Interview With Author David Neitz
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was a Systems Architect/Programmer/Database Administrator in my former life before I retired several years ago. My wife made me agree to stay busy and out of her way if I wished to have a long and happy retirement. I spent 40+ years in the computer industry and had no desire to do that anymore. I have always known that everyone has a story to tell. The question for me was what story I could tell.
I have some hobbies such as golf, hiking, reading, genealogy, history, and just lying around and being a bum. So, I looked hard at my hobbies and what I could write about. Being a bum was out of the question because of my agreement with my wife, but I have my moments. I’m a terrible golfer, and my broken-down body limits how far I should hike. I love reading and am always happy to recommend a good book. I have spent hours researching my family’s history. This is where some of my love of history comes from. I decided to combine genealogy and history by selecting an ancestor and writing about their life.
I have been known to enhance a story to make it sound more interesting, so fictional history is what I decided to write about with a personal twist.
I have published a series that contains four books on Amazon titled “Civil Conversation.” It took me two and a half years to complete the series.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is the fourth and final one in the “Civil Conversation” series, subtitled the “Dinner Party.”
I have spent my adult life writing technical specifications. Let’s be real, this does not lend itself to creative writing. My writing is very to the point and lacks the finesse to draw a picture in someone’s mind. While researching my first book, I concluded that the ancestor I was working on may have read the book series “The Civil Conversation” by Stefano Guazzo and translated by George Pettie and Bartholomew Young. I ordered a 1925 reprint of the four books which were written in Tudor English. I thoroughly enjoyed this series, but Tudor English is not for the faint of heart. Words are spelled phonetically. “i and j” and “u and v” are interchangeable because there were only 24 letters in the alphabet in the 16th century. They didn’t have hard-set rules for grammar, and run-on sentences went for what seemed forever at times.
“The Civil Conversation” has a message still pertinent to today’s society. It is disappointing to say, but most people have lost the ability to be civil and kind to one another and listen to differing points of opinion. An idea started to form, so I decided to revive this series by adapting it to modern English. Therefore, this project would be my reintroduction to creative writing that I learned in college. Little did I know I would spend two and a half years working on it. All four books in the series have been published on Amazon, with the fourth book scheduled for release on November 13, 2023. The titles are:
• Civil Conversation: Book I – The rewards that can be reaped from conversation and teaching how to get to know good company from bad.
• Civil Conversation: Book II – The manner of conversation that is suitable for all people in public and the particular points to be observed.
• Civil Conversation: Book III – The manner of conversation to be observed all within the home.
• Civil Conversation: Book IV – The Dinner Party
The fourth book is my favorite of the series and is the icing on the cake. I truly felt like I was collaborating with Stefano on this one. Bartholomew Young’s translation was a bit harder to decipher, so I translated the entire original Italian into English.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I seem to attack my writing by brute force to get something down. In my adaptation of Civil Conversation, I wrote everything at least three times and then merged the three versions into one. I have continued this process with my first fictional history book.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Steven King, J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, Dan Brown, and W. Bruce Cameron are some of my favorite authors.
What are you working on now?
I am working on my first historical fiction book about one of my ancestors with a preliminary title of “The Stranger.” My goal is to write about history from the perspective of the characters in the book.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Now, that is a loaded question for me because I have not figured this part out yet. Hopefully, this interview starts the ball rolling. I’ve given my books to friends and family, gifted a book and a bottle of wine as a prize at a local Bingo game, and announced it on Facebook.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Edit, edit, and edit again. Be sure your grammar is correct, which is not my strongest suit. The main thing I do when editing or reading the book is to make sure it flows. If something sounds chopping or funky, it’ll probably come across that way to your audience.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
I have heard it said that everyone has at least one good book in them. I don’t know about that, but I believe everyone has a story to tell, so tell it.
What are you reading now?
I am reading a lot of books about the early 17th century.
What’s next for you as a writer?
As stated above, I am researching and working on my first fictional history book.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. You could read these books many times and still discover something new every time.
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