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Independent Bookstores Still Exist!

by | May 16, 2012 | General

 

  As you know, I didn’t have much luck with getting my three books on the shelves of my local library but I’m fortunate to have them in a bookstore! Check out the photos. Talk about a great feeling…. There they are on the top shelf for the world to see—and of course, to buy.

 

Back to the Books is located in beautiful Manitou Springs, Colorado in the shadows of Pikes Peak! It’s owned and operated by Jon Renaud, an independent author himself. Back to the Books is the only bookstore opened for the sole purpose of bringing the works of independent authors from around the world together in one place. Back to the Books has assembled an incredible collection of unique books for the residents and visitors of Manitou Springs and the surrounding communities to enjoy. He also has an online bookstore as well.

 

Thank you, Jon Renaud, for having the courage to open an independent bookstore dedicated solely to indie authors. If you are on vacation in Manitou Springs, stop by and browse through Back to the Books.  Tell Jon you heard about his store on my site! And while there, pick up a copy of Solomon’s Men, Year of the Ram, or The Cobra and Scarab. The books are signed too.

 

Reference to my blog article “Another Gut Punch to Indie Authors” about how I tried to donate books to my local library and discovered they didn’t want self-published books; I received so many good emails and comments from readers and authors that I was asked by Sandra Valente of SSBookFanatics to guest blog.

 

You may want to read “My Library Won the Battle, But Lost the War….” on Sandra’s site. It is an interesting follow-up to “Gut Punch.”   And be sure to leave a comment for Sandra. She’s every author’s best friend. She’s a beautiful person who is a reader and reviewer. From the volume of books I understand she buys, she could probably open her own bookstore.

 

So, if you are in Manitou Springs, be sure to stop in, take a break, and browse the wonderful selection of indie books at Back to the Books.  And don’t forget to read the follow up to “Gut Punch.”

 

Good luck to all in your writing projects!

 

Glenn

Another Gut-Punch to Indie Authors

by | Apr 23, 2012 | General, Writing

But does my library love me?

   Excuse me while I stand on my soap-box for a moment. Sometimes I just need to vent…and this is one of those times.

I’ve always been a strong supporter of education and literacy. Whether you are a child or an adult, the importance of good education and the ability to read is critical. Individuals and society as a whole benefits from it, and the future course of a nation depends upon the decisions of well-informed, well-read citizens.

The drop-out rate from high schools across our country remains high. When I learned of a local program to counsel students returning to complete their educations, I volunteered to be a mentor. I also volunteer as a “Reading Buddy” at an elementary school to assist children that have home-life problems associated with their reading skills. And being a writer, literacy is one issue I rank at the top of my concerns.

I’ve always been a strong supporter of public libraries. The Internet may have decreased their usage and forced many branches to close or reduce staff, but I believe a good public library system establishes a knowledge center for communities to build upon. From youth I’ve always considered a library to be a valuable resource for everyone.  

As a writer, especially being an “Indie-Author,” I already have a sufficient number of obstacles to overcome without adding my local library system to the fray. Aside from the writing, editing, publishing, and marketing headaches of moving my novels from computer to reader, (and of course, battling the constant stigma of being unpublished by big houses), I’ve taken my share of hits. Recently, my own local library gave me a gut-punch that left me frustrated.

In December of 2011, still relishing the author’s joy that accompanies the release of a new novel, I took a copy of each of my three novels (brand new, mint condition, and autographed) to the Brazoria County Library System branch library in my small town of Alvin, Texas. The librarian was gone but the assistants accepted my donations and stated they would be processed into the system for citizens to read. I left with a great sense of having made a contribution to my community. One day, I thought, someone may come, read my books for free and enjoy themselves.

In March of 2012 I happened to be in the library for a meeting. While there I checked their computer system for my works and couldn’t locate them.  I asked the assistants where my donated books might be and they in turn passed the search information on to the head librarian. Fast forward now to today, the end of April, two full months after not receiving a word from the librarian, I received a polite “gut-punch” letter attached to an email:

(even more aggravating is receiving a letter with your name misspelled after giving them your business card)

Dear Mr. Glen Starkey;

 I apologize for not contacting you sooner concerning the three books you donated to the Alvin Library… I deeply regret to say that it looks like your donation has been misplaced.  It may be your books were mixed in with other donated items and given to the Library League for its book sale…

 …All donations are received with the understanding the items become the property of the library, and that acceptance is not a guarantee the items will be placed into the collection.  The items must follow the same evaluation criteria for library purchased items. This would include reviews from recognized review sources and the item would also need to have an acceptable binding that would take the stress of being circulated…

 …The cataloging of donated items takes time and special handling, especially if it would require what is termed “original cataloging.”   Since your books appear to be self- published, there is not an available cataloging record in the correct format from a vendor for downloading into the library’s catalog. This special handling comes at a price and that is why there is a $10 per item charge to cover the cost. Hundreds of items are ordered, received, and processed each month which takes priority over specialty cataloging…

 …want you to know how much your interest in the library is appreciated.  The library system wishes you good success in your writing career.

They lost my books or they dumped them into the pile of unwanted, discarded library books to sell. Not only that, the librarian goes on to state they were unacceptable because they are self-published, probably did not have acceptable binding, and did not have “…reviews from recognized review sources.”  THEN, she has the audacity to say the library requires a $10 per item fee to process them because they are self-published. But she ends it all with a kiss: “The library system wishes you good success in your writing career.”

   Give me a break! Barnes & Noble won’t stock their shelves with Indie-Author books—and my own local library will only stock their shelves with my books if I pay them $10 per book. How did I reply? As calmly as I could.

Thank you for the information.

I have always been an advocate for literacy, volunteering as I do with our school district as a “Reading Buddy” to assist elementary children, promoting reading and education at every turn for adults as well as children. 

It is truly disappointing to read your letter and find that because my novels are “self-published,” they are considered below your standards. Although they are distributed by Ingram and doing well internationally on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, and a list of other booksellers, it is unfortunate my own local library cast them out, loses them, or sells them as books no longer needed.

Yes, it’s ridiculous I cannot donate my novels to my own community library, and my stomach is still sore from yet another “Indie” gut-punch, but it won’t slow my writings or my advocacy of education and literacy.

Maybe equality is the lesson to be learned here. While I want my Indie-published books to be reviewed and treated equal with ‘big house’ books in public libraries, and to receive equal treatment in book stores, we should work toward equal education and literacy for all, regardless of a person’s station in life. But, maybe that’s all in a perfect world scenario.

Thank you. I shall now return my soap-box home to its closet.

Glenn

The Man with the Paranormal Midas Touch: Micheal Rivers

by | Apr 15, 2012 | interview, Writing

Paranormal Thriller

     Paranormal Thriller Author of “Verliege,” “The Black Witch,” “Moonlight on the Nantahala,” and “Ghosts of the North Carolina Shores”

Today, I am truly honored to have Mr. Micheal Rivers, a great paranormal thriller author, as the very first author to be interviewed and presented on my site. Not only have I read several of his books and written unsolicited reviews, but I have also come to know Mr. Rivers as an excellent gentleman and man worthy of being a friend. These accolades of fine character and authorship are well deserved by him and not stated simply for this interview.  He is a former (there really is no ‘former’) U.S. Marine, Vietnam veteran, and founder of the Smokey Mountain Ghost Trackers of Western North Carolina.  Having stated this, let’s take a moment to learn more about him:

Q:  First, thank you for allowing me to interview you.  I realize you have a busy schedule and appreciate you taking this time with me. As an accomplished author now with four published novels and more works in progress, how did you start upon the literary path of being a writer? Was there anything in particular which steered you toward this endeavor?

MR: You are very welcome Glenn, it is always a pleasure to talk with you. I wrote for quite awhile actually. During my travels there were times when I sat in motel rooms or places I was visiting and found myself writing for whatever reason. In some of the regions I just threw what I wrote away because the sweat soaked the paper and made it almost unreadable. There was just something inside screaming to get out so I just put on paper. I never thought what I had to write was something someone would want to read until some of my work was submitted without my knowledge. It spiraled from there.

Author Micheal Rivers

Author Micheal Rivers

Q:  You are well known as a paranormal thriller author which is a challenging genre. Have you ever given thought to writing in different genres?

MR: Yes, I have many times. I may write something in the near future other than stories about ghosts. I have two already sitting in the To Do pile that was started in the late 90’s, just never got around to finishing them. Both of these books may give you a big surprise LOL. If you like stories about men in dangerous places you’ll like them both. One is based on a true character and some of his exploits.

 

Q: “Verliege” is an intriguing thriller…murder, suspense…wrongful prosecution of a man…I’ve only read the first chapter so far and have enjoyed it. If you will, please share some insight on the creation of “Verliege.” Readers always wonder how an author gets ideas.  How did this novel come about? How did you develop it? Research it?

MR: I have an above average interest in history and archeology. Castles are a fascination in themselves with the architecture and the history behind them. I have seen a few castles and want to visit more when the opportunity arises. My first wedding was at the Nagagusuku castle ruins in Japan. This started the ball rolling wondering what could have happened there. Interesting fact, a famous pilot crash landed his plane there during WWII and was still on the grounds of the castle in 1972. The castle Verliege is a combination of four different castles in its present state. The rumors of all castles being haunted bring out ideas that you wish you could use them all but it isn’t possible. I had to put together a fictional penal institution and from there take the reader to the castle. It was the research from hell LOL. I had to build a castle, a town and the correctional facility from scratch. From this point the characters had to interact with the setting instead of the other way around.

 

Q:  An experienced author understands the importance of self-discipline in their writings, daily time scheduling, and book marketing. What recommendations do you have for aspiring writers in reference to these matters or others concerning writing?

MR: Good question Glenn. The first thing I would say is do not follow my lead on this. I am as disciplined as a bear who discovered a honey bun. Book marketing takes a lot of time and covers too much of a day. I would rather sandpaper a lion’s bottom than do marketing. The way I write is to catch the wave so to speak. When the ideas begin to flow I write at that time. I write late at night mostly and sleep comes when I have to. I would advise new writers to make their outlines and follow them until they find out what works best for them. I start an outline but little of it is used. My story board is the most important to me. A picture you may find on my story board has nothing to do with the story. But it is what sparked the idea and develops into story line. Example: A dead bird nailed to a door in an old village equals the line and train of thought peasant’s roost. The visual from there is a long story. Write what you know, varying from this will stand out to a reader quickly. If you have never been to Africa you may find yourself in a bad spot writing about it.

The Black Witch

Q:  As an Indie-Author, where do you see the future publishing industry heading? New writers always have questions whether to first go traditional – agents, the big houses or the Indie route. What would you advise someone who talks of wanting to write a novel one day?

MR: Technology is not just the wave of the future. Books will always be here but in these times and the future, reading a book electronically will be for the man of the future. Something will come within the next few years that will make even the Kindle obsolete, but you will still be reading the books electronically. Agents and the big six are trying to find a way to assimilate now. As far as writing a novel is concerned I think everyone should be aware writing is not a part time job. It is a profession that limits you in a lot of ways with long hours. Socializing pretty much goes out the window except in small spurts. I would advise new writers to go indie in the beginning and test the waters to see if their style is accepted by the public. Unless you are an exceptional writer the large houses won’t even talk to you. Beware of agents!!! The good ones are hard to get and the bad ones will take your money and you’ll see no benefit from anything they have done. Mostly with this type agent they are waiting for you to make the money so they get paid for doing nothing.

 

Q:  You are a ghost hunter with the Smokey Mountain Ghost Trackers of Western North Carolina. Most people have seen the popular televisions shows. How did you get interested in the paranormal? How does television compare to real ghost hunting? Has there been any particular incident to make the hair rise on your neck and arms?

MR: I grew up in a haunted house. Many have said this, but this house was definitely no joke. With my ancestry I was taught how to interact with the paranormal or spirits. We learned they were a fact of life and were looked on as being no different than visiting your neighbor. Always show respect to the spirits so the elders teach. I wound up collecting stories from other countries while I traveled and had experiences. I wanted to know what else was out there besides the ghosts at home. In my opinion Ghost TV will never compare to the real deal. There are things they miss while trying to shoot an episode as well as other things I will not go into. Incidents that raised hair, you bet and more than one. I have never been near or seen anything that actually scared me, not even combat. But I will say there have been several instances where ‘things’, for lack of a better word, stopped me in my tracks. Case in point I came face to face with something in the Belgian Congo that passed through me and kept traveling. The other men there couldn’t believe what we were seeing and to describe it would take a miracle. I have a million stories on the paranormal from all over. My favorite was the child from Bom Bom island in Africa.

 

Moonlight on the Nantahala

Q: Your website shows a project in progress: “Appalachian Mountain Folkore.” Will this have a paranormal basis? Can you give us some information on the book?

MR: Appalachian Mountain Folklore will be released by my other publisher (Schiffer Publishing Ltd) later in the season. It covers folktales and lore from the mountains of North Carolina. There are a few tales in here that are rarely heard and all are written from the aspect of the way the Native Americans interacted with the Europeans of the times. Two are from tales passed through my family. A lot of paranormal elements in this one for sure.

 

Q:  Where can readers contact you, find your books, more information about you, and keep informed of your future events?

MR; I would love to hear from anybody who wants to say hello or has a question for me. You can contact me at michealrivers.com http://bit.ly/kcThdo    and my books may be found at Amazon.com    http://amzn.to/uHpPD6   It was great privilege to be here today and thank you for your service. I do want everyone to know through the years a lot of Marines have given their life for others, they are not forgotten. They have passed from us and now they all are standing their post in a military manner safe guarding those they left behind. For those who are not aware Semper Fidelis is not just a quote; it is the essence, the life, and the soul of a United States Marine for eternity.

 

Again, thank you, Micheal, for sharing your time and thoughts with us. I know we’ve had to skip a lot of questions, but possibly another day we can have a “Micheal Rivers, Part Two” interview.

And before closing, I want to thank you as well for your service in Vietnam as a U.S. Marine.

Semper Fi,

Glenn 

 

 

 

Excerpt for Verliege

 

Near the center of the cemetery the mausoleum beckoned them to draw closer. From their position they could not see the front of the mausoleum. Two sides could be clearly seen, appearing unusually clean. Emery did not approach the mausoleum immediately. He stood squinting in the morning sun, trying hard to find a reason why the stone structure had not aged over the years.

He had learned early in his career not to advance too quickly upon a scene that did not feel right. Raising his camera to his eye, he adjusted the long-distance lens to bring the mausoleum closer. Something was wrong. The stone was too perfect in every way. He could not find a single flaw.

Weis spoke softly. “We may find something of interest within the tomb.”

Emery spoke without taking his eye off of the mausoleum. “I think we should skirt around it and approach it from the front. It doesn’t feel right to me. Take a look through your camera and tell me what you see.”

Weis raised his camera and inspected the walls of the mausoleum carefully. “I don’t see anything unusual.”

Emery laughed lightly. “Look again. The stonework has not aged a day. There are no cracks or signs of erosion as there should be.”

Weis looked once more, realizing Emery had been correct in his observations. Carefully they walked in a large circle to enable them to see the front of the mausoleum. Standing a safe distance away, they saw that one of the doors was partially open, allowing them to see the darkness of the interior.

Stepping slowly forward toward the open door, each man prepared himself for a possible intruder. Emery approached the open door at an angle to help protect himself. Time slowed to a crawl. Reaching for the door to open it farther, Emery’s fingers had barely reached the handle when it slammed shut violently.

They both jumped back away from the door, and Weis fell over a broken headstone behind him. A loud moan echoed through the air around them.

Weis gained his feet, shaking his head. “I am not going in there. Whatever it is, I’m happy to leave it in there.”

Emery grinned. “Sorry, Weis, but I have to see what the moaning is about.”

He reached forward and jerked the door open with a vengeance. Shining his light inside, he found the mausoleum empty except for the neatly stacked burial coffins. Emery turned, questioning what he was seeing. “There is nobody there, Weis. I guess the moan was the rusty hinges and a little imagination.”

Weis disagreed. “The door was shut before we heard the moan. Do you think you can tell me who shut the door? I think not. It is too heavy to close on its own. I’m leaving.”

Emery watched as Weis started to walk away. The incident had shaken him badly.

Weis was glad he had taken pictures of the open door before it had slammed shut. It was hard for him to shake the feeling that there was someone close behind them as they made their way back across the bridge. Turning back toward the cemetery when he was at the foot of the bridge, he glimpsed a large black shadow disappearing into the trees.

 

Do you REALLY challenge yourself?

by | Mar 28, 2012 | General, Writing

"Do you call yourself an author, Twinkle Toes?"

There are a variety of challenges – finding time to write, making daily word counts, keeping up with the promos for your books, staying alive on social media networks, and a hundred more which could be listed…But I’m not talking about any of these.

Let’s fast forward ahead in life and say you already have a couple of novels under your belt. They received good reviews and you feel you’re on the road to churning out more literary greats. The challenge I’m referring to here is: “Have you really given your best writing to your readers?”

Writing is a creative process and a tough one to boot. Possibly you only remain within one genre or like me crossover into several…but regardless of the genre, your novel needs to be compelling. The dialogue must have sufficient meat to it for a reader to chew on for days. The action must course a reader’s veins with the force of a raging adrenaline rush. And when the last page arrives, the reader must be addicted to your words and direly in need of more, so much in fact they go in search of your next novel.

At any moment in time there are hundreds of free eBooks you can download to fill your Kindle, Nook, or iPad. As any writer should, I read a variety of these works. I’ve found diamonds in the rough with these free eBooks, and I’ve discovered a lot of junk promoted as “5 Star Reviewed” books. I found the common denominator in the “5 Star” junk was quantity and quality: the author appeared to have been writing solely to accomplish some daily quota of word quantity rather than write for daily quality.  There was evidently no personal challenge to push the author. The author seemed to be rushing to make parts fit, rushing to get to the end, and definitely rushing to get their book released.

The authors did not challenge themselves.  The writing was bland or mindless. It didn’t make the reader pause and think about the passage just read. And of course, the poor writing was another nail in the proverbial indie-author coffin.

  To challenge yourself as a writer means to create to the fullest extent of your mind’s abilities. Do your readers feel your book as they read? Have you given them something that truly sticks in their minds? Good books do that. Good books are not written based upon fads of the day.  They withstand the test of time and make their readers return another day to read them once more.

I’ve repeatedly read “The Assyrian” by Nicholas Guild and “The Wolf’s Hour” by Robert McCammon. With Guild’s books I always wondered if he mentally burned himself out with that book because of the strength and depth of his dialogue, and the thought processes he put into their creation. McCammon’s book was intense from beginning to end and maintaining such an energy level throughout the entire book must have drained him as well.

Challenge yourself to write a novel that is not your normal genre. You would be amazed at what you will learn about yourself and your ability to write. 

I read an article by McCammon about how horror novels had moved away from being what ‘true’ horror novels should be. In brief, he stated they had become nothing more than blood and gore spectacles because that was an easy way out for the writers. His complaint was that writers were failing to invoke the mental terror aspect which should be ever present. Failure to do so only left a ‘rubber-stamped’ bloodletting which was the easy way to write…. When the writers couldn’t think of good storyline to invoke fear in a reader, they simply had some nutcase run around slashing throats.  As I read McCammon’s article it struck me: the authors had not challenged themselves to create the best story possible.

Take some time to examine your work.  Look at your recent writings and be brutally honest with yourself about it overall. What separates your novel from a great writer in the genre you’ve chosen? What is missing within your writings? If you look hard enough, you may find it is the level of creativity – the challenge to produce a better work than the last.

MIA, Part 2: Author Robert R. McCammon “The Wolf’s Hour”

by | Mar 10, 2012 | MIA, Writing

 

In Part 1 I discussed the highly acclaimed author Nicholas Guild being MIA, Missing in Action, from the literary world since 1995. He seemingly vanished without word to his readers and to this day has not returned to his writings. Along with Mr. Guild, I mentioned another well published author that walked away from his profession. His name is Robert R. McCammon. Fortunately for readers he returned, and has since been diligently churning out great works as before. Although he’s off the MIA list, I want to discuss his absence.

Nicholas Guild and Robert McCammon, as I previously wrote, unknowingly were my mentors. Two other authors, Wilbur Smith and David Morrell, were major influences on my writings as well.  But Guild showed me through “The Assyrian” how historical fiction should truly be written, and from McCammon’s “The Wolf’s Hour,” I studied and learned so much about the craft of writing.

Born in July of 1952 (a month before me) McCammon received a BA in Journalism from the University of Alabama in 1974. While he was in college and beginning his writing career, I had been to Vietnam, was being discharged from the Corps and starting on the streets as a police officer. A highly acclaimed, award-winning, international author, he wrote from 1978 to 1991, stopped for 10 years and returned in 2002 to his writings. While searching a list of his achievements, I lost count at 23 novels, assortment of collections, anthologies, and essays.  Have you ever heard of the prestigious “Bram Stoker Award?” Well, McCammon had the idea to start the Horror Writers Association where the award was born. (Aspiring horror writers owe him more gratitude than they will ever realize.)

While he was turning out his first string of published books, I was banging my head against the wall trying to complete my first book. A well-published friend and I were having a relaxing afternoon talk about writing and the industry when she handed me a book and said, “Read this then read it again if you want to learn the craft.”  That was my introduction to McCammon’s “The Wolf’s Hour” (pub: 1989.)  I looked at the paperback and thought she had gone crazy. A man is a werewolf who is a spy who fights Nazi’s in World War II. But my friend never steered me wrong in the past and certainly had not this time. “The Wolf’s Hour” was tightly written, had excellent action and dialogue, was an intense read, and it immediately became my craft textbook.

Even though I consider him to be my craft mentor, I’ve never met him nor have I read all of his works. One day at a bookstore I heard he was no longer writing. I checked with friends who advised me they heard through the publishing grapevine there were problems and he chose to stop. Not having an Internet to search for information as we do now, I let the matter drop. I had stopped my writings as well, (no need to rehash it, see Micheal Rivers.com interview) and so I was left with only my well-worn copy of “The Wolf’s Hour.”

The average person goes to a bookstore, finds a shelf lined with their favorite author’s novels and thinks, “Wow, they have the easy life! They just write books and don’t have to bust their butts like regular people do every day!”  The perception is a make-believe world, fantasy at its best. Even today, my closest, non-writer friends have little concept of how much effort I put into writing a novel.

Highly acclaimed authors such as McCammon are placed on pedestals, separated from us common mortals. Their fingers upon a keyboard have a Midas touch and they do not suffer with daily headaches and concerns as ‘we’ do. Well, along with dressed-up rabbits laying colorful eggs at Easter, this is another misconception. (Everyone knows rabbits don’t dress-up.)

Recently, after searching for information on Guild and finding limited articles, I grew more curious about McCammon’s absence. I located his website. Everything I wanted to know was there, written by him, straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. I discovered other sources of information but primarily remained with his personal writings—because they were from the heart—or his writer’s soul.

McCammon’s early years held the same life tribulations as others have endured: divorced parents, lived with his grandparents, wasn’t athletically oriented, basically became a loner, and turned to writing to fill the voids of life. He started as a journalist, underwent the frustrations all aspiring writers encounter, finally became published, and later found himself in the same boat as other authors—exasperated by the antics of big publishing houses and concerned with the direction of his writings.

He found himself gradually moving into a confinement established by editors. Some of his story ideas were balked at, and when he discussed sequels to books such as “The Wolf’s Hour,” he was given poor advice which compounded later discouragements in his life. Confinement is nothing more than caging an author. I believe an author should write the stories swirling in their heads, regardless if you cross into different genres or vary from an editor’s path. For McCammon, he evidently felt the same because confinement began to wear on him. Another frustrating factor was the path he saw the horror genre taking.

Where before he had seen depth and true story to horror writings, he realized they were becoming mere exercises in the spewing of blood, guts, and gore. I liked his reference to them as ‘rubber stamping and cookie cutter.’ Even to today this is evident in numerous horror books written with page after page of pure bloodletting without a foundation of worthwhile storyline. Hollywood held a majority of this blame, while some publishing houses followed suit solely in the pursuit for profit. Well, money is the name of the game though, right? But it’s not right when publishers say “they know what the people want.”

In McCammon’s personal writings about his discontent and self-doubts, I took note of a true author. One who enjoyed his work being published yet was concerned about its literary worth. I saw a man who looked for writings to last the test of time, not simply be a fad and quickly forgotten.

I’m sure other issues were involved, personal issues, because when he gave his farewell, he mentioned returning to family pursuits, being a father. That was admirable. Writing is a lonely task. You must spend long hours separated from others in order to think, create, and release pent-up, pulsating ideas onto paper.

Some of the articles I read about McCammon mentioned depression. Battling depression is as easy as standing on the beach and trying to hold back the waves of the ocean. I know because my father suffered with it before he died.

The more I read about Mr. McCammon, the more I respected him. And in his recent website article, “My Calling,” he openly discusses his absence and return. It takes a lot of courage to tell the world as he did that he had shortcomings and doubts about himself as a writer. Very few people will ever mention their shortcomings. But, read it yourself. There’s a lot you as a writer should digest.

I found myself making comparisons to Mr. McCammon. Okay, so I don’t have over 5 million of my books in print as he does, but there were some similarities. He gets his ideas from anywhere, even a dream. One of my books came from a dream. He doesn’t work from an outline. Neither do I. He sees the story in his head and writes what he sees.  Well, ditto. Sometimes I’m surprised at what comes next as I write too.

Yes, Mr. McCammon, as you said, “…writing is the mystic journey that cannot be shared by anyone else… It is a solitary trip, with an uncertain destination.”

Robert R. McCammon is a fine man. I’m glad he’s off the Missing in Action list.

He’s the kind of man I’d enjoy sitting on the porch with, smoke a cigar and share some Jack Daniels, and have a leisurely conversation about the world in general—one of those talks where you right all the wrongs and walk away happy.

Until that day, all the best to you, sir.

Glenn