Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a tour guide in Hollywood and have written the book Hollywood Stories: Short, Entertaining Anecdotes About the Stars and Legends of the Movies! I am also the author and narrator of two audio only books Tales of Hollywood and Fascinating Walt Disney.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Hollywood Stories was inspired by being a tour guide and trying to keep the material, both contemporary and historical, fresh and interesting. I had always been interested in the movies and history so it was kind of a natural fit for me. When I first started I had a study buddy named Ivan. During our breaks we would research information about old Hollywood and share it with each other. I remember one time we met on Hollywood Boulevard and said to me in a low, conspiratorial tone,” Steve, man, you what I found out today? That Thomas Edison owned the rights to the movie camera and the early moguls like Mayer, Warner, and Zukor they had to pay him tributes. They why they left the East Coast and came west — they were outlaws, baby!” The more information we found out, the more fun it was to give the tour. And I’ve got a good memory for stories so having different material kept it fresh, I think for the customers as well. Anyway, eventually I had the idea that these very short anecdotes could be told anywhere and that’s what led, after a few other projects, to the idea for the book.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know if it is unusual but the book was largely formed by telling the stories to the tour customers and getting a great response. Once I actually start writing I also try to go to multiple sources to keep the stories fresh. For example:
Marlene’s Wartime Regret
Marlene Dietrich found her true calling entertaining the Allied troops in 1943. The forty-two-year-old actress,who never enjoyed making movies, got a crash course in how to talk to audiences. Nothing could be tougher or more fulfilling than performing in front of young men who might die in battle the next day. The Berlin-born American citizen overcame suspicions that she was actually an Axis spy, and was proud of spurning Hitler’s request to return to Germany. After World War II ended, she enjoyed being a lusty cabaret singer for many years and tried never to take herself too seriously. Marlene, whose long list of romances ranged from John Wayne to General Patton, once mentioned to her husband that she should have married Hitler back in the thirties, and then there would have been no war. She laughed when he agreed
and stated that the Fuhrer would have killed himself much sooner.
The ending of the story came from an old People Magazine article; after getting the punchline it was matter of going to other sources to get the biographical information to hopefully make the story flow and tell it in a unique way. The other thing that might be a little unusual is that with these anecdotes I am trying as best I can to stay away from scandals and the scurrilous.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
With books about Hollywood the three big ones are David Niven, James Bacon, and Bob Thomas, all of them wrote wonderful books about the movie biz. If people Google those names they will find hours of entertaining reading although some of the books they may have to buy used. Fiction-wise I like a lot of different authors but I so admire the late Michael Crichton who was an absolute master at giving fascinating scientific information while keeping his stories flowing.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on the second Hollywood Stories book, I still give tours both privately and for the Company I work for, VIP Tours and Charters, and done some speaking engagements where I tell the stories off the bus which I want to do more of. Book marketing is by itself a full time job, and I find it both fascinating and fun.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Without a doubt so far it has been KDP Select. Just to share a little story, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby in 1925, apparently he and his wife Zelda were living a Gatsby-like lifestyle, riding on the top of Pierce Arrows, etc. Cut to twelve years later Zelda was sadly committed to a Sanatorium, and Fitzgerald, heavy drinking, temperamental and often hard to deal with arrives in Hollywood and has an affair with gossip columnist Sheila Graham. Besides being lovers their affair was sort of mentor/pupil, Fitzgerald wanted her to read his novels, they went to practically every bookstore in LA, and couldn’t find a copy of Gatsby which was pretty much out of print in 1937. Five years later in 1942 an organization the Council on Books in Wartime, an organization of publishing executives, purchased 155,000 copies and gave them out to our soldiers overseas, word-of-mouth began to spread and shortly thereafter it began selling like hotcakes, unfortunately too late for Fitzgerald who died two years previous, believing himself a failure. The KDP Select free giveaway program gives authors a chance to not necessarily get the same results but at least try a Gatsby-like marketing method at a reasonable cost.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Find a marketing method that you enjoy. Also there is story in my book about animator Chuck Jones that I personally found very inspiring:
Be All You Can Be!
Legendary animator Chuck Jones identified more with his less-than-perfect characters.Bugs Bunny was such an invincible force that he had to be minding his own business before he was provoked. Only then could the rabbit be justified in raining downcomplete destructionon his enemies.Chuck Jones felt more kinship with the perennial loser Daffy Duck. Likewise, the ever-hungry Coyote was made more sympathetic than the invulnerable Roadrunner. The helpless carnivore, that was responsible for his own destruction, represented Jones’ personal ineptness with tools. How could someone with such an inferiority complex be a success in his own career? Chuck often told the story how when he was a kid in art school, he wanted to quit because the other students were so much more talented than he was.He changed his mind when the teacher advised him, “Just be the best Chuck Jones you can be.”
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Again from my book, two quotes from the Walt Disney Chapter:
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not;
nothing ismore common than unsuccessful people withtalent.Genius will not;
unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.”
— Calvin Coolidge
“When you’re curious, you’ll find a lot of interesting things to do.”
— Walt Disney
What are you reading now?
Just finished listening to Herman Wouk’s Marjorie Morningstar.
What’s next for you as a writer?
The sequel to Hollywood Stories; don’t know when it will be done, but I’m making progress.
What is your favorite book of all time?
Fiction: The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
Non-fiction: Bring on the Empty Horses by David Niven
Author Websites and Profiles
Stephen Schochet Website
Stephen Schochet Amazon Profile