The first Amazon.com reviewer of G.S. Johnston’s novel Consumption described it as “intense,” and called one of the primary characters “Hannibal Lecter in pink angora.”

Greg Johnston was thrilled. “The description was pretty much spot on,” says the author, who lives and writes in Sydney, Australia. “It was very odd to think someone I have no connection to was reading my book. That was a great feeling, inspiring and one I've never had before… A writer needs a reader.”

Johnston has been trying to reach readers since 2005, when he wrote the first draft of Consumption after becoming frustrated by the consumer culture all around him. “We are what we consume,” he says, “but I had to be more than my Versace sunglasses.”

Working in retail, Greg saw too many people who seemed to be able to "fake" their identities behind a smoke screen of consumer objects. In them, Greg discovered his character of Martin Blake, a high-profile, high-dollar interior decorator in the dying days of British Hong Kong. To keep Blake mysterious and slightly off-center, Greg tells Consumption from the point of view of Martin’s close friend Sara, who arrives in Hong Kong reeling from the end of a relationship. Sara hasn’t seen Martin for two years, and while she is surprised at how he has changed, she accommodates him for the sake of their history together. When Sara falls in love again, though, Martin feels threatened, and the once-close friendship becomes toxic.

The friendship of Martin and Sara is one of the things that made this novel stand out to Greg’s editor at The Editorial Department, Renni Browne. “You don't see that often, and yet lifelong friendships are hugely important. When one friend goes off the rails, as happens in Consumption, the consequences can be fascinating—and heartrending.”

Greg credits Renni and fellow editor Shannon Roberts with helping him revise and refine his manuscript through “too many drafts to name. Renni and Shannon had me cutting, dicing, slicing and julienne-ing on every level, from words through to whole chapters.” He acknowledges it took some time to trust their expertise, especially when they challenged him to cut entire sections he liked. But “if it hadn't been for them, I wouldn't have taken what I had and pushed it a little further, and a little further, and a little further.”

After working for so long on the manuscript, Greg originally pursued traditional publication. But he found that even with a quality manuscript, the process of securing an agent and publisher felt too much like a lottery, “or like aligning seventeen needles and throwing a thread through all their eyes in one go.” Eager to get his work into the marketplace and connect with readers, he changed his focus and became his own publisher, releasing Consumption as an e-book via Amazon’s Kindle and Smashwords.

Would he do it again? Absolutely. In fact, Greg is currently finishing the line edits for his second novel, The Skin of Water.

Find out more about G.S. Johnston at his website, http://gsjohnstonconsumption.wordpress.com/