Q: In one sentence, tell me something that describes you as a person?
A: Paradoxically, I’ve been called many times an alpha dog who is friendly and easy going.
Q: How many books have you written? How many of those are published?
A: I have written and published four books so far. I have also co-written one more. Been a contributor to another, and have had two books written by others that have chapters written about me.
Q: Do you have an upcoming release? If yes, tell me the title and impending release date.
A: Yes. Within the next month or two I have two new releases coming out. The first one is the sequel to my teen leadership book, “The Storm”; this one is called “A Sprint to The Top”. My second one is an academic book called, “Granddaddy’s Success and Social Skills Secrets for Kids? In addition, I’m also working on three other books to be released next year sometime. One is a teen leadership book, one is an academic book, and the third is a book on football.
Q: Tell me about how you come up with your titles for your stories. Do you create the title before or after you write the book, and does it ever change from the initial title?
A: Most of the time the title slowly comes to me as I’m writing the book. As the story comes out more clearly over time, then what the title should be becomes more clear to me.
Q: Out of all your characters in all of your books, who/what (sometimes a setting can also be an important “character”) do you think is the most interesting and why?
A: My character “Granddaddy” is extremely important because he represents wisdom, experience, and mentoring. We need the young and the old to work together for us all to succeed, instead of looking at each other as something that is foreign to the other.
Q: If you could “create” your own genre of what you write, what would you call your books?
A: The become more successful and happier while making the world a better place genre.
Q: Without quoting your back cover synopsis, tell me about the last book you published.
A: “The Storm: How Young Men Become Good Men” is about a struggling teen who hasn’t quite lost all hope yet meets up with his estranged and mysterious former WWII fight-pilot granddaddy who shows him the way to become a real leader and a real man.
Q: Tell me something about yourself that is separate from writing.
A: I’m a two-time Junior Olympian wrestler, and later, twice the coach of the Junior Olympic wrestling team. I have also completed 14 years of college and have earned seven degrees. Finally, I’m married with five children.
Q: Who is your favorite Author?
A: There are so many of them. But the one that jumps to my mind first because basically I do a lot of what he does, is Tony Robbins.
Q: What is the last book that you read? (Not counting anything you wrote)
A: Railroaded by Richard White
Q: When writing, do you have a system or something you plan, or do you just write?
A: I just write.
Q: Why do you write?
A: Because I finally have realized that I have a lot to say.
Q: Do you read your own work a lot? If so, what does it do for you?
A: I read my own work sometimes, and it amazes me that all that good advice for others came out of me.
Q: What is your favorite type of music? Is there one genre (or song, band etc...) that brings out your creativeness more than others?
A: 1970’s rock and roll.
Q: As an author, I find that the hardest thing to write (for me) is the synopsis that will be on the back cover or book’s description. When you write, what is the hardest line to write, the first line, the last line or the synopsis for the book?
A: I agree with you on the difficulty of writing the book cover description. Copy writing is a different skill than just writing the book.
Q: If you could sit down and have a coffee (or whatever beverage) with anyone, living or dead, from any era, any time, who would it be and why? (You can pick up to 3 persons).
A: I would love to have a catch with Joe Montana because when I was young and impressionable he was throwing all those touchdowns and winning all those games for the San Francisco 49ers. To me he was a real winner.
The next guy I’d like to have a cup of coffee with is Tony Robbins because his books have had a very positive impact on my life, and he gets you to believe that you really can awaken the giant from within yourself.
The next guy I like to meet is Teddy Roosevelt. As a former history teacher I learned a lot about Teddy and what he accomplished is mind-blowing.
Q: What does it mean to be a “successful” writer?
A: Someone who is making a difference is successful. However, making money as an author is very difficult, so many authors don’t feel successful because money is often how society judges success.
Q: What do you want to accomplish, so when you look back at your life, you can say “I did that”?
A: I want to have written books and done speeches that have positively influenced people all over the world.
Q: Any final thoughts that you want to give to your fans or even future authors?
A: Hang in there. You can do it. Take it slow and steady. Authoring is a marathon, not a sprint.