On July 31, 2002, I got a chance to sit down with myself. I conducted the interview. I answered the interview. Bet you’ve never seen this before! The result:
So, how are you?
If this is your idea of a first question, I have to tell you, you’re not very good. I’m going to have to talk to my agent about getting me this gig.
Sorry. So what made you choose to become a writer?
I don’t think I ever "chose" to become a writer. I think that’s something you just have. I have to write. It’s therapy. The idea comes into my head. It stays in my head until I put it down on paper. Then it leaves. I suppose, in some circles, I would be considered crazy but those who write, I think, understand the process.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing since about the second grade when my teacher taught me letters. Oh, you mean how long have I been writing stories. Well, pretty much since I was about eighteen when I wrote a short story for "Twilight Zone" magazine. I was doing volunteer work at a humane shelter and the story is about a guy that walks into a shelter to adopt a dog. The worker at the shelter keeps telling him that no one leaves without a dog. Well, the lead character of the story thinks this guy is nuts but he goes along with it. The worker takes him into a room with a big picture window. The curtains in front of the window open and he sees dog after dog walking by looking in at him. The guy makes a mental note about which dog he wants and starts to leave the room to tell the worker. That’s when he notices that there is no handle on the inside of the door and there is food and water in bowls on the floor. He looks above the door and there is a sign that says the same thing the worker had been saying to him: "No one leaves without a dog". As he figures out that the dogs adopt him, not the other way around, the story ends with him screaming. Very "Twilight Zone" don’t you think?
Wow! Cool! So you must have a ton of stories.
Not really. Life comes along and other things take importance so my writing suffered. About eight years ago I started a stock car racing fantasy league. The game was one of the best around and I did receive awards for it, but I started it mostly so I could write the newsletter and get back into doing that on a regular basis. I would write a new letter each week about the race and anything else I wanted to talk about. So I do have many stories, mostly funny stuff, that I’ll be re-writing in the near future. I closed the league down last year so I could devote more time to the professional end of writing that I’m pretty much now getting into.
Who are your influences?
I can’t say that I have any influences. There are writers that I have read that inspire me to also be a great writer. John Steinbeck tops that list. The man could write characters that were so rich that you felt like you knew them by the time the story was finished. I call Stephen King the greatest "garbage" writer of them all. By that, I mean, you don’t have to think to read the majority of King’s work. He paints such a wonderful picture for you, without a lot of description, that you can just sit back and be entertained. There’s very few writers that can do that. Also, "The Stand", is a monumental classic that shouldn’t be missed by anyone. Lately, I’ve been reading Clive Cussler. If you like action, action, action then he’s your guy. I like, too, how he can end every story with giving you a little tear in your eye. Those are just the writers that inspire me.
There are other influences?
Of course! There’s my family and my friends. People I see, hear or read about. And there’s always the "voices in my head" that tell me the ideas that I put down on paper.
Alright, you’re starting to scare me now. Tell me about the "voices".
We all have voices in our head. Some call them your conscience, some your inner most soul or "inner child", some even call it the voice of God. Mine’s called "Fernando". That’s a joke but it’s basically what I said before. I am given the ideas and they are repeated to me over and over until I put it down on paper then the idea goes away. The voices never do and I hope they never will because then my life will be over.
Anything else that moves you to write?
Certainly! Anytime I hear of an injustice I want to write about it. Anytime I hear a new idea how we can be better people I want to write about it. I have charities that I’m involved with that always inspire me to write so others can know about them too.
Tell me about these charities.
Well, basically there are three that I’m very involved in. One is Second Harvest Food Bank. These people don’t care if your the richest person in the world or the poorest. If times are tough and you have no way to put food on the table for your family, they will give you food. No questions asked. No applications. We all have had hard times even if we were not homeless that it was just tough to make the mortgage payment and still provide food on a weekly basis. Second Harvest Food Bank is for everyone, not just the poor. The second is the WSPA, the World Society for the Protection of Animals. As an animal lover, I appreciate that they are very non-political. They will go into any country, without playing politics, to help animals in whatever way they can. The third is the Conversations With God Foundation. This is not a religious order. It’s just a different way of thinking of our relationship with God. In a nutshell, and there is no way I could possibly put it into a nutshell, it teaches a unity, not a fear, of God. I would urge everyone to read the "Conversations With God" books.
I’ve given you your soapbox. Now, let’s talk more about the writing process. Do you go to writing clinics?
I am involved in a writer’s group but if you mean the creative writing workshops, no. I mean, that might be all well and good for some but I really don’t need people who have or have not been published to tell me how to write. Either you’re a writer or you’re not. It’s just that simple. I would be interested in workshops that tell me how to structure a query letter or find an agent because that’s not writing. That’s knowledge! If editors are looking for something fresh and new then that’s not going to happen from this end if I write the way someone else tells me how to write. If you can sit down with pen, paper or computer and the words just flow from your brain to your fingers, then you, my friend, are a writer. I don’t care what anyone else says. Some will like your words, some will not but you are a writer.
Do you book certain times to write?
I’d like to but no. I still work full time in my accounting business so writing is just something I do on the side when I have the time. Sometimes I have the time, sometimes I don’t, but I always try to do it in the mornings when my mind is the freshest. I usually wake up with an idea or one always comes to me in the shower.
The shower?
Yes! I actually thought that was weird until I read several other writers get ideas the same way. Whatever it takes, whatever you have to do, you just do it.
What kind of writing do you do?
Really, everything! I’ve written everything from manuals, brochures, short stories to novels. Right now, I’m more focused on fiction articles and novels because that’s what the "voices" are telling me but, in the future I want to do more research and interviews. I’m most interested in senior citizens. They have so many stories in them that are going to be lost is someone does not start interviewing them. I have a great uncle that is 86 years old and he still has a mind like a steel trap and remembers everything about the depression. I’d love to do an interview with him soon and get his memories to put down on paper. You see, I believe, writing is history of stories. In fiction, you’re putting your ideas down into a story format that is easy for everyone to read. Being entertained and learning something at the same time is the quickest way to get your point across. Writing non-fiction is telling history from a different perspective, be it the author’s or the subject the author is writing about. I once read an interview with an author that said he only wrote what he knew. That’s so true with non-fiction. In fiction I also write what I know then make up the rest!
What about fear of rejection?
I don’t have it. I write because I have to. If people like it, great! If they don’t, sorry! If anything else, I’m leaving down written thoughts and ideas that my children and their children will, hopefully, read and get a better idea of what kind of person I was. That, if you are a true writer, should be enough. All the rest is just gravy!
Do you have writing in your blood?
My grandfather on my mother’s side was Russ Catlin. He was famous for many articles and books about the automotive and racing industry. He was also on the board for the Indianapolis 500. His ancestor, and mine too, was George Catlin, the famous Indian painter. So, I guess I do. Hope they like my stuff because I’m sure they are looking over my shoulder reading it as I type.
What does an idea have to have for you to make it a story?
It has to move me. If it can move me then I can make it move others. Laughing, crying, anger, sadness, joy, any emotion that I get out of it I can pass that emotion to others. Strong characters are a big plus. How many people know all there is to know about the Mafia from the papers? When the "Godfather" came out, then everyone knew everything there was to know about the Mafia. If you want to pass ideas along to the masses fiction works the best if you can make the story interesting.
Anything else?
First and foremost, I’m a father. There are many out there that do not take that job seriously but I do and if I can write to move the emotion of other fathers then that is probably the biggest thing I want to do. That, and sell the movie rights and retire!
Well, that was interesting. So how did I do?
Wonderful! I couldn’t have done better myself!