tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78119674362761853882024-02-20T09:02:09.259-05:00Wayne Stinnett's BlogAuthor of Adventure and Thriller Novels set in the Florida Keys and around the Caribbean.Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-27012912389123063402017-12-10T18:59:00.000-05:002018-01-06T11:28:46.469-05:00Story TellingA long time ago, don't ask me how long, I'm not an anthropologist, some hairy ancestor of ours grunted. His buddy or mate heard him and was curious. Soon they were both grunting. In time, certain grunts had certain meanings, known only to others in that clan. A spoken language was developed and mankind evolved.<br />
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Shortly after, again don't ask me how long, could have been two weeks or ten thousand years, but in terms of evolution, it was shortly after, some caveman heard a wolf howling in the moonlight and he tried to imitate it. Another heard him and being curious critters, he tried it too. Soon, they developed a range of howls and learned the next clan's spoken language, applying words to their howling. Singing was developed and mankind evolved.<br />
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You know the drill, the following weekend? Okay, maybe a few months go by, then some simian ancestor, gnawing on a fire-cooked deer leg, dropped the bone on a skin that was stretched out to dry. The bone bounced off the deer skin and made a deep, resonant sound. Curious, the hairy, grunting beast picked up his bone, brushed the dirt off, and chewed the last bit of flesh off the animals knee-bone. Then he tapped the bone against the stretched skin. He smiled, and began making thunder noises in the primordial jungle. His mate came out of the cave, curious about the coming storm and saw her mate beating his bone on the skin. She picked up a dried, discarded gourd and started tapping it with a stick, making a high, hollow sound. A percussion section was developed and mankind evolved.<br />
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Fast forward a bunch of years. I don't know, you guess. The talking and singing clans meet the percussion clan and beat on skins, gourds, logs, and rocks, singing to the moon. Across the valley, another clan hears the sound. This group is still grunting and dragging their mates around by the hair. One accidentally plucks at a tasty morsel, crawling in his mate's hair, and the plucked hair rang. Later, he used a bow and stretched many hairs on it. He listened to the other clans across the valley at night, softly plucking at his bow strings, trying to mimic the strange words he heard. A string section was developed and mankind evolved.<br />
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Then once a year, at the annual harvest, or whatever these grunting, beating, plucking, and singing clans did, they got together for a big concert in the forest. The singing people developed their voices and sang in harmony. The percussion section dried different skins and stretched them over hollowed out logs. The string section tried all kinds of dried animal parts and stretched them across planks they fashioned with rudimentary tools and hollowed them out to get a distinct sound. They played Otis Redding, and Jimi Hendrix. They played Bill Monroe and Bob Marley. A band was developed and mankind evolved. Okay, so maybe they didn't know about Otis's work yet.<br />
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The talking clan, whose only development to the betterment of mankind was teaching the howlers to use their words, felt left out. They could communicate ideas and teach the howlers, beaters, and pluckers the words, but they still felt left out at the yearly shin-dig. So, they started making up stories. They told stories about the trees, and the earth, and the sky, and the stars in the sky. They told stories of great feats that the gods in the sky accomplished. Soon, the howlers, beaters, and pluckers wanted to hear the stores more and more. Every year at the big gathering, the storytellers started off the concert, with a story of sorrow, happiness, beaches, and rum. The many bands within the several clans loved the stories and used them in song. The storyteller developed and mankind evolved.<br />
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Soon, there was a divergence, a parting of the ways. Some went on to tell wonderful stories of great length. People learned the stories and acted them out on stages and in arenas. But, when other storytellers tried to retell the story they'd heard, they got parts wrong. This wouldn't do, so the storytellers developed marks on tree bark, using charred wood from a dead fire. The marks became more intricate and soon a written language was developed and mankind evolved.<br />
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The howlers, beaters, and pluckers also needed a way to record their sounds for posterity. They watched the storytellers from the shadows and learned their way of making marks on bark to mean this and that. They went back to their fires and did the same with sound, matching certain marks with certain sounds, so everyone's sound would work with everyone else's sound. They went on to write great masterpieces of music. Written music developed and mankind evolved.<br />
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If y'all are still reading this, you're probably wondering why, after more than a year without a blog post, is this raving novelist writing about cave people grunting in the jungle. Well, in my humble opinion, the two clans haven't evolved so far apart that the bridge can't be gapped. The long-winded story teller can find a counter-part in the micro-stories of the song-writer. And the song-writer might find an audience through literature.<br />
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Song-writers have been putting the written story to music for a long, long time. No, I don't know how long; I told you I'm not an anthropologist. I'm a storyteller. I'm not a writer, though. I have no training in the art. But, I like to tell stories. And I like listening to music. I can't carry a tune in a bucket, but I like good music.<br />
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Over the years, my musical taste has gone from the classic honky-tonk country music of the fifties and sixties, to rock & roll, to jazz and blues, to reggae. Then a long time ago; this one I know, it was 1973, I discovered Jimmy Buffett, a storyteller who can tell a whole story in three and a half minutes. He's been followed by dozens of talented trop-rock musicians and song-writers, telling their stories through their music, singing of the sea, the beach, the islands, the boats, and the girls. <br />
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My friend, Eric Stone is among them. Eric is an amazing musician and songwriter, but more important his reptile brain is that of the grunter, the communicator, the storyteller. Eric has a bunch of original music on a bunch of CDs. Don't ask me how many, I'm not a music producer, but a whole bunch. And I have them all. Great stories, wonderful humor, and a light island beat.<br />
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Anyway, what all this rambling is getting to is that Eric is going to appear in my upcoming novel, Rising Fury, the 12th story in the Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series, due to be released right around Christmas. He'll be playing himself, playing his music at the Rusty Anchor Bar & Grill. If you've read my stories you know where that is. "Anywhere you want it to be." Eric has a strong connection to the Rusty Anchor and Marathon. He used to own Dockside, on Boot Key Harbor. Yeah, that place is real. I hope one day to make the Rusty Anchor a reality.<br />
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Not only that, Eric is going into the studio on December 18th to record what I hope will be his next big hit, The Rusty Anchor Bar & Grill. Yeah, a trop-rock song, about a fictitious trop-rock bar, straight out of my trop-fiction.<br />
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That's right folks, after billions of years of de-evolution, Eric and I are bringing the grunters, howlers, beaters, and pluckers back together again. Watch for it on my Facebook page, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/WayneStinnettAuthor"><b>www.facebook.com/WayneStinnettAuthor</b></a>.<br />
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And mankind evolved.<br />
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To get a taste of Eric's music, visit his website, <b><a href="http://www.islanderic.com/">www.islanderic.com</a></b><br />
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You'll also hear his music on Pyrate Radio, streaming at <span style="color: blue;"><b><a href="http://www.pyrateradio.com/">www.pyrateradio.com</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Also, watch my Facebook page for an upcoming contest to win a new Kindle!<b> </b></span>Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-48748087858110649192016-12-06T16:33:00.000-05:002016-12-06T16:52:43.351-05:00Fallen Hero has been released!This release went a lot smoother than usual. I guess after thirteen launches, I must be getting something right. Actually, I remembered those previous launches and how stressful they were, so I set a schedule of things to do, allowing plenty of time for overages. Still, I keep waiting for a boot to drop. The manuscript breezed through beta reading, editing, proofreading, and formatting way ahead of schedule. Eleven full days ahead, in fact. The link to Fallen Hero is down on the right.<br />
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In terms of the number of books sold, the release was second only to Fallen Angel, last spring. This was due to it being released at half price, instead of the usual $.99. The difference in launch day sales was only about 10%. It also didn't debut as high as Angel, showing up in the Amazon ranks at #119 on launch day and slipping down into the 400s now, nearly three days later.<br />
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I expect it to hold steady in the 400-600 ranks for a couple more days. Then the BookBub New Release Alert will go out to nearly 2200 followers there. A few days after that, the Amazon alerts will start going out. I anticipate a climb up to about the #200 rank then, and hold there for quite a while.<br />
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I think that simply making that schedule and sticking to it, had a lot to do with the lower stress level this time. When I posted the schedule on Facebook, I still had 30,000 words to write and I set a daily writing goal to meet it. I went over that goal every day and it was a good thing, because the book ended up being almost 20,000 words longer than planned.Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-43383483473133113352016-11-20T10:30:00.002-05:002016-11-20T10:30:36.125-05:00Fallen Out is only $.99! Book 1 of 10 in the series.In anticipation of the release of the tenth novel in the Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series next month, the first book, Fallen Out, is discounted to only $.99 until November 23rd. the regular priceis $2.99. If that's not enough, if you own the Kindle version, you can buy the $19.95 audiobook for only $1.99 on Amazon.<br />
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Fallen Hero is scheduled for release on December 15th and it's sure to debut in the Amazon Bestseller ranks at better than #100. I've had dozens of reader reviews saying they were so sucked into the stories, they've read all nine novels in the series in a week. So, you have plenty of time before Fallen Hero is published. But, why wait?<br />
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<br />Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-47966954794415163942016-09-09T11:06:00.001-04:002016-09-09T13:59:25.824-04:00The End is NearJust a few minutes ago, I finished the rewrite of the fourth draft of Ruthless Charity after editing and just sent it to my final proofreader. While it's being proofread, I'll set things up on Kindle Direct Publishing and Create Space, in preparation for publication in ebook and paperback formats.<br />
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My final proofreader will only be a day or two on it. After a dozen beta readers and a full round of editing, it's a super clean manuscript. Once she's finished, the final draft will go to my formatter. While it's being formatted, I'll send the manuscript to my narrator for audiobook recording, write the blurb and set up the email announcement.<br />
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The ebook should be published on the 13th or 14th and I'll claim the rights on ACX, to set things up for audio production. The paperback will follow a day later. The audiobook will be recorded and uploaded to ACX within a couple of days. ACX takes about five days to release.<br />
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I started writing this 65,000 word novel in mid-March, while finishing my last novel, Fallen Angel. Angel published in late April and I turned my full attention to Ruthless Charity. For about a week. While writing at least 1000 words a day in Ruthless Charity, every weekday, I slowly started developing the idea and the first couple of chapters of Fallen Hero. I just can't seem to write one book at a time anymore.<br />
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So far, Ruthless Charity hasn't been all that expensive. Rights to the cover photo was $25 and it didn't need any tweaking at all. Cover graphics brought the total cover cost up to $100. This is about normal for my covers. Beta reading will be the cost of buying and shipping a dozen paperbacks, about $100. Editing and proofreading will wind up at around $1200 and formatting will add perhaps another $400. Audiobook narration will be about $1600.<br />
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All told, about six months of my time in writing, though many of those days were little or no actual writing, and $3400 in production costs will have gone into Ruthless Charity, to get it to market. While that might seem like a huge sum to writers just starting their careers, this is my eleventh full length novel and I have built up a pretty large fan base of eager readers, and their numbers are growing every day. I predict that Ruthless Charity will be in the black, so far as production costs, before the audiobook is released, a week after the ebook is published. The book should earn about three times the production cost in the first four weeks.<br />
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All these steps are crucial. And as I outline in Blue Collar to No Collar, I don't expect, nor do I recommend, that a new author go to such expense to get their first, or even second and third, book to market. All these things I once did myself. This isn't a sprint. It's a long series of marathons.<br />
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Take your time. Create attainable goals and make a plan to achieve those goals. Put small milestones in your plan. Mastering each step will motivate you to work harder.<br />
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Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can. You need only to find your voice, locate your audience, make them happy, and work your ass off.Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-83320017520459431612016-08-16T20:53:00.001-04:002016-08-16T20:53:58.945-04:00Finding Time to WriteBetween careers, kids, spouses, and other responsibilities, many writers find it difficult to carve out time to write. Then there are interruptions. Just when you're getting into your groove, little Billy's diaper needs changing, or the wife reminds you that the grass needs to be mowed and it's getting dark.<br />
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So how do you find quality time to let your creative side run free without interruptions. Being a full time writer, it's not quite so hard for me. I usually listen to trop-rock music when I'm just catching up on email, networking, researching, and such. But when I'm writing, I prefer soft jazz. The door to my office is always open, but my family knows that if soft jazz is playing, any interruption should be preceded with a shout of "Fire!"<br />
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Recently, a friend came up with a solution outside the box. Alison Ryan is her pen name. She has a husband and four young boys, so interruptions are part and parcel to her day. She found an office co-op. This is where a group of people go in together to rent office space, usually at a price per person per day far less than a latte at Starbucks. Everyone is there to work, not socialize. And many times, she's the only one there.<br />
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Imagine that. A quiet office where you can be alone with the voices in your head. It even comes with a coffee maker and supplies. So, how do you create an environment that's conducive with getting words out?Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-65270616507123358912016-07-06T13:43:00.000-04:002016-07-12T17:05:30.253-04:00Blue Collar to No Collar, From Trucker to Amazon Bestselling Novelist in Two YearsAfter three years and ten novels, my first non-fiction book is now available on Amazon. I set out to write a short article for this blog, summarizing some past posts, but it kinda grew too big. This isn't a how-to book, I don't offer any magical incantations for success, other than common-sense planning, hard work, and determination.<br />
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What I do offer is a logical approach for aspiring and new authors to achieve their dream of earning a living as an author. No guarantees, just a few tips, observations, mistakes to avoid, and a lot of what I hope will motivate the reader. And people tell me I'm not devoid of all humor.<br />
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So, if you've been thinking about writing your first book, or have several published and need a little motivation to keep on keeping on, I wrote this for you.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=waystiaut-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B01I0ZKHHM&asins=B01I0ZKHHM&linkId=c9e8afb2f7227eca1fc59427b8ed614b&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-58053582896393989082016-06-18T12:27:00.000-04:002016-06-18T12:29:05.911-04:00The Ship's Store is OPEN!<div style="text-align: justify;">
Readers asked for it and it took several months to make it happen, but the Gaspar's Revenge Online Ship's Store is now open, selling swag from my books.</div>
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We had to revamp my website, change hosts, servers, and email, just to get the different parts to work together. But, the net result is an autonomous system, where customers can order print on demand tee-shirts, tote bags, and coffee mugs with the Gaspar's Revenge and Rusty Anchor logos.</div>
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We'll be adding more items in the next few months, including Jesse and Rusty's favorite coffee from Hacienda La Minita in Costa Rica. Plus sunglasses, cellphone cases, hats, and whatever else my readers want. </div>
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You can get to the Ship's Store by clicking the image above, or at either of the following links.</div>
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<a href="http://www.gaspars-revenge.com/" target="_blank"> www.gaspars-revenge.com</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.store.waynestinnett.com./" target="_blank"> www.store.waynestinnett.com. </a></div>
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I anticipate breaking even by the end of summer.</div>
Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-45439853509590651152016-04-30T20:12:00.001-04:002016-04-30T20:12:40.208-04:00The LaunchThe launch of Fallen Angel went really well. But, it could and should have gone a whole lot better. Let me explain what I wanted to happen first and why.<br />
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The goal of launching a new book is to try to get it in front of new readers. I approach this the same way I do advertising. If you do a lot of big ads, like BookBub, you know that Amazon dampers the affect of the big spike on ranking. How or why is a mystery, but it happens. Fallen Angel sold nearly 1000 copies in the first 24 hours, yet it only reached #96. That wasn't supposed to happen.<br />
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My launch strategy was to try to line up what I have control over, with what I could intelligently predict would happen beyond my control. The two major things there being BookBub's and Amazon's notification to followers. I know I have a lot of Amazon followers, I could tell from my last release. I know on my BookBub dashboard, that I have 680 followers there. I also have over 2300 subscribers to my twice monthly newsletter. The beuty about this launch plan is that it will work for any number of followers and subscribers, just on a lower or higher scale.<br />
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From my last three launches, I know that Amazon has emailed me almost precisely 72 hours after clicking <i>Publish </i>on KDP, asking if I want them to inform my followers. Also, I know from past experience that those emails don't go to all followers at one time. It's spaced out over several days, beginning the day after I reply that yes, I'd like Amazon to let my followers know. Amazon knows about their own spike dampener.<br />
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So, to build a launch like a promotion, I wanted to slowly ramp sales up before the big push, Amazon informing my followers. This way, the Amazon spike wouldn't be as pronounced. To do this, I had to try to guess when BookBub would inform my followers there, then split my subscriber base into ever increasing numbers and email them in increments.<br />
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BookBub's deal is pretty new, they just started it after my last release, so I had to look beyond my own data to determine when this might happen. For most writers I talked to who had recent releases and good sized BookBub followers, it was three days after entering the new book on their BookBub dashboard.<br />
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So, knowing that the third day after publishing, BookBub would tell my 680 followers and the fourth day after publishing, Amazon would begin the heavy lifting, I needed to set up a ramp of sales from the moment of publishing to the morning of the third day after publishing. I decided to break my mailing list up into several parts.<br />
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Here's step-by-step what I planned to do:<br />
1) Click Publish around noon Eastern time. Once it goes live, I'd have control..<br />
2) Do nothing for quite a few hours, knowing that some people are gonna find it anyway. I did in fact get several sales early on, without mentioning it to a soul.<br />
3) Very early on Day Two, and I'm talking paper-route way-before-the-sun early, send the newsletter about the release to the top 20 subscribers with the highest and earliest click rates. This takes some work in figuring out and needs to be done well ahead of time.<br />
4) Send the same newsletter to the next 50 highest subscribers at noon on Day Two and post the link on my Facebook author page.<br />
5) Send the same newsletter to the next 50 subscribers at 6pm and post the link on my personal Facebook page. My highest sales hours and page reads occur between 6pm and midnight.<br />
6) Send the same newsletter to the next 200 subscribers about midnight on Day Two. There are some insomniacs in my group and sales would be good through the night.<br />
7) Send the same newsletter to the next 500 subscribers at 6am on Day Three. By now, I've used up 820 of my 2300 subscribers, but all of them are 5 star subscribers with high open and click rates. These 500 are a bit less of the click-within-minutes subscribers like the earlier ones. Many of these buy, but usually hours after the email is sent.<br />
8) Send the same newsletter to the next 700 subscribers at 6pm on Day Three. Now, I'm getting into the 4 star subscribers.<br />
9) Send the same newsletter to the remaining 800+ subscribers at 9pm on Day Three. Many of these are new and untested, so there will be a good many quick buyers among the ones that buy more infrequently, or just plain don't use the links I provide.<br />
10) BookBub takes over on the morning of Day Four.<br />
11) Amazon takes over on the morning of Day Five.<br />
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My goal was to get a trickle of sales during the overnight hours after publishing and I did indeed get 12 sales before telling anyone. The top subscribers, the ones who click within minutes of getting the email regardless of time of day, get their email on their phones. So the newsletters sent out at four different times on Day Two, will be bought up within minutes. The emails on Day Three will become more sporadic, as I get down into the 3 and 2 star subscribers.This approach, in my mind, would produce steadily climbing sales numbers throughout the period before BookBub and Amazon start making spikes.<br />
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A well thought out plan? I thought so. But, just like a battle plan, which begins to devolve and fall apart upon first friction with the enemy. my launch plan was doomed from the start. First off, I usually launch at $.99 for my subscribers, then raise it to full price after a day. I messed up and clicked <i>Publish </i>with the price set at full price. Being in review, I couldn't do anything until morning. So, those 12 overnight sales were at full price.<br />
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Come morning on Day Two, I lowered the price and waited anxiously. Usually a price change takes a while to update on Amazon, so I panicked and merged the many groups, thinking I wouldn't be able to tell my subscribers until later in the day. However, the price change took affect within an hour. Then I screwed up again and sent the email to the whole 2300 subscribers.<br />
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The result was six sales on Day One, another six at full price overnight into Day Two, then a huge spike of nearly 1000 sales by the end of Day Two. I left the price at $.99 until noon on Day Three, but only garnered another 82 sales, some at the reduced price and some at full price. Big spike and deep trough. Just what I wanted to avoid. Still, I sold 992 copies in 24 hours, with a 71% open rate and 53% click rate. My subscribers are engaged.<br />
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So, back to writing and sharpening up this launch plan for the next time. That'll be with the launch of Ruthless Charity, sometime in June or July.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=waystiaut-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B01EW3MSCI&asins=B01EW3MSCI&linkId=d973126bdf6b3d585d9acd0fb6ac3fcf&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-59171840112876441132016-04-29T10:28:00.001-04:002016-04-29T19:37:36.611-04:00Fallen Angel is now available on Amazon! Volume 9 in the Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series.With our move to Beaufort and me probably spending too much time on the water, it's taken longer to get Fallen Angel to market than any of my other books. I apologize for that, but I am enjoying my time on the boat.<br />
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This book was so much fun to write. My other books are set in places where I once lived or visited, but with the exception of the Keys, it's been many years and my memories are worn. So, why not send Jesse up to Beaufort, South Carolina to solve a problem?<br />
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I was able to write things that are fresh in my mind with this one. And if I needed to see something closer, I didn't have to emply Google maps. Instead, I launched Pescador and went there to explore the scenery Jesse would be passing through, first hand.<br />
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Anyway, I hope you like the book. Both the Kindle and paperback versions are available, now. The price will be only $.99 for a very short time. The audiobook version was completed last night and should be available in a few days.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=waystiaut-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B01EW3MSCI&asins=B01EW3MSCI&linkId=317587e31571ed44f07f34fb0835f9de&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>
Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-3730855363008082892016-04-19T15:53:00.000-04:002016-04-19T15:53:08.037-04:00Buy One Action Novel, Get Two Free!With the publication date of my latest novel, Fallen Angel, quickly approaching, Amazon is offering the box set of the first three ebooks for the price of just the first one. For THREE BUCKS you get Fallen Out, regularly $2.99, Fallen Palm, regularly $3.99, and Fallen Hunter, also $3.99. I'll do the math cor ya. If bought separately, the price would be $10.97, for a savings of almost $8 off regular price. As you can see, it's even more than half off the regular price of the box set. Click the link below, to take advantage of this three day only deal.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=waystiaut-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B011AKJH0C&asins=B011AKJH0C&linkId=00d1cf891eebc698f68d0ccb96eab364&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>
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This is nothing but a blatant display of commercialism, y'all. I want you to read these three, so that by the time you finish the next five in the series, you'll be ready to buy the new book, when it comes out. Fallen Angel will premier on Amazon on April 29th, so get to reading.<br />
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Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-20527076495599813552016-04-01T22:36:00.000-04:002016-04-01T22:36:35.560-04:00Back on The Water Again.April is here, spring has sprung, and I'm back to work. A whole lot has happened since publishing Fallen Tide, almost five months ago. I started writing two new books immediately after the release, but had to put everything on the back burner for a while. Thanksgiving and Christmas came, we got the go ahead to move into our new house before closing, we've been trying desperately to sell our old house, and I've been distracted by the water, spending a lot of time out on my new (to me) boat.<br />
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Most of that stress is gone now. We closed on the house last month, but still haven't sold the old one. But, I'm back to writing. The first draft of Fallen Angel, the ninth book in the Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series, is now nearing completion. Later this month, iIt'll go through a week of beta reading, then a week of editing, before it goes to the final proofreader and formatter. I expect it to be published on May 9th.<br />
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Ruthless Charity is only about 30% complete, but while Fallen Angel is going through the editing process, I'll be working on Ruthless. I hope to have it published in early June.<br />
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When both are published, they'll be priced at $.99 for a little more than one day. The announcement will go out to my newsletter subscribers first. The following day, it will be announced on my Facebook Page and Twitter. To get the deal, you really want to subscribe to the newsletter. The release won't be announced publicly, here on my blog and through an Amazon email to my followers there, until the price goes up to $5.99.<br />
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I'm really getting a kick out of writing this book. It took a turn I hadn't expected in the very first chapters and I had to completely rewrite the plot. Jesse and a few of his cohorts are coming to Beaufort, my new hometown! Of course, with Parris Island and the Marine Corps Air Station right here, it's like coming home for Jesse, as well. Nearly all the places I've written about in my books, are places I've been to or have lived in. Except for the Keys, it's been many years ago when I was in some of these places. Now, I'm writing about waterways I'm on every weekend and am becoming very familiar with.<br />
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Next week, I'll be out and about aboard Pescador (I won my daughter over on the name), looking for just the right cover photo for this new book. Since it's primarily set here, the cover should reflect this. Oh, did I mention I've done a little work on Pescador? She now sports over $1600 in electronics, a brand new T-top, and she has her name on the side. If you live in the Beaufort area and see us out on the water, wave us down. I'd be glad to share some sea stories.<br />
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<br />Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-89554689644243414092016-01-23T14:26:00.001-05:002016-01-23T14:26:33.285-05:00Moving Sucks, But it Beats the Alternative<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've been a lot less present on the interweb for a while. We've been busy. In early October, we went to Beaufort and looked at houses. We found one we all liked and made an offer. </div>
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On Friday morning, December 18th, we got word from our Realtor that we could move in and began packing. Four days later, the movers arrived on Tuesday morning and we took down our Christmas tree. They were fast and efficient and we had everything pretty well packed, so the moving van was on the road before noon and we spent our first night in Beaufort in our new home, after a 250 mile drive. With three dogs. And six parakeets. The next morning, I went out and bought a new Christmas tree and celebrated Christmas in our new home two days later.</div>
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I had to go back about a week later, because the movers couldn't transport live plants and to pick up my motorcycle, which they didn't have room for. I rented a U-Haul trailer and got my bike and all the plants aboard, plus a bunch of other little things we didn't get packed, then did a thorough cleaning of the old house. It's for sale and the price is low, if anyone's interested. I'll even knock a little more off, if need be.</div>
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We now live on one of the sea islands on the coast of South Carolina. Lady's Island is east and south of Beaufort and across Port Royal Sound from Port Royal, with Parris Island just beyond. To the southeast is St. Helena Island, then Hunting Island, then the Atlantic Ocean. The boat ramp three miles from the house is only about seven miles from open water. </div>
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So, I bought a boat. Nothing big or flashy, just a good solid used 1995 Grady-White center console. It's one year newer than my pickup, which will be pulling it. I've wanted a Grady ever since I was a kid and within about ten days, it'll be parked in my driveway. It's in really good shape for a twenty year old boat and the engine is a 140 HP 2002 Suzuki, with very low hours. My youngest daughter and I took it out for a sea trial this morning. It was 35* and the wind was out of the north at 20 mph, creating white caps in the creek where we launched. Out on the river, seas were 2-3 feet and choppy. The boat handled it smoothly and we didn't get wet. Well, except for the occasional snowflake. Yes, I chose the worst possible day for a sea trial. It hadn't snowed here since the Grady was new.</div>
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I made an offer before the sea trial was over. It's on consignment with Butler Marine in Beaufort and if the owner accepts my offer, the dealer is sending it to their larger shop in Charleston to have a T-top and some new electronics installed. It should be back by the first of February. By the time it gets back, temperatures will be in the upper 60s and we'll be out on the Sound enjoying our time aboard "Gravity Storm".</div>
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Up in northern Greenville County, where we moved from, they got a half inch of freezing rain the night before last and four inches of snow yesterday. Power is out at our old home and not expected to be restored until Sunday.<br />
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So, what's all this got to do with writing? Well, I'm paying cash for the boat, just like I did my pickup, and the new home is a huge step up from where we lived. None of this would have been possible if it weren't for Jesse McDermitt.<br />
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The old man has returned to the sea. I think I'm gonna like it here.<br />
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Semper Fi,<br />
Wayne<br />
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<br />Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-3435201749974951362015-11-11T18:24:00.004-05:002015-11-11T18:24:46.983-05:00Fallen Tide Released!I began writing Fallen Tide and Merciless Charity at the same time, back in early July. In September, I put Tide aside and concentrated on getting Merciless finished. Once it was published, I picked right up on Tide and finished it in two weeks. It's been undergoing editing since then and was just released as the 8th novel in the Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series yesterday and it now has over 1000 sales and 17 reviews, 15 of which are five-star.<br />
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There's a lot of offshore action in this one, taking Jesse and his crew down to the Cay Sal Bank, between the Gulf Stream and Cuba. Jesse takes on a bit different role in this book, more solidifying himself as one of Deuce's team members.<br />
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Anyway, I hope you like it. Click the cover to go to Amazon.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017S448NU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B017S448NU&linkCode=as2&tag=waystiaut-20&linkId=CZBPWOQ4T7X7J3I6" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B017S448NU&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=waystiaut-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=waystiaut-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B017S448NU" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-39997137522027396032015-10-10T14:50:00.002-04:002015-11-23T17:05:13.866-05:00Merciless Charity Released! First book in a brand new spin-off series.Edited: Merciless Charity is now available at the regular price of $2.99. Click the cover to check it out.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016EFPWQ6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B016EFPWQ6&linkCode=as2&tag=waystiaut-20&linkId=REO4J7ORAICQVEXS"><img border="0" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B016EFPWQ6&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=waystiaut-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=waystiaut-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B016EFPWQ6" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> </div>
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In the wee hours of the morning on 10/10, the first book in my new Charity Styles Caribbean Thriller Series went live on Amazon. At 9am I released the news to my newsletter subscribers. Sales so far today, point to this release perhaps eclipsing the release of the 7th book in the Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series, this past July.</div>
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This is 100% due to the energized newsletter mailing list I've cultivated. As of this writing (2:30pm EDT), just six hours after the newsletter went out to only 1550 recipients, Merciless Charity has sold over 400 copies. By comparison, Fallen Honor sold 640 in the first two days of release. Honor went live at 9pm and sold 240 copies before midnight and 400 the next day. The result of that release was a debut ranking of #283 in the Amazon store.<br />
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I'm hoping Merciless will have a debut ranking higher than that, near #200.<br />
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What constitutes an energized mailing list? The golden rule of mass mailing is to avoid the pretense of spam. People hate receiving unwanted emails. To sign up for my newsletter, the reader is informed twice that they will receive two emails every month, with an update on what I'm writing, contests, and recommendations for books by other authors.<br />
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Yes, I get unsubscribers. I average less than one unsubscriber per bi-monthly email. I also receive hundreds of responses to every email I send and have cultivated a relationship with these core readers. I know many of them on a friendly basis and we talk about other things of interest. I spend about an hour a day just responding to emails from readers. Those few unsubscribers usually have a very low, or zero, click rate, so it's no big loss.<br />
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The relationship I've developed with my core readers is worth it. In just six hours, my open rate is nearing 50%, already double the industry average, in just six hours. My click rate is nearly 30%, EIGHT TIMES the industry average. IN JUST SIX HOURS! These are people who like my work and will buy the next release as soon as they see my email in their inbox.<br />
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If you only email your subscribers when you release a new book, two or three times a year, a lot of them have already forgotten who you are and will delete the email as spam.<br />
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ETA: Yes, mangroves have a canopy that a boat can go under. And yes, old growth mangroves have large trunks and make for a sturdy emergency anchorage.<br />
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<br />Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-19432102996320387962015-09-20T18:48:00.000-04:002015-10-08T12:51:24.004-04:00Merciless Charity and Fallen Tide cover reveals.<br />
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I just got the cover for Merciless Charity from Tim Ebaugh Graphics and
Photography. The manuscript is currently with the formatter and
we're estimating a release by 10/11/2015 for this 1st novel in
this new series.<br />
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As always, it will be released quietly to my newsletter subscribers at $.99 for twenty-four hours. Sign up today, to be the first to get it.<br />
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Tim also finished work on the cover for Fallen Tide, the 8th novel in
the Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series. It will be sporting this
cover, when it is finally released in November. Currently, I'm
about half 2/3rds through writing the first draft and should finish it up
in late October.<br />
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<br />Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-71176223293623881072015-08-09T08:35:00.001-04:002015-08-09T08:59:34.516-04:00Book signing today! For two hours this afternoon, I'll be signing and talking about my books at Earl's Hideaway in Sebastian, Florida.<br />
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Earl's might not be the typical kind of place to have a book signing, but it was a hangout of mine many years ago and I always try to get by there, when I'm in town. It's a stone's throw from the Indian River Lagoon, just a few miles south of my hometown, Melbourne. With live music, a tiki bar, and a great view of the water, it's always attracted people from all walks of life.<br />
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But primarily, it's always been a "biker bar." My kinda folks. The bikers I know, are a different sort of people than the stereotype. You see, I ride with Patriot Guard Riders. The bikers I know will give the shirt off their back, their last dime, or a hot meal, but for the asking. We'll stand in the hot sun, or pouring rain. All day, if that's what's asked. With no more than an invitation to do so, we'll stand to honor of those who stood for us. To see them off on a deployment, we stand. To welcome them home again, we stand. To be their with their loved ones, when they go to their final duty station, we stand.<br />
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A lot of us are Veterans. I expect a large number of Vets will be at this signing. Some will have their families with them. Others who come, will be in a "biker bar" like Earl's for the first time. Some will be my friends from Space Coast Paratroopers and Homes for Warriors. Some will be people I went to school with. Some will be old friends and family. Some will be new friends, when I leave. All will be welcomed.<br />
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Bikers aren't like the outlaws you see portrayed on screen. We're just like anyone else. We're doctors, or lawyers. We're blue collar, or white collar. We're black, white, and everything in between. We're poets and writers, musicians and actors. We just like to ride on two wheels sometimes.<br />
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So, come on out to Earl's today, have a beer with some bikers. You might run into someone you know.Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-1912189563345079252015-07-19T15:24:00.002-04:002015-07-19T17:09:46.477-04:00The High Cost of Self PublishingThe high cost isn't in the money you spend before publishing. The high cost is in the money you don't spend. <br />
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Too often, a writer will put together their manuscript and, though it may be a gripping story, it fails to take off like they hoped it would. More often than not, it's simply because they didn't put into it what's required in the fast paced and over-crowded world of self publishing. They'll be in such a rush to get their book published, they overlook many very crucial steps. Steps that can make the difference between a rank of #1,000,000 and a rank of #1000.<br />
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I know this, because it's exactly what I did when I first started. The truth is, it wasn't all that long ago. I first started writing Fallen Palm, which was my first novel, in early 2013. It was based on some short stories I'd written decades earlier, but never published. I thought it a pretty good story and it is. But, I rushed through the publishing process. The manuscript was never edited, the cover was a decent image, but too low resolution. Formatting? I didn't even know the word.<br />
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It took me six months to write and it failed miserably. My first thought was that it was simply the fact that I was an unknown with just that one book. So, I started writing a sequel, still ignorant of any and all rules for writing and publishing. The second book took only two months to write and just before publishing, a really great thing happened completely by accident.<br />
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I was posting different photos on Facebook to get my friends reactions for a possible cover. An old friend from back in my high school days, a guy who is now a professional photographer and graphics designer, went out several days in a row to capture just the image I was looking for. Rather than just offer it to me, he created the whole cover. It's basically the same cover that's on Fallen Hunter today. I insisted on paying him for it. And that began my professional relationship with <a href="http://www.timebaughdesigns.com/" target="_blank">Tim Ebaugh Photography and Design</a>. Tim's dad is a retired pro photographer as well and Tim's ability to capture subject, background, and lighting is phenomenal.<br />
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Tim then created a new cover for Fallen Palm, using a stock image I paid $25 for. I now had nine months of my time, mostly in the sleeper of my truck, and $75 invested in my two books. Both started to sell. Not a lot, but enough that I could put the profits back into the business. And make no mistake, if you're an indie, you're running a business. I've spoken of this at great length in other posts here.<br />
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When those two books started selling was about when the negative reviews started to appear. "Poor grammar" and "Needs editing" were cited quite a few times. So, I loaned my fledgling business $200 and hired a proofreader. Things got better, sales increased and I was writing my third novel, Fallen Pride.<br />
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The Pride manuscript was finished in March, 2014, but instead of rushing to publish, I took my time. I hired another friend, Nicole Godsey, of <a href="http://www.nicolegodseyphotography.com/" target="_blank">Nicole Godsey Photography</a>. She's a Marine I know who is now a pro photographer. I also knew that her husband is a Wounded Warrior. Fallen Pride deals with PTSD and I wanted a certain image for the cover. That's her husband, Corey Godsey, with his head in his hands on the cover. Her image then went to Tim for the graphics.<br />
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I then learned there are several types of edits. Yeah, I'm that slow, it'd been nearly a year. There's proofreading, line editing, copy editing, developmental editing, and comprehensive editing, to name a few. Using all of January's royalties, which were paid at the end of March, I sent Fallen Pride to Eliza Dee, of <a href="http://clioediting.com/" target="_blank">Clio Editing Services</a>, a professional editing company, for copy editing. The cost was several hundred dollars. When Pride was released in April, I had $575 invested in it and was halfway through writing the prequel to the series, Fallen Out.<br />
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This continued for nearly a year, writing and publishing Fallen Mangrove and Fallen King. Each book being more expensive than the last to produce, as I upped the level of editing. Fallen King was nearly a $1500 investment in photography, graphics, and comprehensive editing. But there was still a small piece of the puzzle I hadn't discovered yet.<br />
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Proper formatting.<br />
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"But, Wayne, KDP reformats my .doc file when I upload it." Yes, but in the reformatting, some things change. Chapter breaks, page breaks, headers, footers, and a dozen other very minor things, that individually don't amount to much. But, taken collectively, the reading experience is less than perfect.<br />
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When I released Fallen Honor, I had over $2000 invested in its success. The cover image is a stock photo by renowned photographer Ruth Peterkin, graphics overlaid by Tim Ebaugh, a full comprehensive edit by Eliza Dee and her team at Clio Editing, and the final proofreading by Donna Rich. If that weren't enough, I sent the finished manuscript, edited and proofed to Colleen Sheehan of <a href="http://www.wdrbookdesign.com/" target="_blank">Write. Dream. Repeat. Book Designs</a>, for complete interior formatting into both pdf and mobi files, for paperback and ebook.<br />
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The result was Honor being published with over $2000 invested. It sold very well on the first day, over 600 copies at a discounted price and debuted in the Amazon ranks at #229. And now, five days post-publication, it's sold ove 900 copies and has had over 51,000 pages read on Kindle Unlimited. Yet it's still only produced a 50% return on the investment. I'm not worried, though. I have no doubt it will start creating a profit in just a couple more days.<br />
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Speaking of Kindle Unlimited, I learned something else recently, after sending my earlier works to WDR for formatting. I'd already sent the earlier works to Clio Editing for comprehensive editing and thought I might as well have them professionally formatted, as well. For you writers, especially those with books in Kindle Unlimited, you're probably familiar by now with the term Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count, or KENPC. You can find what this new change has done to your books page count by clicking on "Promote and Advertise" on your book in your KDP Bookshelf. I noticed that when each of my older books were properly formatted, the number of pages went up. Dramatically. This is very important in Kindle Unlimited, since now you are paid by the page read of borrowed books. I found that a properly formatted book's page count went up about 30%, with each one I republished after formatting to mobi. This is something you seriously need to look at. While it might not be true with every mobi file, it's certainly true for the ones that Write. Dream. Repeat. did for me.<br />
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Now, I know a first time writer, planning to self publish their book, might not have an extra $2000 laying around and there's no guarantee that your books will do as well as some others, but I guarantee without some level of investment, your sales will suffer.<br />
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We're writers. We make up stories to entertain people. Some of us have other gifts, like cover creation, editing, and formatting. But, it's the writing that has to take precedence. So, hire those things out and use the most professional service you can afford. You can always upgrade them later.<br />
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Lastly, I'm not suggesting you HAVE to use the professionals that I did, but I do highly recommend each one. Look around, some of your friends might be doing just these things on the side and are every bit as good.<br />
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Hope this helps.<br />
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Semper Fi,<br />
WayneWayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-7193046099909701352015-07-15T19:07:00.003-04:002015-07-18T22:33:38.319-04:00A very successful launch of my latest novel, Fallen Honor, Caribbean Adventure Series, Volume 7.On 7/14, at 9 PM Eastern time, Fallen Honor went live on Amazon for $.99. As I always do with my launches, I informed only my newsletter subscribers and Facebook followers. These folks were pumped and chomping at the bit. They know the low price is only good for 24 hours and it's just my small way of saying thanks.<br />
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The next afternoon, Fallen Honor debuted in the Amazon ranks at #229, with over 600 sales in 20 hours. The price then went up to $4.99 at 9 PM.<br />
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So, just how do you get 600 people to buy your book in one day? Simple. Engage them. Send out updates on a regular basis and let them know when it's coming out and that it will be discounted just for them. Until Fallen Honor appeared in the Amazon ranks, very few outside of my subscribers and followers knew about it.<br />
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I answer every email and question readers ask. I send a newsletter every two weeks, letting them know how the writing, editing, formatting, and publishing is going. I ask them for input on story lines, characters and cover photos. I let them know what I'm reading myself and many times they jump right on it and buy the book, too.<br />
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I know, I know, "Wayne, all those emails are spam!"<br />
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No, they're not. On the subscription form, I tell prospective subscribers that they'll get two emails a month, at least. In the 16 months since I started my mailing list, I've sent 34 emails to them. If I started sending two emails a week, they'd be getting more than they signed up for., so yeah, that'd be spam. I have almost 1300 subscribers and in that 16 months, only 6 have unsubscribed.<br />
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In that same 16 months, I've received over 1000 replies to those 34 emails. This is engaging with your readers. They look forward to getting the "inside scoop" and when release time comes, they're ready to jump all over my new book, as evidenced in this last release. Two hours after sending the email at 10 PM, Fallen Honor had 240 sales. That's 240 sales between the hours of 10 PM and midnight on a Tuesday night.<br />
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So, get to work on your mailing list, you writers. Engage them at least once a month. Get to know the names of those who habitually write back. Learn their background. Talk to them. Make new friends.<br />
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For anyone interested, below is a link to Fallen Honor on Amazon. <br />
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</iframe>Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-10203674883227888442015-07-09T16:48:00.000-04:002015-07-10T10:21:41.993-04:00Fallen Honor Cover Reveal and Boxed Set LaunchIt's been a while since I've posted. I finished writing Fallen Honor, my 7th novel in the Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series, about two weeks ago and have already started on the 8th book in the series, as well as continuing to work on the first book in my new Charity Styles Caribbean Thrill Series. Fallen Honor is less than a week from being published and I think one of the best stories I've written.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011AKJH0C/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B011AKJH0C&linkCode=as2&tag=waystiaut-20&linkId=LOTJDTQZKU74VYGH">Fallen Series</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=waystiaut-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B011AKJH0C" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
boxed set of the first three books in the series is now available and for a limited time, you can get Fallen Out, Fallen Palm, and Fallen Hunter on your Kindle for only $.99. That price will go up to $6.99 very soon. Even then, it will be $4 less than buying them separately.<br />
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Many of the old characters in earlier books aren't in Fallen Honor, but make minor or even telephone appearances. Much of the action takes place in Key West, as well as deep in the Everglades.<br />
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Several new characters actually steal the spotlight and one may even become the main character in another spinoff series next year. I'll have to wait and see how these new characters are received by my readers. Fallen Honor's beta readers really seemed to like them.<br />
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In Fallen Honor, the reality of what is going on outside of Jesse's hermit paradise gets a little too close, when a friend is accosted by "smug drugglers". Later, Jesse is contacted by an acquaintance in Key West, asking for help for her niece and the niece's boyfriend. Jesse's reluctant at first, but then he sees a picture of the protagonist, who is a threat to the boyfriend, in an online newspaper and in the background he sees the protagonists accountant, who Jesse recognizes. He agrees to help and once more becomes Stretch Buchannan, notorious bad guy and now cocaine kingpin, to lure the protagonist out of hiding.<br />
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Readers may recognize some of the new minor characters in this work. Steven Becker is author of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-collection=Mac%20Travis%20Adventure%20Thrillers&linkCode=ur2&tag=waystiaut-20&url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&linkId=HWRATZ2MSXMY5VVK" target="_blank">Mac Travis Series</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=waystiaut-20&l=ur2&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, set primarily in Marathon, Florida. He and I have been talking about sharing characters. Mac Travis is about Jesse McDermitt's age and they live near one another, both earning a living from the sea. Steve and I agreed that there's just no way these two wouldn't at least be acquainted, so Mac and Wood make brief appearances in Fallen Honor and Jesse will be showing up in the next Mac Travis novel.<br />
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Also, Dawn McKenna, author of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-collection=The%20Forgotten%20Coast%20Florida%20Suspense%20Series&linkCode=ur2&tag=waystiaut-20&url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&linkId=UCM2GQFS35FQRBFR" target="_blank">Forgotten Coast Series</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=waystiaut-20&l=ur2&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> set in Apalachicola, Florida is a special guest as a Key West psychic and tarot card reader. She has an oyster fisherman by the name of Wayne Stinnett in her first book in the series, Low Tide.<br />
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Lastly, if you're familiar with my books, you know that Rusty's old Jamaican chef's name is Rufus. Purely by coincidence, Michael Reisig has a minor character in his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XJ0RHSG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00XJ0RHSG&linkCode=as2&tag=waystiaut-20&linkId=MIUNQB5QIZWOVFVQ">Road To Key West Series</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=waystiaut-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00XJ0RHSG" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. His Rufus is a thirty-something Jamaican mystic. Since Michael's books are set more than thirty years ahead of mine, he's graciously agreed to allow me to make my Rufus just a little more like his. I hope he likes what I did.<br />
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This new book will be the first that's released after having been professionally formatted. I'd done this job myself with the others, but I've learned that some things are best left to the pros. Colleen Sheehan of Raventide Books will format Fallen Honor to create a much more enjoyable reading experience in both paperback and ebook formats, as soon as the editing process is complete. Clio Editing Services should finish any day and then it will go to the final proofreader, Donna Rich. She has already reformatted the first three in the series and will be doing the others as soon as Fallen Honor is completed. Once she's finished, Colleen will only need a day to turn the interior into a real eye-catcher.<br />
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Speaking of eye-catchers, Tim Ebaugh of Tim Ebaugh Photography and Design, has once more created a really great cover, using an image by photographer Ruth Peterkin. Thanks to all of these people and more for the help and support to get this 7th novel completed on time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuTQCD4Tir9XpQaabUogyKN1eOhyphenhyphenvonbtMVzIdvAmMBWPKRoP-FXSvWk55h7NuU9zp7fibdPg_6-Ac6fajndHffXWcVcQHrIq3dH3dkrxdjIFyOZ80ahyphenhyphenYYnIlMIYdVE_CLONZmnFMHc/s1600/Fallen+Honor+Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuTQCD4Tir9XpQaabUogyKN1eOhyphenhyphenvonbtMVzIdvAmMBWPKRoP-FXSvWk55h7NuU9zp7fibdPg_6-Ac6fajndHffXWcVcQHrIq3dH3dkrxdjIFyOZ80ahyphenhyphenYYnIlMIYdVE_CLONZmnFMHc/s640/Fallen+Honor+Front.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
<br />Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-46464985107133131472015-06-12T22:48:00.002-04:002015-06-12T22:48:52.131-04:00Second audiobook is now LIVE!Fallen Out was released in audiobook on 4/10 and now Fallen Palm has been released. Nick Sullivan, award winning voice, screen, and stage actor, narrates both and will be starting on Fallen Hunter in about two weeks. We hope to have all seven books available by early fall.<br />
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Fallen Honor, the seventh book in the Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series, will be published in paperback and ebook in early July.<br />
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Here are links to both audiobooks on Amazon, but they're also available on iTunes and Audible.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W498HFK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00W498HFK&linkCode=as2&tag=waystiaut-20&linkId=KE2BZNHLG4WMRXXG"><img border="0" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00W498HFK&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=waystiaut-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=waystiaut-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00W498HFK" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZIZT148/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00ZIZT148&linkCode=as2&tag=waystiaut-20&linkId=B7L2AHFDD5QIGYSB"><img border="0" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00ZIZT148&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=waystiaut-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=waystiaut-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00ZIZT148" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-729176035030698552015-06-09T16:41:00.001-04:002015-06-09T16:46:08.978-04:00Author Wayne Stinnett on "Your Carolina"On Your Carolina with Jack Roper and Megan Heidlberg this morning, WSPA, channel 7, Spartanburg, SC.<br />
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<a href="http://www.wspa.com/story/29274406/author-wayne-stinnett?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=11580495#.VXdPUWnLEXx.blogger">Interview with author Wayne Stinnett</a>Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-31792041966401925102015-05-24T22:41:00.001-04:002015-05-24T22:41:08.482-04:00New Audiobook is now Available!!I put it off long enough. Over the last month, I've worked together with award winning voice actor, Nick Sullivan, in creating my first audiobook. Nick will be working through the summer to narrate the other six books currently in the series, and will also narrate future books in the Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series.<br />
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The second book, Fallen Palm is due to be completed within about two weeks, by mid-June. I hope to have the current six books and a seventh, which is due to be published in July, all recorded and available as audiobooks by early September.<br />
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Fallen Out is now available on Amazon, Audible, and iTunes.<br />
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If you don't have an Audible account, you can sign up for a one month trial and get Fallen Out for free here: <a href="http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Fallen-Out-A-Jesse-McDermitt-Novel-Caribbean-Adventure-Series-Volume-1-Audiobook/B00W4EH9MW/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1430510482&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Fallen Out on Audible</a><br />
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For Amazon listeners, you can buy it for $19.95 here: <a href="http://amzn.to/1ITugoo">Fallen Out on Amazon</a><br />
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For iTunes listeners, you can buy it for $17.95 here: <a href="https://itun.es/us/WIVX6" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fallen Out on iTunes</a><br />
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<br />Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-87170716523106066172015-05-18T17:14:00.001-04:002015-05-18T17:14:45.642-04:00Promoting Books Other Than First in SeriesA bunch of people have asked me through email and in the Writers' Cafe if it was a good idea to promote other books in a series, besides the first one and do I do it myself.<br />
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The answer is, "Why the heck not?" Sure, you want to do big promos on the first book, but why not promote the others, as well? Big or small, promoting will increase readers and revenue. For instance, if you promote book 3 in a series, it will sell well and many people will also buy book 1, even if it's at full price.<br />
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Consider my last promotion, a month ago. It was the most recent book in the series and it sold 2340 Kindle copies in one day. That's a good 2300 more than it was selling before the promo, bringing in over $1600 of additional revenue, at a cost of $780 for the ads. More importantly, book 1 in the series sold 228 on that same day.<br />
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I have another promo coming up in just eight days, with Fallen Pride, the fourth book in the series. This time, I have two other books that will be renewing in KDP Select and I hadn't used my promo days through Select on them yet. I'm talking about the second and third books in the series. Also, the first three books won't be eligible for a big promotion with BookBub for several more months. So, I've scheduled a short Kindle Countdown Deal for all four books, to run at the same time in the US and UK<br />
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Fallen Pride (book 4) will be in BookBub on 5/28, and I placed a few big ads ahead of it and a few other ads on the other books. The Countdown Deals all start at 9pm Eastern on 5/26, with ads spaced throughout the day on 5/27, BookBub on 5/28, and the CD ending at 9pm on the 29th for the first four books in the Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series. Books 5 and 6 will remain at regular price.<br />
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Several hours before the CDs start, I'll update the book description of all four, inserting an opening line in bold type, "<b>The first four books in the series are discounted for three days!</b>"<br />
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My prediction is that Fallen Pride, being in the BookBub ad, will sell somewhere around 1500-2500 copies, while the first three books will sell around 200-300 each, for a total of 2100-3400 total sales of books 1-4 combined, for the one day of 5/28. Fallen Pride will be propelled into the top 100 at least, while the first three will rise to only about #600 or so.<br />
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I'll post the results of this promo on 5/30. Now, back to work in the garden.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFJOrNaprhy3SCBJoiX99fjKZYrtgt9_pZEMsWxhDNDp_8LdbcoY4BnEGx4U5IXfZmmV0qYoQKIxkoevxbBolh8EMT1FreiU_3lmW343LBrfMgKSG75TGoxJbmj8JPOyuNra_8DZYHaRw/s1600/Garden+2015+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFJOrNaprhy3SCBJoiX99fjKZYrtgt9_pZEMsWxhDNDp_8LdbcoY4BnEGx4U5IXfZmmV0qYoQKIxkoevxbBolh8EMT1FreiU_3lmW343LBrfMgKSG75TGoxJbmj8JPOyuNra_8DZYHaRw/s640/Garden+2015+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
Semper Fi,<br />
Wayne Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-5201934659914269642015-05-14T16:33:00.002-04:002015-05-14T16:33:27.572-04:00One Year Anniversary: I Quit My JobFrom the time I was 15 years old, I had a job. Almost all of them were working for someone else. My wife has had a job working for someone else since about the same age. Most of the work I've done has been in construction or transportation, with a few short lived occupations scattered between those as a fisherman, divemaster, and deckhand. From 2002 until one year ago today, I was a long haul trucker, hauling mostly over-sized loads all over the country.<br />
<br />
All that changed when I started telling stories and found a way to get them published. One year ago, I'd just returned to the yard in Greenville, SC, where my terminal was located fifteen miles from my home. It was a Wednesday morning, drizzling rain. I'd requested transfer to the local division of the company I worked, two weeks prior. But was sent out on two long hauls during that time and dispatch said I'd have a run to Michigan the next day. I put my foot down.<br />
<br />
"No, I'm a local only driver from now on," I told the dispatcher. "No more than 300 miles from home." The local drivers worked harder and made less, but they're home more nights than not.<br />
<br />
When I shut the truck down that day a year ago, I was told that I'd be moving out of the new truck I'd just received two months prior, and into one of the older (read that crappier) trucks, since I'd be driving only local runs. Long story short, the GM didn't like me and was flexing his muscle. Rather than move all my gear from one truck to another and have to do it all again in a month when I was planning to quit, I told the guy to tell the GM I'd have my stuff out of the truck in an hour. This pleased the GM, until word got up to the office that I was giving away nearly $2000 worth of personal gear. After loading what I wanted to keep in my pickup, I waved goodbye with a big grin on my face and never looked back.<br />
<br />
Here's what happened to precipitate that move. I'd only published my first book just over eight months earlier in October, 2013. I published a second one in December and a third in April. I was two weeks from two big milestones. I knew that my fourth book, a prequel to the first three would be published in just two weeks and my first royalty check that would be greater than my trucking income would be paid the same day. I also knew what June's income would be and sales already in May looked like it would make my July income even more. The largest of my royalties are paid two months after the month of sales. <br />
<br />
I put everything in God's hands and let Him decide. It was a leap of pure faith. I knew I could tell a good story and I knew there were people who would want to read them. Only a month before taking this leap, I'd discovered a discussion forum for Indie authors and had soaked up a ton of information, especially about marketing and networking. If you're a writer, you need to visit the Writers' Cafe on KBoards.com<br />
<br />
When I got home and told my wife I'd just quit the job that once provided 75% of our income, she wasn't surprised. "You can do this," she told me. I have a great wife.<br />
<br />
I worked harder and got that fourth book published on schedule. It took off from the start and June was my first five digit income month. So, I started writing a fifth book and used the hours I once spent driving a 40 ton rig to market my books and connect with more people.<br />
<br />
That summer, when the new prequel had enough reviews to submit it for advertising, I earned over $23,000 in the month of August, led by the sales of the new prequel to the series. <br />
<br />
My fifth book was published on the one year anniversary of the first book, on 10/8/14. It sold over 2500 copies that month and when the August royalties were paid at the end of October, I went out and bought a new(er) pickup. I chewed the used car salesman down to within my budget and paid cash for the truck. I even sold him a book. I've had the upper hand in every negotiation since that day a year ago.<br />
<br />
My sixth book did almost as well, when it was published this past Valentine's Day, selling over 2000 in thirty days and debuting in the Amazon charts in the top 1000. It's never ranked worse than #5000.<br />
<br />
Today, one year after quitting my day job and taking that huge leap of faith, my income is three times what it was as a trucker. I pay myself only slightly more than I used to make and am hard at work on the seventh and eighth books. More importantly, I take my daughter to school and pick her up every day. Instead of praying with her at night over the phone from a truck stop 2000 miles away, I kneel by her bed. Instead of the confines of a tiny truck sleeper at night, I sleep in my own bed with my wife.<br />
<br />
Do I miss it? I've seen every state in the country, but no, I don't miss it at all. I just wanted to post this for any of you who think a career in writing isn't attainable. It is. You will have to work hard, think outside the box and learn more than you've ever learned in your life. But, trust me, if a worn out old truck driver can do it, you can too.<br />
<br />
Now get to writing.<br />
<br />
Semper Fi,<br />
Wayne <br />
<br />
<br />Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7811967436276185388.post-60356263975035914732015-05-10T21:46:00.000-04:002015-05-10T21:46:18.279-04:00An Interview with Author Pendelton C. Wallace<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Over the next week or two, I'll be interviewing a few authors I know, who write books similar to my own. I've read nearly everything these folks have written and hope you'll give these guys and gals a read too. First up is Pendelton C. Wallace. Penn's an experienced blue water cruiser, based out of San Diego, California. His books can be found by visiting his page on Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pendelton-C.-Wallace/e/B008823QGW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&tag=waystiaut-20&linkId=CNBNHWAETIYACKHZ" target="_blank">Pendelton C. Wallace on Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=waystiaut-20&l=ur2&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIiWelyZt7gmxhDoogY56_K4G3ah2HhHFsSq1748qn-AT-fwhOuaf2KDcZJ2TOZbI61brysLoKxrm7Af4DQ_jcyQqu7ur-uCxCDUy0yW1ok8hyphenhyphen8tstp6CeehT1__Xk1emy03oCT-uvW9A/s1600/Penn+Wallace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIiWelyZt7gmxhDoogY56_K4G3ah2HhHFsSq1748qn-AT-fwhOuaf2KDcZJ2TOZbI61brysLoKxrm7Af4DQ_jcyQqu7ur-uCxCDUy0yW1ok8hyphenhyphen8tstp6CeehT1__Xk1emy03oCT-uvW9A/s320/Penn+Wallace.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Welcome aboard, Penn. How about going back a little first, tell my readers a bit about your family. </span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thanks for having me, Wayne. I have a rather
unconventional family. My father is of Scottish heritage; my mother’s parents
came from Mexico. I grew up with a foot in both worlds.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> When I was little, we
interacted mainly with my mother’s family. I remember my first day of
kindergarten. There were all these kids with yellow worms growing from their
heads. I had never seen a blond before.</span>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But somehow, I’m not a
Latino. My Spanish is poor, but I can make myself understood. I stand out as a
gringo in Mexico and fit into American culture.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do you work through self-doubts and fear? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is a really tough
question because I rarely have self-doubts or fear. If you read my first book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blue Water & Me, Tall Tales of
Adventures With My Father</i>, you will see that Papa exorcised fear and
self-doubt from me at an early age.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m kind of like the
bumble bee. Scientist have proven mathematically that a bumble bee can’t fly.
Someone just forgot to tell the bumble bee. I don’t know what I can’t do, so I
just go ahead and do it.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What scares you the most? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dogs. I can honestly say
that the only thing in the world that I have ever been afraid of is dogs. When
I was three years old I was attacked by two German Sheppards. To this day, the
sight of a German Sheppard makes my blood run cold.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is particularly
important since Dawn, my significant other, had two Great Danes when I met her.
Like everything else in my life, I swallowed my fear and just plunged ahead.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What makes you happiest? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wow! There are so many
things that make me happy it’s really hard to choose. Sailing on a downwind
reach off the coast of Baja California with just Dawn on my boat was one of the
best experiences of my life.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How could you ask for more?
The temperatures were in the eighties, we had about a fifteen knot wind on our
quarter, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Pods of dolphin and whale played with
us for days. We were off shore far enough that we couldn’t see land. We had the
world to ourselves.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What’s your greatest character strength? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Honesty. I value honesty
and loyalty above all other traits. When I meet a person, I assume that they
are honest. I give them the benefit of the doubt until they prove otherwise.
Once a person has been dishonest with me, I can never trust them again.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have been told by
employers that my honesty is a flaw. They said that I was too honest for my own
good. They wanted me to lie for them and I wouldn’t. I also did not spend many
more years at that job.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What’s your weakest character trait? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Self-control. I know I
have a problem with food. I’ve been fighting my weight most of my life. For me,
food is like a drug. I’m hooked. Even though I know I shouldn’t be eating that
greasy bacon for breakfast, if it is there, I will take it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Why do you write? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Because I have to. My
mind is overflowing with stories. I just have to get them down on paper (or
under glass).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I write character
sketches and a fifteen to twenty page outline before I begin writing the book.
Then I sit down to write. By this time, my sub-conscious knows the story and
the characters and the words just flow from my fingers. I almost never think
about what I’m writing.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m as enrapt as any
reader as I see the story unfold in front of me. Sometimes it surprises me.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Inside Passage</i>, I thought that Meagan was a certain kind of
person, but as the story unfolded in front of me, she refused to be pigeon
holed. She evolved and changed into a whole different person by the end of the
book.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Have you always enjoyed writing? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes. When I was in the
sixth grade the teacher gave us an assignment to write “How I Spent My Summer
Vacation.” I wrote thirty pages.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What motivates you to write? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ego. I have all of these
stories that need to be told and I have enough ego to think that somebody might
like to read them.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What writing are you most proud of? (Add a link if you like) </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I think that I am
growing and improving as a writer with everything I write. I think that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Mexican Connection </i>is my best work
yet, but I’m the most proud of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blue Water
& Me, Tall Tales of Adventures With My Father.</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blue Water</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is a tribute to my father and it may not be as polished as my
later works, but it will probably always be my favorite.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are you most proud of in your personal life? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My daughters. They have
grown into fine young women. They are strong, brave and independent, just like
their mother.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What books did you love growing up? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Edgar Rice Burroughs.
The Mars series, Tarzan of the Apes. Much of my writing today is influenced by
his style.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I also loved Jules Verne
and H.G. Wells.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Who is your favorite author? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Larry McMurtry. He is
fantastic. I think Gus McRae is the greatest single character in American
Literature. I envy Larry’s ability and only wish I could write like him.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What genre of books do you like most? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My favorites are
thrillers. However, I love good historical fiction as well. The Aubrey-Maturin
series by Patrick O’Brien and the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell are my
favorites.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What book should everybody read at least once? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lonesome Dove. It’s my
absolute favorite. Everyone should have the opportunity to meet Gus McRae.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Is there any book you really don’t enjoy? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I hate to be a wet
blanket and I don’t want to disparage any other authors, but I really didn’t
enjoy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fifty Shades of Grey</i>. The story
just didn’t interest me. I couldn’t understand why she would willingly submit
herself to such abuse.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What do you hope your obituary will say about you? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That’s tough. How about
that he entertained a lot of people? That he influenced a lot of peoples’
lives.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Location and life experiences can really influence writing, tell us where you grew up and </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">where you now live? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I was born on San Juan
Island in Washington State, just a few hundred yards from the Canadian border.
I spent a few years in Southern California, then we moved to Oregon. I grew up
in the Eugene/Springfield area of the Willamette Valley.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I moved to Seattle when
I was 27. I now live on my boat. We lived in La Paz, Mexico, for two years.
This year we returned to San Diego so I could have knee-replacement surgery.
Where will we go after that? Maybe Panama. Maybe the US Virgin Islands. Perhaps
the Florida Keys. I really don’t know yet.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How did you develop your writing? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By making every mistake
in the book. I knew instinctively that I was a literary genius. I sat down and
started writing. When I finished my masterpiece, I hired a good editor, just on
the off-chance that I missed something.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She tore me to pieces.
Actually, she tore my book to pieces. After I nursed my wounds and got over the
sting, I cut more than a hundred pages from my manuscript and started over. Her
second pass through the manuscript was a much more pleasant process.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I also joined a writers
group. It took me several tries to find the right group, but eventually I ended
up with a group of writers who were better than me. By working with them every
other week, I gradually improved my writing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Where do you get your inspiration from? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The headlines. Read the
newspaper. I could never make up stories as bizarre as I see in the news every
day.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is hardest – getting published, writing or marketing? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Marketing. I suffered
through the writing process. I endured the fight to get published. Now I am
struggling with marketing my works. If no one knows about your book, you could
write <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gone With the Wind</i>, and no one
will read it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I work daily to find my
market. I’ve tried everything I can think of and have made very little
progress. I hear that it’s about a five year process to get your books out there
and known.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What marketing works for you? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BookBub is by far the
most effective tool that I’ve found. I pay about $275 for an ad and usually
make that back by noon. The problem is that they’re very picky about what books
they feature. I’ve submitted to them six times and only have been selected
three times.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As with everything in
life, there are no short cuts. I believe that you have to put in the work every
day, day in and day out, if you want to succeed at anything. I think that
writing is the same. If you want to sell your books, it is not enough to write
a masterpiece. You must spend effort everyday marketing it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you find it hard to share your work? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not at all. I put my
work out there all the time. I know that some people won’t like it, but I hope
to find an audience that will. I also am very receptive to criticism.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That doesn’t mean that
I’m going to change something just because it has been criticized. It means I
will listen and consider the suggestion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I just got a review by a
woman who said that my writing was too obsessed by breasts and legs. My
characters are two men in their early twenties. Of course they are obsessed
with breasts and legs. If she does not realize or like that, then I guess she
is not in my target audience. I seriously considered her criticism, but in the
end, I am not going to change my characters’ points of view. That’s who they
are.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Is your family supportive? Do your friends support you? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes. Dawn, my
significant other, listens to everything I write and gives me her criticisms.
Sometimes she likes what I’ve done, other times she has creative suggestions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My best friend, Susie,
has edited everything I’ve written since grad school. My other friends are very
supportive. Some actually read my work, but they’re all positive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you plan to publish more books? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Does a bear . . . no,
seriously though, of course. I have written three of the Ted Higuera novels and
am in the editing process for the fourth. I have the plots for two more books
in that series. I expect that Catrina Flaherty will spin off at least one novel
of her own.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I would also like to
write some historical fiction. I have a civil war story just begging to be
told.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But here’s my biggie: I
have discovered that people love dogs. If you want to write a best-seller, put
a dog in it. So . . . I’m thinking about writing a book with Odin, Dawn’s Great
Dane’s story. It’ll be a block buster.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What else do you do to make money, other than write? It is rare today for writers to be full </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">time… </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am “retired.” I have
income from my retirement savings. I also own and charter a 56-foot sailboat.
However, that’s even more “iffy” a profession than writing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What other jobs have you had in your life? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have been a
restaurateur. That includes everything from mopping floors and washing dishes
to owning two of my own restaurants.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Then I took a major
career detour and became a software engineer. I have also been a project
manager and a business analyst.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you could study any subject at university what would you pick? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If I could go back and
do it again, I would probably major in either naval architecture or
aeronautical engineering.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Where I’m living now. On
my boat. Home is where ever we drop anchor. Currently we are in San Diego, but
we’re talking about sailing down to Panama, then maybe the American Virgin
Islands. After that, who knows?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tell us about your family? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I married up. Connie was
one of the most wonderful people I ever met. We adopted two girls from Korea
and had a lovely family. Then she got ovarian cancer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She spent ten years in a
valiant struggle against the horrible disease. I watched her waste away before
my eyes. It is the hardest thing I ever did.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After I lost her, I
decided to totally change my life. The lesson I learned from the experience is
that you have to live for today. You never know what tomorrow will bring, of if
you’ll be there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For fifty years I
dreamed about buying a big old sailboat and sailing down the coast to Mexico.
So, after Connie was gone, I did.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do you write – lap top, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m a keyboard kind of
guy. I currently write on my laptop, however when I lived in a house I
preferred the desktop computer because I liked the keyboard better.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I get up every morning
and write before the house (or boat) comes awake. When I was working I got up
at 4:30 every day and wrote for a couple of hours before I went to work. Now I
get up at sunrise and write before the world comes alive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is 3:44 am right now.
I couldn’t sleep, so I got up to write.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Where do you get support from? Do you have friends in the industry? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My girlfriend and
friends. Then there’s my mother. She is extremely proud of her son, the author.
She won’t read eBooks, but she is very supportive of my efforts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I know several other
writers, but only have a couple of friends who are doing well at selling their
books. I use the lessons I’ve learned from them to help my marketing effort.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How much sleep do you need to be your best? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Six to eight hours a night.
I have had trouble sleeping since my wife ot cancer. During the last couple of
years of her life, I was up all night long helping her. Now, I can’t get back
into a sleep pattern. I’m often up in the middle of the night and I hate it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge and thank for their support? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Without a doubt, my
mother. She hated the first draft of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blue
Water & Me</i> because she was in it and she is a very private person.
After not talking to me for about three weeks, she finally gave me her
permission to use the material she objected to.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since then she has been
100% in my corner. I am most grateful for her support.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Every writer has their own idea of what a successful career in writing is, what does success in writing look like to you? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The adulation of
millions. Not being able to go anywhere without the paparazzi following me
around. No, seriously though, I would like to be able to sell enough books to
subsidize my travels and live comfortably on my retirement income.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m not thirsting for a
million-seller. I would like to be able to tell my stories and have people read
and appreciate them. But if I got a million seller, I wouldn’t object.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is vital to get exposure and target the right readers for your writing, tell us about your </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">marketing campaign? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My marketing campaign is
a mess. So far it is not working very well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Last summer I did a
three-state book tour. I sold less than 100 books. At two book stores no one
showed up for the readings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I used Google AdWords to
announce the free give away for another book. I gave away about a thousand
books and only sold fifty or so.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My next book, I used
FaceBook groups to try to stir up some interest. I only gave away a couple of
hundred.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On my last book I used a
couple of “free giveaway” sites to promote the book. I gave away about three
thousand copies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The goal of all these
give aways is to get people interested in my writing and get them to buy one of
my other books. It has worked only with limited success.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have been told that
you have to have at least five books available before this kind of marketing
really kicks in. Preferably, the books will be a series so that the reader is
anxious to read prequels and sequels. I have two books in my series written and
the third on the way. My other two books are independent from the series.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When I find out what
works in marketing, I’ll be sure to let you know. What I do know is that
persistence wins the day. No one ever won a race by giving up. You have to keep
putting one foot in front of the other until you finally break through.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tell us about your new book? What’s it about and why did you write it? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bikini Baristas</span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> has been a fun project. It’s about the somewhat
shady owner of a chain of coffee shacks in Seattle, Dick Randall, where his
employees wear bikinis or work in their lingerie. He launders money for the
Mafia, he’s behind on all of his bills and his houses are being foreclosed on
by the bank.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">His pickup is found
burned out in the California desert. The police suspect his wife (wife number 4
and 6 in his ex-wives club) of doing away with him. She goes to Catrina
Flaherty, PI and one of our heroes for help.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ted and Cat follow a sleazy
trail as they try to find out what happened to Randall.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The B-story is about
Chris. He is now a full-fledged attorney in his father’s firm. One of the
senior partners asks him for a favor.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">His wife’s cousin has a
son who is always in trouble with the law. Can Chris help to straighten the boy
out?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This gets Chris involved
with the young man who will become the Fly Away Bandit, a national folk-hero in
the Jesse James tradition in a chase that leads from one end of the country to
the other and garners national attention.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What, you ask, do these
two stories have in common? You’re going to have to read the book to see how
they come together in the end.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve had beta readers
doubt that these kind of things could really happen. Guess what? They are real
stories. I have does extensive research on both of these cases and only the
names have been changed to protect the innocent.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you could have a dinner party and invite anyone dead or alive, who would you ask? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sofia Vargara and Selma
Hyak and maybe Kathryn Zeta Jones. To heck with the dinner, let’s go straight
to the drinks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When you are not writing, how do you like to relax</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sailing is my passion.
We sailed down the West Coast from Seattle to Mexico and back to San Diego. I
expect to head south again soon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Other than that, I love
to cook and read. I am a world-class Mexican chef. You want to be invited to my
boat for dinner.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you have any tips on how writers can relax? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Like anybody else, just
do what you like doing. Some people garden, some play golf or bridge. Some
sail. Whatever your passion is, do it. Get you mind off of your writing and let
it run free.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Then, when you go back
to work, your mind will be rested and ready to go.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How often do you write? And when do you write? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I try to write every
day. Sometimes life gets in the way. Like right now. I just had
knee-replacement surgery and the drugs that they’re giving me for the pain has
my brain all frazzled. That severely limits my ability to write, but normally,
I write every morning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I get up, make coffee
and write for a couple of hours. Then I have breakfast and write for a couple
more hours. My most creative time is in the mornings when I’m fresh.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After I break for lunch,
I go back to work. I usually write for six or eight hours a day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you have an organized process or tips for writing well? Do you have a writing schedule? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Everyone writes
differently. I start by writing character sketches for the major players in my
book. As new characters develop, I go back and write character sketches for
them. I want to know who they are and how they will react in situations before
I start writing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Then I write the outline
for the book. It is usually fifteen to twenty pages long and describes most of
the scenes in the book.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After I’ve done my
homework, I start writing. By this time I know the characters and story so well
that I don’t really think about what I’m writing. The words just flow from my
finger tips.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At this point, I’m
always discovering new scenes that I hadn’t planned on or new twists to my
characters personalities. It’s a journey of discovery.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I try to write every
morning. That is my most creative time. I like to get up and write before the
house (or boat in my case) is awake. That way I don’t have any distractions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sometimes it’s so hard to keep at it - What keeps you going? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’m just stubborn. When
I start a project, I plunge head long into it and keep going until it’s done. I
don’t allow distractions to tear me away. I am determined to finish.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 394.5pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Have you met any people in the industry who have really helped you? <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 394.5pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; tab-stops: 394.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What do you hope people will take away from your writing? How will your words make </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">them feel? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I just want to entertain
people. I’m not trying to change their lives or provide some great hidden
truth. I want them to relax and forget the world for a few minutes and just
enjoy the story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What’s your favorite meal? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Chile Verde. Mama used
to make chile verde for special occasions. I make it whenever I have an excuse.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What color represents your personality the most? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Color? What’s that?
People ask me my favorite color and I look at them like they’re teched. How
could one color be any better than another?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By the same token, I
really don’t understand the question. How could a color represent a
personality?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What movie do you love to watch? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is tough. There are
so many. I love Dr. Zhivago. I have watched Master and Commander over and over
as I have The Blue Max. Maybe my favorite movie to re-watch is Spiderman. Check
that. I’ve watched Captain Ron dozens of times.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do you feel about social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter? Are they a
good thing? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Facebook is a good way to
waste a morning. If I don’t discipline myself to get to work, I can spend hours
there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s nice to see what
your friends are up to. It has limited value in interesting people in your
books. We are bombarded by so many would-be authors hawking their goods you
have to find a way to stand out of the crowd.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don’t see much value
in Twitter. What can you say in 149 characters?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, I use both of
these sites to promote my work. I guess I’m working on name recognition as much
as anything there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you could do any job in the world what would you do?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Play centerfield for the
Seattle Mariners and lead them to the World Series.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are you most passionate about? What gets you fired up? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don’t have any burning
passions in my life right now. I love to sail, but I’m living on my boat, so
that passion is satisfied.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I love to write, but I
do that every day, so that passion is satisfied.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What makes you angry? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Politics. I hate where
our country is today. On 9/11 our country was the most united it had been since
Pearl Harbor. Today we are as divided as we have been since the Civil War.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What happened? How did
we waste all of that good will?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Why can’t we fix our
education system? Our infrastructure? Any of the other problems that are
dragging this country down?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It angers and frustrates
me no end.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What’s your most embarrassing moment of your life? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You’re going to have to
sit down and get yourself a drink for this story. It may take a while.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When I was in grad
school, our final project was to write a business plan for a new business. We
worked in groups and wrote a masterpiece.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This was during the dot
com boom. The school invited a group of venture capitalist to attend our
presentations. They said that if any of our business plans looked good to them,
they would fund them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My group nominated me to
make our presentation. I had just started taking a medication that made my
mouth dry.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I got up and started
talking. My mouth got drier and drier. Finally, my tongue swelled up and I had
a hard time articulating. Then my tongue stuck to the top of my mouth and I
couldn’t speak.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I had to dash from the
room to find a water fountain. Then I returned and finished the presentation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In case you’re
wondering, our group did not get funded.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Are you a city slicker or a country lover? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Me a city boy all the
way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do you think people perceive writers? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don’t think they give
writers a lot of thought. A typical reaction is “Oh, you’re a writer . . . Did
you see the Mexico/Brazil match?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What’s your next project? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am just completing the
forth book in the Ted Higuera series. It should be released in June of this
year.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What would you love to produce in your life? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’d love to write a book
that captures America’s imagination. It’s probably a pipe dream, but Dan Brown
had to start somewhere.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have to take this
opportunity to tell a little story. I love John Steinbeck. What, you haven’t
read him? Shame on you. Go to the library right now and pick up one of his
books.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Anyway, as I was
preparing to make my epic voyage to the Sea of Cortez, I had to read
Steinbeck’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Log of the Sea of Cortez.</i>
I struggled and finally found a copy. While I was looking, I discovered his
first book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Cup of Gold. A Cup of Gold</i>
is about Captain Morgan the pirate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Steinbeck and pirates,
what’s not to love? I couldn’t believe the book. I loved it. It was one of the
worst novels I have ever read. If John Steinbeck could write that crap and
still grow up to be John Steinbeck, there’s hope for all of us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What’s the reason for <i>your</i> life? Have you figured out your reason for being here yet? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Goodness. I have no
idea. I have helped a lot of people in my time. I’ve been a leader, a mentor
and a role model, but I don’t think that was my purpose.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don’t think it has
anything to do with work. Work is what you do to get by. Family is what it’s
really all about. I suppose my purpose was to care for Connie when she was so
ill and to raise my daughters. If so, then my life’s work has been
accomplished.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do you feel about self-publishing? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is a loaded
question. Self-publishing has changed dramatically in the last ten years. When
I started writing, it was basically vanity press. That is, if you couldn’t get
a traditional publisher to publish your work, you paid someone to publish it to
feel good about yourself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Then we went through a
period where Print on Demand allowed authors to publish their own work without
forking over a mint and having cases of books in their garage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We are now in the eBook
age. It costs next to nothing to publish your work and it is available
worldwide. However, the problem is still finding people who want to read your masterpiece.
Marketing your eBook is no easier than it was selling your POD book.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What bothers me the most
is the number of poorly written books I have seen self-published. In essence,
they are first drafts. The author finishes writing his/her manuscript and
shoots it up to Amazon.com. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I see lots of poorly
edited (make that not edited) books and many that have never seen a
proof-reader. If indie publishing is to flourish, we authors need to police
ourselves and only publish work that is ready for prime time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you know your neighbors? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes, in the slip next to
me is a nice couple from Vancouver BC in a C&C 45. Gene on the La Brisa is
on dock 5. Dave and Rhonda are on dock 3. I could go on and on.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How important are friends in your life? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This may sound callous,
but not really very important. Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of friends and
I love them dearly. However, I pulled up stakes and sailed off around the world,
leaving my friends behind. I communicate with them via the Internet and my
blog, but they were not important enough to keep me at home.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How many friends does a person need? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You can never have too
many friends.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What does love mean to you? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don’t even know how to
begin answering this question. Upon further reflection, I think love is putting
another person’s interest above your own. And, if things work out really well
for you, they will reciprocate and put your interest first. This is a good relationship.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What social issues interest you the most? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Education and shipping
our jobs overseas.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am concerned with the
education system in our nation. What really bothers me is that we have so few
young people going into math and science. These are the areas that build our
competitive advantage over other nations and we are having to import people
from other countries to fill these jobs. And they are high paying jobs. Why
don’t kids want to be scientists?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The other area I’m
concerned with is the outsourcing of our jobs overseas. If we ship off all the
jobs, who is going to support the economy here at home? I see a widening gulf
between the haves and the have nots. I see a declining middle class. These are
things you see in third world nations. Is America going to allow itself to
become a third world nation?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When you get free time on the internet or you go to the library – what do you want to read </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">about?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I read a lot of
thrillers and mysteries. I guess I’m looking for escapist literature.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you find the time to read? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes. I usually read
while I eat breakfast and lunch. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Last book you purchased? Tell us about it</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I just read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mary of Angels</i> by Linton Robinson. It is
a tough read. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK if you are squeamish. It is about life on
the San Diego/Tijuana border and it shows it with all of its warts and boils.
But it is a really good book. I highly recommend it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Who do you admire? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Winston Churchill. Abe
Lincoln. Larry McMurtry. Charles Darwin. Leonardo Da Vinci. I could go on and
on.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is your favorite quality about yourself? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wow! I never think about
such things. I can’t really name a bunch of qualities about myself, much less
my favorite one. How about my modesty and self-depreciating character?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is your least favorite quality about yourself? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">See the preceding
answer.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Never give up.” Sir
Winston Churchill.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because amazing things can be accomplished if
you just keep plugging ahead.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Raising two wonderful
young women</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is your favorite color? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Favorite color? How
should one color be any better than another? I don’t have a favorite.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is your favorite food? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Chile verde.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What’s your favorite place in the entire world? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I haven’t seen the
entire world yet.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How has your upbringing influenced your writing? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How could it not? My
father was a communist who taught us to question everything. He never went to
college, but was the most educated man I ever met.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He was a stickler for
English grammar. It kills me when I hear someone say “where’s it at?” or “Me
and Sally.” If you see bad grammar in my books, it is because the character
talks that way, not because I don’t know better.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I think I look at the
world a little differently than your common garden variety author. I am very
liberal and open minded. I’m willing to accept things in people that others
might question. This allows me to see and write about these people without
being judgmental.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My father was a
frustrated writer. He wrote a book about the tuna fishing industry that he
tried to get published for fifty years. I grew up in a writer’s house. It just
seemed natural.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When and why did you begin writing? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I had surgery and was
out of work and going out of my mind. I had been thinking about writing my
father’s story for twenty-five years. One day, while I was laying in bed
recovering, I asked my wife to bring me my laptop and the rest is history.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How long have you been writing? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">About ten years or so.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When did you first know you could be a writer? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I never knew I couldn’t.
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What inspires you to write and why? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Life. I see people,
places and things all around me and think “That would make a good story,” or
“She would be a great character in a book.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve met people who
inspired characters that I just had to find a way to get into one of my
stories. There are plenty more waiting in the wings too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What genre are you most comfortable writing? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Memoir. I’ve had an interesting
life and there’s lots to tell. Unfortunately, no one wants to read about a
non-celebrity. I guess I have to sell a lot of thrillers and become famous to
warrant further memoir work.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What inspired you to write your first book? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My father. He was this
bigger than life character. He strode across the planet wearing seven league
boots, leaving devastation and waste in his path. I had to tell his story.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Who or what influenced your writing once you began? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I got a lot from Edgar
Rice Burroughs. The quick scenes with parallel plot lines that come together at
the end and cliff hanging scenes. I loved him when I was a teen ager.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">More recently, I aspire
to write like Elizabeth George. She writes mysteries, but her characters are
more important than the plot. I want to know what’s going to happen to
Inspector Lindley or Sergeant Havers more than I want to know who done it. I
would like to write thrillers that are character driven, but still have
exciting plots and world-ending danger.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Robert Ludlum and his Bourne
series was a big influence on me. The way he wrote action blows me away.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Who or what influenced your writing over the years? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Legion of the Plume,
my writers group in Seattle really taught me to write. All of the other members
were better writers than me, so I learned and grew while contributing what I
could.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I was lucky enough to
meet Jinx Schwartz in La Paz. She has the ebook marketing business down. She
put me on the track that I hope will eventually lead to success.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What made you want to be a writer? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I had a story and was
egotistical enough to think that the whole world would want to read it. When it
was published, I was sure that Disney would come pounding down my door wanting
to make a movie.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don’t think I could
not have written <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blue Water & Me</i>
at some point in my life. My father’s story was too compelling not to be told.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finding an audience.
After you’ve written your masterpiece, the cards are stacked against you for
ever getting it published.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am more and more
feeling that finding a publisher is mostly a matter of luck. I have seen some
really good manuscripts get rejected time after time and I’ve read some really
bad books that have been published.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But once you have made
the hurdle and have your book in print, you have to find a way to let the world
know it exists. You could find the cure for cancer, but if no one knows about
it, it will do no good.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I know that there is an
audience out there who would enjoy my books. I just need to find a way to let
them know I exist.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My previous book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Inside Passage</i>, was a compelling
story, but it started out too slowly. I had several agents tell me that I
needed to just jump into the story, then go back and fill the reader in on what
they needed to know. They even questioned whether the reader needed to know
that stuff.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It took some serious
re-writing to get <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Inside Passage</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> ready for publication.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
didn’t make that mistake in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hacker for
Hire.</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>I decided to start with the action and let
the reader stay in the dark for a while, trying to figure out who were the good
guys and who were the bad guys. I hope that when the reader gets to the end of
the book, they will reconsider who is who one more time.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you intend to make writing a career? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes. I have finished two
other successful careers. Now it’s time to start over again.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Have you developed a specific writing style? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I hope so. I like to
have short, action filled scenes, parallel plot lines and cliff hanging scene
endings. Hopefully, that will make the reader want to turn the page to see what
happens next.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Of course, it all
depends on the story. You have to have “good bones” to hang your meat on.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is your greatest strength as a writer? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I can accept criticism.
I take my work to writers groups, I ask beta readers for their opinions. In the
Ted Higuera series, Ted originally talked about himself in third person (“Ted
really likes that.” As opposed to “I really like that.”). I got so much
negative feedback that I changed it, even though I loved that part of his
quirky character.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Have you ever had writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Huh? What’s writer’s
block? I have so many stories to tell that they just leap off of my fingers
onto the key board. I don’t have time to write them all down. How can you be
blocked?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Can you share a little of your current work with us? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Mexican Connection, </i>the sequel to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hacker for Hire</i>, Ted and Chris get lured to Mexico and into
Mexico’s drug wars. An old enemy is back seeking revenge, but Ted and Chris
don’t know that they’re the targets.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s a little bit
gruesome, but I can’t make this stuff up. I am showing what is really happening
in this horrible situation, but I have already received criticism that it is
too graphic.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How did you come up with the title? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I usually brainstorm the
title. I make a list of possible candidates, nothing is too stupid to add to
the list. Then I share it with my friends and ask for their ideas and input.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Once I have twenty or
thirty possibilities, something usually suggests itself.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There was a comic book
when I was a kid called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hero for Hire</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow, when I started writing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hacker for Hire</i></span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">that memory resurfaced
in my mind.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ted
is a computer security analyst. Corporations hire him to try to hack into their
systems to find vulnerabilities before the real hackers find them. To me, this
was a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hacker for Hire.</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Can you tell us about your main character? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ted Higuera is the son
of Mexican immigrants. He grew up in the barrios of East LA and has a little of
that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hermano</i> still in him.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He was fortunate enough
to be physically gifted. He set scoring, touchdown and yardage records at
Garfield High School in LA and won a football scholarship to the University of
Washington where he met Chris Hardwick.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Chris is the kid born
with a silver spoon in his mouth. His dad is the head of one of Seattle’s most
prestigious law firms. Chris grew up in a million dollar estate overlooking
Puget Sound.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Everything comes easy
for Chris. He has an eidetic memory and finished first in his class. Ted has
had to scrape and claw for everything he’s earned in his life. The two come
together to make a great crime fighting duo.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How did you develop your plot and characters? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don’t have to make
this stuff up. I just read the newspaper. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hacker
for Hire</i> is a real life situation that happened in one of the Fortune 100
companies in this country. I have moved the story to Seattle, changed the company
name and thrown in a murder or two, but the basic plot was already there.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I should say something
about Catrina Flaherty. Cat is a new character in the series. You can expect to
be seeing more of her. She is a kick-ass female private investigator.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I modeled her on a PI
that I did some consulting work for a few years ago. I remember the sales guy
asking me what I thought about her and I said “I wouldn’t cross her. She can
kick both of our asses.” I love her character and think she would make a great
stand alone protagonist.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a matter of fact, I
have a Catrina Flaherty short story called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mirror
Image</i>.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Who designed the cover? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Brandi McCann has been
designing my covers and I like them a lot. I am trying to keep a consistent
look and feel to them. I just had her do a cover for a short story that I will
publish shortly that is about one of the characters in the Ted Higuera series,
but Ted and Chris aren’t in it. I wanted to keep the same feel without the
trademark bulls eye on the cover. She did a terrific job.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Who is your publisher? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My first book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blue Water & Me, Tall Tales of
Adventures With My Father,</i> was published by Aberdeen Bay Press. I will be
eternally grateful that they took a chance on an unknown author.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, I felt that
they overpriced my book and it has not sold well. They also don’t give their
authors any marketing support. Once the book is published, you are on your own.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I decided to take the
plunge and publish my second book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christmas
Inc.</i>, myself, using Create Space and Kindle Direct Publishing. It hasn’t
sold so well either.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I will continue to
publish my own books. I have heard that you need to have at least five books
out before you can build an audience. This makes sense.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If a reader finds your
book and really likes it, they immediately want another one of your books. If
you don’t have one available, they will move on to another author and forget
about you. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I did this with a young
author in the 1970’s. I read his first two books and loved them, but he didn’t
have anything else out yet. I promptly forgot about him for thirty years, until
I re-discovered Patrick O’Brien who had about twenty-five books available for
me to chain-read by then.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I also understand that
if our books are in a series, it will make the marketing easier. People will
fall in love with your characters and want to know what they are doing next.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Why did you choose to write this particular book? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I needed a sequel to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Inside Passage</i> and the story of
corporate greed and narcissism in this tale was so compelling to me that I had
to write it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When do we have enough?
Here were a group of people already in the top 1% of income earners in the
country and they were squabbling for more. What’s wrong with these people?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What was the hardest part about writing this book? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Writing the book was not
hard at all. I already knew the characters from the previous book, I had
numerous newspaper and magazine articles to glean the story from and I was
intimately familiar with the setting and technology. Writing the book was easy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Selling the book was
hard. I tried many agents who all turned me down. I finally decided to go the
self-publishing route. Now my problem is finding an audience for the books. How
do I reach the people who will enjoy this kind of tale?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Did you learn anything from writing this book and what was it? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I wanted to write a book
that sucked you right in. I started with a compelling character (is he a good
guy or a bad guy?) and dropped the reader into a situation that they don’t know
what is going on. Then I went back and introduced our main character and gave
the reader a little bit of insight into his angst.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hopefully this formula
will work. I hope that people will start the book and be so intrigued that they
have to keep reading to find out what the heck is going on.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do you promote this book? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am running a free
giveaway promotion right now. I couldn’t get BookBub to take it, so I signed up
for several other web sites. In mid-May I will do a BookBub promotion for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hacker for Hire.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When I run a BookBub
promo for one of my books, I sell hundred of copies of my other books. I expect
that I will see lots of sales for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Mexican Connection</i> as a result of this promo. I’ll try to do a BookBub
promo for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Inside Passage</i> in June
and hopefully, but July, they will do a promo for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Mexican Connection.</i> If all goes well, I hope that I can do a
BookBub promo for<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Bikini Baristas</i> in
August.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Of course, all of this
depends on whether or not BookBub will accept my books for promotions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Will you write others in this same genre? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes. I am already
writing the third book in the series, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Mexican Connection. </i>I’ve already told you about that, but book four will be
a kick to write.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The fourth book will be
about the owner of a chain of bikini barista coffee stands who gets into
trouble with the mob and disappears. Ted and Cat will be called upon to find
out what happened to him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The fifth book in the
series is going to focus more on Chris. He will be working in his father’s law
firm when one of the senior partners is accused of serial raping immigrant
masseuses. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don’t believe in
Hollywood endings. Life isn’t that way. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Inside Passage</i> one of the major characters is killed at the end of the
book. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hacker for Hire</i> the ending
will surprise and chill you. I won’t give it away, but let’s just say that, in
the end, justice prevails, despite our messed up court system. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Mexican Connection</i> one of the team
gets killed in the big finale.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But what I really want
the readers to realize is how greedy these people are. They already have
everything and are willing to go to extreme lengths to get more. How much do
they need?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How much of the book is realistic? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Been there, done that.
The story came from a real life situation. I spent a quarter century in this
world so I know it well. All of the technical stuff (with the exception of
Delphi) is real. I’ve tried to make it realistic enough to engage the reader,
but not get so bogged down in detail that I put them to sleep. It’s a fine line
that I walk.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Have you included a lot of your life experiences, even friends, in the plot? </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You betcha. The opening
scene, where Justin McCormack hacks into Millennium Systems is from a real life
incident. I took a couple of classes from the man who is Justin’s model.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I did some consulting
work for the real-life model for Catrina Flaherty. People like her really do
exist.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve worked with most of
the characters in the book. Richard Freeman, the CSO at Millennium Systems, was
a real piece of work in real-life. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I haven’t done the kind
of hacking that I portray in the book, but I have talked with people that do
it. I have also read how-to manuals, should I ever decide to go over to the
dark side.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How important do you think villains are in a story? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Villains <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> the story. Can you imagine <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Silence of the Lambs</i> without
Hannibal Lecter? What about the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wizard of
Oz </i>without the Wicked Witch of the West?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In order for your hero
to stand out, he/she must face a villain of at least equal ability. That’s why
Doyle had to create Professor Moriarty, the Napoleon of Crime, to give Holmes
an adversary that was worthy of him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To build tension in your
story, the villain must be able to manipulate and mislead your protagonist.
He/she must appear to have the upper hand so that your hero can overcome the
odds and everyone can live happily ever after.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By the way, I hate
happily ever after. I despise Hollywood endings. I try to have my stories end
on a more realistic note. The readers might not like it, but I feel it’s true
to the world.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are your goals as a writer? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I want to be able to
keep writing and support myself. I have many stories I would like to tell. I
really want to write some historical fiction. I also have a manuscript that my
father wrote. I want to publish it and let the world see what a wonderful story
teller he was.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I spent the summer last
year traveling from Washington State to California on a book tour.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As far as going to the
locations of my books, I have so far. The travel wasn’t particularly because I
wanted to write a book about the location, after I had been to these wonderful
places, I knew I wanted to use them in a book.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What books have most influenced your life? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Probably the most
influential book in my life was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Don
Quixote</i>. Since I read the book as a teenager, I have been tilting at
windmills, trying to right the unrightable wrong.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Have you ever considered anyone as a mentor?”</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Who is your favorite author and why? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don’t know where to
start. I love Patrick Conroy. He paints with words. I often read a paragraph
and am overwhelmed by the beauty of the words. Then I have to re-read it to get
the meaning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tom Clancy and Robert
Ludlum are great thriller writers. I love the way Clancy built a whole universe
around his cast of characters. I love to see what they are up to now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But my all-time favorite
author is Larry McMurtry. He is a master at building characters and places. You
feel you know these people and want to return to visit the places. I think that
Gus McRae is the greatest character in American literature.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Can we expect any more books from you in the future? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You betcha! I am writing
the sequel to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hacker for Hire</i> right
now and I have the story lines for at least two more Ted Higuera adventures.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have another character
I want to write about. He is a former crime reporter for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seattle P-I</i> who now lives on his boat
and writes true crime novels.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I also have a couple of
historical fiction tales that I want to tell.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes, you can be looking
for quite a bit more from me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Have you started another book yet? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Mexican Connection</i>, Ted and Chris
are lured to Mexico by an old foe bent on revenge. They get caught up in the
drug wars and all hell breaks loose.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For those of you who
read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hacker for Hire,</i> we’re not
through with Catrina Flaherty yet. She will be back in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Mexican Connection</i>. I know my female readers love her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Where do you see yourself in five years? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sitting in the cabin of
my sailboat in some quiet tropical lagoon writing the next Ted Higuera
adventure. Oh, wait a minute, that’s where I am now. As I write this, we are in
the Pacific Ocean, about fifty miles off Punta Abreojos on the Mexican Coast
heading north for San Diego.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are your current writing projects now? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am working on the
sequel to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hacker for Hire</i> and I have
a Catrina Flaherty short story, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mirror
Image</i>, that I am about to publish. Brandi McCann did the cover and I think
it’s striking.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The next Ted Higuera
story, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Mexican Connection, </i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">takes place in
Mexico where Ted and Chris are lured by an old enemy bent on revenge. They get
sucked into the Mexican drug wars and all hell breaks loose.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Are you reading any interesting books at the moment? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have been reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Death is Not Enough</i> by Collins Opuro. It
is a very tough read. Mr. Opuro is Kenyan and English is his second language. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The style is very
different from American novels, but the content is disturbing. He is a native
Kenyan, so I assume that what he is writing is true about life in Africa. It
just keeps me up at night thinking about what a horrible place it is.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What contributes to making a writer successful? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You have to be able to
get your thoughts down on paper in a coherent way. You need to comply with the
current reading habits of American readers. You have to have a story to tell,
but most importantly, you need to be persistent.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I know many writers who
want to write in their own style. That’s well and good, but they are severely
limiting their audience. A few years ago, I would have said that it’s the kiss
of death, because no agent would pick up an author who doesn’t write for
current tastes. However, with electronic publishing, anyone can publish a book.
Now you just need to find an audience that enjoys that style of writing.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I read my father’s work
and it reminds me of 19<sup>th</sup> Century writing. Charles Dickens comes to
mind. It is a great story, but I don’t think a modern reader is going to slog
through all of the purple prose.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The most important part
of writing success is just showing up. Being there every day. Writing. Working
on publishing. Spending hours each day marketing your work.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I always ask people why
they write. If they write because they love it, that’s fine. They may have a
story that they just have to tell, that’s good too. To many of my friends, it’s
a hobby. They have no intention of ever publishing their work.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have other friends who
are so caught up in the writing that they never look beyond that to what
happens when their manuscript is complete.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Writing for a living is
hard work. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. The book is about 50% of the
job. Getting it published is another 50%. Then selling the finished work is the
final 50%.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wait a minute, that
doesn’t add up. You can’t have more than 100%. That’s right. Writing is one of
those jobs whose parts exceed the total of the sum. Could you call it reverse
symbiosis?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you have any advice for writers? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As my old friend Winston
Churchill said, “Never give up.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Don’t let anything stop
you. Don’t let bad reviews or critique slow you down. Use them to improve. Be
impervious. Accept the criticism and learn from it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Find your own voice. Not
everything you write will appeal to everyone. Define your target audience and
be true to them. They are your bread and butter (should that be frijoles and
tortillas?).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I just had a review by a
woman who said I spent too much time focusing on women’s breasts and legs. I
really thought hard about this. But in the end, I decided that she probably
wasn’t part of my target audience. I’m writing for people who will like the
focus on a woman’s appearance, as well as the content of her character. I write
for people who enjoy the occasional sex scene. My books are R rated.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now don’t get me wrong.
I don’t write of women as sex objects. I believe that all of the women in my
books are fully fleshed out characters. It’s just that the books are told from
the point of view of a twenty-three year old man. We see what he sees. If the
books were told from the point of view of an older woman, these things would
never be mentioned. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you have any specific last thoughts that you want to say to your readers? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Keep reading. I don’t
care what you read, but keep your mind working. Read for fun, read for
education. There’s a whole universe out there for you to enjoy.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What do you do to unwind and relax? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Right now it would be a
big Margarita, a dip in the pool and a plate of appetizers.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I read a lot and I love
to sail. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve gotten to tell a
story that I’ve wanted to write for fifty years.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you have any upcoming appearances that you would like to share with us? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On June 13<sup>th</sup>
I will be doing a reading of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blue Water
& Me, Tall Tales of Adventures With My Father</i>, at the Chula Vista
Marina in Chula Vista. Drop by if you’re in the neighborhood.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you could leave your readers with one bit of wisdom, what would you want it to be? </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In those immortal words
of Winston Churchill, “Never give up.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When you wish to end your career, stop writing, and look back on your life, what thoughts </span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">would you like to have?</span></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don’t expect to change the world. I hope that
I will have entertained a few people, given them a laugh or two and made their
burdens easier to bear. </span></div>
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Wayne Stinnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00176190532732793187noreply@blogger.com0