Frederick Johns, Ballard resident for the past 23 years, published his first novel, "Whistler in the Rough," in December.

The book focuses on a fictional narrative set prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and is written mainly for outdoor sports enthusiasts, though it spans many genres.

The book is the first for Johns, who said he has not done any prior fiction writing.

He is currently employed writing medical transcription for Harborview Medical Center, and although he has always wanted to write, he did not want to pursue a career in journalism and did not see any other avenues toward a lucrative writing profession.

Johns’ previous nonfiction writing, none of which has been published, centered around his travels.

Fifteen years ago on a two-year sailing trip, he kept a meticulous daily journal, and on a seven month bus trip through Latin America with his wife, he sent email updates to his friends and family.

Writing the emails took about three hours, not counting the outlining beforehand, and spanned the previous five or six weeks.

Johns said the recipients loved the updates, and people he has not met ended up reading them regularly. Though never published, he hopes to someday compose them into a series of articles.

He said he enjoyed his nonfiction writing, but his true desire was to write fiction.

He did most of the planning and structuring of the novel before committing any words to paper but also allowed the narrative to develop throughout the writing process.

Johns began writing his novel more than two years ago and wrote the first draft in eight months while working full-time.

He worked an eight-hour day and typically wrote for an hour and a half at night after dinner, finding that he could not sustain his creativity for longer than that.

“I don’t think I ever had writer’s block,” said Johns.

"Whistler in the Rough" was proofread by others three times and by Johns himself five times. His last proofreading alone took 50 hours.

The book, printed in Minnesota, arrived in Seattle Dec. 12.

Johns said he plans to devote six to eight months to marketing and has no immediate plans to write another novel, but he might focus on song lyrics.

Johns, who is an Illinois native and whose wife is Danish, moved to Ballard in part for its Scandinavian culture. They are avid boaters, skiers and hikers and were drawn to Western Washington primarily for its proximity to the mountains, the water and nature in general.

More information on his novel can be found on www.amazon.com and www.smashwords.com.