Truth is What Divides Our Country

We asked him a few questions and these are his answers:

How did you come up with the idea for your book?  What inspired you to be a writer?

Enemies in the West Wing (2022)

“History has shown us time and time again that the ballot box does not give us any reassurance of the loyalty and integrity of our elected leaders.
While recovering from a major surgery as the result of a vehicle accident in 2009, I spent most of my time reading every news article I could find in print and digital. I quickly realized, in far too many incidents, our federal governmental leaders and agencies were ignoring the United States Constitution.
I began documenting  what I considered a grab of power by the executive branch and within a brief period of time, I had over 50 pages. I wanted to create a conversation on my concerns and without any real planning, I decided this may be my time to write a book. The facts were there and I started to insert fictional characters in the appropriate agencies.  I now had a true, interesting base for my  story, but now as an author, I had the ability to expose it to the world and fictionally return law and order to our country. ”  

Patriots’ Call (2022)        

 “Fast forward to 2022, and again I find myself writing a sequel to my first book. All of us are now concerned about the direction of our country. I read the following quote and without any hesitation I started writing:

“The secret of freedom lies in the education of people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.”
              -Maximilien Robespierre 

Truth is what divides our country, those who choose to seek the truth versus those who choose to hide it; those who tell the truth versus those who do not; those who accept the truth versus those who deny it. Again, much of the story is true, however, the characters are fictional.  Hopefully, the book exposes the misdeeds of our government and opens the eyes of the readers.”

Broken Sunshine – A Case Study of Elder Abuse and Exploitation in Florida (2022)

“Writing this book was entirely different than my two other novels. This book is very personal, since the victim is my brother Paul who served 32 years in the Army. This book required more documentation than  writing. In fact, the book actually wrote itself and I had very  little control over most of the words on the pages. If I did, the ending would have been quite different.

I also had no control of the timing. I wrote the other books within four to six weeks. This book took four years and it continues today and most likely, I have enough to add another chapter.

I wrote this book to educate those who have a family member inflicted with Alzheimer’s. It is a sad, painful situation that thousands of families have experienced.  My brother was a crime victim because someone who was supposed to love him, did not. And he became a victim again when the government stepped in and had more to say about how his remaining life would be lived out and his funds expended  rather than his family of over seventy years who loved him and wanted the best for him. My hope is that this book in some way helps prevent any family from having to go through what we had to endure.”
     

How do you approach character development in your writing? 

 “Having served for over forty years in the military and law enforcement, character development was relatively easy and I used my past experiences as a guide. I created each of them using different traits and personalities from those I worked with and knew well.

The learning process for the case study book was entirely different. I did not need to be concerned about character development, people just suddenly appeared in the story and the lack of notification and communication among those associated with the case, complicated the entire process resulting in an unbelievably  horrible situation for Paul.”

How do you handle writer’s block or other creative roadblocks?

“For the two fiction models, reading the newspapers and checking the news on the internet generally gave me fresh ideas each day.  I was trying to stay current as I was writing, so I only had an occasional writer’s block and I would leave my desk and not return until the next morning after reading the papers.

The case study was entirely different since you have no control.  I decided early in the case to put everything in writing. The problem was that frequently you need information to proceed. I would go weeks sometimes waiting for a return call from Elder Abuse or the State Attorney. Follow-up calls, emails  were ignored as well. Weeks would pass and the case study would remain idle.

Additionally, registered, return-receipt letters to the Governor were never answered. Writer’s block was not the problem. The problem was bureaucratic block.”

Can you talk about any upcoming projects or releases you have in the works?

“I am taking a sabbatical from writing for a few months while we build, furnish and move to a new home. However, I am very concerned about the lack of law and order in the country and I have started researching and documenting the issue.”