Dec 16

A Quickie With Political Commentator Mike Sivier from Vox Political

To catch a Mike Sivier is simple. You wait until he passes by and then you reel him in with some juicy discussion about politics. Now, I love fishing! I found myself standing by the river bank today, and I was lucky enough to catch a Mike for a short time. What follows is the discussion between an eager fisherman and a political fish! I hope you enjoy our time together!

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Q) Hi, Mike! So let’s start of with a simple question. Why do you vote for the British Labour Party?

A) Is that your first question? I am actually finding it quite hard to answer!

Q) Sorry Mike! I guess I just like making them tough.

A) It shouldn’t be tough, though. “Why do you vote Labour?” The honest answer is that it’s the only organisation in the UK that is actually still interested in EVERYONE’s well-being – the Tories are a minority-interest party for the very rich, UKIP for the anti-Europeans, the nationalists for their own countries and the Lib Dems for themselves. Labour has a lot wrong with it at the moment, I’ll admit. But I think it’s prepared to change, with the right encouragement, while the others are only going to dig in deeper. OK, next question.

Q) Do you consider Ed Miliband to be the saviour of the UK? Or will a stronger leader come along?

A) I think Ed suffers from poor advice. Maybe the top tier of the Parliamentary Labour Party has been in the Westminster bubble too long, maybe they suffer from having all studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics in the same way as the top Tories – they’re not thinking in the same way as people on the street, so they’re not saying the things we want to hear. Ed’s performances are a symptom of that.  He seems to be insulated from the reality on the ground – a good example of this is welfare. Labour’s still talking about a welfare system that will put disabled people back into work, for crying out loud! We need a system that can accommodate the problems that people have and give them the help they need.

Q) How about (Ed) Balls? Is he the real power behind the Labour throne?

A) Balls – no, he isn’t. We are definitely not in Blair/Brown territory again. Balls does need to learn some new tricks, though. Labour can’t continue to oppose Tory economic policies while admitting we’d do much the same. We need a programme of investment in growth – in the industries that provide the best fiscal multipliers (meaning for every pound spend by the government, the economy benefits by more than a pound in the long run). We need to renounce Tory welfare policies. Attacking the most vulnerable isn’t the way forward.

I’ve gone into some of this in detail in the blog. My favourite member of Labour’s top team right now is Andy Burnham. His performance in the NHS debate was excellent.

Q) Do you think the NHS (National Health Service) can be saved? I guess the question really is– how can it be saved?

A) Yes. Obviously reabsorb everything that has been sliced off – no recompense to the private companies. I think there will be legal reasons this will be possible (I don’t think the hiving-off to private companies was done in a legally-permissible way in the first place). We’ve got a lot of medical experts with strong opinions on what should be done and we should be listening to them – right now – with a view to having a strategy in place immediately after the 2015 election. We should NOT go around thinking we know everything we need to; if there are experts willing to advise, let’s hear it!

Q) You believe (Ed) Miliband will do this?

A) He’ll do what makes him electable. Look at his performance at PMQs last week – he trounced Cameron. He CAN deliver. He comes from a Labour dynasty – he’s literally steeped in the philosophy of the Labour Party. He just needs the right information. I’m going to have to go.

Q) One last question– is Tony Blair a detriment to the party? 

A) I disagree with a lot of the ‘Headline’ things that Tony Blair did, but beneath all those, he did a lot of good for the UK. Of course he did – even if you don’t like New Labour, just look at the alternative – a government led by William Hague? By Iain Duncan Smith??? (Ye Gods, anything but that!) But now it’s past time we let go. He can’t do Labour any good now. Labour must move back towards the left and embrace the social policies towards which the UK and most of Europe were moving before the late-1970’s. That means an end to Blairism. We have to put as much distance between ourselves and neo-Liberalism as possible. That do?

A) Yes, thanks Mike! Great quick interview and thank you for your time!

Q) Okay, thanks Nick!

With that Mike was back to do what he does best– writing blog articles and making sure the world knows what is going on behind those big political walls mere mortals cannot pass through.

Check out Mike’s blog, Vox Political, right now for the truth as he sees it!

Dec 13

Meet Terry Irving…

Meet Terry Irving

Terry Irving is one of those guys you can meet and instantly be drawn into. He has done it all and if he hasn’t done it then he’s read about it– from bartender to Emmy Award winning news producer. Terry gave me one of his rare interviews this week. He was happy to oblige and I was happy to listen. Has there ever been anyone more interesting to profile? Perhaps Elvis or Ronald Reagan come to mind? Read on as Terry reveals his dealings with both. Meet Terry Irving!

Q) It’s a pleasure to meet you, Terry. Let me ask you something personal before we begin. You didn’t come across Bobby Darin on your journalistic travels, did you?

A) He died in 1973. I did interview Ricky Nelson about Elvis Presley.

Q) Really? What was he like?

A) Dumb as a rock.

Q) No way! I like Ricky.

A) I was doing a story on the seventh anniversary of Elvis’ death and all the hagiography was just beginning. He had a fantastic manager that had all the stories about Colonel Tom down. Ricky was a loss. Also met Colonel Tom Parker at Elvis’ birthplace and Sam Philips in the the original Sun Studios down in Memphis.

Q) Colonel Tom was a genius in my opinion. I’m a huge Elvis fan and I don’t think Elvis would have been as big without Tom Parker.

A) He might have been bigger. Tom (Parker) kept him from growing. Do you know that he didn’t start advertising until Elvis’ shows were completely sold out? He created a frenzy.

Q) Did you know that it was rumoured in the mid 70’s that he was going to sell Elvis to Gordon Mills? That would have been interesting. I’m not sure anyone could have been bigger in England– Elvis was it.

A) Elvis was “it” everywhere. That was the story. Graceland was becoming a sacred pilgrimage location like Lourdes. A Secular Saint. When I was at the birthplace in Tupelo, it was swamped with Elvis lookalikes from Liverpool. Very strange

Q) I can imagine– are you an Elvis fan?

A) Not really. He was my babysitter’s idol.

Q) What’s your thing music-wise? Byrds? Beatles? Cream?

A) My friends who were musicians were all crazy about ummm…Purple Haze.. I liked the Doors- saw them from the 7th row.

Q) Jimi Hendrix?

A) That’s him. I also really liked the Grateful Dead.

Q) American Beauty is a fine album.

A) My favorite. We got married to “Touch of Grey,” however.

Q) Hendrix once played guitar for Little Richard and Engelbert Humperdinck. Did you know that?

A) Yup. He was a session man for years. You know, I’m just realizing, most of the artists I like died early.

Q) So, let me ask you– why did you choose a life in media?

A) I graduated from college and was given the gift of complete freedom. I had been cut off by my parents, didn’t owe much money to the college and had everything I wanted (a motorcycle, a girlfriend and a cat). We were sitting around the week before graduation (1973) and the plan was to stay around college for a while. I was tending bar and my girlfriend was teaching French. Suddenly, I realized that if we stayed we would become “alumni ghosts” – the people who hang around the parties and play basketball on the college courts. I couldn’t stand that possibility so we thought for about thirty seconds about where we should go. My brother had moved to Washington, DC and we figured that would be ok for a couple of months, anyway.

Never have left Washington. I keep marrying women who refuse to leave. I could name thirty cities I’d rather live in.

At first, I bartended all over DC – having lied my way into my first job by saying I knew what I was doing. Of course, after three weeks on a lunch shift “service bar” with ten demanding waitresses, I could make four drinks at once.

I got a letter from my Uncle Andy – he needed help driving a school bus/camper and a Jeep Wagonneer up to Alaska from Indiana so I went and did that – a thousand miles of incredibly beautiful gravel road.

When I got back, I was thinking of becoming an English teacher. One of my brother’s roommates was a courier for Metropolitan Motorcycles and he told me I could get paid for riding THEIR BMWs. I applied.

I was the worst courier ever. I didn’t know Washington at all and wasn’t willing to drive at the level of sheer craziness of the other guys (most of whom were injured or killed eventually). So on the third day, I got called by the dispatcher and told to go over to ABC News.

ABC News paid by the hour so I wouldn’t keep losing money for the courier company. Anyway, I was the only rider they had without an arrest record. My predecessor had been hit with an unlicensed .45 during a nightshift job at a 7-11. I’ve always thought it was rational to have a gun overnight at one of those places but the boss disagreed.

So there I was. In and out of the White House every day, up on Capitol Hill, chasing various Watergate figures, bringing back the film of Spiro Agnew pleading “nolo contendere” to taking bribes.

One day, I was walking into the bureau carrying an enormous 1200 foot (film) magazine on my shoulder and felt the pulse of the place – the editors, the writers, the whole aspect of a team working towards a common goal. It just seemed like something I could enjoy for a while.

Turned out to be 40 years.

Q) I must ask- are you a Democrat or Republican?

A) Democrat or Republican? I have noticed that journalists are instantly affected when they take sides. They start to subconsciously root for “their guy”. I’ve always thought that the best thing about being a journalist was the right to hate all sides. All sides being just about equal idiots.

So, I’m registered Independent and never tell IF I’ve voted much less who I voted for.

Q) Very wise– that is your right. So, you were right in the middle of Watergate. What is your defining memory of that story?

A) The Saturday Night Massacre. That was when Nixon freaked out because the Special Prosecutor was subpoenaing the tapes and had him fired (even though the whole point of a Special Prosecutor is that they can’t be fired). I was sitting in the upstairs hall at the SP’s office and watching staffers racing around gathering up boxes of documents and notes – they were afraid that the FBI would take them and “lose” them. The Attorney General and his assistant quit rather than fire the SP and it took the number 3 (the incredibly partisan Robert Bork) to actually fire the Special Prosecutor.

Anyway, there was a real feeling of Things Falling Apart. The burglary at the Watergate was more fun for the press than something really serious, but as the pressure had built – even I felt that the whole government could come crashing down.

Of course, to the 21-year old courier, it was all just a lot of fun. I wasn’t supposed to be up there and I was damned if I was going to leave and not be able to get back in.

It wasn’t that I didn’t pay attention to the importance and the History and all that – after all, in my previous bartending jobs, I’d always put the Watergate Hearings on to give the daytime barflies something to argue about.

I was just much more involved with things like hitting the curve right before one of the Burglars homes without going over the edge or finding gas when the lines were blocks long or trying not to kill myself in the snow or slide down into the Metro.

The funny thing is that I never thought Nixon was as much of a criminal as he actually was. No one did. You’d have to be on the radical fringe to believe that he was really bending the entire government to his political and personal ends, but he really was. That was the most interesting thing about the research for Courier. A few of the authors have kept up with all the information that came out in the next thirty years. The Sirica Trials, various tell-all books, confessions, etc. The end result is that Nixon was a complete crook. Crass, corrupt and arrogant. Every one of his first three Attorney Generals committed a felony during their first day in the office. At the time, I just thought he was a creepy guy and was mostly worried about being sent to Vietnam. Last One to Die for a Mistake.

Q) How close were you to being conscripted?

A) Drafted you mean?

Q) Drafted sorry– conscripted is the English term.

A) In reality , I wasn’t close at all. Only one guy from my high school class went directly into the Army after college and he told me recently that you would have had to break regulations to even get sent to Vietnam by that point. The last combat troops were pulled out of Vietnam in February of 1973, but Americans had stopped fighting about a year before. The really bad years were ’65 through ’70.

In retrospect, the draft was insanely unfair. Anyone who could go to college (or get into the National Guard like George W. Bush or on Mormon mission like Mitt Romney) didn’t get drafted. It really was a military made up of poor, minority kids.

Also, I’ve never bought the Post-Vietnam “Americans won’t stand for body bags” theory. Americans can sacrifice for a war – Vietnam was just an incredibly STUPID war and I knew perfectly well that if I threw away my life there, it would be for absolutely nothing.

Q) Rather similar to conscription in the UK. The rich using the poor? Is that a statement that holds truth?

A) I’ve covered the military many times since. It’s no longer true. Today’s military is almost exactly a reflection of the broader society in terms of whites, blacks, Hispanics, whatever and in terms or income and education. Vietnam was a colossal mistake perpetrated by the civilian leaders (the Best and Brightest) and the military suffered for it.

Now, there is a whole other – and very interesting – story about what’s going to happen to today’s troops when they come home. The tempo of combat is FAR, FAR faster than in Vietnam or WWII, the danger greater and the physical and mental damage catastrophic.

Q) Moving on from Vietnam– did you cover the first Iraq conflict?

A) Iraq? Only from a distance. I’d burned out a few years before and was working the control room in Washington. I broadcast the final surrender and watched everything, but I wasn’t there.

My only experience in a war zone came in Beirut during ’82 and ’83 when the various Lebanese factions were betraying each other and the Marines were in the middle.

During the second Iraq war, I was writing and producing a show called This Week at War. For various reasons I was left alone to do what I wanted, and turned it into a really great deep discussion of Iraq, the entire region in turmoil and some great in-depth discussions rather than the canned stuff you usually hear. It was, of course, cancelled in six months, but I got to do the show I really wanted to do for six months. That happens less than you think.

Q) Beirut was during the Reagan Presidency. Can you give a rundown of events for the readers? What actually happened?

Yes, I can. Beirut was a well-intentioned effort by George Shultz, Reagan’s Secretary of State, to try and cool off the Middle East – which eventually led to James Baker’s historic bringing the sides together. It was sabotaged by Cap Weinberger at Defense who didn’t want his nice clean soldiers dirtied up, and by Security Advisor Bud MacFarland who was in Gemayal’s presidential palace one day when they got shelled – which happened almost every day – and freaked out and ordered the US and French troops to fire on the civil war going on in the mountains. The Italians refused. The French and American troops were hit with car bombs – the Italians lost one soldier (accident) even though they were BASED IN THE Shabra and Shatilla refugee camps – the scene of the allegedly Israeli-inspired massacre of old men, women and children only a year before.

Reagan really didn’t have a foreign policy except to spend so much on weapons that the Soviets would go broke trying to catch up. That worked.

Q) Reagan is often cited as the man who destroyed American industry in cities like Allentown and Detroit. Did you cover the decline of American industry?

A) I did. Aliquippa would be a better example. That’s the river valley that flows down near Pittsburgh and where the really big steel mills were. I was there a couple of times. I really think the “Rust Belt” turnover of American industry had more to do with the rise of the metal cargo container. That enabled factories anywhere in the globe to produce goods for any market in the globe. Once that happened, grunt labor mills in rich countries were doomed.

Q) How about Margaret Thatcher who is held responsible for the decline of British industry and a close friend of President Reagan. Did you meet her?

A) Maggie?

Q) Indeed, the most split opinion poll British Prime Minister of the modern age.

A) No, I never met her. I was supposed to be assigned to the London Bureau twice (and the Paris Bureau once) but internal politics wiped out both those chances. I covered the Royal Wedding – Charles and Diana. My mom asked me to take pictures of “my view of the Wedding” so I sent her pictures of an edit suite built into a hotel room. We almost burned down the hotel, though. We had to air condition the equipment and it started the wires smoking under the floor. The British manager was standing in the hall about to shut off the power and the Senior Producer for the wedding coverage was screaming in his face. He didn’t shut off the power.

I actually thought that Thatcher might have been a bit of … umm … medicine after the extremes of the old Labour party.

Q) The Labour party under leaders like Clement Atlee and Harold Wilson was considered by many to have been extremely effective in providing for the UK- free healthcare, higher wages, etc.

A) Having been both a union shop steward and a management scab, I think companies and countries work best when there is a balance between powers. Neither side works well when they get everything they want. TV used to be heavily unionized. I still flinch when I find myself about to touch a piece of gear. It was a death offense to do that in the old days. However, I’ve also worked freelance at ABC in recent years and found myself looking for a union engineer so I could actually get things done. Management has 21-year old interns doing all the work for free.

Q) So moving back to your book– what drove you to pen a novel?

A) Hunger drove me to “pen a novel”.

Q) Next month’s mortgage comes around like a punch from Ali, doesn’t it?

A) I left CNN in 2010 and there was this little recession going on – there wasn’t a damn job or even a short-time freelance gig in NY or Washington. So, since I had time on my hands, I decided it was time to “put up or shut up” and see if I could write the novel that had been sitting in my head for years. After cranking out news copy for some of the best in the business for lo, these many years, I found that I was quite fast. Not good, mind you, but at least fast. I could slam out 2000 words a day and then fix it up on the second pass. It didn’t do a damn thing for my severe lack of money, of course. I thought I’d be like Lee Child who sold his first Reacher novel to a publisher before he’d even written the second half

That’s not exactly what happened. Three months to write Courier. Six months to find an agent and two years and counting to find a publisher.

It’s fun but I’m really not sure that it’s a way to make a living.

Q) Many readers will be shocked to hear that an Emmy award doesn’t open doors. Why do you think you’ve had such a hard time progressing?

A) You know, that’s always been a pet peeve of mine. How do some people always get introduced as “Emmy-Award-Winning” producer and I can’t seem to convince anyone that I’ve done anything at all? I complained about it at MSNBC when I was Executive Producer of the Morning Show and my crew made me a special Emmy Award Winning credit – complete with exploding fireworks and rainbow colors.

To answer your question, seriously, I don’t know but it always seems as if that next award or the next cool title (Vice-President, Director of Content) will be the one that guarantees a cushy future forever. It just never does. Yet,there are people who get fired over and over again and still get these great jobs. Useless to complain about it.

Oh yeah, one more thing about television. It’s FUN. I used to take all the interns out into the newsroom and say, “Look around, everyone here wanted to come in to work today.” That’s not something that’s true in all that many fields.

On the other hand, if I had listened to that little voice inside me and gone to law school or into banking when I’d had my fun on a bike, I’d be able to retire today instead of trying to work out a way to survive. So that’s my advice to all the kids out there – forget about doing the cool things like writing or making movies or television or running around the world covering the news. Law School, MBAs and private equity funds is the way to go. You would be stunned if you knew how many people my age are just scraping by.

Q) Oh I know– my father in law to be was an architect– recession wiped him out and he’s now blind and broke. It’s a bitch.

A) I had one of my high school classmates say they couldn’t go to a reunion because they were embarrassed about being broke. I said, the whole damn class is broke, you’ll fit right in.

Q) Well Terry this has been a fascinating interview and I will leave you to get to back to your work. Thank you for your time!

A) Oh, it so nice to run into someone who hasn’t heard all my stories before. Thanks, Nick.

With that last answer Terry was back to work and I was left with one helluva interview to edit and play with. The man is much more than a journalist. He is a walking encyclopaedia of recent history. From Watergate to Beirut to Elvis Presley. Terry Irving was there and by reading this interview- you were too!

Courier Image

Catch Terry’s upcoming book Courier very soon! It’s so hot it’ll burn your hands red raw!

Part two coming soon!

Did you miss my article about the new Terry Irving novel “Courier”?

Courier Delivers its Payload in Full

Check it out now!

 

 

 

Dec 12

Finding Inspiration and the Drive to Succeed by Vonnie Winslow Crist

I asked published author Vonnie Winslow Crist to write an article for my blog. I wanted all you authors who are working to build a dream to read her words. Here they are and I think her sentiment is just marvelous!

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VonnieFinding inspiration to write or paint is the easy part of being an author/illustrator. From the sound of rain to the appearance of evening’s first star to the scent of crushed pine needles under foot, our world is filled with places, people, and life experiences that inspire. The trick is to pay attention, then take the time and jot down (or sketch) your ideas while they’re still vivid.

If you’re looking for realistic dialogue, eavesdrop! Sit in a shopping mall, cafe, or coffee shop with a pad of paper and take notes. And while you’re there, people-watch. But don’t just write down the a physical description of some of the passersby, speculate on where they’ve come from, where they’re headed, and who will be meeting them there. Watch children playing, then write about a childhood experience. Sit in a garden or wooded lot and describe the location using all of your senses. Then, imagine the lives of the animals that live there. Look into the night sky and write about someone else who’s looking at those same stars. The chances for inspiration are endless.

And since I think the world is bursting with inspiration, I don’t believe in writer’s block! A writer can always write. Perhaps the next chapter in a novel won’t appear when you’d like it to. Instead of sitting before a computer screen pulling out your hair – look through your research and write an article, or read a book and write a review, or pull a dusty short story from the back of a drawer and revise it, or… Well, you get the idea. And before long, the ideas needed to pull together that next chapter will pop into your mind.

I think writers and artists are often driven by a desire to communicate. They tell a story through words or paint, and all they need is someone on the other end of the conversation to read their books or view their artwork. The creative process for most authors (and artists) is a lonely one. Hours and hours are spent hunched over a computer keyboard or drawing pad. When they eventually publish their writing or show their art, they’re really sending a message out into the darkness in the hopes that some one will look or listen and say, “I understand. I’ve felt that, too. I get your story. Tell me more.”

To me, success is creating new stories and sending them out to readers when they’re published. Therefore, the drive to succeed is also the drive to communicate. When a story, poem, or piece of my art is published, I hope that someone I haven’t reached before picks up that book or magazine and discovers my tales.

Those writers who see money and fame as success are likely to fall short of their goals. There are only a small number of authors (and illustrators) who are able to achieve great wealth and celebrity because of their books or illustrations. Most of us will publish a few books that will hopefully break even and be read by a small, but enthusiastic readership. And that should be enough – enough to make us smile, pick up a paintbrush or pen, and create the next story.

The Greener Forest

Vonnie Winslow Crist is author illustrator of The Greener Forest, River of Stars, Essential Fables, Leprechaun Cake & Other Tales, For the Good of the Settlement, Blame it on the Trees, and the soon-to-be-published Owl Light (fantasy stories) and The Enchanted Skean (young adult novel). Find out more about Vonnie at her website: http://vonniewinslowcrist.com ,blog: http://vonniewinslowcrist.wordpress.com , Facebook page: http://tinyurl.com/Fb-Vonnie-Winslow-Crist-Author and Twitter: http://twitter.com/VonnieWCrist To buy her books: http://tinyurl.com/Vonnie-Winslow-Crist-UK-Amazon or http://tinyurl.com/Vonnie-Winslow-Crist-Amazon

Dec 10

Looking for The Rose Amongst the Thorns?

If you’re looking for the first two chapters of Lori’s and my upcoming book-

The Rose Amongst the Thorns, please click here!

You may also enjoy a related article entitled My Mother

Dec 10

Courier Delivers its Payload in Full

Terry IrvingTerry Irving rode a classic BMW R50/2 for ABC News during the Watergate scandal and carried news-film. This was just the beginning of a career that has included producing Emmy Award-winning television news and a long writing career that has included everything from news to stand-up comedy. Terry was also instrumental in the development of many of the earliest forms of online media.

“I would love to say the guy in my book is based on my younger self but, in fact, he’s much smarter, tougher and better-looking.”- Terry Irving

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Courier, written by Terry Irving, is a book I expect to see on shelves of stores very soon. It is said that everyone has a book somewhere inside of them, but this is more than a book. This is a story that so easily could have been the truth. Set during the heady Nixon era, the story itself centres around Rick Putnam, a veteran of the Vietnam War who takes a job as a motorbike messenger. Rick picks up a reel of film that proves Richard Nixon was bribed by the South Vietnamese to extend the the Vietnam War. Rick soon finds himself on the run and hunted by assassins and a CIA agent who need to kill Rick to keep the deepest secrets about Nixon’s corruption invisible from the eyes of the world.

Richard M. Nixon was the 37th President of the United States. Long term politician and Republican, he was Vice President for Eisenhower and then lost the 1960 presidential bid to Jack Kennedy. It has been said that Nixon’s profuse sweating during the first presidential debates lost him the election.

Finally, he became President and held office between 1969 and 1974. The Vietnam War damaged him as a political power and then when the Watergate tapes broke, he was finished. It took an impeachment to remove him from office and his successor Gerald Ford took the heat for pardoning him. Then, he wandered off into the wilderness. He saw an opportunity for a return to the sunlight of politics when he was approached by British television interviewer David Frost for a series of interviews. The ex-President monopolised the interviews until Frost broke him down. It was then over for Nixon.

But what if there had been bigger issues at hand? What if he hadbeen taking bribes from the South Vietnamese?

Work of fiction it may be, but, Courier delves into a vein of thought that many Americans have often pondered. What other travesties might Nixon have been committing behind the scenes? It is a well known fact that he was one of the most prolific foreign policy presidents and deemed his endeavours in that field as some of his greatest achievements. It is also well known that he was powered by money. One of his first moves post-Presidency was to engage super agent Irving “Swifty” Lazar and gain a huge advance for his overly long memoirs. The main motivation for that fatal Frost interview was also money. Is it so inconceivable that he wouldn’t take bribes from South Vietnam?

Courier makes me wonder. I was not born during those heady days of Vietnam or when Nixon held the greatest power in the world at his fingertips. I was born during a different generation and in a different country. I only know of Vietnam through the books I have read and the history lessons I took at school. To many who were there, however, this book will bring back memories of Nixon and what he stood for. He was the man who bought America to its knees and then almost defaced the whole ideal of a Presidency. Courier brings all the injustice and behind-the-scenes activity of such a President into play. During this era, a man like Rick Putnam would have been killed for knowing such information. History has shown that there were no depths Nixon wouldn’t claw to just to remain the President of the United States

Well, when the President does it, that means it’s not illegal.

-Richard M. Nixon, 19th May 1977

The book itself is excellently written and hooks the reader from the word go. I find that the whole concept of a pre-internet world and the use of a motorcycle courier to get film from place to place works excellently as it gives the main character that same air of ’70’s freedom seen in movies like “Easy Rider”. The book moves along quickly and held my attention. I cannot stress how interesting it is reading the work of an experienced writer. There is something comfortable about a man who knows how to use words and has the first-hand knowledge to make his work enjoyable. This could be a movie and after the successful Nixon film “Frost/Nixon” there is a resurgence in interest in the most corrupt American President of the era.

I felt like a child at Christmas delving into this book. I haven’t been so excited by a novel in many years and got immense joy from reading about the trials and tribulations of Rick Putnam. As a writer myself, it was a pleasure to enjoy a book I wished I could have written. Mr. Irving certainly draws the reader in and the whole uncertain feel of the country at the time comes across strongly.

What became of Nixon? He just quietly drifted away and ended his days as a writer and public speaker. He was never able to climb the mountain of disgust thrown at him by the whole country. The same will never be true of this book. The whole thing has hit written across it and it deserves to be picked up very soon by a newer breed of publishers– those young guys coming up who realise that this intriguing story of what a corrupt  President did in fiction was not all that removed from what he could have done in fact.

The greatest honour history can bestow is the title of peacemaker.

-From Nixon’s Inaugural Address (20 January 1969); later used as his epitaph


 

Dec 09

Dealing with Grief: The Effects of Not Doing So

Below is an article that I believe will help many of you. Grief and loss are terrible things and  I myself can tell you that the death of a parent is one of the hardest things you can go through. I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine called Ashley and I would like you all to read his words. I believe you will be touched as I was by his honesty. 

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I’m Ashley, a 23 year old male, a lad that likes all of the better things in life, the typical “hard man, emotionless”. Two years ago my life changed for the worse. My father, aged fifty-eight, was diagnosed with lung cancer and less than five months later he was dead. The effects this had on me and the others I loved around me were devastating.

So it all started on the way to work in November 2010. I had a phone call from my mum to tell me Dad was on the way to hospital for an X-ray because of what the doctor had said to him minutes earlier. He had been suffering from a cough for a few weeks which wouldn’t seem to budge and after a coughing fit he had a sharp pain which resulted in this trip to the doctor to try and get it all sorted out. I thought it was going to be a routine job and 25 minutes later he would be out. How wrong I was.

Suspected TB was the initial diagnosis– not great but treatable. A week in hospital and then he would be home, all nice and well again. Unfortunately, as the week went on, this didn’t seem like the likely outcome. Negative tests and inconclusive X-Rays discounted the chance of it being something so simple to treat. He came out of hospital six days later after an MRI to then return later to see a consultant. Little did I know what was then to come.

Monday, 6th December 2010, was the day that my world started to fall apart. Driving home in the dark after a long day at work I thought to myself how slow the traffic was and what would I be having for dinner. I got home in a pretty good mood, walked into the kitchen to find Mum and Dad just standing there chatting, but stopped immediately as soon as they saw me. Then the bombshell dropped. Mum said Dad had something to tell me. He said, “ I’ve got cancer.” Great, I thought, treatable but we could do without this. “It’s terminal,” he followed up straight away before starting to cry. This was a knife straight through the heart. I was full of anger almost instantly, wanting to tell him it was going to be OK, but not wanting to lie. I went outside to hear Radio 1 playing Our Song by Ellie Goulding. “How wonderful life is now you’re in the world” all of a sudden had a more poignant meaning. This was the start of me not dealing with the grief and anger I had.

The treatment started pretty quickly after the initial diagnosis and was pretty brutal. The toxins used had an effect almost instantly, and the dad I did have had changed from being the carer to being the cared for almost overnight. On 10th April 2011, he died. I was upset and yet at the same time I was full of anger. How could he just go like that, so soon, so young? However, being able to see him still and peaceful was a wonderful thing after seeing him struggling to breathe and being in constant pain.

The first couple of months after this seemed to be OK. I was basically emotionless, in a state of disbelief that this actually just happened to me and the family. A lot of people asked if I wanted to talk, the answer was always no. At the start of July I started to get into a relationship with a girl that was a friend of my cousin. Blonde hair, pretty blue eyes and the perfect body, I thought to myself that this is the start of something good and that all the shit that has just happened will sort itself out in the next couple of months. Come September our relationship was made “Facebook Official” and was the start of what was to be an amazing relationship.

This is where things started to fall apart very slowly. Every so often I would feel like the world was so unfair to me. I had found the girl I would marry for sure, yet my Dad wouldn’t see that. I was the happiest I had ever been, but Dad couldn’t see that. I had the girl my Dad would have loved, he couldn’t see that. After all every major event in my life, moving out, getting married and having children wasn’t going to be seen by the person I most wanted to impress.

She was showing me nothing but love and yet sometimes I turned into a selfish monster. The smallest arguments would end up blowing up into a full blown shit storm. We would both say things we didn’t mean. After every one of these she would say to me to speak to her about how I felt, but why would I want to tell her that really I’m not the hard man I try to make myself out to be? Long story short, I rejected the advances of help from her and other people. I mistakenly thought I could sort all of this out myself; after-all, I was always right.

The final argument came and she decided that she wanted a break. She suggested that I should talk to somebody about everything. I didn’t respect this and kept trying to sort things out myself, only to have her push me away more. I would try harder, but ended up pushing her away more.

In my own self-delusion I thought I could still sort it all by myself, but I couldn’t  After realising that I had just lost everything I had ever wanted, I went to speak to somebody. It was the best thing I ever did since Dad had died. I was frustrated that I wasn’t able to be the boyfriend I wanted to be at the start of the relationship; I was frustrated and angry that Dad had gone and at the things he wouldn’t see; I was frustrated at the fact that my own stubbornness had just ruined the trust of the number one girl in my life and ruined the relationship we had. Within two days, I felt the weight of all the anger fall off my shoulders, the stomach cramps had gone, and I felt truly happy apart from the fact that I no longer had her.

Is the relationship salvageable? Probably not. While I would love to think it could be in the long run, I know the stuff I did would be hard to forgive. The trust would need to be built again.

What are the takeaways from all this? No matter how much of a rock you think you are, talk to somebody, and don’t wait until is too late to do anything about. Anger and grief will ruin any relationship no matter how much you love the other person. You need to start the conversation about it– people won’t ask you how you are or if you want to talk as they don’t want to upset you. When you get the chance grab it with both hands and be 100% honest with the person you are talking to. It’s hard to tell people your deepest emotions, but it pays massive dividends. Since then, I have been able to speak openly about my life and my feelings towards it.

The reason for writing this is to help even one person avoid the issues I went through and caused– the heartbreak of the breakup and the feelings of losing two things I loved most within the space of two years. After-all  I have nobody to blame but myself and the fact that she was willing to walk away for me to sort my life out has given me a lot more respect and love for her.

By Ashley H

Dec 06

Cobb Conducts his Symphony of Words- Nick Wale interviews Douglas R Cobb

Douglas Cobb is a man on a mission. I noticed from the start of the interview that he was easy going and self assured. I knew that this would be a great interview and it would be fine to stray away from his books and into his life. A happy family man at heart, this interview with Doug was one of the most entertaining I have undertaken so far.
Douglas CobbRecently, Douglas finished his first western. The book entitled Crossing the Dead Line is now on general release and Douglas is now doing a series of interviews about this great new western novel. The book, based on a true story, is about a black Marshall.  I thought the book would have a feel of “True Grit” about it. I was wrong. It’s better. This is a tough, action packed novel about a man who, although not given equal treatment, risks his life for his country. Bass Reeves gives up his dream life on his own farm to catch hardened criminals. Crossing The Dead Line Ebook NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!!!

Now, Douglas is the kind of guy who wakes up and goes to work to feed his family. He knows that although his books are doing well he feels the need to keep working as he is the man in his house and believes in the true American spirit. He is a native of Illinois, but now lives in Arkansas with his family. His readers have already enjoyed his previous efforts and he has received endless praise for his Y/A books The Case Files of Lily and PAWS and is currently working on the Christmas addition to the series. Lily is not your usual terrier. In fact, she’s not a terrier at all. She’s a pterodactyl who has the power (among others) of clouding peoples’ minds. Join Lily, her “owner” thirteen-year-old Celeste, and the other members of PAWS (Private Army of Warrior Sleuths), Fuzzy Wally MacGee (a Chinese Crested/rhino), Lucy Marmoset Higgins (a Great Dane/orangutan), and Prince Alphonse Saed (a miniature Dachshund/mountain lion) as they fight crime wherever they encounter it. Read their humorous and exciting adventures as they battle against the criminal organization, the Scarlet SNURFLES, headed by the scarlet Macaw, Frankie Sinister. And, when they also have to face the Scarlet Mafia (lead by the scarlet Macaw, Benny the Beak), the aliens known as the Greys, the red Egyptian fox and leader of the Guild of Assassins, and the red panda, General Yao Xing, can even Lily, Celeste, and PAWS hope to succeed? Disney will indeed be knocking on the Cobb family door for the rights to this series! The Lily Series Available NOW ON AMAZON!

We started the interview in true author fashion. Douglas was hard at work whilst I waited for him to become available.

Q) Hi Douglas– This is a pleasure for me as I love your work. When can I tear you away for an interview?

Next week–just kidding. *Laughs*

Q) Your daughter seems to be a big influence on your writing. I bet she is proud that her dad is a writer. Tell me– are you the same as any other dad back home with the family?

A) Though I always have loved to write, and I majored in English in college, I hadn’t really tried to sell any of my short stories, poems, or novels. I got wrapped up in starting up a family, getting a job, they usual sorts of things most people do with their lives. But, my daughter did get me back interested in writing, when she requested that I write a book about her dog, Lily. I ran with that idea, and made her into a talking pterodactyl, and the crime-fighting head of an organization of her friends, also mutant animals, called PAWS (Private Army of Warrior Sleuths). It’s become a series, beginning with Lily, Unleashed, the first book she inspired. After that, there’s Lily and Paws: The Ghosts of Summer  and Lily Solves Them All, in which Lily must solve 7 crimes using the methods of 7 of the world’s most famous detectives of literature and the Silver Screen. Included are Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Miss Marple. Then, I wrote My Brother The Zombie: (The Zombie Revolution: Book One). My son’s photo is on the cover of that one. He’s also been an influence on my writing, especially with that book. And, my last book is Crossing The Dead Line, though I’m working on a Lily and PAWS Christmas novella currently. You and your girlfriend are in it, you know. (Nick laughs- “really?”) Yes, you two are werewolves–nice ones, so don’t worry–LOL.

Q) Thanks Douglas! Lori and I appreciate it! Did you see my latest interview? I gave a huge shutout to you, buddy! Hope you heard it in Arkansas!

A) Yes, I did–it was one that everyone who loves great literature should read, so that they can learn more about you and your book. I’m sure that it will be a hit, when it is published. Thanks for the shout-out! (Douglas paused for a moment and looked straight at me, a smile broke out on his face.) A brief answer for once, LOL…if I get too long-winded, just hit me upside my head once or twice…

Q) It was my pleasure! So tell me about Douglas the man– what do you like? What do you do to relax?

A) Tax accountancy work, going over files like Bartleby the Scrivener from Melvile’s tale. No, not really, of course…mostly, of late, I haven’t had much free time, as I am either at work, online tweeting about my books, or writing. But, I like to spend as much time with my family as possible  and I love to read and write book reviews. I have stacks of books that are rapidly taking over the house, demanding to be read–though, I want to get the as-yet-unwritten books inside of me out into the world, as well. Oh, and I like to play with Lily, of course, take her to the local Pterodactyl Park, lift weights, and do yoga…somewhat…though I find the more pretzel-like moves very daunting.

Q) Sounds like you have a few bestsellers to come yet! Tell me about your writing? Do you listen to music when you write? Talk to the wife? Total silence? What does Douglas Cobb dig for writing?

A) When I was younger, I liked to listen to Rock whenever I either studied or wrote, like the Beatles, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, The Police, etc.–New Wave and Punk also,,,I still love to listen to this music, but as my family are asleep by the time I generally do my writing (between 10:00-2:00a.m.) I try to keep the noise down and maybe have CNN on in the background.

It’s difficult to keep inspired for a long period of time, unless I have dreamt up certain dialogue/scenes during the day for a chapter I’m working on, so I usually only write maybe 1,000-2,000 words per night. Sometimes I’ve hit over 3,000, but sometimes just 700 or 800 words a night.

Q) So, I imagine like the rest of us you struggled through the recession– how did it change your life?

A) The recession didn’t strike me, personally, as hard as it did many American, though I definitely feel the pain at the grocery store and the petrol (gas here) station–the “pain at the pump”. Somehow, unforeseen by me, I wound up working on the fringes of the automotive industry. The company I work for did have a slow-down, and a hiring freeze, and some people were laid off, though not me–we are still recovering, but business has picked up. One good thing is that, though Cloyes Gears sells timing components to the Big Four car companies here, we also deal with the various used parts companies like Napa and Auto Zone. We don’t sell used parts, but Cloyes Gears distributes parts to these sites across the nation so that has helped keep the company going even during the worst of the recession.

Q) Did you ever feel as though the misery would never end?

A) I wouldn’t call the average person’s life in America, including mine, necessarily “misery” during the recession, except, of course, for the many hard-working people whose factories closed and who lost their jobs. I’ve often thought of writing a modern-day version of Hugo’s Les Miserables, but, the truth is, I and most Americans have not really experienced the very worst that life can deal us. Of course, many people in America have been affected to a far greater degree than myself, and I’m sure that they have experienced pretty low levels of misery. Things like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy have added to the misery of thousand of people. But, for the most part, all I and my family have felt, as far as misery goes, is having to pay higher bills for food and gas.

Q) So Doug– how do you feel about Obama and the way he handles the country?

A) That’s a tough question in a way, in that I like many of Obama’s policies, though not all. I think of him and any president based on how well he does his job as the president, rather than surface things, like skin color. I like to think that most Americans are either past, or are getting past, any antiquated ideas about judging people based on ethnicity,  religious preference and sexual preference, and the color of their skin. Obama is not perfect, but no man is–I did vote for him both times he ran, as I thought, and still think, he was/is the best man to be the president based on the available choices.

Q) Did Barack influence your book about Bass Reeves (a black Marshall)  or have you always had an interest in that tale?

A) No, Nick; not really, though with a president who is black in office, it is a perhaps fortuitous time for me to have written Crossing The Dead Line. My teenage daughter, Kaitlin, actually suggested that I write a Western, and she gave me a very simple request: “Make it as good as Lonesome Dove and True Grit.” Well, I had never written a Western before, had no idea how to, and no one in mind to write one about. I had dimly heard mention of Bass Reeves, though, and I knew he was a native of Arkansas, where Rooster Cogburn, of True Grit, also lived. So, I was intrigued and started doing research on his life, and I became more and more interested in this fascinating man and his life.

Q) It has been said that our recession had a lot of similarities with “Grapes of Wrath”? As an author how would you stand with that statement?

That’s difficult to truly express, as America is a relatively large country, and people in different states and different circumstances have all had, of course, different experiences riding out the recession. In the worst cases here, say where autoworkers lost their jobs, or other companies closed up and never re-opened, and people got kicked out of their houses because they couldn’t pay their mortgages  I suppose the situation was somewhat like that Steinbeck writes about in “The Grapes of Wrath.” But, as with any country, many people were barely affected at all; everything is relative.

Q) So you feel that America could have gone through a much harder experience of “recession”?

A) Yes, it could have been much worse, in my opinion. For instance, if the auto companies and banks had been “allowed” to fail it would have been much more difficult to try to rebound from that, if we ever could have done so. And, from what I’ve heard, countries like Greece have suffered much worse.

Q) So tell me, how do you publicize your work and what was your most disheartening moment?

A) I utilize House Elves, mostly. I am jonesing so much for J.K. (Rowling) to write more Hogwarts novels, whether with Harry or the offspring of the original characters.  Am I evading the question nicely?

I mostly Tweet to my voluminous Followers (@DouglasRCobb), though I also have a blog, What’s New In Book Reviews http://douglascobb.wordpress.com that I use to get the word out, and my Amazon Author page. Amazon’s KDP Select promo days to let my readers get FREE downloads. The two e-books I have at the bargain low price of just 99 cents and at a low price also there in the UK are My Brother, The Zombie (The Zombie Revolution; Book One) and my latest, Crossing The Dead Line.  I have to rely on my legions of fans to buy these books. My latest in the Lily and PAWS series, Lily and PAWS: Christmas Capers, will be at Amazon very soon, just in time for Christmas, and it will be 99 cents! I just saw the cover today, and it looks great!

My most disheartening moment, well, no author ever likes to receive rejection slips, but that is generally speaking a part of the game of publishing, so I guess the times in the past when I received those, hoping that I would instead by getting a check in the mail, were pretty disheartening. However, I know that what I am writing is good–it’s just that agents and publishers get so deluged with manuscripts every day and week that many good to excellent stories and novels get overlooked in the mix. If you can tell yourself that’s just the way the business operates, it can seem a tad less devastating to get the rejection notices; but, I can’t honestly say it’s ever fun.

Q) Have you considered your books as films?

Only every single day, Nick!  I think that my series The Case Files of Lily and PAWS could be successful hits as either live movies or animated ones, possibly for a studio like Disney, Pixar, or Nickelodeon. My Brother, The Zombie, I believe, would make a great movie combining horror and science fiction, and Crossing The Dead Line cries out to be made into a Western flick.

Q) Do you consider interviews like this crucial to sales?

Oh, yes!  Interviews and book reviews are other fantastic ways for authors to get the word out about their books. The best book ever written might lie unnoticed somewhere not because it’s a piece of crap, but because it hasn’t been noticed by enough people to make it into a commercial success. So, I and all authors definitely owe our fellow authors who are bloggers, like yourself, a word of thanks for agreeing to interview us and sometimes write reviews of our books.

Q) Where can people send fan mail?

Save your postage fees and write me at my email bibliophile1 (at) att.net   If you would like to mail me a letter, though, that’s always welcome, too–especially ones with cash included in them! *laughs*  My address if you’d like to snail mail me is:

Douglas R. Cobb
1112 M Terrace
Barling, AR.
72923

Q) What three items would you take to a desert island?

Well, everyone needs food, but assuming that the island is chock-full of food, my three items would be a pocket knife, writing supplies (okay, so I’m cheating with this, as it conceivably can refer to paper, pencils, pens, a typewriter, a computer–if the island has electricity, etc., anyway–so sue me!), and a Kindle Fire stocked with hundreds of books and movies and tunes–if the place has electricity.  If not, besides the knife and writing supplies–arrgh!–even with them, to be honest, thinking about it, toilet paper is one convenience that I would not like to be without.

I’ll cheat, and make one of my three items a boat (not one with leaks) so I could reach a proper town that has electricity!

Q) Where do you see yourself in ten years?

That depends on how much gas I have in my car, LOL! If I only had an electrical one, I could really go places!  But, honestly, I hope that all of my books will be commercially successful, though they are really labors of love, and I’d keep on writing (probably) if I didn’t sell a single copy!  Don’t let that stop anyone from actually buying them, though.  I am unanimous in my recommendation of them!  I don’t ask for much, in terms of success–if I’m at the head of my own multi-media empire and worth millions, that’s good enough for me.  I will, of course, strive to remain humble, in the midst of the accolades I will undoubtedly receive by the lorry load.

Q) Final question, with all your success– why do you keep working?

A) Ah, success is, as Einstein said about some Space/Time Theorem Thingy, relative.  Poppa needs a Maserati, or at least a Saab or Camaro. Groceries must be bought, and then there’s my immense staff of servants that need to keep the wolves away from their doors…am I wringing any hearts, yet?  I hope so. You can also purchase most of my books in paperback via Amazon–please do–they make great gifts for friends, relatives, yourself, and look fantastic under the Yule tree!

Nick, it’s been a sheer pleasure answering your questions, and I feel proud that I barely flinched when you drove those wooden spikes under my fingernails to get the answers from me, despite my initial insistence on only giving you my name, rank, and serial number!

Thanks,

Douglas R. Cobb,

AVAILABLE NOW!

Lily, Unleashed

Lily and Paws: The Ghosts of Summer

Lily Solves Them All

My Brother The Zombie: (The Zombie Revolution: Book One)

Crossing The Dead Line

Dec 03

Clash of the Titans- British Author Nick Wale Interviews American Author Joseph J. Langan

Young writers come and go like the leaves on perennial trees. It is a fact that many people want to write books. In a survey conducted it was said 93% of the population of the USA wish to write a novel or biography. It is very easy to become lost in the deep waters of the literary world. I am telling you! Forget those worries as just one look at Joseph J. Langan tells you that he is going to be a hit on bestseller lists for a long time. With one hit anthology under his wing already, he now has a solo project on the way that will knock you off your feet. The book is provisionally called The Encoded Promise and has a plot that is already driving his fans nuts with anticipation!

Joseph strikes me as a young man who will change the world. The real man comes from Ohio and loves it there. Although it rains a lot– he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the whole world. Looking like nothing other than the young American dream he smiled and settled down as we started the interview.

Q) Hi Joseph! Let me ask you, are you nervous?

A) Hi Nick! Not to an unmanageable degree. Just excitement anxiety. This is my the first interview I have given recently about my writing!

Q) Well, I’ll take it easy on you Joseph. I know you’re a busy guy so let’s start off with the obvious. What is your new book called and could you tell us a little about it.

A) The working title is The Encoded Promise. It’s set far in the future and is about a girl living on Europa–one of the moons of Jupiter. After Earth became uninhabitable, the Government moved the surviving population to this moon and pressed the restart button on society, banning most art forms, music, religion and other cultural expressions. The girl lives in a utopia, but slowly learns the world is not as it seems. With the Government running everything and lawless rebels running about beyond the confines of her Installation, she quickly learns her world is really a dystopia. The novel really picks up speed when her home is attacked and she has to leave the world she knew, venturing into the unregulated chaos in search of her kidnapped brother.

Q) Sounds like a great idea for a bestselling book Joseph. Do you think the world will ever evolve into such a ‘big brother’ society?

A) In some ways I think it has already begun. The silk has started to spin and our cocoon is in the works. Will we go through the whole metamorphosis into a not-so Brave New World… I certainly hope not.

Q) Only time will tell I suppose. So you wouldn’t want your book as a reality? Is it more of a warning?

A) That can be said about it. I’d rather my readers make that conclusion for themselves. In some ways society would benefit, in terms of peace; in other ways, we would be stripped of our humanity. There are pros and cons, but that’s for the individual reader to decide.

Q) How have readers so far taken to your work?

A) I’m an active member of a writers’ critique group. Being the youngest member, they have taught me a lot and I certainly think I have grown and evolved. Generally, the response is very positive, and if not, I always value constructive criticism. I don’t take it personally, it helps me to flourish as an author.

Q) How do you handle criticism without merit?

If it has no merit, I take it for what it’s worth.

Q) So how did you get into writing? What drives you as a writer?

A) I have been writing religiously since grade school. My second grade teacher inspired me to put pen onto paper and since I have never wavered in my ambition to succeed as a writer. When I’m writing poetry it’s the emotion that drives me. I feel the rhymes coagulating with the feelings, mixing into a dangerous cacophony of passion. Be it fiction–it’s the story that drives me– or the revolutionary idea such as “What if Twitter posted people’s current state of consciousness instead of a written status, and if we clicked on them we saw through their eyes, felt what they felt?”–which is the main idea that propels a short story I wrote called Big Brother. Whether it be emotions, the plot, or even the “big idea,” I am never at a shortage of inspiration.

Q) Many of your readers will already know that you’ve written a lot of material, and are an experienced writer. Do you have a personal favourite?

I’m very proud of my upcoming novel, The Encoded Promise. When the story was just a twinkle in my eye, it got me thinking. I transitioned from more of a high fantasy/horror storyteller into a manufacturer of seedy Science Fiction prose. I think The Encoded Promise captures the feel of a classless society and the struggles they face, as well as paints a strong contrast with the rebels who in many ways mirror the modern day “punk” sub-culture— just with anti-gravity weapons and the ability to digitally send thoughts from one brain to another. *Laughs*

Q) It sounds fascinating to me and I am sure it’s a going to be a great success. For people out there what are your latest hits?

A) I have several short stories and poems published in the anthology, Grim Vengeance. They are more horror-themed though, written before I solidified as a SF writer.

Q) Where can people purchase your work? I’m sure a lot of people will be curious.

A) Grim Vengeance is available on Amazon in both print and ebook formats. Be on the lookout for my stories The Moles and Human Farm as well as my anti-abuse poem, Victims and Vultures.

Q) People keep saying how hard it is to sell books. How are sales holding up for you?

A) Grim has done very well! At peaks, it’s been in the Top 5 in new Drama anthologies and in the top 50 for new Fantasy anthologies. I’ve received a few messages from fans who enjoyed my work. That made me feel like a million bucks!

Q) That’s great to hear, Joseph! I’m glad you are garnering such success! Do you have a writer’s page people can follow?

A) I sure do! I’m on Facebook and Twitter and am updating my blog, so hopefully that will be ready soon. I have plans to create a website, as well.

Q) How would a reader get in touch with you? Do you have a contact address?

A) The best way to contact me privately would be my email, JosephJLangan@aol.com I’m always delighted to hear from fans!

Q) You strike me as a genuinely nice guy, Joseph. How about telling us a bit about the man behind the typewriter?

A) *Laughs* The man is inseparable from the stranger behind the typewriter….But in all honesty, I view myself as a nice guy. Sometimes, I play the bass and record and mix music. I don’t believe chivalry is dead, and in some ways, I can be quite the romantic. I’m kind of a private person also—always more of an observer than a doer, but aren’t most writers? I care deeply about my friends and spend a great deal of time pondering the future. If there’s any way I can apply my abilities to make a difference, I do so.

Q) I’m not sure your agent would want to hear that his next bestseller writer wants to change the world. However, how would you change the world?

A) That’s for you to find out once it’s accomplished. *smiles*

Q) I’m sure we will all be watching to see what you do next. So, tell us all what is next for you?

A) I’ve written over half a dozen short stories, so I’m shopping them around. In the meantime I’m editing The Encoded Promise and plotting the potential sequel, on top of working at a library. What’s next for me? Polishing the manuscript and finding the perfect publisher, of course.

Q) Thank you for your time, Joseph. Is there anything you’d like to say to your readers and fans before we finish?

Feel free to check out my Facebook page, my Twitter or shoot me an email. When it comes to fans, I’m an open book. Be on the lookout for The Encoded Promise, and to aspiring writers: stick with it. You are the only thing standing in your way from success. Believe in yourself and you can achieve. Thank you for having me, Nick! It was a pleasure.

What more can I say, Joseph? It was a pleasure and I hope we can do it again sometime.

With that the interview was over and Joseph returned to his work. There are so many talented writers in this world and for some it is a choice. For guys like Joseph J. Langan it is a calling and they cannot afford to ignore it! I believe with this new book The Encoded Promise there will be no stopping this boy!

Check him out on the links below:

Joseph J. Langan Facebook Page

Joseph J. Langan Twitter

JosephJLangan (at) aol.com

Don’t forget to check out Grim Vengeance

 

A writer to watch!

A writer to watch!

Nov 30

Interview With Nick Wale

Looking to the future

Looking to the future

Below is an interview Nick recently conducted for journalist Mac Miller.

When he arrived I did not know what to expect from him. Slowly, he looked around and noticed me. The first thing I noticed were his eyes, unlike any I’ve seen before. Nick Wale is handsome, rugged and a man completely away from his own generation. His size struck me more than anything– he’s working class– yet classically Roman. I was taken off guard as he smiled at my wife. Still, when we started the interview I was put at ease by his friendly and easy going nature.

Q Nice to meet you Nick– this is your first interview– correct?

A) Yes- my first for this book– I have been interviewed before.

Q) I won’t take it easy on you then.

A) Naw, now don’t be mean to me. I am new to this!

Q) First off, let me ask you what that record is under your arm?

A) Bobby Darin sings Ray Charles on Atlantic. I think Bobby Darin is just the end! Have you heard it?

Q) No– is it good? I’m a Darin fan too!

A) Get out of here! Well, it’s a swinging album, brother– here take this one and I’ll get another.

Q) Thank you– I will take it easy on you now– ready for the first question?”

A) Shoot

Q) So, you’ve finally finished “The Rose Amongst the Thorns”. How does it feel to be an author?

A) Pretty good, Mac! I guess it’s all down to good luck and blessings from God that we managed to finish it. I just follow the old adage– good luck brings forth more good luck and a little quicksand at times.

Q) How do you promote your work?

A) Well, I guess I use all the old carny tricks in the book. We make great use of Facebook and Twitter. I have a mailing list and of course the blog. I was recently telling Lori, my beautiful fiancee and co-author of “Rose”, about the importance of the blog– 1000 hits in two months is pleasing! I know we can do better.

Q) 1000 hits in two months? You don’t consider that a resounding success?

A) I consider it a beginning and I know we can do better. The way I see it is simple. There’s a 1000 hits now and perhaps 10,000 tomorrow and it’s all down to marketing and audience share.

Q) Do you believe “Rose Amongst the Thorns” is a hit?

A) I believe that it is not just a hit– I believe it is the hit of the decade. The book tells a dramatic true life story and tells it well. Lori is an excellent writer and I believe she has done some of her best work. This book isn’t just a book– it’s a movie and a series of books.

Q) Social commentary?

A) Indeed and a huge chunk of history to go with it. The original manuscript had more social commentary than this cut– but we gave up some story to make it more commercial– more viable for an audience.

Q) So it was rewritten?

A) Of course, who can write a book without rewrites and editing? We took it upon ourselves to do the first rewrite and the second was down to advice we were given from a great agent.

Q) So, an agent gave you some insight?

A) Yes, absolutely! Andrew Murray emailed me directly and read the first rewrite and loved it. He gave us invaluable advice and then we took his words and ran with them. The man was a guiding star to Lori and I!

Q) So, tell us about Nick Wale the man.

A) I’m a simple guy really– very easy going and devoted to my home life. I like to wake up slowly and get enough sleep. That’s one thing I loved about the process of writing “Rose”. It was one of those wonderful processes over a few months. I just worked hard and rested easy. Relaxing? I never relax in the day– I work and I catch up with my fellow writers and political buddies. I have a lot of friends in the business and some I would even like to represent as an agent.

Q) So, you want to become an agent?

Mac– I believe in doing as much as possible and I would become an agent in the time it takes to write my name. I have met some incredible authors who just don’t get the sales that they should. For example take Doug R Cobb– he is an excellent writer– yet he doesn’t get the sales he needs to give up the day job. I believe he could be the biggest thing since Steven King if given the chance.

Q) Douglas R Cobb? Author of “Crossing The Dead Line?”

A) Yes– I believe he has a film already written with that one.

Q) I’ll be sure to look out for it Nick– so what’s your home life like?

A) Bit personal, eh? Well it’s the same as everyone else’s– we don’t have any dinosaurs in the bath or anything. Lori and I like music and TV and we spend a lot of our time together. I believe in spending time with my family and nothing makes me happier.

Q) What does Lori think about the success you’ve had so far?

A) I think sometimes she worries that I’m a carny– she cringes a lot when she sees some of the things I do for promotion. I think she is proud though and happy– if she wasn’t happy I would give it up and get another job in an instant.

Q) Does Lori have any side projects?

A) She cross stitches and watches TV– she likes Mexican food and I think she has a new book in mind. It’s about a bored housewife running off to Greece and Turkey. I believe it’s a winner and it’s based on truth.

Q) Thank you for the heads up about her new work. Do you have any new projects on the go?

A) I have some news articles I’m currently working on and hope to sell to papers and I have two new books in mind. The first is a prequel to “Rose” and the second has the working title of “Poverty”. I will be previewing a few chapters soon on my blog.

Q) You seem to be pretty adult orientated for a 22 year old! What do you attribute such a strong work ethic to?

A) Well, Mac– I guess I’m not the same as other guys my age. I just see the world and look for the opportunities. Lori calls me a visionary at times. I believe it’s more down to the fact that I want to achieve. I like being me and that means that I want to be me for a long time. If I wasn’t writing or trying to write or be around writers, I wouldn’t be me.

Q) Back to “Rose” for a moment– can you tell us more about it?

A) Sure– “Rose” is the true story of my mother who suffered with depression. I guess the truth is that she went haywire for a time and things were hard until I met Lori. Mum and Lori were like oil and water to begin with and times were tough, but mum made the effort to fix herself and change her life. I am so proud of her for that– it’s a long and shocking tale– but it really does show the lows that depressives go to. Depression is a rampant disease, Mac, and it’s only by sharing experiences and making a positive change that we will fix it. There are lots of people out there suffering because of it.

Q) So, you want to help people?

A) Yes, sir, that’s one of my main goals and it will always be one of my main goals. I have been given a lot in this life and I would like to put back as much as I can. I believe that everyone should have opportunities and with this book I hope to give many, many people opportunities.

Q) How will you do this?

A) I want to start working with teenagers to get themselves into a profession and out of the jobcentre. I want to get people to write their stories and share their experiences. I would like as an agent to pick up books by writers who aren’t making enough money– and make them the money. I am not in this for myself– I’m in this business to make it happen for everyone I meet.

Q) Who is your personal hero?

A) Well, there’s a guy named Ed Powers who is one of my best friends. I really feel that he changes a lot of lives through his sermons and such. I have spent many hours talking to him and he just believes without question in things I do– that takes some guts because people say I’m crazy.

Q) Why crazy?

A) 22 and an author– ideas and marketing like mine– they say to me– Nick you are loopy– I just smile, hey Mac! Perhaps I am loopy.

Q) Not loopy– driven I would say Nick.

A) Well, thank you! I do realise that my age is against me in many ways. I guess people just don’t take guys my age seriously– they say “Hey, wait till you grow up a bit, boy.”

Q) What do you say to that?

A) I always just smile and say if I wait any longer — I’ll lose it!

Q) So when will “Rose Amongst the Thorns” hit the shelves and internet sites?

A) It’s with publishers right now and I’m waiting to hear back. There hasn’t been a single rejection yet of the new manuscript and I think they’re going to love it as much as we do. I guess it’s all a waiting game now.

Q) Well from what I’ve read– I love it and I hear the whole book has been described as Pulitzer worthy?

A) Aww, I don’t know about that! I just hope its book-binding worthy!

Mac) Thank you for your time Nick and I wish you every success.

Nick) Thank you, Mac!

We shook hands and with that it was over and he left. Nick Wale, a guy with drive and ambition, was gone and all I have to say is– good luck to him and thanks for the record. This is a guy to watch! We will be seeing a lot more of him, I’m sure!

Nick enjoying the Darin disc.

Nick enjoying the Darin disc.

Nov 24

Laying Down in the Hands of God

There is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

I have always believed that changes in your life happen for a reason. The reason is always a catalyst– you do not have bad luck. Changes happen to just move your life and direction towards a larger goal.

Failure is not an end and it never has been. To fail is just to change your direction. I believe that everyone is given the opportunity to advance on each path taken.

Lori and I first wrote “The Rose Amongst the Thorns” at a darkened point of my life. The world I personally lived in was in turmoil and I had returned home from the United States. I wanted to write about my journey and more importantly the journey my mother took. If you have taken the time to read the first two chapters of our work, then you will have learnt how hard life was for me growing up. I think you will also know how hard things were for my mother. The abuse she took from my father changed her. The path fate had placed her on was tough. She crumbled and resisted the change as she was unable to comprehend life without my father. The main domineering focus of her life was gone. Without her guiding and abusive controller she had no direction.

What was she to do?

She fell and never fully recovered. It was hard for her to accept Lori as my partner and impossible for her to give me the freedom I needed. However, I could not give my life to her depression and she could not understand why I felt the need to venture into a bigger world. Finally– she took the first steps into her own vast universe. The book details her resurrection and the steps she took to take her life into her own hands.

YOU can do the same and you will succeed.

A friend of mine recently broke up with her long term boyfriend. She lost and her home at the end of its lease. There was no way she could continue on the path she stood upon.

We talked and I assured her that things would get better. I told her that in time things would recover.

Time heals all wounds and now she finds herself in a new part of the country and with a new boyfriend. The world has handed her a second wind.

I find myself in the position I have always dreamed of. Lori and I are to be married and our book is completed.

People say to me– Nick! The book will be a huge success and seems to be a great premise for a movie.”

I smile and thank them for their kind words. I leave things in the hands of fate. It is I who lives in the hand of God. It is I is marrying the love of my life.

Lori and I have taken the path and now we will see– tomorrow, as all tomorrows, is a brand new day.