Clancy Tucker's Blog, page 92

29 January 2020 - STEPHEN GEEZ - GUEST AUTHOR

STEPHEN GEEZ - GUEST AUTHOR -
G'day folks,
Today, I interview an inspiring author from Alabama, U. S. A.
Welcome, Stephen ...
 
1.   TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY.
I’m a middle-aged white male retiree-cum-publisher living by a lake in the still-mostly racist and staunchly evangelical Southeastern USA. I spend way more time working on other people’s books than on my own, a pattern I need to adjust.

2.   WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A WRITER?
I wrote a short story in second grade that so impressed the adults that the school secretary typed two copies, one for me, one to post. These were the manual-typewriter years, so seeing one’s words as font-styled text proved rather cool. I never set out to be a writer, but everything I’ve done has included it in various forms. Eventually it became the outlet I could do from anywhere, anytime—or not.

3.    WHAT TYPE OF PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR JUST SHOOT FROM THE HIP?
I’m a hardcore outliner. I want to work out the structure of my story while it is easy to move parts around, backtrack to plant ideas, whatever. Then when I work on the prose, I am confident where I am going, which I think is the best way to let creativity flower atop utility. Knowing what a line, a paragraph, even a scene needs to accomplish lets me have fun trying different ways to put that part together. Some free-writing without structure can produce compelling narrative, but to me that is more likely to feel unedited, which makes me distrust that the piece will lead someplace carefully crafted.




4.   WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
Autonomy.

5.   WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
Fitting writing into life. I wish I could stop time a few hours, maybe a day or two, and just wade in. Composing music used to lure me that way, too, before I’ve let it lapse.

6.   WHAT WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?
Exec Producer of television, composer/producer of music for TV, businessman, always a writer in some form or another.

7.   WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WRITING ACHIEVEMENT?
I’m proudest of What Sara Saw because I aimed higher than ever and, I believe, nailed it. I shot for commercial literary (mainstream literary?) with Fantasy Patch, and I think I got there, too. I think I hit my mark on all my books, but Sara for the lit crowd and Patchfor the mainstream crowd are “achievements” for me. Having waxed too long on that, I should mention, too, that in Been There, Noted That, the essay “Tanya’s Kite” in tribute to my sister seems to resonate a lot for readers. The tributes in that book are most personal for me, so saying what needed said could, I guess, be way up there on the writing-achievement scale.

8.   WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?
I am putting together my collection called Comes this Time to Float: 19 Short Stories by Stephen Geez. They’re all written, but I’m doing little intros for each and finalizing the images. I’m also about midway into a novel titled How It Turns Out, but I have neglected that for some time now. Man, I need to be able to stop time. I run the publishing enterprise with lots of help, do https://GeezWriter.com, and a lot more.




9.   WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
I need to creatively produce things, then move on to something different, and writing/designing/publishing is the most convenient outlet at this stage of my life. I think I most liked composing music and working with other musicians to produce it. Television was certainly way more lucrative. Business proved best for coasting after the early creative part. I like to read or hear or see what I’ve done, which rewards my effort and encourages me to do more. Feeling like I got it right inspires me to try the next one. I don’t understand why some refuse to watch or hear their own work. Enjoy your accomplishment; then pay attention to how you’ve expanded your skills so you can apply that to your next project.

10.              WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?
Literary, contemporary fiction, science fiction, thrillers, personal-experience essays, how-to, promo-video scripts, and more. Today I’m writing blurbs for a few books we’re publishing this month as a step toward designing the covers.

11.              DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?
“Say something.” We have way more than enough writers focusing on high-concept, imagine-the-movie derivatives. Aim for writing that makes people think, share—even make a decision. If you don’t have something important to say about who we are or the world we live in—or who we could be and the world we might shape—then what makes you so eager to write? If it’s because you want to be a writer, you need to step back and figure out if you are one or not. Of course, if you have to ask… Be able to answer the question—even if you avoid actually answering it—of why you wrote that story, what you wanted to say, what you hoped we would take from it.

12.              DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?
I don’t understand the concept, really. If you are a writer, you have more to say than you will ever have a chance to set down. If you can’t think of anything to say, you just want to be a writer. I have very little sympathy on this one.

13.              DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?
When I can, day or night, sometimes till the next day.

14.              DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE WRITING PLACE?
Out on the deck, overlooking the lake.

15.              WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST JOY IN WRITING?
Getting it right.




16.              WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND WHY?
Let’s limit that to novelists: Edmund White, because he reaches into our inner beings to find universal truths, then paints them exquisitely in heartfelt stories and memoirs. AM. Homes, T.C. Boyle, Barbara Kingsolver, Beem Weeks, Robert A. Heinlein for sci-fi—I’ll stop before I get too serious about expanding this list.

17.              WHAT’S THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?
I’ve been humbled by a few reviews, such as the Papala Skies review by Robin Chambers or the What Sara Saw review by Sooz Burke, whose opinion matters to me, and whose ranking of the top-25 books she read in 2018 landed my Sara at #1.

18.              WHAT WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A READER?
One judge on a panel said I have punctuation problems. I don’t. I was a prodigy in English lit at Michigan in my teens; and I’ve had nearly forty years of learning, experience, and seen-it-alls since. I tried one of her short stories, but couldn’t finish it. She peppered the pages with clueless commas and drifted between past and present tense within paragraphs. It wasn’t just a one-off ignorant comment, but rather a judgment that affected my standing in an organization. Look at the first sentence in my first response up there at number one; she would destroy it by scattering commas among that fun list of modifiers I deliberately sequenced as restrictive so it would require no commas. I love to debate the nuances of unusual punctuation challenges, so her comment still annoys me.

19.              WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?
Darn tootin’. I’m most reflected in two of my Fantasy Patch characters, but every piece is written to say something, and it is infused with my life experiences and worldview. That whole grief thing is a biggie. I’ve had some serious traumas in my life, but I don’t generally discuss something that personal with strangers.




20.              OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?
People, travel, outdoor adventure, scuba, prog-rock concerts, fishing with the old man, amusement parks, reading, cinema, TV, understanding things. I think I most value friends and maintaining my mental acuity.

21.              DID YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK / BOOKS PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?
Yes, by me. Few editors are on the top tier. I am. It’s not bragging, but rather stating a fact. I read my material aloud to author Beem Weeks, as I trust his feedback. Otherwise, I’m writing commando-style.

22.              DESCRIBE YOUR PERFECT DAY.
This one doesn’t resonate, as there really is no such thing. Some days are better than others, but for umpteen often-unrelated reasons. I like spending an entire day roller-coastering or canoeing a fun river with a good friend(s), an evening seeing one or more of my most-admired/enjoyed musicians performing live, all-day intimacy (near as I can recall), traveling to new places, accomplishing a lot of rewarding work, binging on TV/films without checking my email. I like a day of feeling proud of someone I care about.

23.              IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WITH ONE PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE? WHY?
Damn… just one? That’s tough, as my lifelong best friend comes to mind first, but I’m not gay, so maybe my friend and I could swap messages in bottles while a friendly lady takes up residence. (Please identify yourself if you’re out there.) I mean, how long am I stuck on that island?

24.              WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO SPEAK TO WORLD LEADERS?
None would be interested in my thoughts.

25.              WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
Survive as long as I can, with maximal autonomy and minimal pain, and hope the people I love will accomplish long and contented lives.





26.               WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON BOOK TRAILERS? DO THEY SELL BOOKS?
Yes, but only if they are used strategically. Just uploading them to YouTube and waiting for traffic—not so much. Thing is, most book trailers suck (a technical term). Look at some of what Beem Weeks and I are doing at https://GeezandWeeks.com.

27.              DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ANY OF YOUR CHARACTERS?
Sure. None are me, though Dante in Fantasy Patch overlaps a lot with what I used to do. At the core, many of my characters share my moral center, despite people who assert I don’t have one.

28.              DOES THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY FRUSTRATE YOU?
You betcha.

29.              DID YOU EVER THINK OF QUITTING?
Too far in.

30.              WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE MANUSCRIPT TO WRITE? WHY?
What Sara Saw is my best literary work, with even more depth than the rest, but I really enjoyed Papala Skies, which is both literary and somewhat mainstream.

31.               HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE ‘SUCCESS’ AS A WRITER.
Liking what you write.
32.              WHAT SHOULD READERS WALK AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS KNOWING? HOW SHOULD THEY FEEL?
Characters need to face challenges inside and outside of themselves, and they need to change while accomplishing something good. If readers ride along emotionally with my characters until they reach a place they’ve never been, then they have learned something about themselves and maybe even changed, too. As for how they should feel? Like they want to purchase and read everything I publish.
33.              WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES? EVER WRITTEN A SCREENPLAY?
I’ve written and produced TV scripts. My books are not designed to translate into screenplays, as the writing is what I’m displaying, not a plot for production.





34.              HOW MUCH THOUGHT GOES INTO DESIGNING A BOOK COVER?
Quite a lot, though I do it for most of the books we release at Fresh Ink Group, which is a trio (dust jacket / softcover / ebooks) once or twice a week.


35.              WHAT’S YOUR ULTIMATE DREAM?
I have lots of them, mostly unrelated to each other. World peace would be nice, but that has no chance of happening. I would like to see mankind outgrow its need for religion, but that sure won’t happen in my lifetime. That’s one of the biggest reasons that world-peace thing won’t be around soon, either.

36.                WRITING IS ONE THING. WHAT ABOUT MARKETING YOU, YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR BRAND? ANY THOUGHTS?
I spend a lot of time and money and other resources on marketing. It’s a tough accomplishment, my level of sales mediocrity. Find me at https://StephenGeez.com, where I also have an embedded blog.

37.               ARE YOUR BOOKS SELF-PUBLISHED?
Fresh Ink Group,  https://FreshInkGroup.com, where I am a principal, is my publisher.


38.              DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN FIVE WORDS.
Supportive, loving, left-wing, mortal atheist

39.              WHAT PISSES YOU OFF MOST?
Oh, lots of big stuff, but day to day? Dangerous bungholes who mire traffic by blocking the passing lane, then cop an attitude when people are trying to jockey around them.


40.              WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? GOOD ONE?
Daedalus Combat, which is 4thand last in the Daedalus Files series about Navy SEALS diving from low-Earth orbit in hardshell rocket-propelled wingsuits. The third and fourth aren’t out yet, but we are publishing them, so, you know. Yes, damn good—like all of Robert G. Williscroft’s books.


41.               WHAT WOULD BE THE VERY LAST SENTENCE YOU’D WRITE?
“To my surviving friends, your love and support made the heartache and pain worthwhile.”

42.               WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPIER THAN YOU ARE NOW? CARE TO SHARE?
Hm. Family?

43.       ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?
More zeroes. Don’t stop at just one meaning for that. Here’s another: Thanks for your time. Thanks to Clancy Tucker for bringing me to you. May you all enjoy reliable contentment.


BOOK TRAILER 
  WEBSITE




Clancy's comment: Welcome, Stephen. Always happy to promote other strugglers. Very good book trailers, Stephen. Great work. 

I'm ...

28 January 2020 - WATER HELPS TO MAKE EXTRAORDINARY PHOTOGRAPHS

WATER HELPS TO MAKE EXTRAORDINARY PHOTOGRAPHS
G'day folks,
All serious photographers are looking for something extraordinary to shoot, and sometimes nature gives us a helping hand. 
The keys to taking a good photo are timing and location. By being at the right place at the right time, photographers managed to capture these incredible pictures, thanks to nature’s mirror – water. The results are both unreal and majestic, leaving the spectator with a sense of awe.



























Clancy's comment: Fantastic, eh? Love the bridges.
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27 January 2020 - THE POWER OF NATURE

 THE POWER OF NATURE
G'day folks,
Australia is well aware of the power of nature. We suffer floods, droughts and massive bushfires. 
Natural disasters occur all over the planet, but it takes a particular kind of image of such a disaster to remind us of the true power of nature, and how helpless we are when it unleashes its wrath. These photos will leave you humbled by its sheer, unbridled power.


















Clancy's comment: Wow. We humans should have more respect for nature, and certainly be more prepared for what it can slam at us.
I'm ...

26 January 2020 - MOSQUE CEILINGS ARE EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ART

MOSQUE CEILINGS ARE EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ART

G'day folks,
Well, check out these magnificent ceilings from around the world. The unique designs are so complex and beautiful it makes you wanna visit each and every one of them.






















Clancy's comment: Extraordinary, eh? With all the wars in the Middle East, it makes me wonder how many of them are left.
I'm ...

25 January 2020 - WORKPLACES CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS

WORKPLACES CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS
G'day folks,
Are fairy lights and dangling ornaments a breakable objects hazard? Do your coworkers not want to spend January picking pine needles out of the lobby?
There are plenty of reasons not to have a traditional Christmas tree at work, but if you’re missing Christmas decorations, you might be able to convince your colleagues to put up some last-minute cheer with these clever ideas that will make a fun team-building exercise, show what you're about and make anyone who walks in smile. Here are some pictures of creative and fitting trees that people made at work with whatever they could get their hands on.
You could also recreate some of these ideas at home if you skipped getting a tree this year and you have a well-stocked bookshelf or office. These people show that you can turn just about anything into a Christmas tree!





























Clancy's comment: There ya go. Ingenious, eh? These are so creative, but I do love the first one.
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24 January 2020 - Real-Life Santa Has Been Making Wooden Toys For Children In Need For 50 Years

Real-Life Santa Has Been Making Wooden Toys For Children In Need For 50 Years
G'day folks,
Well, Christmas has come and gone again but I wonder how many kids missed out on gifts. Here is one guy who tries to remedy that situation.




With so many children impatiently waiting for Christmas morning to unwrap their presents, sadly, there are also those who will not receive any gifts. 

Families who are struggling to make ends meet aren’t always able to put presents under the Christmas tree. Luckily, there are many people in the community who are willing to spread kindness and help the families in need.





One of these kindhearted people is an 80-year-old army veteran, Jim Annis. The man makes the holiday season all about giving back to those who need it the most. That’s why for the past 50 years, Annis has been making toys for kids from struggling families.
Each year, he crafts handmade wooden toys and donates around 300 of them to the Salvation Army of Sanford. The man receives some of the wooden scraps from his neighbors and pays for other materials himself.
This costs him as much as $1000 each year. However, to him, it’s not about the money, but rather making kids feel cared for. Annis knows the feeling of not getting gifts on Christmas very well.




Some of the toys he makes are fire trucks, dolls, and even piggy banks. The man hopes to continue doing this for as long as he can.
“I love when people ask me how much do I get paid for making these toys. I tell them my pay is when I see the smile on kids’ faces,” said Annis. “I hope to be able to do this until my toes curl up.”




Clancy's comment: Wow. Good for him. Love ya work, Jim.
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23 January 2020 - A COLLECTION OF AWESOME WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

AWESOME WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY
G'day folks,
As a photographer who recently flew overseas to chase whales with a camera, I always admire the work of my fellow photographers. These are stunning. 
























Clancy's comment: Awesome, eh? Many thanks to the photographers who took the time to snap these photographs.
I'm ...

22 January 2020 - ERIC OSTROFF - GUEST AUTHOR

ERIC OSTROFF - GUEST  AUTHOR -
G'day folks,
Today, I interview a very interesting author. His responses are quite lengthy but worth reading.
Welcome, Eric ...

1.   TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY. 
 I think that the first thing that really defines me is the importance of family.  My mother was one of eight children from a Methodist midwestern family that hailed from Joplin, Missouri.  
Even though my parents were divorced when I was very young, I would never say that I came from a broken home.  My mother, younger brother and I lived with my mother’s parents on my grandfather’s (who I always called “Granddaddy”) Christmas tree farm in Wayland, Massachusetts USA
Granddaddy grew up on a farm in Missouri, so naturally it was in his blood and he brought it with him when he and the family transplanted to Massachusetts in the 1960’s.  He was brilliant!  He was part of the secret team that secretly developed radar that went into the bombers during World War II.  After the war he became a pioneer of radio, and later bringing television to the midwest.
I idolized him and his accomplished.  For a boy who did not have an active father around, he was the father that I loved and needed, and the role model to my own children that I aspire to be.  Growing up I had no shortage of cousins to play with.  Otherwise, I was a shy kid who loved to lose himself in books, especially books in the Fantasy/Sci-fi genres.
I have three children.  My oldest son is twenty-seven.  He is married and lives with his wife and two sons in Toronto, Ohio.  He is a fireman and works very hard to provide for his family.  My younger son is seventeen and is a senior in high school.  He is now beginning to look at colleges and find part time work.  He is an extremely bright kid with a very large heart.  I also have a beautiful (I twelve year old daughter, who is always smiling, loves to sing, play softball, and is just a joy.
I currently reside in Worcester, Massachusetts.
2.           WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A WRITER?
  From a very young age I was introduced to books and reading by my mother.   My mother read to my younger brother Alex and I virtually every night.  Other than the usual Sesame Street books, and others that I can’t remember, I do recall that I was especially fond of the Berenstain Bears and Richard Scary books.
The summer of 1977 was a very big year for me.   I had seen the original Star Wars with mother and my older half-brother.  For a six-year-old, whose only prior experience in a movie theater was Disney’s The Apple Dumpling Gang with Tim Conway and Don Knotts in 1975, this movie was epic!  It was beyond epic!  I remember when Darth Vader’s ship passed the audience in the opening scene of the movie and the bass thundered in my little chest!
The other memorable event that occurred in my young, impressionable life was that the animated interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit was released one Sunday evening at 7:00pm, and my mother allowed  me to stay up and watch the entire movie.  Once again, I was captivated by a tale from a tale immersed in fantasy.
Soon afterwards, my mother came home one day with a large book of the Hobbit that was illustrated with actual still pictures from the movie.  This wasn’t just a short picture book.  This was the actual “adult” book.  My mother at first afraid that it was too advanced for me.  But she read a chapter with me every day.  I listened intently, not moving an inch.  Uttering not one question-not one single word.  I was lost in Tolkien’s world and the magic of his craftsmanship.   
that point on, I have always been writing stories in one form or another. In junior high and high school, I had notebooks filled to capacity with names of people, ships, events, places, quotes, and actual scenes.  It    was always my plan to continue when I went away to college, but the box was lost by UPS in transit.  I was heartbroken. 
 The writer in me has always been there.  Whether it was with each paper I wrote while at college, every letter or email that I have written where I told a story.  Over the years I have had dozens of potential stories formulating in my head.  However, with the responsibilities of life I never had the time to dedicate myself to the task.
As a writer within the historical genre, I am influenced by Mike Shaara, David McCullough, Bill O’Reilly’s series of “Killing…”books, and the film director Ken Burns.
3.            WHAT TYPE OF PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR JUST SHOOT FROM THE HIP?                   Oh, Goodness!  It seems that all I have been doing is research!  I have been working on this project for the last five years.  Because of the type of story, I am writing everything has to be precise and accurate.  I have tried to “shoot from the hip” but I can’t do it.  It causes me a lot of anxiety.  Besides the information that I study gives me a defined picture or framework of the story that I am going to tell, breathe life into the characters that I am creating.  I want these characters to be real for the reader because they were real people who lived in the past.  My research informs me of true events, and some events weren’t pretty.  Some of the events that I am writing about aren’t well known.   One of the goals of my project is to educate.    
My research does not always follow a linear route.   Much of my skills in research were developed while researching the genealogy of my mother’s side of the family. I was able to trace my maternal grandmother’s side of the family to England in 1510.   Three of my ancestors are actually characters in my book. 
There isn’t a right or wrong way in writing.  I just prefer to have a framework.  Some of what have written you may only consider to be “scenes” of dialog and descriptions.  I am a proud subscriber of Scrivener on my iPad.  This tool has been essential in my work and gives me the ability to add information, organize it, move it around, paste and cite  resources, and create those little blurbs that I referred to that are already linked within my Scrivener project where I need to find it. 
I’d also like to say that I am not inflexible.  I could be on a long drive, or on a walk in the woods, or wake from a dream and I am inspired by something that would be great.  The first thing that I would do (even at 3:21am)  I would take my iPad, whip out my Scrivener and take some notes and flesh out the idea.  Essentially,  it is like one of my old notebooks from long ago.  



4.           WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
          Although my preferred genre is fiction, I could just as easily write non-fiction.  I thoroughly enjoy the expression of thought to paper.  I went to college at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio.  I graduated with an Interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts in English, Speech and Theater.  I had to develop a very large toolkit to accommodate the variety of subject matter.
I had to wear my Director’s hat when I needed to write a thirty-page analysis of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie.  I had to wear my literary hat when composing my papers for my English classes.  I also needed to use my research and writing skills when I wrote and prepared my speeches.
In each and every case, it requires work and discipline.  But I enjoy expressing myself.  Admittedly, I am a bit of an introvert.  However, if I were to be sitting in a group and begin telling a story, or if I were to get up in front of a large group of people, I come out of my shell.  My Speech and Theater experience helped me with that.  It also taught me how to project my voice in a room.
Writing allows me to express myself to the reader at a very intimate level.  If I am able to transport the reader to another point in time in the life of another person, I have achieved my goal.  I want the reader to experience the characters, live the story, and walk away having learned or experienced something. 
Since I now write full time, I enjoy how that I have a lot of freedom to my day.  I am divorced, and I love to visit with my kids.  Unless I have been sick, I have not missed a game, or a concert, an event.  I like how that when I am needed my ex-wife can call me up and ask me for help with transportation, which enables me to see my kids more and feel more involved in their lives.  It grants  me the freedom to take off when I need to travel to a new locale that I am researching or track down information that I can’t otherwise find online or in a book.Some days you just need a day off, or you need to mix your day up due to appointments and other commitments.
5.           WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
With all having been said above, writing is like training to become a Jedi.  It takes the deepest commitment and tremendous use of time management.  Think about it!  You are essentially composing (figuratively) the longest “paper” of your life.  If you went to college, back then you were enrolled in other classes.  You had tests and papers for them as well.   You also had campus life activities, or possibly a job.  You also had a life to live.  All of those things could still be said today.
In a nutshell, time management can be your friend, and it can be your enemy.  If you can’t a system down, you are done for.  I think the the better way that I can describe it is that you need to find the best level of balance in your life.  One of the problems that I would have is that I didn’t know when to stop for the day.  I was finding myself getting sick often, and it was because I was eating right, and I wasn’t getting enough sleep.  I always made time for my kids, but I wasn’t so good (don’t worry I showered) at self-care.
Writing is not just word craft.  It is a discipline.  Many writers find their discipline faltering, I have those days too, and this easily leads to procrastination.  There is nothing wrong with taking time off, but don’t let it become like not going to the gym.   I have been guilty of that.  As I mentioned, it is like a Jedi’s training:  Commit to do something.  Look over what you have done.  Look at your outline if you have one.  Look at your notes.  I participate in several forums over several social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  And I have a few close individuals with whom I share my progress.  The point is to keep your head in the game!
6.           WHAT WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?
I have worn many hats.  I always wanted to be a teacher.  But I couldn’t find a job.  I became a software trainer, which I did for many years.  I was then affected by the Dotcom crash and I was not able to keep a job.  I’d find a job, and then be laid off four months later.  This happened multiple times.  I sold satellite TV.  I was a debt collector.  I absolutely hated this, but it was a paycheck.
Then in 2004 I joined a Fortune 500 company that sold technology (Information Technology) to companies.  This long position that I ever held at a single job.   I enjoyed the job, I enjoyed my colleagues and customers, and I made good money.  But it was sales.  And the difficult thing with sales is that you really can’t predict with any real certainty what your paycheck is going to be.  After the economic crash in 2008, my take home from my earnings went from nearly $70,000 the first year to $54,000 the following year.
One circumstance after another, I was divorced, burnt out, in recovery from depression and at a crossroad.  Do I throw myself back out in the lion’s den, setting myself up for failure, or do I take charge and move forward with my dream to become a writer.  In the immortal words of Master Yoda: “Do or do not…”  I chose to “do not”.  And I certainly was not going to “try”.  I was committing myself to this.



7.           WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?
I am writing a series of historical novels that tell the true story of the little known 17th Century Indian war that took place fully from 1675-1677.  Also known as the King Philip's War, this conflict has the distinction as having the worst loss of life per capita in American history.  This was the golden age of the frontier.  By the end of the short and bloody war, Indian and colonist populations were decimated.  Twenty-five New England towns were razed in fire to the ground. And the boundary of the English presence that once reached as far West as the Connecticut had been pushed back as far East as nearly back to the coast.  Many wanted to return back to England, ending the fledgling colonies.   Both Native and English were just as guilty of savage atrocities toward each other alike.  The European identity was changing.  A line was being drawn between what it meant to be European and not.  This distinction and prejudice between cultures will last for centuries, and will be the root to many wars,
8.           WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?
I have tried various genres, but they have always ended in false starts.   At the moment, I have chosen to write historical fiction.  This decision came from my love of history.  The decision also came from my love in genealogy.  I grew up in Wayland, Massachusetts.  In the adjacent town of Sudbury, the last major native victory against the English colonists during the King Philip’s war on April 21, 1676 occurred.  Also known as the “Little Big Horn of the East”, I was enthralled with stories the accounts that I had heard of the battle.  Then I learned that I had family that I fought in that battle!
           I find that I truly enjoy researching my subject matter.  I enjoy learning about my characters that lived in a time from our past that shaped our society today.  I enjoy the idea of breathing life into real-life people and transport the reader to a real world and allow them to experience events that they may have read about in their history books, read in the media, watched on the small or big screen.  But, I also want to dispel any myths and inform the reader of any little kno. wn facts.
          Other writers who choose to write in the genre will create a completely fictional story that takes place within a certain time period.  This is a gray area because isn’t that the point of setting the scene of a story?

9.           DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW WRITERS?
As I have already mentioned, there is no right or wrong way to write.  Just as a writer must discover their own voice, their own style, they also must develop their own methodology.  If perchance you decide to decide to delve into the genre of the historical novel, DO YOUR RESEARCH!  Do your very best to learn about the time period.  What technology existed at the time?  What kind of clothes they wear?  Were there certain words that we speak today that weren’t used then?  Was there an equivalent?  Would the reader be able to understand the way the way the spoke?  As the author, do you want to make the artistic decision to keep the language basic so that the average reader may easily understand the dialog.
An author needs to capture their audience and keep them engrossed.  If the storytelling is not believable because the events are not factually true, or at least plausible, the reader will move on to the next book.
A prime example is the book The Killer Angels: A Novel of The Civil War by Michael Shaara.  The successful movie Gettysburg is based upon this book.  This book was so well researched, the characters, to me at least, were so well written and believable, I was not by the number of story arcs and how often they switched at all.
I also mentioned that it is important to write with a plan.  Many writers like to write by the hip.  For them the story flows from them naturally.  For me, I am not able to do that.  I become overwhelmed with the big picture.  Anxiety kicks in, then comes procrastination, then comes the dreaded writer’s block.
Theater was one of my majors in college.  When memorizing and rehearsing a play, including tough ones like Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, apart from the play being broken up into Acts and Scenes as written, the script was further divided into blocks.  These smaller blocks helped to make it easier for us to focus on key points and sure that we hit our marks on the stage.  We would also often practice scenes out of order.  Eventually, by dress rehearsal, we would stitch the parts together for the performance.
In the same way, don’t be afraid to write out of order.  You may be suddenly inspired by a place, or person you see in a store that meets the description of a character that you have been trying to write into a scene.  At least write it down.  You can always stitch it in later.
DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?
Of course, I do!  I wouldn’t be human if I did not.  It always happens when I look at the big picture of the project.  For example, at this moment I am at a crossroad where I a m debating on whether I should increase the scope of my story to include The Pequot War, which took place forty years before my topic.  I wonder if I were to only make references to the prior conflict would it potentially hurt overall story.
But, J.R.R Tolkien, in The Lord of the Rings was able to set up a conflict that occurred thousands of years ago without going into too much detail.The best thing that I do is just walk away from it, whether it be for the rest of the rest of the day, or through the weekend.  I have developed the   discipline to always come back and do SOMETHING.  It could be more genealogy, reading more source material, which would later become actual scenes in the book(s).  Look at my notes in Scrivener.
Go outside.  Go for a walk.  Go to the movies.  Go bowling.  Go to the bookstore.  This is one of my favorite things to do.  I enjoy perusing   through the magazine racks and bookshelves with the music playing in the background.  Go for a drive.  With a long drive, my mind seems to go into autopilot and sometimes ideas for the story pops into my head.
Don’t isolate yourself.  Have a life.  Make time for self-care and friends and family.

11.        DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?
I typically work in blocks of two or three hours at at time. I’ll get up early in the morning and read with the morning news in the background.  I’ll then come back a few hours later.  If I am studying new source material, I am devoting more time to reading, and transcribing notes into Scrivener.  I will soon be at the point where I will be dedicating my efforts one hundred percent to writing.  My writing schedule is flexible, but I prefer to have my allotted time completed by early afternoon, so that I can have the rest of the day to myself.  
12.        WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?
          Of course! One of the things that I have had to deal with my life is that I have experienced a lot of loss in my life.  In many ways this loss held me back for many years.  I was depressed, I was in a dark place, isolated, filled with anxiety.   
But in the shadow of loss, I was able to overcome.  I was able to enter recovery and find a source of strength from my faith.  
I can imagine how much the English relied upon their faith to get them through a very dark period.  In these little frontier towns, the fear of an attack from the dark in the middle of the night was very real.   
The English were guilty of many violent travesties as well.  Philip and his allies were now hunted.  And every non-European, whether they were allied with Philip or not were racially considered to be the enemy.



13.        OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?
I am an avid reader.  As much as I have been filling my head with all of my research, I need to feed my mind.  I enjoy reading fiction and non-fiction.  I like to read a wide range of topics and genres.  I can read up to three to six books a month.  I enjoy connecting with other authors.  I feel that it is very important to network with your peers.  Other authors can be a vital source for information  and inspiration.
I enjoy going to the movies.  I enjoy all animated features and cartoons.  In particular, I enjoy Japanese animation, or Anime.  Some of it is brilliant!  I enjoy music.  I enjoy Boston Sports.  I enjoy the performing arts.  I enjoy museums.  I enjoy wandering through antique stores and art galleries.  I enjoy exploring historical landmarks and old battlefields.  I enjoy hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

I love my friends and family.  My career path has afforded me the ability to be present as much as I can in my children’s lives.  I would not give that up for any treasure.
14.        IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WITH ONE PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE? WHY?  
My Granddaddy.  While I was going through my personal challenges and struggles, my grandfather was very advanced in age. He was in his nineties.  My aunt and I mutually decided that in his weakened condition to not tell him, and to always be positive with him on the phone.  In order to protect him I had to distance myself from him; and I know that it hurt him.   I would love to make up for the time that we lost.
15.        WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
First and foremost, I wish to be the best Father and Grandfather that I can be.  I have made mistakes in my past life.  I am not the same person, and I wish to make amends.    Plus, I wish to be an example for my kids, and for the people who cross my path.
Secondly, I wish to continue to write.  There are plenty of historical stories out there.  I may decide to not write in the “based on a true story” style.  But I want to challenge myself.  I like the idea of writing a series.

16.        DID YOU EVER THINK OF QUITTING?
I have never consciously had the idea of quitting.  I have become frustrated, or I allowed life to get in the way.  I advised above to make sure that you have a life, don’t allow it to become an excuse.  They say that it takes three weeks to build a habit.  If you allow yourself to lose your mojo, you will lose your flow.  There have also been times where I have had to just walkway for a day or two, but that is all.  Don’t allow procrastination to become your enemy.

17.        WHAT SHOULD READERS WALK AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS KNOWING? HOW SHOULD THEY FEEL?  
What I want my readers to come away with is more than just enjoying a story.  I don’t just want the readers to be educated.  My desire is that they come away having had an experience.  With my current project, I do not wish to convince the reader of a particular bias.  The war was a very real conflict.  Both sides were devastated.  Both sides were guilty of terrible travesties.  Both cultures were forever changed.  The reader should come away from the story understanding some of the complexities that started the war.                                                              
18.        WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE YOUR BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES? EVER WRITTEN A SCREENPLAY?
Yes.  I would very much so.  I think that the story has a very strong social message.  I’m sure that Hollywood could create some very exciting battle scenes.  But, if I do my job correctly, the audience would focus more on the story and the characters, and the fighting is just action that pushes the story along.  I once again refer to the movie Gettysburg.  One giant conflict.  Many characters.  Many overlapping story arcs.  The audience become invested in the characters.  There is some fighting intermixed within the story arcs.  But it is not until the climax of the movie that the grand scale and significance the conflict is realized.
I haven’t written a screenplay, but I have written one-act plays when I was in college.  When I was a teen, I would also write short scenes. 
19.        DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN FIVE WORDS.
Christian.   Father.  Grandfather. Brother.  Loyalty
20.        WHAT PISSES YOU OFF MOST?
I am a mental health advocate.  It upsets me that even in this day and age of supposed tolerance, the stigma of mental illness continues to be a problem.  Governments may have enacted laws for protection, and initiated programs for social awareness.  But sadly, individuals with mental illness are not treated fairly.  This prejudice can affect their ability to find work, find housing, succeed in obtaining services, and even enjoy healthy relationships.
It upsets me how people can just stand back and ignore the elephant in the room.  According to a recent study, 1 out of 4 Americans have some form of mental illness.  I view that the public needs to open their eyes to those who are struggling and hurting.  Ignoring the elephant in close spaces does not make it go away.



21.        WHAT IS THE TITLE OF THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? GOOD ONE?
Star Wars - Thrawn: Treason
I am a fan of Timothy Zahn.  I like his books because he also likes to write from a different point of view.  This book is the third book of a trilogy written from the perspective of the Imperial Navy, not the heroes that the readers would naturally root for.  The protagonist is the mysterious and brilliant Grand Admiral Thrawn, a member from a race beyond the known boundaries of the Galaxy.   A favorite of the Emperor, he is not trusted by the echelon of the fleet, but his tactics and results can’t be denied.  Zahn’s story has elements of sci-fi and mystery.  I love how Thrawn’s character has a of Sherlock of Holmes’s genius.


Clancy's comment: Thank you, Eric. Finally, it happened. You offer some wise advice. Good luck.I'm ...

21 January 2020 - AMERICAN ARTIST BRINGS RECYCLED METAL BACK TO LIFE

AMERICAN ARTIST BRINGS RECYCLED METAL BACK TO LIFE
G'day folks,
All of us have seen wonderful artwork, but check out this man's talent.
What do you see when looking at an unused fork, a screw, a car part, and other scrap? Most of us see something that belongs in a dump, except for Brian Mock, a metal revolutionist who is bringing reclaimed materials back to life in a form of spectacular artwork.
This utterly talented American artist based in Aloha, Oregon, has been exploring art by drawing, painting, and woodcarving from an early age, and developed his creative passion for upcycling back in the 1990s. After teaching himself how to weld, he gained incredible technical skills that in combination with imagination and experience turn discarded trash into the most breathtaking sculptures of animals, people, robots, cars and other figurative and custom objects that can be both decorative and functional. The artist often places himself or his dog in pictures for scale so we can truly appreciate the impressive size of his magnificent creations.

"My sculptures are made entirely from reclaimed items and materials (almost all metal but sometimes I’ll add bits of plastic for color). I like that people interact with them, they have fun looking for objects they can identify. It started as a hobby, but as I got better at sculpting, I turned it into a full-time profession,” the artist said. 

Now, let’s check out his great work.



























Clancy's comment: So good! So lifelike.
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20 January 2020 - THE SECRETS OF PUEBLA TUNNELS IN MEXICO

THE SECRETS OF PUEBLA TUNNELS IN MEXICO
G'day folks,A 500-year-old series of tunnels long believed to be folkloric was uncovered beneath the streets of Puebla.  In the alley of Cinco de Mayo Road, there’s a doorway leading underground that looks to be an entrance to a subway. But in Puebla, there are no subways. It is, in fact, the tiny entrance to a recently discovered secret of the city, a tunnel system used to connect a fort with the baroque city of Puebla. The underground tunnel system dates back to 1531, but wasn’t unearthed and opened to the public until 2016. It had been covered for decades, and the archeologist who unearthed the tunnel discovered antiques in the mud. Today it operates as a museum that doubles as a citywide thoroughfare.




Many Mexican cities have legends about secret tunnels lying just beneath the streets, used during the revolution either by royalty or even during the inquisition. Grandparents would tell these folk stories to children. The discovery of the Puebla tunnel lends some credence to the folklore.





The tunnel—tall enough that a person could comfortably ride through on horseback—originates in the historic center of Puebla and lets out to the Loreto fort, where the Cinco de Mayo battle against the French army occurred. Archeologists first discerned that it was a complex sewer system, but another discovery led them to believe that people also used the tunnels for secret travel. 

Along with toys, marbles, and antique kitchen goods, a lot of guns, bullets, and gunpowder were found trapped in the mud. 

The weaponry was mostly from the mid-19th century, around the time of the Battle of Puebla conflict between Mexico and France. Investigators believe these tunnels may have been used by soldiers during the war of Mexican liberation, though they also could have been used by clergy or even common folk. 





The tour across the tunnel includes a guided visit by archaeologists who worked on the project and displays where one can see the items that lay in the mud for so long. The tunnel museum is known as “Secrets of Puebla,” an apt name for the mysterious tunnels that lay hidden beneath the city for so long.



Clancy's comment: Wow, established around 1531! Mm ... Humans have always been obsessed with tunnels.

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