The Writer Interview

SO, YOU THINK YOU CAN WRITE?

2012-01-26T12:00:00.000-08:00

TO ERR IS HUMAN; TO WRITE IS A CRIME

Perhaps the greatest thing missing from too many writers lives is SUPPORT. "So, you think you can write?" Whether this cruel question is asked, writers are often told, you cannot write. You will never be a writer, author, poet, etc. The cruelest form of this comes in two varieties, family and experts.

YOUR WRITING IS PATHETIC

No, I did not mean to say prophetic. That would be too nice. Family can be your worst writing enemy. They know where to stick the knife, so you feel the maximum pain. They know what part of you, to bury the hatchet in. Cruelest of all, they can be this way with the best of intentions. Whether it's authors, film stars, musicians, or business people, some people have lived with the torment of family seeing them as a failure in everything they do, especially what the person does BEST. I'm talking very famous and successful people. So, if you lack family support in your writing or other goals in your life, you are not alone. UNDERSTAND THIS, detach yourself from this cruelty, then use it in a positive way.

I would be shocked if family ever decided I can write, but that's fine. It is sincere the way they feel and they mean no harm. In that sense I am lucky. This allows me to look at their criticism, then realize something very important to know as a writer: THERE IS A LOT OF REJECTION. I won't say this is not hard on a person, but I have set a goal to accept REJECTION for what it is, a momentary thing, which can't happen, if you don't act to get published. Just like ACCEPTANCE can never happen, if you don't act to get published. So, your worst critics should be brushed aside, as a temporary impediment, to getting to where you are going, which is getting your writing published.

I AM THE EXPERT! MY OPINION COUNTS!

True, the expert's opinion counts. Whether an agent, editor, reviewer, critique group made up of professional writers, or any of the other writing experts you encounter on the road to publication; you should listen to their opinions, but remember, it IS opinion. A piece of trash for one expert may be a classic to another. You especially want to disown in your mind, any expert who attacks you or your work, personally. Like the turtle or the snail, you must plod along on your journey to where you are going. What is worthless in today's market, may be gold in tomorrow's market. You are a writer / author as long as you do not stop. Search out the experts who believe in what you write. Assume the rest don't know what they are talking about, despite being experts. The good thing is most of the experts have a vested interest in seeing you succeed. It's called MONEY. Agents, editors, and publishers can starve as much as writers, if they fail to support publishable work. Unlike family, they need to live off what you do, so keep writing. Still, I admit, experts can be very destructive to a writer, if they are a sick human being. Smile and keep moving along. In the end, you will achieve VICTORY. (Understand, most experts do their best to HELP YOU.)

ENCOURAGED, I HOPE

I hope I have encouraged you to keep writing, not worry about critics, use the negatives for positive results, and love what you do. There is plenty of discouragement, mountains of frustration, toil, and heartache in writing. You are working toward that moment of JOY that comes one day. Don't forget that. By the way, when you find yourself published? If it's a book, send me an autographed copy. I WOULD LOVE TO READ IT!

THE TALES I TELL

2012-01-25T06:20:00.000-08:00

TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING

To better understand who I am as a writer, you need to know the tales I tell. By nature, I am a short story writer; a fan of Edgar Allan Poe, O. Henry, and Mark Twain, among others. Twain, famous for his books, was an excellent short story writer. These are authors I aspire to write like. Poe taught me to look into the human mind; where there is a fine-line between sanity and insanity. He taught me people cross back and forth between the two, never realizing this. All three taught me irony, which can be humorous, jolting, or twisted. This offers many possibilities to a writer. O. Henry was a master at using irony.

If anything, Mark Twain taught me, I am not a natural story-teller. He is one of the greatest story-tellers of all time. Aside from revealing my writing faults, he taught me humor is a great thing! Humor enhances a story and makes life less dull for the reader. ANYONE, of any consequence in my life, has taught me, laughing at life keeps you sane and alive. Humor is one reason I want to be a writer. Humor, is needed to survive blog bugs too.

ON PUBLICATIONS

I have and haven't been published. As a kid, I wrote short stories for my Junior High School newspaper, achieved a co-byline for a story once, and worst of all, I gathered school gossip that was sometimes published. Almost forgot song dedications, which was more fun. Yes, I was a school reporter. This must alarm Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olson--some of my favorite fictional reporters.

My next published work was in HEARTBEAT, the singer / entertainer Peter Noone's newsletter. (For those too young, he is the famous lead singer in the Sixties band Herman's Hermits. He remains internationally popular.) My 2006 review of a concert he did in my area was published in his fan club newsletter. A couple of minor writings were also published in the newsletter. Speaking of irony, my review in the HEARTBEAT fan club newsletter, may have had a larger and wider audience, than any fiction writing I may ever see published.

For a year, I wrote a column appearing in the newsletter where I once worked. This was from early 2006 through a time in 2007, when the newsletter ceased publication. (Died for budget reasons, not my writing; in case you are wondering.) My first article in the newsletter was an e-mail interview with an occasional radio personality. I consider this interview a key moment in my writing life.

Otherwise, I have never been "published" in a literary magazine or in any sense you think of as "published." Hope I achieve that too!

BLOGGING

Blogging affords me the opportunity to find a reading public, so I may acquire a writing platform, as publishers call it. I began Blogging with Yahoo in December of 2005, ending when they closed their Blogging platform in 2010. I have been Blogging with Blogger since some time in 2009. Building my interview skills, I have interviewed 6 people for two blogs. Three writers, one unpublished; three musical entertainers, with two being famous stars of the Sixties. Through Blogging, my writing life has taken the interesting turn of interviewing people. This leaves me half scared to death and half delighted. Interviewing is a strange animal emotionally, until you get used to it. You do get used to it, don't you? Moving along!

SHORT STORIES

I prefer to publish fictional short stories. My readings tell me this leads to the poorhouse, plus obscurity. Books sell---if any writing sells---if you want to eat and live. So...I have my work cut out for me, which I admit, is depressing at times. Then too, there is all the wonderful writing platforms open to me today, if only I understood them all; even some of them! (Like, self-publishing, e-books, etc.) Writing is not for the faint of heart. IT'S FOR THE TOTALLY INSANE, like me.

On my old Yahoo Blog I posted a few of my writings, thinking that was okay. Then I read, no publisher wants anything that's been online. They say it's published, therefore virtually unpublishable. Well, except for all the people who have succeeded in doing just that! Dare not, believe publishers are more sane than writers! I may...just may...with that insanity in mind, revive a few Yahoo short stories here. People do need to see I write. Even how bad I write; thus, encourage you to write.

POETRY

:-) I have such a lousy understanding of poetry, I took up writing poetry. I hope to learn poetry by writing poetry. Also, some of my short stories have poetry-like rhyming. This baffles me, but I like it. I may share a few of my old Yahoo blog poems. Afterall, it's virtually impossible for my poetry to qualify as publishable. Too many truly excellent poets out there, going unpublished, to believe I am in their league. However, I do write poetry, with this nagging Walter Mitty hope, it's better than it really is. As I said above, humor is important in life.

CONFUSED YET?

Hope I have not confused you. Writing is my final major goal in life to achieve success. I will always write. I am that strange person, who set very high goals in life; unachievable goals, it turns out. Odds are against me in this goal too. That's putting it mildly. Yet, each of my 3 major goals in life taught me things. If I stopped writing today, I accomplished totally unexpected things in my writing pursuit, which I am proud of. There you have it! A small understanding that I will never ask too much of you. Read a little; join me in writing, if you like; maybe a comment, when you have something to say. The tales I tell are the humble tales of a poor boy born with stories in his head. Thank you for joining me.

FAMOUS FICTIONAL PEOPLE

2012-01-24T00:02:00.000-08:00

NOW APPEARING...!

Today's thoughts have nothing to do with writing and everything to do with writing. The topic is famous fictional people. Although it is not possible to name all my favorites, permit me to name a few. Each is worth a deeper study for creative writers. However, this is about being a fan. I am writing this for fun.

WALTER MITTY

You can't read James Thurber's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, without realizing he is a fictional person; a fictional dreamer. He is an everyman, for those of us, who live undistinguished lives. Somehow, Walter Mitty is certain he should be more than he is, except fate set him on a different path in life. One thing Walter Mitty does not lack, is a vivid imagination. The one thing he can't escape, is he is a henpecked husband, regularly brought back to reality, by his over-bearing wife. She is also partly responsible for him living, as much as possible, in the imaginary world he creates. Walter Mitty might have made a great writer, were he a real person. He has come to be a part of American Culture, even making his way into some dictionaries. Best of all, the story is a fun read and Walter Mitty is a fascinating person. Destined to always be undistinguished, in literary form, he has become an American legend in the real world.

SHERLOCK HOLMES

Sherlock Holmes, is possibly, the most famous fictional person and detective in the English-speaking world. In fact, Sherlock Holmes is so famous, some people think he is a real person. There have been attempts by people to visit him at 221B Baker Street, London, England, his fictional apartment address. Sherlock Holmes first appeared in print in 1887, with the original tales covering the 1880 to 1914 period, according to Wikipedia. In The Final Problem, the Sherlock Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle, not only formerly introduces Holmes archenemy Professor Moriarty, he attempts to kill off both characters, intending to put an end to the great detective stories. Naturally, he eventually resurrected Holmes from the dead. In part, this was due to his popularity, but also, because of the author's financial needs.

Sherlock Holmes stories tend to be filled with logical reasoning, scientific methods, and pure genius. Holmes at his best is a problem solver. That some of the scientific ideas introduced in Holmes stories went on to become a part of Scotland Yard's actual detective methods, may play a strong role in why many people believe Sherlock Holmes is a real person. Until the method later proved faulty, the old method of using plaster-of-paris to create a mold of a footprint at a crime scene, originally introduced in a Sherlock Holmes story, was used by Scotland Yard detectives and police forces around the world, to capture, then convict criminals. Despite all this, Sherlock Holmes remains no more than a famous fictional person.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Like a good cliffhanger movie or story, this project is to be continued in the future. This allows me to express my thoughts freely, while trying to hold the writing to a readable word limit for you, the reader. For any writer to create a memorable character, with the staying power of a Walter Mitty or a Sherlock Holmes, is a dream come true. This is as close as a writer comes to achieving immortality. For readers, it gives readers a ficitional person to pass down to future generations of readers. Someone everyone knows and everyone can discuss. Most of all, someone everyone can enjoy. I hope you have a few famous fictional people in your life. I leave you now to return to my imaginary world..."The Siren Song of Cyren is the tale of...

THREE STORY IDEAS JUST FOR YOU

2012-01-21T22:03:00.000-08:00

WELCOME TO MY IMAGINATION

Welcome to my imagination. I have three story ideas just for you. Ah, but there's a catch! You knew there would be, didn't you? You will select your own story idea. My goal is to put you in surroundings you relate to and understand. No writer's block here. Let's get started.

STORY IDEA ONE

You were a child once. Pick a childhood memory, then write about that memory. Write your thoughts, impressions, and actions. Choose two or three memories to write about, if you like. Select the best one to be your story, later. Also, you may combine the memories into one story. It will be your choice. After you write your thoughts, impressions, and actions, you have a rough draft. You have a beginning, a middle, and an end. What you do next is link the three parts with creative ideas, true or untrue, turning it into a story that fits everything together. Think of your creative ideas as creative glue to hold the story together. Once done, rewrite the story so your story becomes interesting to readers. Don't be surprised, if in polishing your story over and over, your childhood memory turns into a completely different tale from your original idea. Stories, like people, have lives. They grow, they change, they become unrecognizable. Once humble and immature, they mature into storyhood.. (If you are a child reading this, pick a memory from a year or two ago. Good luck!)

STORY IDEA TWO

You have learned many things in your life. Pick something you learned, then tell what it was and how you learned it. Explaining something you have learned on the job, in the classroom, or through trial and error, can be a challenge. You may relive the struggle in the process of getting this idea on paper. Feel free to include your frustrations and emotions, from then and now. Be kind to yourself. This idea may take longer to write. You may have to put it down when finished, then return to it a few days later. A great thing to do, once your emotions and frustrations subside, is find the humor in the situation. Example: If you hammered nails with the handle of the hammer, until the light went on in your head, telling you the "metal head" really works better for hammering nails; you might want to interject this bit of humor into your tale. (Was I listening to the hammering sound of Heavy Metal music when I came up with this thought? No, I wasn't, but I like the idea. Thank you!) Repeat the process of idea one; polish, rewrite, polish, rewrite, and create!

STORY IDEA THREE

You got it over with, whatever it was. Pick a time in your life you had to do something you couldn't get out of. All of us get stuck in situations we have little or no control over. Write about this. Maybe you had to fix dinner for an army of people and you're an eat-out person. You know what it was! Write it down from start to finish. Complain and growl where you complained and growled then, even if only on the inside. Include anything that was humorous at the time or humorous in retrospect. You can exaggerate, but keep events within reality. Same as others, polish, rewrite, polish, rewrite, and best of luck in getting it over with!

ASSIGNMENT COMPLETE

There! You have three story ideas. Best of luck to you. Get those creative juices flowing. If the exercise leads to other, better ideas, the exercise will have done its job. Every day of life is a gift of hidden gems, waiting to be discovered. You need to dig to find the "acres of diamonds" hidden in your life. Dave Nightingale, famous for Lead The Field and other motivational works, coined the phrase in italics. In writing or life, focus on awareness, so your own diamonds in life appear to you.

TEN FAVORITE BOOKS

2012-01-18T22:10:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

I love to read, so here are a few favorite books, with brief reviews. I hope you enjoy this post.

THE BIBLE

The Bible, since my background is Christian, bears mentioning, although not as a part of this list. I include The Bible here, so the religious and non-religious, understand it plays a role in my life. The Bible is a rich source of history, philosophy, morality, guidance, and wisdom. Since we do not all share the same religious background, I will not expound further on its meaning to me. The rest of this post addresses 10 favorite books I have read. Some of these books bring me back to my religious roots, thus the need to mention the Bible and my Christian background.. I list the books in no particular order.

EINSTEIN: THE LIFE AND TIMES

Einstein: The Life and Times by Ronald W. Clark. In my humble opinion, this is the best Einstein biography you can read. Reported discoveries of documents in recent years, may mean there are better modern biographies of Einstein, but I once collected Einstein biographies and found this one the best and most humanizing Einstein biography. I bought the paperback version around 1972. I refer back to it to this day. I highly recommend this biography to those who wish to know Einstein the man and scientist.

INSIDE THE THIRD REICH

Inside the Third Reich: Memoirs by Albert Speer. I hated required book reading in school, but this book should be required reading for every high school student. This memoir tells how a non-political college graduate, and regular person, became so tied into an allegiance to Hitler, then Nazi Germany, he turned against his own moral values, without realizing it, until too late. I have addressed this book in an earlier blogpost. It is hard to explain the importance of this book. Forget the size of this book--huge--read it!

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer This is an excellent historical book on Hitler and the history of Nazi Germany by a reporter and human being, who knew pre-Nazi, and for a time Nazi Germany, in person. You can find many excellent pro and con reviews of this book on the internet. Although a large work by the standards of most readers, it is a valuable read. I find these 3 books offer insight from different perspectives on a significant era in German and World History. This time in world history is almost impossible to fully describe. At times, all 3 books send me back to my Bible.

FLATLAND

Flatland by E.A. Abbott. Turning to a subject on the lighter side, Flatland appears a children's book, but written before Relativity Theory, it's proven itself to be a good children's book and a good primer on basic features of Relativity Theory. It is a small book, about 100 pages; easy to read; may make you laugh; but is quite educational.. You need an elementary school education to read this book. If you are a geometry student, either proficient or troubled by geometry, this book offers insight into geometry as a subject. You will see the 3 dimensions of this world and how they work. Not only do internet reviews exist, but the actual story is online!. Click here. Read this book! You will be glad you did. Sorry, I do not mean to sound bossy. Please think of it like a celebration after a great sports play.

(Further note: This book is excellent for teaching social tolerance, due to being written as a satirical work. I have rarely, if ever, seen a book that has such varied educational and social classroom applications.)

ARCHY AND MEHITABEL

archy and mehitabel by don marquis. A hilarious fictional book of short stories, connecting the two subjects and the author. HINT: There is a reason why the title and author are in lower case letters You need to read the book to know why. My copy is a paperback by Anchor Books. The characters were introduced by the author in his newspaper column in 1916. If you think something this old can't possibly be funny, then checkout this book at your local public library, read it, then leave me a comment. I was introduced to this author in a college literature class. I read the book's most memorable story. Years later, by chance, I ordered the book through a mailorder book catalog. It is just under 200 paperback pages, including artist drawings by the author.

(This book's humor includes a disrespected reincarnated bard / writer, Cleopatra, and a manual typewriter. Some of you may need to look up that last term. Not saying how old I am.)

A NOTE TO READERS

*Some books I mention may be available only in the United States. Some have different publishers and titles in other languages. My apologies, if you are unable to obtain one of these book(s) due to lack of international publication, due to being out-of-print, or unavailable from a library.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS (TRILOGY)

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. Yes, the book trilogy, not the DVDs, which I have not seen. I consider this trilogy one of the greatest literary fiction works I have ever read. I may believe in Ents, talking trees, if memory serves me right. This book has faded from memory, because I read it in the late 1970's or early 1980's. However, it remains one of the best books I have ever read. Since I am sure you can find much about this trilogy on the internet, including online groups dedicated to it, I only add, READ THIS TRILOGY!

A TREASUREY OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

A Treasury of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle with editor Adrian Conan Doyle. I should first point out, this is a Doubleday published collection of Holmes stories as selected by Adrian Conan Doyle, son of the author, with his own introduction to the book. He is not listed as editor, but I think this might be a useful term to describe him. There are many fine Holmes collections out there to be read, maybe a better collection than this one, but it is the one I own. I ordered the book when I was 11 or 12, which is a fine age to introduce boys, perhaps girls too, to this author and famous fictional character. Holmes is both educational and enjoyable fiction. No doubt Holmes is a rare fictional character, an enlightened person should get to know. His name is part of English-speaking culture. It is rare for a fictional character to have a place in history, yet Holmes is such a person, I mean, character.

MARK TWAIN'S MOST BELOVED BOOKS

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. These two books are by the most famous author born in the United States of America. There is a lot to be found on the internet on these classic books and their author. I very much enjoyed both books. The form of American speech used in these books is lost to many modern ears. Even Americans complain they can not read and fully understand the language of these books today, which is a pity. The books are fun to read or worthy of indepth study. I wish all readers could have the benefit I had, of "hearing" the books read to me, as a child, before the classroom forced upon me, the dissection of these books, as literary works. I recall, Twain was not fond of dissection either, but did enjoy a good laugh.

THOUGHTS ON AUTHORING

A scholar has rewritten Huck Finn in modern English, eliminating what many regard as racist language used in the text. Given the growing language barrier mentioned, for modern readers, to understand the books, the rewrite is not entirely a bad idea. Ideally, it would be nice to have the original text on the opposite page, so the original text never gets lost, nor the understanding of the powerful influence the books had for readers over time. Since I write, I am opposed to changing the author's original language usage, for a multitude of reasons; the most important being, if you change a work a bit too much, it ceases to be the author's work. It is an interesting topic for debate!

EDGAR ALLAN POE'S WORKS

The Works of Edgar Allan Poe or The Annotated Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. The first seems to have no editor I can find; the second book has an editor, Stephen Peithman. Both are published by Avenel Books. Edgar Allan Poe is considered the first great American author. (Not to offend Cooper and others.) He is said to have invented the American Detective story and perhaps the American Mystery story, as well. My historical knowledge of Poe has faded with time, but not my love for his delving into the human mind. For those from other lands, who may not have heard of Poe; Poe was a writer of short story fiction and poetry. The Raven, a long poem, is his best known work and a challenge without a dictionary. Poe loved words! He did not always use them correctly! The poem is easily understood as a tale of sadness and mourning. Poe and much about him is on the internet, including The Raven and some of his short stories too. Enough said for today. He is a major inspiration to me, because he explored the human mind.

MEDITATIONS

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I add this book because it is a book of philosophy written as a private diary by a Roman Caesar, who persecuted Christians at times, either by a desire to or as political policy, during his rule; yet Marcus Aurelius seemed quite close to Christian beliefs in much of his own thinking. Was he aware of this? We will never know. His meditations, ponderings, or thoughts are worth reading and thinking about. I am not sure what the real man was like, but I find his words interesting. I thought one good work of Philosophy belonged here and this one is relatively short, unlike Plato, Confuscius, and others.

CLOSING THANKS

Thank you for reading. Had I time to go through my entire collection, I might have deleted some and replaced them with others. Almost all of them delve into deeper thought; they educate. However, I do like a good laugh, so included works, which make me laugh. Thinking does not have to be dull and dry. I hope I have given you something new to read, although most of these works are well known. That does it for now.

BUG-DEMONS

2012-01-14T03:15:00.000-08:00

TRY AN IDEA:

Last May, due to blog platform issues, I saved a blank post. This is that post. Call it the curious post, for I want to try an idea. I plan to see if this posts in May 2011 or January 2012. All blog platforms are plagued by bugs; highly frustrating bugs. What starts as a 20 or 30 minute post, can run into hours, depending on how well the blog platform is working. This is akin to being down to one pen, which writes when it feels like it, at an hour when all stores are closed, should you, in your anger, choose to run out to buy a new pen. Well, you know what I mean. You end up wondering if Cuneiform writing had these issues also. Have writers always been plagued by bug-demons? Maybe I should call this post Bug-Demons. Okay, I will. No longer is it The Curious Post. There, I did it!

GRATITUDE:

Stopping to think about this whole internet blogging adventure, will make one realize, the bug demons, must be worth the trouble. Here I sit typing on one side of the country, while this whole posting affair, is governed by events on the opposite side of the country---the USA, for the curious. It's something of a modern miracle this can happen at all. More wonderful is people all over the world can see MY WORDS! Folks from all over the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany, other parts of Western Europe, along with Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Russia, Norway, etc), Iran, China, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, simply more countries than I can name, visit my two blogs. The numbers are not huge, but I have not worked hard to build the numbers, yet. I am grateful this is possible. I am grateful for each reader who comes to my blogs. I LOVE TO WRITE! So, gratitude, I have a ton of gratitude about being able to communicate my thoughts to the whole world. My readers are very much appreciated.

BLOGGING:

I began Blogging in December 2005. At that time, I was a Yahoo Blogger like millions of other Yahoo Bloggers. It was wonderful, despite bug infestations, which were rarely fixed. Although I did not end my Yahoo Blogging, until Yahoo forced an end to their blog platform, my last post there was late March 2011. By the end of March 2009, I had become so frustrated with Yahoo's Blogging platform, I moved to my present platform, here. It was then, I chose to take Blogging advice I found all over the internet. That advice was to choose a niche topic to Blog on. I chose two; two of my favorite topics: 1.) Writing and 2.) Music. I also chose to attempt to interview people; something I mainly did in 2009, since 2010 and much of 2011 I had computer problems, limiting my ability to post, to my then 4 Blogs, in 2009. I am down to two Blogs. I lost my job in late 2008, so I am lucky to be on a computer today. I still haven't found a job as I post this in mid January of 2012. Good thing I love to write. Thank you for reading. From time to time, I hope to stop what I am doing, to share some of myself with you.

ONE MORE THING:

A tragi-comic final thought. Due to Blog related problems, Bug Demons, I have been unable to Monetize either of my Blogs, nor resolve this issue. For now, Amazon linkage is what I would prefer most to accomplish, given this blog is about books and writing and my other blog is about music. I would love for writers and music people to see their works selling through my posts, through their willingness to be interviewed by me, and it would amuse me to see a little income from something I love to do, write. I've always believed I can write. Not to foreclose the idea that I have much room for improvement. I have had small successes in writing. One day I will mention those, just for fun. Maybe it will inspire someone who will win a Pulitzer Prize or a Nobel Prize someday. Time to stop procrastinating and find out what date this will post. Either I have, in 2012, spoke into the past, or the past, has become the present. Take care people. I SHALL RETURN!

OUTDOORS DISCOVERIES WHILE THINKING

2012-01-14T00:30:00.000-08:00

FROM A CITY PARK TO SHIMMERING WATERWAYS:

Observing people and nature, from park benches, has long been a tradition for those who love to people watch. You watch people move about, play, relax on blankets, have picnics, and dogs walk their owners. There are birds, squirrels, butterflies, and other insects in summer; a great cosmic cross section between Nature and City. If your Critique group can not afford to travel to a state park or wooded area, city parks are ideal places to fill your notebooks with observations of people and nature in action. Perhaps, what you will find best about this kind of note-taking, is park visitors range in age from birth to people living their last days. Energy levels vary from frenetic children to fully relaxed families to those confined to observing, due to physical or age-related reasons. All this is enbeded within a world of nature. I am reminded of poets as I write this.

Shift your Critique group to a shimmering lake, a river, an ocean, a boat, a ship, or people swimming on a beach. Here you will fill your notebooks with action, relaxation, a bit of humor maybe, and so much more. On water you are in a different world. Sun, sky, clouds, the shore, a distant view and naturally watery things dominate. The water may shimmer, rock you from side to side and up and down. Water birds may fly high above you, dive into the water to capture food, or hover nearby, calling to you and each other. What may have looked quiet from the shore, turns into a noise-filled place. An irony is solitude may also introduce itself. You better bring water-proof notebooks to this watery exploration. Depending on the body of water you choose, you may meet water creatures who are curious about you. Maybe they have their own mental notebooks covering you waterless, airy-world creatures. Think of tales from the point of view of a fish or other water-dweller; such as whales, turtles, a water-moccasin, water-lillies, a dragonfly, etc. What must they think of us!

HIKING OR BIKING THROUGH PARKS:

Hiking or biking through mountains or a valley will offer you a different perspective. Visiting city, state, or federal parks with varied landscapes, and people shaped by their landscape, will fill a notebook. A regular reader made this observation: "I think the same techniques could be applied to the natural world. What do you see from the top of a tree, from the ground or from under a log?" The Ann Finkelstein quote is from a comment on my previous post, but her words fit so well, I thankfully include her perfect thought. If you can't hike, bike, or afford to travel, then considere interviewing a Forest Ranger; a person who definitely sees a different world than we do? Also consider talking to bird watchers, avid campers, hikers, and biking enthusiasts, with notebook in hand. Is there an astronomy club in your area? Don't forget the nightsky, nor the night. Notice also your feelings in all these different settings I mention. Outdoors life has its own feel, its own set of emotions, so be aware of this while taking notes. Sometimes you can find these people living in your own neighborhood, if you need to talk to or interview outdoors people.

THINKING ON THINKING:

Some closing thoughts. There is overlap in these posts by necessity. You and I need to be in the moment, as Marilyn vos Savant, once suggested in something I read in Parade Magazine. Whether with a Critique group, a few friends, or by yourself, you will find being in the moment contains volumes of information, which no one or no group can fully record. The better we get as writers, the better we get at distilling all this into as few words as possible, while exciting our readers interest, by keeping them in the moment in their minds and hearts. Writing is a never-ending learning process. Best wishes to those of you, who like the late Martin Luther King, proclaim in your writings, "I HAVE A DREAM!"

(When thinking how hard it is to write, let us consider Martin Luther King, whose birthday we are about to celebrate. He was not quite through the third month of his 39th. year of life when he was killed. In writing his sermons and speeches he labored over his words as we do. He was a writer. I will never know how he accomplished so much in 39 short years of life, even limiting his life to his writings, only. However, that word "DREAM" is the key. It's our key too. Don't stop your dream, whatever your age. Hard is not impossible. Martin Luther King showed every writer that truth.)

MORE DISCOVERIES WHILE THINKING

2012-01-12T20:11:00.000-08:00

RETREAT TO THE CITY:

Sounds crazy to head for the city, but go there with your Critique group, notebooks in hand, to experience the sights, the sounds, and the hustle and bustle, of city life.   By experiencing people, places, and things, that make up city life, you will help yourself create better, more interesting characters. You may think you know city life. However, you are bound to experience things forgotten; the smell of local food places; the city's smell; day-life versus night-life; and the constant change wrought by time, since your last visit.  Your Critique group's notebooks will offer a variety of views and perspectives, once the experience is over. Some will catch details others miss, even as some take a different angle, on the same thing.

Imagine how much faster a city pace is, than the suburbs, or a country pace. You need to take the time to immerse yourself in different environments from the one you live in. You need to experience, with your 5 senses, other environments. This may alert you to things in your own environment, you stopped noticing. New things often enter your environment unnoticed. Years ago I experienced this. Construction led to the destruction of a wooded area near me. Each morning, as I arrived home from my nightshift job, Whippoorwills called, from nearby trees. That's how I learned of habitat destruction in my larger neighborhood area. Whippoorwills had not been present before their habitat was removed. Nature is an active communicator, which used in a story, may remove the need to create an elaborate explanation, which may bore your readers. Experience your world! It's talking to you!

VIEW FROM ON HIGH:

Viewing the city from skyscrapers or tall buildings presents a very different view, than at ground level. Imagine how different a mugging appears from the 5th. floor of an office building, as opposed to ground level; same mugging, different views! Different emotions! Find ways to open your visual perspective. Do you fly? How does your city look compared to other cities from the sky or when landing?

Harder, especially for a Critique group:  What does the city look like from below? A worker looking up from inside a manhole, sees a different city, than we experience. Consider this alternative; have your Critique group invite people, for an interview session, to gather insights from workers, who see the world in ways we never experience. Some who see it from above, some who see it from street level, some who see it from below; say electrical powerline workers, who work after storms or other events from above; policemen and city sanitation workers, two very different street level views; and underground utility or sewer workers, who go underground, serve as examples.

What does all this have to do with Critiques? AUTHENTICITY! How many of us are experts on little issues that crop up when we write? If you have notebooks describing a variety of occupations and their work-related events, you have ready-made research to use for critiques and to use in your writing. You have a Critique group that's a treasure. Isn't that what every Critique group should be? A resource-treasure to draw upon?

DISCOVERIES INSIGHTS:

Please understand the point of the DISCOVERIES posts:  The creation of notebooks and additional notes through shared interactions. Some people are natural sponges for absorbing details and remembering those details for years. Most of us are not.

I write these posts to help you and myself. You may not be writing yet or just beginning. I am constantly struggling, as almost all writers struggle.   I AM UNPUBLISHED. I don't want to mislead anyone.   Check people I follow (on my profile) to find professionally published authors, who lead to other authors, who....

My goal is to help those who land here first or offer a published writer a new idea or insight. I end this post with this wish: "May we all be published, popularly read authors someday, who have produced quality works, worthy of our readers." I will add this humorous note: May we also earn enough money from our writings to feed, cloth, and maintain our humble lifestyles, while continuing to write. I know, that's an ideal few achieve, but then, writers like to dream, don't we?

A DISCOVERY WHILE THINKING

2012-01-01T03:19:00.000-08:00

WRITER'S RETREAT TO CRITIQUES:

Attending a Writer's Retreat is what most writers dream of doing. A good one will put you among fellow writers in a relaxed, inspirational setting, where writers can do everything from write their books to receive quality advice and critiques. While thinking, an interesting idea came to mind. You may wish to try this idea on your own, with other writers, or with your Critique Group, if you belong to one. The idea?

STORY TELLING FESTIVALS:

Attend a story telling festival is the idea. They go by many names, Tall Tales, Story Telling, Liars Convention, etc. Story telling is an ancient art. Homer is among the most famous story tellers of all time. Today, we often forget his written stories were originally oral stories; recitations told by a man who trained his mind to recall events with precision and detail. Not only this, Homer had to make his tales interesting or lose his audience.

TALES, STORY TELLERS AND TODAY'S WRITER:

Many tales are old, traditional tales; others newly created tales. Writers, especially Critique Groups, should attend a story telling festival in your area or one near you. Writing descends from story telling! Be open to the way the spoken word conveys a tale. Story telling techniques, as you will come to recognize, opens doors and windows in your writing-mind. Story tellers reveal facial expressions, changes in tone of voice, or give unique voices to different characters. How might you translate all this to paper? This helps you find what readers need to hear in your words. By listening to tales, you will better understand how ideas are communicated to the mind. With a Critique Group or a group of writers along, you get to meet to discuss individual thoughts and ideas, related to writing, based on the experience. The idea is to learn to hear your writing speak. Exploring concepts of oral story telling remains central to the writer of the modern written story. You are carrying on an ancient legacy. Seek and you will find yourself a better writer. Best of luck to you!

MORE TO FOLLOW:

Related topics may appear in the future. The root idea for this post grew a trunk, then branches. I'm starting with the root. Branches, if worthy, will follow. Enjoy! Maybe this "metaphoric virtual tree" will have leaves someday.

CAN A DREAM TEACH WRITING?

2011-12-31T03:27:00.000-08:00

THE CLASSROOM:

Can a dream teach writing? Woke up a few minutes ago. I wish to relate my dream, which may apply to writing. First, the classroom. The classroom has a 40-something years old, male instructor. This is a college class. There are a number of students, but I only see four, including myself. Two are college age young ladies, myself (probably as old or older than the instructor), finally, there is my nephew, who is perhaps 12 in this dream. There is a television in the classroom, which is broadcasting a TV show of unknown type. It's set at a normal volume. I am unable to make out what is said on the TV. The instructor is lecturing on a scientific topic, while sitting at his desk. The overall feeling is of being in a giant livingroom, yet still a classroom. (Dreams are like that, aren't they? Calmly bizarre at times.) There's your setting!

THE LECTURE:

The instructor is lecturing on his scientific topic. The topic is never disclosed in this dream.  Think it's one of my least favorite sciences, something biological; otherwise possibly environmental. After several minutes of lecturing, the instructor stops to announce we will participate in his classroom, if we wish to pass. His tone sounds emphatic on this.  Then he calls the name of a female student to ask her a question related to the lecture topic. The student is one of two young ladies sitting to my left. Her textbook is open to study along with the lecture. The question does not faze her.  (Not my real world classroom experience.) She gives a good-enough response to the question, whatever it is. The dream annoys when it comes to details, such as what questions are asked and answered. Next, the instructor asks another question, calls the name of the student, who turns out to be the other young lady. She too demonstrates, like her friend next to her, she takes the time to study her courses. The answer given seems sufficient for the question asked. What a classroom! (Whether high school, college, or workplace meetings, getting a worthwhile response out of students / employees can be like pulling hens' teeth. Or so I have noticed.)

CONVERGENCE OR THE QUESTION:

The final question is directed at my nephew, who at 12 has to be the youngest student in this college class. In real life he is bright, but won't be in college before 18 at the earliest. Still, he gets the one question whose answer I hear and understand. The TV in the background, whose sound is loud enough to be disturbing and distracting for me, comes into play on his question. The TV is presenting something on the late President John F. Kennedy as President. The question relates to J.F.K. and a businessman, who was in Germany or some part of Europe during his Presidency. As though the question goes to an environmental topic, my nephew replies by explaining the President, at the time this man was trying to do important business deals, makes a decision, which allows this businessman to succeed on 6 of 7 business deals he was in Germany / Europe to make. These prove crucial to the success of his business at the time. My nephew, explains, the environmental decision by J.F.K., made a positive difference to this businessman's present and future. (Think you could say, my nephew aced his question!)

MY TURN:

Because the Kennedy Presidency was part of my lifetime, and the TV was speaking, in part, to the topic my nephew was responding to, my mind drifts, so I am unprepared for any question I might be asked. I rescue myself by choosing to speak to a point related to my nephew's topic, without being asked. (I am not sure if I was dreaming at this point or awake, thinking forward, as if the dream continued. Seems comical not to know.) I mention Kennedy as a real part of my lifetime, then go on to explain, here is a case of a President making an "arbitrary" decision, which for him is part of a routine day as President; never knowing personally, who his decisions affect.  While this businessman, whom my nephew pointed out, completed 6 of 7 proposed business deals, results from an international diplomatic decision on the environment by Kennedy. For this man, Kennedy's arbitrary decision makes a positive difference in his present and future life. It was now many years later and the man was seen as a very successful businessman and person. Had the decision been the opposite, he might have turned out a business failure. At the time, this would have definitely been the case. (From there, I have no doubt I woke up, class finished for me. The dream ends unfinished, as dreams often do.)

ARBITRARINESS:

Can a dream teach writing? Maybe so. How often in real life or in fiction is a person's life affected by arbitrary events a person has no control over? In many cases, the arbitrary is so minor, we fail to notice.  A person turns a corner, meeting the person of his / her dreams. The person fails to turn the corner, meets someone else, marries, and life becomes torture. Some arbitrary events in our lives are big enough we recognize them; often times not. How often does arbitrary events direct the characters in your story? Readers and writers may prefer stories that are concrete; little that's arbitrary. Real life is different.  Much of life is out of our control, while part of life is fully within our grasp.  When and how should characters reflect on the arbitrary in their fictional lives?

TO CLOSE:

Hasty writing of this post to recall dream details may make the post longer than need be. I may return to rewrite this post for brevity and clarity. However, I find it amusing, the first thing to come to mind, once fully awake, is the dream speaks to writing. (At least for me.) I don't know if authors speaking about or writing about the Art of Writing, say much about the importance of the arbitrary in the Art of Writing. Perhaps they address it less formally or as part of a more fitting topic. I know it is sometimes addressed in reading literature. I want to make sure the topic is discussed. Thanks for reading. (Has been a dream fit as food for thought.) Until next time!

The Christmas Story That Wasn't

2011-12-23T09:27:00.000-08:00

Don't Get Me Wrong:

Don't get me wrong. I set out months ago to write and post a Christmas story here. Okay, truth is in mid-November I sent out invitations to a select group of individuals I thought could help me come up with and write a great Christmas tale during late November through mid December. These people are all closely associated with Christmas. I was determined to post a classic of the future. I regret this will not be possible. Every member of the select group of individuals sent their regrets, thus leading to the worst case of Writer's Block I've ever experienced, not to mention profound and depressing disappointment. So that you know I really-really-really TRIED, I would like to share with you 12 of the top notes of regret I received, in no particular order. Here goes:

The Regrets:

1. Bob Crachit: I send my regrets. I am unavailable after the Thanksgiving holiday, but thank you for your kind invitation to help you develop a wonderful and inspiring Christmas story. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, I am engaged in preparation for or involved in, the performance of that well-known story, "A Christmas Carol." It hurts like the dickens to be unable to help you, but Mr. Charles Dickens is a tough taskmaster, who lets no one off this time of year. However, I should be available around July 4th., if you wish to write your Christmas tale then. Merry Christmas!

2. Ebenezer Scrooge: Ditto Mr. Crachit's words for myself. Bah Humbug!!! Where do you writers come from this time of year. Can't you see July 4th. is much better, if you are still foolish enough to be interested then? Merry, ah, forget it!

3. Santa Claus: Oh dear, I do regret having to beg off. Despite a down economy, from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve...well, it's not quiet and peaceful at the North Pole. Would love to join you and share my ideas, but duty calls. Admit it sounds very relaxing. How about we meet down South over the Summer? Snow is not as bad, work is slack, and I could get a tan. Merry Christmas!

4. Mrs. Santa Claus: Sending my regrets, as well. Will be busy keeping my husband organized and on schedule from Thanksgiving through Christmas deliveries. No way would things work out without me there to keep Santa and elves organized and running like a well-oiled machine. Don't know why I married the man, but that's another story. I love orange juice. How about we meet come Summer, in Florida, amid sunshine, and plenty of orange juice? Sound good? We are available then, not that he would know that. Merry Christmas!

5. Clement Clark Moore: Sending humble regrets. Due to prior engagements involving the reading of my classic tale, commonly known as, "The Night Before Christmas" I have no time available to pursue helping you find a classic Christmas tale of the future. Certainly, a new classic is always needed. My schedule is soft from June through the end of August. It would be an honor to assist you, then. Contact me, if interested. (Ignore that fellow Henry Livingston Jr. He's always trying to steal the rights to my story, claiming it's his. The low-life scum!) Merry Christmas!

6. Henry Livingston Jr.: With regrets I decline your generous invitation. Each year at this time I find myself pushing my case hard in the venerable court of public opinion, that I, I Henry Livingston Jr. am the author of that work properly named "A Visit From St. Nicholas. (Ignore that scoundrel Moore should you encounter him. He goes about claiming my work as his own. I was robbed I tell you, robbed!) Merry Christmas!

7. Tiny Tim: I would if I could, but being a child, with no adult available to travel with me, I regret I will be unable to accept your warm invitation. Come Summer, I suspect Mr. Dickens will relent, perhaps even coming along himself. Meantime, a request for prayers for Tiny Tim. Merry Christmas to you, good and kind sir.

8. Charles Dickens: My good man! Have you any idea how busy I am this time of year? Feels like a proverbial Sweat Shop doing "A Christmas Carol" every year at this time. Makes me regret I wrote it, except I wrote so many other stories, books, and told so many tales, that I am forever occupied with accepting and refusing invitations. However, I've never seen this July 4th. thing of yours, so...I'm slippery enough I could make it for a literary chat at that time, if you like? Who the devil writes Christmas stories near Christmas anyway? Hasn't anyone ever told you, write Christmas stories during a Summer heatwave! Merry Christmas, if I must say it.

9. Charlie Brown: Lucy hid your invitation until it was too late, so I regret I am sending my regrets. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" ratings are down this year; Mr. Schulz passed away some time ago, you know, and well...I've got a date with a little red-haired girl and I think she expects a Christmas present from me, so I've got to go shopping now. Plus, you are aware I am a kid, right? Should an adult be sending a child AN invitation to meet alone? Sorry, been reading too much bad news lately. Depressed. Can't make it. How about over the Summer? Let me know if that's okay. Love sunshine, baseball, and Cracker Jacks. Merry Christmas!

10. O. Henry: Forgive me, for I shall be unable to accept your wonderful invitation. I have been brought back from the dead by Hollywood to rewrite my great work, "The Gift of the Magi." They want a movie script filled with lots of sex, violence, and exploitation. They plan to add a Rapper soundtrack, in hopes of attracting young people and a more urban audience. The couple will be divorced, along with a number of other details I'm not allowed to divulge---think vulgar. Could we perhaps meet over the Summer? I really need to rest up after this rewrite, for I wlll have to purge my soul. Sigh, it's a living. Keep in touch. Merry Chrismas!

11. Hans Christian Anderson: Oh dear, no! Can't make it! Sending my regrets! Obviously, you are not aware, this time of year I am dealing with the presentation of "The Little Match Girl" and "The Steadfast Tin Soldier." Much much too busy to accept your generous invitation. Sounds like fun, though. Could we set up a meeting over the Summer? I could offer a number of ideas at that time. Not picky about the date, so long as it's the Summer. Thanks for thinking of me. Merry Christmas!

12. Robert L. May: I deeply regret I must pass up your excellent invitation to help create a new Christmas Classic tale. I, myself, created "Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer," while employed with Montgomery Ward. Since that time...well, shopping at Montgomery Ward is, well...not what it once was, shall we say. Not that I haven't done well myself. It's just, this time of year, old Rudolf keeps me pretty busy performing, with very little time to spare. I hope you understand. Now, if you're not doing anything this Summer, we could get together to go over your and my ideas. How about it? See you then? Merry Christmas!

13. Samuel Langhorne Clemens or Mark Twain: Was shocked to receive your thoughtful invitation to assist in the creation of a new Christmas Classic tale, but sending my regrets. The tale "A Letter From Santa Claus" was merely a letter I wrote to my then sick daughter, Suzy Clemens. Sickly in life, she died at age 23, you know? True, I know a bit about creating classic tales. I've created a few, purloined a few, and have a sharp ear for a good tale. However, I find Winter freezes not only a man's bones, but his mind. Therefore, I respectfully decline your invitation, although it is a great honor to receive it and I shall cherish it, unlike publishers rejection letters. Summer seems an excellent time for creative ideas for a Winter Christmas tale. Shall we get together then, so I may offer a few ideas at that time? You know how to contact me. Don't be shy. Meantime, Merry Christmas!

When To Write A Classic Christmas Tale:

There you have it, a baker's dozen regrets and I have more than what you have read. When to write a Classic Christmas tale? It seems unanimous. Write it during the heat of Summer. Anytime, except during Christmas season. During Christmas season you may take notes. Notice the cold, people's reactions to gifts, everything and anything connected with Christmas, write it in a Christmas notebook for future reference. Say, at the end of the day or some quiet time. The rest of the time, enjoy Christmas. Live in the moment. By the way, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

To Discouraged Writers & Authors

2011-11-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

THIS IS A TEST:

Lack-of-publication is something of a test; a test to see, if you will continue the necessary battle to become published. Literally thousands, if not millions of people, are waiting to read what you write. While trying to get published, keep in mind, you are not trying to get published for yourself alone, but for those thousands, even millions, who are waiting for you to introduce your work and yourself to them. If you find those thousands or millions of readers, your duty to look for new readers continues.  Readers come and go, so new readers must be acquired, for their sake and yours.

CASINO ODDS ARE BETTER, BUT...

Publishing, is like walking into a casino, expecting to win. The odds in a casino may actually be better than in publishing, but for a writer, not as rewarding. Writing is in your blood. Wake up every morning, happy and grateful to be a writer. Find what you like in your writing, your characters, your ideas, etc. Yes, find the positives. Dwelling on the negatives or things beyond your control will do no good. You wouldn't tell a great musician to stop playing to concentrate on drawing, because he's bad at drawing. So, don't dwell on your negatives. However, seek to write better, create better characters, find fresh ideas, etc. Write for yourself, but write to your reader. Give the reader your best effort. Your reader is your friend and ally in the publishing casino.

RAISING YOUR CHILDREN:

Stories/books are your children, let's say, adopted children. You will have to fight for your literary children's present and future. Feed, clothe, and nurture them to their own success. Remember, each one is unique. When they belong to the public more than you, they're grown.  Expect visits, even unexpected visits, from them, as with your real-life children. Be proud of each one, even the prodigal sons, among them. Love and cherish the precious moments you have with each literary work before its published. Once your literary works are on their own (published)...need I say more?

BOOKS IN THE VAULT:

I'm convinced there are books locked in the vault of your heart trying to get out. I am convinced the books will find their way to publication. Why? Because you want to be published. Will publishers agree? Maybe not. Publishers have passed on many writers, who went on to be discovered and are legend today. Whatever publishers may think, they are known to change their mind on a whim at times. (Or so it seems to writers.) Your duty is to have works available for publication. Timing is often the final arbiter in life.

WHAT'S IN YOUR CONTROL:

What's in your control is to write, seek advice, improve, and submit. Everyday, find positive reasons why you write. Believe in your writing, for that is believing in your literary children. Don't believe in or swear by the publishers; tolerate them, if you must. Don't worship them, for they are not God. Yet, you can't keep your literary works locked in a vault; they must see the light of day. A strict rule must be that literary works only go in the vault for safe-keeping.  Your literary works are a charitable treasure, to spend, to enrich the minds and hearts of others. What you give in literary abundance will return to you in greater abundance. One more time, the vault is for temporary storage. Write and write some more, until publishsers see, the light of the greatness of your works.

CONCLUSION:

If you are published, show respect and gratitude for the process that "discovered" you, although you have always been there to be found. It's an insane process, but your writing conquers the chaos, bringing a little sanity to the process, called, publication. Call it, "The Taming of the Publisher."

Hope I have encouraged you in your writing and efforts to become published. Best of luck to you. Like you, I am learning: NEVER GIVE UP!

EPILOGUE:

Future author Sara Raasch was the inspiration for this post, which began as a comment I made on her Blog. Whether young or old, the desire to be published by a reputable publisher can be a painful process to go through. If you would like to check out Sara Raasch's Blog, she can be found at: http://seesarawrite.blogspot.com/ Be patient with her. She's in the throes of writerhood. This is your chance to get to know her before she is published.

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

2011-09-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

LOOKING AT MY STATS

Stats say, changes are needed to The Writer Interview. I am immediately taking charge of this!

Until two weeks ago, I was not aware I had statistics to check. Guessing you liked interviews was nice, but it's great to have stats that prove this. I note some reviews are appreciated, while some are not. My thoughts on writing are appreciated more than I expected. Thanks! That means a lot to me.

INTERVIEWS

I plan future interviews. This may take until the first of the year to accomplish. Readers can help by commenting on interviews. Visit the author's webpage or blogsite, also. While there, comment or e-mail the author. Please mention where you found the author interview. Authors love to hear from potential readers. Let friends and contacts know about this blog. I love having readers. With a large audience, authors will feel comfortable granting interviews to this blog. Readers can help make a difference by doing these small, but important things. You are my partners.

You may have overlooked the Suzanne Young interview. She's a Penguin Books' published, Young Adult author, who kindly granted me an interview, when other authors did not reply to my interview requests. Suzanne Young is a prolific author. She has published 3 books since my interview with her. She is now finishing up a 4th. book. Read Suzanne Young's interview posted among Older Posts. Visit her blogsite, then check out her books. Suzanne Young is an author worth following. She's going places in the literary world!

REVIEWS

Yes, my reviews need improvement. The review prior to this post needs editing into two posts. I confess, I got carried away. Interviews and reviews will not be confined to one genre. I am inclined to a personal style of review over a professional style review. Almost every book I review will come from my personal collection. Some authors, like Mark Twain or Edgar Allan Poe, may rate reviews of their own. Both authors are inspirations to my writing. I hope my reviews win readers.

EXTRAS & OTHER THOUGHTS

I am pleasantly surprised my 3 part Writer's Retreat post was well-received, especially part 2. Life is filled with odd, yet funny moments. I will definitely include "me" posts. Laughing at myself reminds me life is worth living. "Willkommen alles Deutschland!" Until my stats check, I had no idea I have readers in Germany, Iran, the United Kingdom, and parts of the old Soviet Union. To have readers from around the world is humbling. I welcome readers all over the world. Yes, Canadians, I know you visit too! I feel lucky to have American readers. Thank you and please keep visiting and reading.

CONCLUSION

I listen to what readers tell me in my stats, comments, and e-mails. I seek authors to interview. I will improve reviews, shorten posts to a reader friendly size ( after this post ;-) ). With your help and guidance I will succeed. I seek constant improvement to this blog. Thank you for inviting me into your life.

Adolf Hitler: Alive In The Twenty-First Century

2011-08-25T02:53:00.000-07:00

Twenty-First Century

Whether it is a story about Nazi's and talking dogs or an Allied plan abandoned, to slip female hormones into Adolf Hitler's meals to feminize Hitler, Adolf Hitler and his legacy is alive and well in the twenty-first century; almost 67 years after taking his own life, in his Berlin bunker, by shooting himself. We have Skinheads, anti-semitism, and various groups who sympathize with many of Hitler's ideas and goals. Virtually any dictator or tyrant is compared to Hitler and brings to life the specter of a new Hitler. We often forget, Hitler was a very popular man in Germany and respected outside Germany; by men respected and ordinary. Few realized, until too late, the evil Hitler represented. Hitler's rise changed the world forever, despite his death. So, why this discussion of Adolf Hitler?

Two Worthy Books

Two worthy books, written and published in the Twentieth Century, remain vital to any discussion of Adolf Hitler, Nazism, and those turbulent times; including today's troubled times. Though dated, the books are: (1.) The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer; (2.) Inside The Third Reich: Memoirs By Albert Speer.

There are many excellent books on Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich, Nazism, Nazi Germany, and World War 2. I don't pretend to know them all nor the very best of them, but I bought and read the named books. More important, if books can call to a person, these two books call me to read them again and again. Sometimes a few chapters; sometimes from start to finish. Neither book is small. Shirer's book is 1,143 pages long in the softcover edition, while Speer's book is 526 pages long in the softcover edition. Both should be available in bookstores or online; price unresearched.

The Authors

Their authors make them invaluable to me. Willian L. Shirer was in Germany and Europe during Hitler's rise to power from obscurity; even a laughingstock character, written off more than once. He covered Germany from within as a reporter, until too dangerous to remain. He returned after World War 2 to see a destroyed Germany. Shirer was conversant with German life and was eyewitness to much of what he writes about.

Albert Speer was a native, apolitical German, who joined the Nazi Party. He rose from an architect, who found little work, to a key government figure. Speer kept the Nazi war machine running, long after it should have collapsed; according to Allied leaders. During that time, he became disillusioned with Hitler, saw Hitler for what he was, and spent 20 years in Spandau Prison weighing how an apolitical, upper middle class, civilzed German; could buy into all that Nazi Germany became, blindly following it, until almost the bitter end. He even said, if Hitler had had a friend, Speer would be Hitler's friend.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Having described Shirer above, his book is an eyewitness history backed with some of the most complete historical documentation ever provided to a news reporter / witness / historian. It traces Hitler's birth, life, and rise as thoroughly as could be documented at the time the book was published in 1959-1960--in 3 volumes originally, I believe. Shirer describes this history as only a man intimate with the times, the places, and having the Nazi documentation, can describe. He accepts the genius of Hitler when it's displayed, then points out failures and shortcomings, only an ignorant Hitler could not have recognized, once Hitler begins to make bad decisions. The book is hard to read without wondering why the civilized world was not conquered by Hitler and Nazi Germany. You will be thankful it wasn't when you read this book. You will feel a debt of gratitude to Churchill and the British people, who together, willingly chose total annihilation, rather than capitulation to Hitler. Given how late America entered the war, the British should have been annihilated by Nazi Germany. The English Channel saved the day; saved the world.

However excellent, this book is coming in for modern criticism. Professional Historians see the book as not written from a detached point of view, along with other failings. Some point out the book was written too soon after the events. One can not dismiss such criticisms, for they are important points. Yet, you can't read the book, without feeling its importance to the present and future. Historians will write their historical tomes. It's important they do so. Yet, historical tomes should not banish this book to the library dungeon or trash heap. Today's changing moral climate has also led to criticisms of the content and its author. Even so, Shirer witnessed the immoral natures of many whom Hitler gathered around him, even executing some, when it served his purposes. When future editions of this book are released, whole sections you can read today, may disappear from those future editions. It won't be a meaningless loss. Buy it now to read it as originally published!

Inside The Third Reich

Albert Speer's book is a book of personal morality. Originally published in Germany in 1969, then America in 1970, it's a remarkable book. Speer was a young, unhealthy boy from a well-off family, who gradually grew into a healthy, well-educated college graduate architect, who finds his ideal mate, marries, and appears to have a reasonably bright future ahead of him, even in a stagnant German economy. He makes a series of choices, all wrong--thoughtless choices, he muses; which totally destroy his life, sending him to prison for 20 years. He was fortunate not to hang for his choices. The liferoad that Albert Speer travels, as he mentions, seems synonymous with the story of Faust, a book by the great German author Goethe. The lessons Speer teaches in his book are profoundly important. A man's / woman's choices in life matter. They should not be made lightly, without thought, and research; especially our political and moral choices. Hitler, whom Speer describes as an empty shell containing an unknowable man, probably was the most persuasive, deceptive, and magnetic personality to ever live. So much so, Speer felt he would never be totally free of Hitler. Speer could only hope to tell us his experience with as little self-serving bias as possible.

Today, Speer's book is also under attack for being too self-serving, too biased, and in interviews with those who wrote about him, his book, and his experiences; Speer is portrayed as less than a forthright man; a man, who hoped in the end, he had reclaimed some respect, dignity, and a civilized life. It's an opinion, but I believe people misjudge Speer. In his book, Speer concedes, he can only look at his life with a certain measure of objectivity. I say, one can accept blame, but God judges the truth of an individual. It's fair for those who point out they see flaws in Speer, but God will reveal that truth to Speer. (Or any of us when it comes to self.) In my opinion, Speer didn't fail; he did his best and God judges the rest.

Other Books

David C. Cassidy's Beyond Uncertainty and Ronald W. Clark's Einstein: The Life and Times are quality books that add background on German history, Germany's economy, and other facets of life in Germany, before and during the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany. I suggest those two books for anyone interested in a deeper look into this time period. Biographies led me to much of what I know about this period of important history.

Final Thoughts

Shirer gives a history of Germany he felt set the stage for Hitler. He points to mistakes at the end of World War 1; how the mistakes destroyed the German economy, the Democratic German government, and ended German Democracy. In America, no one believes a tyrant like Hitler can arise. I beg to differ. There are parallels to be drawn between that time and our time. The tyrant would arise from flaws in our Democracy and our idiosyncrasies. Hitler did the same in Germany. Though Hitler was not elected to power, he used the Democratic principles of Germany to legally gain power, then set about crushing everything and everyone who got in the Nazi's way. Shirer's intentions may not be to warn us how our country might be destroyed, but it's worth considering. Some historians disagree with Shirer's point of view on German history. Tyrants are not seen rising in America, either. Still, open eyes see more than closed eyes.

Speer, predicts our future. Impossible not to see; ignore it at our peril. His warning? We live in a technological age. For him, this was radio, instant telephone communication, movie propaganda, the V2 rocket, and the atomic bomb. Technology, he pointed out, gives a leader the ability to communicate directly with ordinary soldiers on the battlefield, who feel compelled to obey. President Obama could personally kill Bin Laden when captured, with Bin Laden watching the President fire the bullet on a webcam or some other device. Thankfully, this was not the case. That's getting very personal and that's possible today. Worse, it's possible, with the press of a button, for a soldier sitting at a secure computer, at home in America, to kill millions with great accuracy, without engaging in personal combat. The soldier, after killing millions could sit down to dinner with his family; no remorse, no negative feelings. That future, Speer warned us, has arrived. Self-responsibility, is now the key to every human who uses technology.

Brief Review: Werner Heisenberg

2011-07-28T04:08:00.000-07:00

Werner Heisenberg:

This is a brief review of Beyond Uncertainty: Heisenberg, Quantum Physics, and The Bomb by David C. Cassidy. Despite the long title, Beyond Uncertainty is the excellent biography of famed German Nobel scientist, Werner Heisenberg. Beyond Uncertainty is not simply an excellent biography, although you will see it's that too. The science presented ( written for the general reader) affects our lives daily. One example: The computer you read this review on works on scientific principles, which Heisenberg, along with others, discovered and explained, during the first half of the 20th. centuray. You will find Beyond Uncertainty's pages contain important insights into German history, which leads you to better understand the rise of Hitler and Nazism. Beyond Uncertainty informs you about Heisenberg and the role of science in this historic time. Equally important is the latest information and insights on the German Atomic Bomb program in Nazi Germany, which has remained a topic of debate long after the war. To a lesser degree, you will also view the role Heisenberg played in rebuilding post war German science. All these historical elements intertwine, and are deftly weaved back together, to give us a living presentation of Heisenberg, in all his complexity, along with his complicated times.

David C. Cassidy did not get to personally interview Werner Heisenberg before "Wcrner Karl Heisenberg died peacefully at home in Munich on Sunday, February 1, 1976." (page 408) That's the only way Professor Cassidy could have made Beyond Uncertainty better.

Beyond Uncertainty is available at your favorite bookstore or at your favorite online book website. Beyond Uncertainty was published in 2009 by Bellevue Literary Press. Including index, it is 480 pages.

The Author:

David C. Cassidy--no kin to the singing David Cassidy of Partridge Family fame, for those old enough to ask---is the author of J. Robert Oppenheimer and The American Century; Einstein and Our World; and Uncertainty (another excellent look into Heisenberg and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle). David C. Cassidy is Professor of Natural Sciences at Hofstra University.

Note:

I feel obligated and honored to mention, I have contacted David C. Cassidy, in the past, in reference to his earlier work, Uncertainty. I bought and read, Uncertainty, and Beyond Uncertainty. I find Professor David C. Cassidy to be a friendly, generous author. Professor Cassidy shared insights and information with me, when I e-mailed him with questions related to his earlier work, Uncertainty. Professor Cassidy thoroughly documents his subject. In fact, Professor David C. Cassidy is the leading authority on Werner Heisenberg.

Writer's Retreat: Mother Nature's Defense Dept. (Part 3)

2011-06-21T01:34:00.000-07:00

Mother Nature's Recon Mission

Having turned off my hearing aids, I fail to hear the warning-roar of a miniature jet engine, before spotting a black blur out of the corner of my right eye. It's closing fast on my head. I turn, more than jerk my head, spotting, what first seems a giant black bug; worse perhaps, a hornet. The glimpse is fleeting. Then, I realize, it's a humming bird on a recon mission. He's buzzing me, to be sure it's safe to park at my mother's Hummers' Kool-Aid Cafe, a few steps from me. Two minutes later, a colorful humming bird lands, takes its fill of the sweet brew, then is on its merry way. I relax, comfortable knowing, the black blur is only a humming bird Defense recon mission. My Writer's Retreat is safe from attack.

Fashionably Late

Later, I find myself sitting in the shade of tall pines with my father, discussing our usual topics. I look up. Slithering toward us, at a trot that would do a horse proud, is a snake four feet long. The snake's swift to join us. The impression is of a fashionably late guest to our conversation; a bit breathless. However, I am the one breathless, for I almost fail to warn my father until the snake is within striking distance. Warned, my father tosses a stick or two in the snake's direction. My elderly father encourages the snake to find another route. Thankfully, Slitherer agrees, taking a slithering-trot off in a new direction. Were politics, of the “snake in the grass” variety, our topic, I fear an insulted snake might have turned venomous. The Writer’s Retreat feels as much perspiration as inspiration, now. Mother Nature laughs in the background.

Shaking Hands or The Shaking Hand

The porch is my refuge not long after the snake greeting. As I sit in my chair enjoying the clear sky, the late afternoon sun, and a slight breeze, I feel something crawling on the back of my hand, which is resting on the arm of my plastic outdoor chair. Looking down, a tick marches across the back of my hand, as though hurrying to shake hands with me. No doubt, its preference after the greeting, will be a choice piece of my anatomy for a blood feast. Startled by this brazen creature, I thump him into oblivion. The Writer's Retreat is looking unhealthy. I retreat indoors for my own safety. Mother Nature is gaining the upper-hand. My imagination's stimulation is no longer my top priority. Survival is!

Oh Dear! A Deer!

The highlight of my Writer's Retreat day is seeing the deer that passes through the front yard to the backyard of my parent's place in the woods. It's as though no humans exist. The deer lazily passes through the front yard to the backyard, nibbling along the way. Here is a nice couple of minutes; the kind of event that draws one to nature. Eden exists in the woods for two minutes. Paradise is not lost. From inside, nature can be viewed, safe from attack. Perhaps the deer feels the same way about me.

The Dashboard Ornament

All is not to be Writer's Retreat bliss, for I make a trip to town for labwork; the usual doctor's orders. My father and I venture out the next day to the lab and talk along the way. Taking his car, there sits on the dashboard near me, a tick in a menacing mode, as though about to leap on me, like some tiny Dracula. Thinking I am losing my mind, I mention Count Tickula to my father, who attempts to kill the tick. Not only am I not losing my mind, Count Tickula falls to the car floor. No doubt undead, the rest of my journey is spent wondering if Count Tickula will adopt stealth mode, then find a roadway to a vein that provides Count Tickula, a Blood River. Count Tickula got nary a drop of my blood, while I can't say the same for the lab. Nature, BAH!

Man-Made Disaster

Not all ills are Nature endowed. One I almost forgot is man-made. Make sure your Writer's Retreat has a fit bath or shower. If not, make sure to know emergency procedures. The Boy Scout phrase "Be Prepared" takes on real meaning, when, with parents away, I decide to take a bath. Better said, I go with what they set it on, bath or shower; bath in this case. Wonder of wonders, the coldwater faucet handle slips from it's moorings, on full blast, while staying attached to the handle. This necessitates pulling the plug, re-dressing--thankfully I am not in the tub at this juncture--and a mad dash to the location of the water pump, to turn it off. Returning indoors, I find the unplugged tub empty and the broken faucet dry. A few dashes back and forth to turn the water on and off to fill the tub, leaves me with a tub of water; just warm enough to bath in. Since the water pump is located 75 to a 100 feet from the house (I'm guessing), I need a good scrubbing after a few mad dashes back and forth.

Homeward Bound

Surviving Mother Nature's curses and a man-made curse; too soon, it is time to return home from my Writer's Retreat. Not a minute too soon, let me add! Nature is a Horror Movie. One threat after another. Time to return to my concrete jungle and four walls that surround me, for yes, I am only dreaming. My imaginative juices are over-stimulated by my Writer's Retreat. I need my concrete jungle. I understand my concrete jungle. My trip costs a little more than a tank of gas. I survive Mother Nature, with her humming bird recon, a trotting snake, a shake-hand tick and Count Tickula (they are a plague this summer), have no deer prints on me, and for once in my life, I handle a man-made disaster without negative consequences. Yes, yes maybe; maybe I'll try another Writer's Retreat soon. Though my advice is this: Go heavily armed, ready to do combat; it's not all about your imaginative juices flowing. There's the fear factor too! Don't be surprised if you have to Run Through the Jungle and as the song says, "Don't look back."

Writer's Retreat: The Michelin Man (Part 2 of 3)

2011-06-01T16:47:00.001-07:00

Tired Old Michelin Man:

Tired old Bidendum, the true name of the Michelin Man, might fit better, since bi often means two. My nephew, an energy-filled teen, thinks I'm a teenager, when it suits his needs. Being older than his Dad by almost 9 years; a teen, I’m not. Playing pitch and catch Memorial Day weekend Sunday, my nephew wore me out. True, I should be in better shape. I must work on that. Back to the story.

Like Father; Like Son:

Like his Dad, he's not accurate throwing a baseball. I was no better Sunday. Convinced my right arm would become too sore to lift or would fall off come Monday; I pleaded exhaustion, dictating an end to his desire to continue. While my father and I sat talking, as a nice breeze blew, my nephew demonstrated his springyness with his long distance baseball throwing skills. I admit, we underestimated my nephew. Guess my nephew inherited all my brother's throwing skills.

Deflating Is The Innertube of Age:

Surprise, my arm is fine. What wasn’t fine that day, nor the next, was my legs. Imagine the tire-legs of Bidendum, with a third of the air missing from his legs. That describes me. Spongy, bouncy legs, as one leg or both legs, deflate under the body’s weight, then sproing, fully inflate again. What a strange feeling!

A Hidden Jewel?:

A story hides amid this physical chaos. Maybe a bipolar Michelin Man / Bidendum story; a story of age and lost youth? I can’t pin / pen it down (pun will stay). This is my initial Writer’s Retreat experience. Not as good as my two hour drive ideas, but a hint of an idea. Part two closes to ponder what story fits this Writer’s Retreat experience. I never know when a vague, shadowy idea may be the best story idea of all. Given time, a story may ferment and age like fine wine, if you're lucky; so if written, this is how, why, and where this story idea arose.

Coming Soon, Part 3:

Part 3, which might call in question the idea of going on a Writer's Retreat, will follow in the near future. For me, it's the funniest of all, yet hard to convey. However, it may contain the most story ideas, so stay tuned. (To Be Continued)

Writer's Retreat: On The Road (Part 1 of 3)

2011-06-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

Sunday Drive:

This three part post, presents a Memorial Day weekend Writer’s Retreat visit, an escape from my house, suggested in a Writer's Digest July/August article; which mentions a writer’s need for a change of environment.

A humorous story-line, less than an hour into escaping my home's confines, is a grand start on the road to my Writer’s Retreat. (Two plus hours away.)

The Stranded Model T:

Encountering a stranded Model T, as I did, on the opposite side of the highway, sets a-flow, my imaginative juices: Imagine if you will, stopping to admire this vintage Model T, finding your approach arouses a visible driver inside, who greets you with his smile. How might the conversation go?

“Been stranded long, Old Timer?”

“Sonny, been here a spell longer than I expected. But you can count on your fellow-man to help, so this Old Geezer’s been patient. Good things come to those who wait.”

Our conversation leads to the revelation he’s awaited help since breaking down in 1928; the then highway, a two-way, sandy, dirt road. Waiting, he’s watched roads turn to asphalt, then four-lanes; heard the blare of passing car radios; missed today’s car essentials; sat oblivious to our era of cell phones, lap tops, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and a multitude of non-1928 tools and devices, we take for granted. Already the Writer’s Retreat has provided a story dividend and I haven’t arrived.

Biker Bar and Grill:

Health issues cause challenges to my travel plans. I eat on the way. This doesn’t work well Sunday. The route has three gas marts, serving as personal pit stops. Flying past the first two, I make it just in time to the third pit stop. (“Praise the Lord”) Health burdens relieved at pit stop 3, the imaginative juices flow to the dangers associated with pit stop 2. The fear? One day, a mighty call of nature will arrive, where I fail to notice, it's not pit stop 2 I'm pulling into, but the biker bar and grill next door.

Walter Mitty's Best Friend, FEAR:

Stepping inside, immediately I am made aware of my mistake:

“Whoa, buddy. Aren’t you gonna buy the little lady a drink?”

Being the NON-drinker-smoker-cusser, peace-loving, non-biker that I am; I DON’T fit the biker bar and grill scene, especially not, when in painful need of a restroom facility to relieve my discomfort, as TV ads say.

Looking down to my left, a midget (I’m short, he’s shorter), holds my knee-cap in his vice-grip hand. A crooked, once-broken-nose and abundant tattoos, convinces me; in me, he’s sure he’s found a person his size, he can beat to a pulp.

Macho Macho Man:

On the other hand, he’s rail thin, so if I get a good grip on him, he might break like breaking a pretzel; despite my lack of combat skills. At that macho moment, I hear a giggle. Not an ordinary giggle, but a bass-like giggle. Looking to my right, my gaze rises upward, upward, upward. The “little lady” is a seven foot tall, ugly, tattooed, white woman, capable of dunking on Shaq in his prime. No pretzel breaking today.

In The Duke I Trust:

Thinking fast, I reply in my best John Wayne, “Sure, a drink for the pretty little lady; drinks for EVERYONE, on me! But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do; right now I GOTTA GO, then I’ll join ya'll at the bar!”

Relief At Last:

Brave from need, I slap the midget’s knee-embrace loose; escape the little lady’s grasp, who's grabbing for me, to carry me to the bar; I dash to and through the men’s room door to an empty stall; locking its door, I shout to a gang of urinalite-bikers, “Some fool’s buying drinks for everyone! Hope I can catch a drink with him!”

Eve of Destruction:

A rush of wind toward the door tells me I’m alone. Finished with Mother Nature’s curse, I use strength I didn’t know I own to yank a urinal from its moorings, situate it under the doorknob, temporarily blocking entry. Fists pound the door, telling me, time to escape. Problem is, the window, my only escape, is half my size. (Cliff-hanger? You bet!)

End of Part 1 of 3:

Glad this is creative thinking, not reality. I have two story ideas with the Writer’s Retreat thirty minutes away. The Writer’s Retreat: my parents’ home near a forest. My young nephew is visiting for the Memorial Day weekend. He provides inspiration for part two; a third story idea, more reality than story.

The Relaunch Begins!

2011-05-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm Back:

Today I return from a computer-forced hiatus. Despite a new, old computer, all problems are not resolved. Therefore, I will post as consistently as possible, given my circumstances. I see Blogger has its own set of problems and bugs, which adds to the misery of my relaunch. Oh well, no one ever said writing is easy.

The Game Plan:

For those who may have forgotten, myself included, the Blog plans to interview authors and other publishing related people, when possible. The Blog will review books the Blog finds interesting. The Blogger (me) will talk about his own writing ups and downs. The Blogger is grateful to anyone who shares the Blog link with others, as I do need readers. Yes, I write to be read!

Comments:

Comments are welcome. Suggestions and ideas will be listened to. Audience, audience, audience leads to what Publishers call a PLATFORM. Would very much like to create a prolific PLATFORM. Yes, shameless self-promotion is NOT a bad thing. On that note, thanks for reading. Hope to be back soon with a new topic.

The Wizard of Westwood

2010-06-12T01:33:00.000-07:00

The Wizard of Westwood is written by Dwight Chapin and Jeff Prugh. The copyright is 1973 by Warner Paperback Library and isn't about a wizard. The book traces the life/history of the recently deceased, former UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden, who died at age 99.

If you don't know John Wooden, perhaps you know the players he coached: Walt Hazzard, Gail Goodrich, Keith Erickson, Lew Alcindor aka Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe, Larry Farmer, Bill Walton, Keith Wilkes, and others, too numerous to mention. Or his assistant coaches, who became head coaches, like Gary Cunningham and Denny Crum, who went on to win his own NCAA Title at the University of Louisville.

Why Read This Book?
Unlike Wooden biographies sure to be published in coming years, The Wizard of Westwood is an honest, frank tale of the life/history of John Wooden and the making of his legend. It doesn't sugar-coat the controversial, such as the connection of Sam Gilbert to the program; alumni rebound bonus money passed to players; and Wooden's communication problems with his players.

The Wizard of Westwood reveals John Wooden, flawed, brilliant, basketball coach. The book paints Wooden as human. He lived and coached during the turbulent Sixties and equally turbulent early to mid Seventies. The book is close to the times it reports on, while presenting those times honestly. This is not a whitewashing the legend book. This latter point is surprising, given negative feedback might have killed the book in 1973, but didn't. Books about legends tend to put the legend on a pedestal. I suspect future John Wooden books will do just that.

Relevance:
This book from 1973 is relevant to today. Presenting USC and UCLA on probation in the 1950s for football improprieties has a modern counterpart. USC is on probation for football and basketball rules breaking in 2010. Proves what is bad in sports is still with us, even getting worse. The stress of building a basketball program, which took 10 to 15 years to build, then to maintain an extraordinary level of achievement, parallels today's college programs. Today the difference being, stress has increased and has condensed into smaller time frames. John Wooden's success is responsible for the high salaries of today's Division 1 basketball coaches. His many victories led to today's players being more prominent, as well. Yet, when Wooden arrived at UCLA in the 1950s Wooden had to earn extra money working for a dairy to make ends meet. Players were cogs in a coach's wheel in those days too.

What's Gained:
What's gained from reading The Wizard of Westwood is insight and perspective on historic times and events. Wooden's life traces the Depression era in Indiana; his days as a high school and Purdue All-American basketball star; his marriage to high school sweetheart Nell; his early roots as a coach and pro player; how but for a snowstorm knocking out phone lines, Wooden would have become the University of Minnesota basketball coach (and possible legend), rather than the UCLA legend; and the turbulence of the Sixties and Seventies, through the summer of 1973. There it stops, but within those pages is much to ponder. Legends are not made overnight.

You hope a more indepth account of Wooden and UCLA basketball has been written during his 35 years of life, since he retired in 1975. If so, then without doubt the 349 pages of The Wizard of Westwood served as source material. If not, The Wizard of Westwood remains the most factual account of his life and times at UCLA. Since Wooden died at age 99, his living players are the only source able to add information on his life, legend, and times at UCLA. As this books shows, those sources tend to be positive or negative, but rarely objective, which is what one would expect, given the times, both then and now.

Final Thoughts:
Check this book out at your library if it is no longer available on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. The Wizard of Westwood is a great read, even if you are not a basketball fan. Wooden covered a major part of my life from my preteen years into early adulthood. He won 10 NCAA Men's Basketball titles. Seven of those were consecutive titles, an NCAA record that may never be broken.

However, the man is the reason I read this book again. The Wizard of Westwood shows a man who found his life purpose and a set of standards to live by early in life, then after many years, accomplished much. Wooden gave the appearance of not being a flexible man. Reading this book, you will realize, Wooden was wise, flexible, and knew when to retire. Wooden, although gone, will make you think, if you take the time to read, The Wizard of Westwood. I encourage you to do so. Whether young or old, you will gain from reading this true story of a fellow human being.

Returning In May

2010-04-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

Returning In May:

Plan to return in May after a hiatus which has lasted too long. Has not been from a lack of books to review, as I have several books worthy of review. Authors who wish to be interviewed feel free to contact me, for I am always open to interviewing authors. In fact, I plan to go in search of authors to interview in May and the coming months. Soooo...authors, watch your InBox.

Books Worthy of Review:

Among the books I am considering for review are God's Equation by Amir D. Aczel and The Strangest Man by Graham Farmelo. Both are science books; the latter being a scientific biography. In the fiction area I am considering The Naughty List by Suzanne Young, along with Bethany's Crossing by Tammy L. Boehm. This will come as no surprise to those who have read my interviews with these two authors. I had no advance copy to read at the time of their interviews, so it is only appropriate to review their books, now that I have them in hand. Be sure to return for reviews and interviews.

Public Goals:

Beginning in May my goal will be to post every other week, if not more often. I expect to post alternate weeks to The Music Muse Interview blog at http://themusicmuseinterview.blogspot.com/ Feel free to check out my music blog, if you have read the most recent post at The Writer Interview. I will be seeking readers for my Blogs also. Once I am posting regularly, please share my Blog link with your friends. It's a lot more fun to write for a crowd.

Patience:

Thank you for your patience. When I started my Blogs, I knew all of them would be works in progress. They will continue to evolve. Finding my ideal audience will not be easy. However, I hope to evolve into a leading blogger by the time I am a published short story writer. Hopefully, even sooner. Catch you every other week, starting in May!

A Personal Update

2010-03-22T04:49:00.000-07:00

How To Lose Gracefully:

I have been humbled, as I knew I would be, by entering 3 writing contests and losing all three. Perhaps the only thing worse than a rejection letter is no rejection letter at all. Once the date has passed to contact winners, you sit at home knowing you were a loser. You may even have finished last. Gulp! Is it really possible, YOU, yes YOU, finished last? It's something you need to consider, however hard this may be on your ego.

Prompt Contest:

Although it was not the first contest I entered, my first loss---it wounds to say "my" and "loss" together---was a Writer's Digest prompt contest. There were 550 entries in the prompt contest. Writer's Digest narrowed those 550 down to 5 "best of" for Forum members to vote on.

Hopefully, while not allowing my ego to run amok, I concluded my story was better than some of the 5 we were to vote on. I soon realized, even if this were true, my writing would not be helped one bit by adhering to this belief. Better to see myself finishing number 550 out of 550. This tells me I have much improvement to make. This tells me to do my best to figure out what those Final Five did that I did not do. All of us were working with the same prompt.

Strangest of all, the one I voted for as the best, finished in a tie for second. The story I expected to win, finished almost at the bottom. In the end, I found myself agreeing with the winner, even though I felt it stepped outside the bounds of the prompt and failed in certain respects. However, I know why they voted for it. This told me a lot I needed to know. I learned a lot from the prompt contest. One day, I hope to return to post more fully about the prompt contest and what I learned. For now, the above will suffice.

Short Short Story Contest:

Writer's Digest, once again was the contest destination for my Short Short Story. To enter this contest, I had to trim a story of almost 2,500 words down to a maximum of 1,500 words. After glorying to myself about what a perfect story I had written, probably my best story ever, and I had written it so quickly after going for a short drive, I literally typed it into my computer, rather than write it by hand, as I usually do, I found myself easily slashing over a 1,000 words from the story. Virtually all those words never belonged in the first place, was my final horrified conclusion.

From there I realized I had given no name to my original character, so gave him one. Then I realized I had to put him in a better setting that worked better than the one I had him in. Have I said I didn't win this contest, either? I didn't.

Before I submit this loser to another contest or a potential fiction magazine publication, I must look to see if the story needs further rewriting---surely it must need that---and / or other changes in setting, character, or needs more of a winning attitude. Can a story have a winning attitude? Probably so! At least this time, I was up against a lot of quality, serious, probably published writers, and losing was to be expected. The great thing is I got in there and competed with them. Rare is the story that is published without being submitted first! I gave myself a chance. That was the goal. Write, rewrite, send, and hope for the best. That's a 100% better than what I have been doing over the years.

Poetry Contest:

The final contest I entered was the Writer's Digest Poetry Contest, which I can now safely say I lost almost one week ago. Thankfully, I don't see myself as a poet, but entered two of the best poems I have ever written. Both are far too short to garner any interest among judges of a poetry contest, although I may have small hope of finding a publication for these poems someday. A longer poem I also entered, had to be rewritten to prevent it from going over their maximum line count, but improved the poem, which I might have never done, if not for the poetry contest. Losing the poetry contest is the easiest loss for my ego to handle and accept.

Meeting Goals:

What I accomplished by entering these 3 Writer's Digest contests was to achieve a goal. Writers must have goals. One of the most important goals after writing itself, is to send off your work, to see if your work is worthy of publication, while beginning the process of convincing the world that YOU are worthy of publication.

I have achieved this first step. Now, I must learn to write every day, come up with a good plan for finding publications to send my works to, once I have polished each into as fine a work as possible. Then I must be resolute in my determination, not to quit until published. Who wants to quit once published? For then, one hopes, the juices really flow, so you achieve all the goals you have. If you have been like me, then write, rewrite, send, and don't stop. Don't give up. Don't accept anything less than being published time after time. NEVER GIVE UP!!!

A Review: Ghosts on the Coast: A Visit to Savannah and the Low Country

2010-02-15T21:04:00.000-08:00

Jane R. Wood is the author of the book Ghosts on the Coast: A Visit to Savannah and the Low Country, a book written for children age 9 to age 14. The book recounts the adventures of the fictional Johnson family, whose members are: Jennifer Johnson, mother; Joey Johnson the oldest son, age 14 in this adventure; Bobby Johnson, second son, age 10 in Ghosts; and Katy Johnson, the lone daughter in Ghosts, who is 5 years of age. In Ghosts on the Coast, the fourth and latest book in the series, Jennifer Johnson educates her children on the history of Savannah, Georgia and the Low Country of South Carolina, near Charleston. However, while the Johnson family explores the history of these areas, inexplicable things occur, ghosts perhaps, which give the history a spark of modern day life. The history this book teaches, along with child-sized doses of Ripley's Believe It or Not moments, makes for the kind of reading material children love and parents dream of finding for their children. Following is my review of Ghosts on the Coast: A Visit to Savannah and the Low Country by Jacksonville, Florida children's fictional history author Jane R. Wood. I hope you will be led to buy the book, perhaps all four books in this series.

Reading A Children's Book:

Since I am grown and have no children, it took 3 readings of this book to mentally get to the age 9 to 14 reader level the book is intended for. Once there, I found a nicely told tale involving the Johnson family and their historical adventure in Savannah, Georgia and the Low Country of South Carolina. The mother is determined her children will see history as a living, breathing, active process important to today's world. The reader will see many excellent black and white photographs of historical places you might wish to visit on your own vacation, as a follow-up to reading Ghosts on the Coast. The photos add a lot to the book's story. Through several unexplainable ghost stories, a reader learns history is important for its mysteries too. This book deserves wide distribution throughout the USA, because Southern history makes up an important part of American History as taught in schools.

Some Mild Criticisms

Drawbacks, if there are any, might be Joey's personality does not strike me as true to his age--14. Mother, Jennifer Johnson, is overly ideal and presents too much of the history. These, and other minor aspects of the book, are things an adult will notice, but I doubt a child will notice or might even find enjoyable. I learned my share of history by reading this book. I consider myself a pretty good history student. A parent, teacher, babysitter or librarian who reads to children, would have no problem enjoying reading this book to children. An adult can enjoy this book without much effort.

Recommendation

I recommend this book to young readers everywhere, to their schools, libraries, parents, and others interested in children's reading and learning. This book and the other books in this series are reasonably priced, considering the content. I have only read Ghosts on the Coast. Owning and reading the entire series (4 books to date) is the best way for a reader to see the characters fully develop. I may get my hands on the other 3 books in this series, so I can view this fascinating fictional family better. I am certain we will be hearing more from the Johnson family.

Order Information

Although it is possible to order this book and the others in the series by going to http://www.amazon.com/ I will suggest you go to the author's website, which is http://www.janewoodbooks.com/ since I believe she offers a discount to schools and libraries. She may also have copies left of the older books in the series, which are priced out of this world on Amazon. Would not hurt to find out. As of the date of this posting, Jane R. Wood is touring the country promoting her latest book. Having met her, I find her delightful and dedicated to making history interesting for children. I am indebted to Jane R. Wood for sharing a damaged copy of Ghosts on the Coast with me, for reading and review purposes, prior to the release of the book on February 2, 2010. At her recent book signing, I bought autographed copies for myself and my nephew. Hope you get to do the same.

Jacksonville Freelance Writers' Group

2010-01-13T21:34:00.000-08:00

First Timer

I have read about them on every writer's Blog. I have heard about them in sundry other ways. Yet, until Tuesday, January 12, 2010, I had never attended a writer's group meeting. On that day, I attended the Jacksonville Freelance Writers' Group's first meeting of 2010. I learned what the experience is like and why it's important for writers to find, then attend, meetings of a good writer's group.

Deborah Hansen

Deborah Hansen is the leader of the Jacksonville Freelance Writers' Group. She has a background in Education and is a self-published author. More importantly for the group, she is an excellent group leader. She served as our guide and organizer throughout the meeting. She kept things casual enough to keep a new member; me, relaxed enough, to enjoy the experience. She made it obvious why we were there; to improve our writing. Much to my surprise and delight, freelance publishing, did not come up in this first meeting of the new year. Care and feeding of the muse was the main focus.

Jane R. Wood

What is a writer's meeting without a writer with a new book? In Jane R. Wood, we had a writer with a book due to be published Feb. 2, 2010 for children 9 to 14 years old. Jane's a veteran teacher in the Jacksonville, Florida School System, which gives her insight and experience into the kids she writes for. Jane R. Wood brought excitement and energy to the meeting. She is busy touring Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, where she did research for her book series. The book is called Ghosts on the Coast: A Visit to Savannah and the Low Country. She shared a damaged copy with me, for my review. I hope to interview her for The Writer Interview.

Jim McCormack

Like me, Jim McCormack was at his first writer's group meeting; brought by a friend. He was the most famous person there. If you know the song Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head by B.J. Thomas, Jim McCormack was the drummer on that million selling song. He toured as the drummer for B.J. Thomas for many years. He likes to be called Jim Mack. He writes music, sings, and has earned the title of master drummer. There is much more to know about him, but I will save that for my music Blog The Music Muse Interview. Next up for this accomplished gentleman? A literary future!

Accomplished People

The 10 to 14 people there were accomplished people in other areas. I am lucky I was not starstruck. Three people proved to be in the music business, while several others were former educators. If you have never been to a writer's group meeting, it is worth it to go, just for the people you might meet there.

The Writing and Critiques

Yes, the meeting included writing. Despite other business and the relaxed nature of the meeting, I had a fictional short story critiqued by the group, which was enlightening. Others read short pieces based on a prompt from a previous meeting. Their job was to write an acceptance speech for receiving a dubious award from a family member. One fellow had an amusing acceptance speech upon receiving a Roach Motel Award---need I say, these were fictional awards and speeches? We were given a prompt to write about what our face looked like before we were born, with 5 minutes of writing granted, before we had to read our works. Fascinating how different our works were.

Final Thoughts

My first meeting with a writer's group was everything I hoped it would be, without the scary things, I feared it would include. Naturally, future meetings will be more serious. The Jacksonville Freelance Writers' Group appears to be what I am looking for. There is a chapter of the Florida Writer's Association, which lucky for me, meets at the same location. I hope to eventually join them too. If you can't find a writer's group in your area, then start one. There are many websites which give insights on what a writer's group should and should not include. I noticed Deborah Hansen, our leader, seemed to follow the typical blueprint I have seen on the internet, for writer's groups. Based on that, if you choose to start your own group, there is ample information on the internet to help you be successful.

Thank You

My thanks to Suzanne Young, Angel Young, Tammy L. Boehm, Laini Taylor, Christy Raedeke, C.N. Nevets, and numerous others, whose Blogs I read regularly. Your postings pushed me to attend a writer's group. Nothing like being in a room with fellow writers. In such a room, you stop feeling like an alien from another planet; even if, you often sound like one!

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Writer's Retreat: On The Road (Part 1 of 3)

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The Wizard of Westwood

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A Personal Update

A Review: Ghosts on the Coast: A Visit to Savannah and the Low Country

Jacksonville Freelance Writers' Group