the ranks with promotion after promotion. Within six months DaVon and Greene was on a six figure salary.
Several years later, DaVon and Greene’s beer career came to a halt when the company was sold. So DaVon and Greene started flipping Real Estate which provided him with a life filled with fast cars, boats and houses, until the crash of 2007.
Not to be defeated, DaVon and Greene turned to insurance, then consulting before starting a successful trucking business. Resting in his truck at night gave DaVon and Greene time to write and finally fulfil his dream to become an author. Thriller, Laredo Nuevo, was published in 2021 and his fast-paced new book, Paladin launched in February 2024.
DaVon and Greene is father to eight children and five grandchildren. When he’s not writing or trucking across the country Jonathan can be found in California where he lives with his wife.
You can learn more about DaVon and Greene at www.davonandgreene.com/home and also follow him on Instagram @davon_and_greene.
A little about today's host-
Shawna Rodrigues left her award-winning career in the public sector in 2019 to consult and publish her first novel Beyond the Pear Blossoms. Her desire to connect and help others led to the launch of her podcast The Grit Show shortly thereafter. When she learned women host only 27% of podcasts, her skills and passion led to the founding of the Authentic Connections Network. She now helps mission-driven entrepreneurs better connect with their audiences by providing full-service podcast production and through a community for Entrepreneurs & Podcasters – EPAC. Podcasting is her primary focus, so she continues to support the writing community through this podcast, and her writing time is mostly focused on anthologies.
She offers a free 7 Steps to Perfect Your Podcast Title to anyone interested in launching a podcast. You can also follow her on Instagram-@ShawnaPodcasts, and learn more about the network and community at https://linktr.ee/37by27.
Be sure to follow or subscribe to Author Express wherever you listen to podcasts and to follow us on Instagram @AuthorExpressPodcast
Learn more about our hosts, the guests we've had, and their books -
Transcript
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Shawna Rodrigues [:Welcome to Author Express. Thanks for checking us out. This is the podcast where you give us 15 minutes of your time, and we give you a chance to hear the voice behind the pages and get to know your new favorite author in a new light. I'm Shawna Rodrigues, one of your hosts, a fellow author, host of The Grit Show, and the founder of Authentic Connections podcast network, which makes this podcast possible. Let me tell you a little about today's guest. DaVon & Greene, the pin name of Jonathan Greene. He grew up as a son of an author and composer, BB Johnson, aka Joseph Greene, who wrote Together Brothers and Across the Alley from the Alamo. Drawn towards cartels, crime, and drugs, DaVon & Greene completed his first series undertaking in his early teens.
Shawna Rodrigues [:After an underwhelming retreat from his father's friend, Saul David, director of Logan's Run and Fantastic Voyage,DaVon & Greene put down the pen and entered the world that he wrote about in an endless cycle that there was no escape from, ultimately leading to his incarceration. Today, we get to get a glimpse of behind the scenes of DaVon & Greene and learn more about his experience writing. So thank you so much for being here today.
DaVon & Greene [:Well, thank you so much for having me. Wow. That's a great introduction. I might have to clap my hands to that one. Thank you so much. It's an honor. And, hopefully, I can keep up the energy you have because, boy, you have it.
Shawna Rodrigues [:Well well, see, I've been impressed with our interactions as well with your energy. So I'm excited for our listeners to get a chance to get to know you a little bit and get a glimpse of the writer behind the pages. That's what we try to do a little bit here on authorizations. And we're gonna start that with you telling us the most interesting thing about where you are from.
DaVon & Greene [:Well, I am from Altadena, California. That's where I was born and raised. And interestingly enough, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, is right around the corner from my house. And JPL is, you know, where all the space stuff goes on. And my mom actually worked there for years till she retired. And fun fact, she was the audit coordinator there. And when she started, she was the only person there. And when she left, there was, like, 20 or 30 people under her.
DaVon & Greene [:So I'm I'm very proud of my mom, and she did she worked there for years.
Shawna Rodrigues [:That would be quite an undertaking to be auditing things that important.
DaVon & Greene [:Yes. When she started, she was the whole department.
Shawna Rodrigues [:That's amazing. Was she really, like, strict at home and auditing things at home and keeping things in line at home too?
DaVon & Greene [:My mom did not play. Let's just put it like that.
Shawna Rodrigues [:We'll put it like that. We'll put it like that. I I got it. I got it. Well, good. Well, then well, we're just gonna shift our conversation to more of the play. So I wanna learn about your favorite vacation. What's the favorite vacation you've ever been on?
DaVon & Greene [:Well, actually, it happened last year. We went, my wife and I, and some friends of ours, my cousin, his wife, Will, and some other people. We went to the Mediterranean, and we did the cruise around the Mediterranean. We went to Spain. We went to Ibiza. We went to Cairns. We went to, Rome. We went all over the place.
DaVon & Greene [:It was just the most beautiful thing. And we had such a good time. I'd love to go back. We've talked about it. Don't know when we're gonna go back, but it was the most amazing time. I I will cherish those memories for the rest of my life.
Shawna Rodrigues [:I have a funny question for you because I'd never heard of Ibiza before it was in a song. Had you heard of Ibiza before it was in a song? Were you aware?
DaVon & Greene [:No. I've never heard of Ibiza before, but Ibiza is actually a beautiful place. We went to a beach. Actually, it's like a beach resort without the resort. There was no hotel there, but they had this horseshoe shaped beach. Waters were see through, just glass, white sands. They had a bunch of restaurants there, and you can eat right on the beach, right above the beach on the bluff. And we ate lunch there, and we had a ball, man.
DaVon & Greene [:But but we heard about this place or somebody with us had heard about it, so we went. Oh, man. It was perfect. It was breathtaking.
Shawna Rodrigues [:Oh, that's amazing. I love this question because I love I love vacations. I love hearing about this.
DaVon & Greene [:If you get a chance, do that cruise. There's a few of them on different cruise lines, but it is just they're all pretty much go to the same places. And there is just an amazing adventure. It it was so much fun.
Shawna Rodrigues [:Well, let's hear more about your book. And you have 2 of them out. We're gonna talk a little bit more about plating. Can you give us just a description and a few sentences about your latest
DaVon & Greene [:book? Well, my latest book is called Paladin, Briscoe Devall Defenders of House La Flor. It is an epic adventure of a billionaire, basically, who at one time lost his way. He lost his way when he lost his wife early on. And now he is basically fighting wrongs in the world. And and a lot of them have to do with murders, and then this one, it's a murder case that he has to solve. And it has to do with a voodoo and, traditions in New Orleans and people who try to take things from other people. And it is truly an odyssey. It's a book that takes you on an adventure.
DaVon & Greene [:Yes.
Shawna Rodrigues [:Yes. So how did you land with it being in the setting of New Orleans with voodoo and all those pieces when you grew up in California? Like, how did that come together?
DaVon & Greene [:You know, I've traveled all over the country, and I've been in New Orleans. I lived in New Orleans for a short period of time. But, you know, you you go where the story takes you. Like, this first this book is completely different from my first book. They're both fiction, but, you know, you go where the story takes you and, took me to New Orleans, and it took me down a path. And I don't know how other people write. I write I get ideas every day, and I'll write them down. And I go where the story takes me.
DaVon & Greene [:And it takes me about 4 pages to get one good page of text down. So for 400 pages, I actually complete a 100 pages. And that that's how I work. Other people work their ways, but I'd follow follow the direction that story takes me, and that's what I did. And I went on with the book and wrote it. And matter of fact, I just got my hard copy. Just got it.
Shawna Rodrigues [:That's so exciting. Yes. That's very exciting.
DaVon & Greene [:I just opened it. I actually before we we started talking, I just opened it. So, anyway
Shawna Rodrigues [:Oh, that's so exciting. Yeah. So what is your advice? Because you've had a journey to get to this goal of writing. Like we said in your intro, you started when you were young and then got discouraged easily, but you came back to us. So what is your message to people to that have this in their heart, the book that wants to come to life? Like, what is your message to them?
DaVon & Greene [:You need to grab a pen and just start writing. You need to grab a computer and just start writing. I have a few friends right now who I'm encourage encouraging to write. They called me and, hey, man. You know what? You wanna write my no. I don't wanna write your story. You need to write your story. You start it.
DaVon & Greene [:Just start writing it down. You know, I can read it and let you know was that good or was that, you know, I can give you my opinion. But I'm not an editor, but you just have to start writing because, you know, there's a lot of stories out there. I have a ex sister-in-law who has a crazy story of how she ran into her boyfriend from a childhood when they were real young after her husband dies, his wife dies, and so forth and so on. And I said, you need to write that down. So, you know, there there's a lot of stories out there and people just need to write. I enjoy it. It takes my minds off other things.
DaVon & Greene [:I write at night, I grab my computer and I just write. And sometimes I can write 2 or 3 pages. Sometimes I can write 2 or 3 paragraphs. Just is what it is.
Shawna Rodrigues [:You gotta keep at it,
DaVon & Greene [:Yes. And never give up. Never give up. If you have it in your heart, just keep on writing. Some people are gonna tell you it's garbage. Oh, well. You know? And I was told that, and I I stopped writing for years. And then I said, you know what? I'm gonna finish a book, and I started writing again.
Shawna Rodrigues [:That's wonderful. Who has been the most encouraging to you on your journey to finish your 2 books?
DaVon & Greene [:It's been my wife. Oh. It's my wife. She is my harshest critic.
Shawna Rodrigues [:Oh.
DaVon & Greene [:And she's my biggest fan. So she read my first book. She said, oh, that's good. So she got me together with an editor that she knew And our editor, this is the first book I did. And the editor called me, like, three times Uh-huh. During that editing process. She said, you really wrote this? I said, yeah. I wrote this.
DaVon & Greene [:She said, you really wrote? I said, yes. I wrote it. Because, you know, it took me about a year or so. But, you know, you when you have so much time, you go back and go back and you start changing. You try to do your best you can do. And it takes me about a year to write any book, to be quite honest with you. So, anyway, she is by far my biggest fan. I have a granddaughter and my daughter, my oldest daughter and my youngest granddaughter, I mean, they are tremendous fans.
DaVon & Greene [:When they see something that they feel, I'm papa to my granddaughter, and she loves whatever I do.
Shawna Rodrigues [:That is so wonderful. It's important to have those supports in your undertaking Yes.
DaVon & Greene [:Yes.
Shawna Rodrigues [:Writing.
DaVon & Greene [:Yes.
Shawna Rodrigues [:Because writing is it's hard. It's a lot to put yourself out there and put those books in there.
DaVon & Greene [:It is. And, actually, to be quite honest with you, like, these interviews, when me and Victoria got together, I really didn't wanna do this stuff. But, you know, we talked and, you know, nowadays, you gotta do what you have to do. I wanted to be in the background and just put my books out and be be hidden and and not really, you know. Oh, well. Now that you have to do your marketing part. So
Shawna Rodrigues [:Yes. Well, and it's wonderful that folks get to know you a little bit and get those glimpses of Yeah. Who the author is to feel a little more connected. They want more than just a book. They wanna get to know
DaVon & Greene [:you too. That's exactly what Victoria said.
Shawna Rodrigues [:And what's the best place for people to find you if people wanna connect with you and follow along?
DaVon & Greene [:Well, they can go to our website, DaVon & Greene. They can go to Instagram at Devon under slash and under slash green, or they can go to, TikTok atjwperkinsgroup. And we're on all 3 three platforms, and they can find us easily. And it actually, they can go to the website and if they'd like to read the first chapter of my book for free, they can go on the website and download it.
Shawna Rodrigues [:Oh, that's nice.
DaVon & Greene [:So they can
Shawna Rodrigues [:get a preview.
DaVon & Greene [:Yes. And they can get a preview. And if they like it, hey, then go pick it up.
Shawna Rodrigues [:That's nice. Like, a no risk no risk way of getting in on it.
DaVon & Greene [:Exactly. Exactly. That's part of this marketing made nowadays. You you give them a little taste and see if they like it. If they don't, okay. Well, at least at least you tried it.
Shawna Rodrigues [:Yeah. That's great. I love that. And so as we're wrapping up, what is the book or story that inspires you the most?
DaVon & Greene [:Well, that would be The Millionaire Next Door by Napoleon Hill. I've read that book probably 8 to 10 times. I have listened to the audio book of that probably 30 or 40 times. That is my book. I'm constantly going back to that book over the years. Things might not be going the best for you. Things might be slowing down or or, you know, you you just need that reinspiration or however you wanna call it. So I'll go back to that book.
DaVon & Greene [:And and Napoleon Hill, that book has been around for years. It's been there, and people have used it for years. And it's a tool that you can put in your toolbox and read it and and get some kind of inspiration about you to get you to do something, get you to move, and get you on the right path. That's why I think it's mostly something that can set the foundation, for moving forward.
Shawna Rodrigues [:That's excellent. It's good to have those tools and to have things you can go back to. Right?
DaVon & Greene [:Yes. Yes. Exactly.
Shawna Rodrigues [:Thank you so much for being here today. We appreciated this chance to get to know you.
DaVon & Greene [:It was honestly a pleasure. Truly a pleasure. Thank you.
Shawna Rodrigues [:Thank you for joining us. I hope you take a second to give a stars or a review on your favorite podcasting platform. It really makes a difference in folks being able to find us. We'll be here again next Wednesday. Follow us on Instagram @authorexpresspodcast to see who's coming up next. And don't forget, keep it express to keep it interesting.
