Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have published five books, and have about 20 more, just in the Secret Origins series.
Some of the five, were produced for corporate training; for employees, managers and executives. They worked well, as production increased by 200%.
In addition to the Secret Origins series, I also have other children’s books, such as Parrot Power, which introduces biochar and food forests.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Lines, Curves and Sounds — first book in the ABC Secret Origins series — was part of an enormous tome produced in 2018, that would have retailed for over $100. I split that book into a trilogy. The second book is over 40% complete, and should launch in May 2020.
What inspired it? My church group tutored inside a prison. We discovered that the most literate inmate knew 17 letters of the alphabet. That prison swilled up our handmade flashcards.
Flash cards became a pamphlet used in tutoring. One first grader was about to be held back. Somewhere in the middle of the pamphlet he brightened up, and in four weeks he rocketed from the fourth level to 24th level reading. He passed, and made honor roll the next semester.
Education is an odd subject. So many opinions. Nevertheless, the technologies in this book have worked for everyone: pre-K to PhD, ESL, inner city, and many more.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night to write.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Golden Bough, Genesis, EE Doc Smith, Rubaiyat, Autobiography of a Yogi, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Isaac Asimov, Ron Hubbard, Madeleine d’Engle, Jonah, Art of Dramatic Writing, Hero’s Journey, George Fox, leo Tolstoy, rachel carson, carl jung, Melville, Emerson, will durant, Thoreau, dale carnegie, niccolo machiavelli, charles darwin, carl von clausewitz, stephen hawking, napoleon hill, herman hesse, sun tzu,
Popul Vu, the Vedas, Epic of Gilgamesh,
What are you working on now?
The Secret Life of Letters, the second book in the Secret Origins trilogy.
Did you know that the letter “X” has about six (6) different pronunciations?
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Don’t know yet. Just getting rolling.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read the Art of Dramatic Writing, by Lagos Egri.
Practice each factor (Premise, Character, Conflict), using short stories.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Read Hemingway’s Movable Feast.
What are you reading now?
Two Years Before the Mast
how to market books
The I Ching
Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
P. G. Wodehouse (Jeeves)
What’s the Future by Tim O’Reilly
What’s next for you as a writer?
More children’s books.
Maybe more graphic novels
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?
The Iliad, by Homer
Self Analysis
Nature, by Emerson