Renee interviews author Robert Macomber

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author, history, Housewarming, inspiration, Life, writing

Earlier this month Robert N. Macomber was a featured speaker at the Florida Authors and Publishers Association Annual Conference. He offered a fascinating look at how location research can make a story more vivid and memorable – for both the writer and the reader.

Tell me about your background. Where did you grow up, where do you live now, education, work experience? Share some interesting things about yourself that we should know about.
I grew up in southwest Florida, same area where I currently live. I studied political science and history in college and started as a teacher, then moved into law enforcement, but began writing while doing those jobs. Early on, I knew that my passions were sailing, history and storytelling, so I started composing articles on the side for some magazines, doing non-fiction pieces, and then moved into creating the concept for my Honor Series, which goes back 20 years, after I got some substantial encouragement to keep putting pen to paper. It’s been a long and fascinating journey. This year marks my thirty-first year of lecturing and twenty-second year of commercial writing.
Reading was big in my family growing up, as was sailing and travel. My dad was a civil engineer, but also had his pilot’s license and a small plane, so we did a lot of trips from as early as I can remember. He instilled in me a curiosity for exploration into different countries and into different cultures. That has stayed with me.

What inspired you to write this book? What is the story behind the story?
Honoring the Enemy is the 14th novel in my Honor Series of historical thrillers, which depict the personal life and global career of U.S. naval officer Peter Wake from 1863 to 1908. Real historical events, personalities, and places inspire the plots in my books. I illuminate significant events in American and world history through Peter Wake, my fictional protagonist. My 14th novel covers the Spanish-American War in Florida and Cuba, and took many years to research in both places. My 13th novel, An Honorable War, set the stage in its storyline for the U.S. involvement in the Spanish-American War, and my 15th novel, “A Word of Honor,” which will be released in October 2020, will round out to the conclusion of the Spanish-American War, where readers will learn what’s yet to come for Peter Wake in the Honor Series.

What has been your biggest challenge or obstacle?
For this last book, dealing with the ever-changing U.S. government travel restrictions to Cuba and the Cuban government’s paranoia about an American author researching inside Cuba have created constant challenges. But I persevered past the obstacles. A quick word, though, to clear up some recent confusion: you can still travel to Cuba with a licensed tour operator’s group, just not on a cruise ship. As you probably know, I’ve taken groups to Cuba (still do), mostly readers, and they are forever grateful that the team I put together to make it happen worked out beyond their best, imagined scenarios. Everyone comes home having learned that the Cuban people are delightful and some of the most hospitable people on earth. Happy to add that several, who have traveled to Cuba in my groups, have eagerly returned to Cuba with me for a second visit!

What has been your biggest “aha” moment or success?
Each time a reader expresses accolades for my work or a literary critic in the media gives me rave reviews, or when professional colleagues present me with an award, I still feel like they’re all “aha” moments. I don’t take those moments of validation for granted.
Otherwise, throughout my literary career, there are several, extra meaningful successes which I call “My Author Moments” but I’ll force myself to limit it to one. A few years ago, I was contacted by one of my readers who told me an unbelievable tale. She and her husband were home reading my book aloud to each other one evening when her husband had a very painful heart attack. While waiting for the first responders, then attended to by the medics, in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, and in the emergency room, the husband insisted his wife continue reading my book aloud to him because it took his mind away from the pain. Thankfully, he lived and recovered, and they still read my books aloud to each other in the evening. True story!

What authors do you like to read? What books have had a strong influence on you or your writing?
Major literary influences on me were C.S. Forester, George Macdonald Fraser, James Michener, Jack London, Mark Twain, James Jones, Edmund Morris, and Dan Brown. Since most of my reading relates to research, I don’t have much time to read for pleasure, but a few of those books I’ve enjoyed most in the last 2 years have been A Gentleman In Moscow, A Confederacy of Dunces, and The Woman Who Smashed Codes. I also just read The Patient Assassin by Anita Anand as a reviewer for the New York Journal of Books ~ an excellent read. The most impactful re-read of late has been It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis. For every novel I write, I read over 60 books, and keep track because I include a bibliography at the end of each of my books.

Do you write every day? Any writing rituals?
Yes, every day. I get up at 0545, have breakfast, walk 1.5 meditative miles through coconut palm groves, do some light stretching & lifting, then begin working no later than 0800. Creative writing is done in the mornings, when I’m freshest mentally. Editing, research for books, research for my lectures, media interviews, and admin stuff is done in the afternoons. Sometimes, if the research in the afternoon really ignites me, I’ll do some creative writing in the evenings.

What are your interests outside of writing?
My interests include my faith, sailing through the remote islands near where I live, and travel. I like cooking exotic cuisines from the locales in my books, and while cooking I listen to the indigenous, folk music related to the dish. Sharing time to enjoy my wife and her interests is always valuable because I learn from her constantly. Also, we enjoy watching documentaries and a variety of movies (classics and foreign films in particular), and we try to find time to hear live music in smaller listening venues when possible. Balancing my hectic work schedule with time to relax is easier said than done.

Share some tips for other authors or aspiring authors: What would you do differently? What would you do the same? Please share anything you think would be beneficial to those reading this.
What would I have done differently? I would’ve started social media marketing early on with my first book, but, when I started my Honor Series, social media wasn’t what it is today. As social media grew as rapidly as it did, I wasn’t truly ready because I’m not that tech-savvy. It was too intimidating, and I didn’t ask for help. Now I have a little more help, and I’m relatively good at Facebook, but there’s room for me to grow, which is probably a common thread for many of your readers.
What would I do the same? Network, network, network – with enthusiastic kindness. It always reaps rewards and frequently leads to long, genuine friendships. Be ready to learn, adapt, and recognize your own limitations. I am constantly amazed at how networking opens up unanticipated opportunities for success.
Beneficial tips? Here are seven:
1) Stay organized and disciplined. Find what works for you. Since I have to focus on multiple book projects at one time, to keep each one accurate I use an old-fashioned storyboard (a 22 x 28 inch blank poster) for each project, on which I put the historical timeline, the story’s chapter timeline, imagery of important historical people in the story, maps, character lists (e.g., how again do I spell Kalākaua, king of Hawaii?), and sundry other trivia which is important for me to remember. The poster folds up and goes with me on my journeys because I work every day, no matter where I am. Over the years it takes for me to prep each novel, my storyboards are covered with scrawled notes, scratches, ink smears, wine stains, sweat (and occasionally blood) – all of which are separate memorable stories in themselves! With a storyboard, the batteries will never run down, and it works even when the electricity doesn’t.
2) Be different. Create a new niche in an established genre. Write on a topic nobody else is, but one most people would be curious about when they learn of it. Let that drive your brand.
3) Make friends with your readers. Stay in contact with them and give them enjoyable experiences beyond your book. My readers’ enthusiasm energizes me. Maybe those interested can get a few ideas if they friend me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/robert.macomber.750, or sign up for my Quarterly Newsletter, where there are examples of the other ways I engage my readers with opportunities to meet me. It’s simple to sign up on my website http://www.RobertMacomber.com.
4) Give presentations on your subject(s). Become known for being well-versed and confident as a storyteller. Your presentations can be symbiotic with your literary projects and add another revenue stream. I am a specialist in Victorian-Edwardian world history and lecture on 62 different topics. My lectures and books help feed parallel interest(s) and cross promote sales.
5) Ask for help. Put the word out you need assistance on a subject, place, event, skill, etc…. People have surprising knowledge or contacts, and often love being a part of a book project.
6) Always say thank you to anyone who helps you along the way: readers, authors, researchers, editors, booksellers, media critics, librarians, literacy groups, support staff and family. Thank them in the book’s acknowledgments, at public events, on Social Media, in your newsletter, or on your website. Let them bask in the satisfaction of a completed book project too. They deserve it, and it builds community!
7) Have sincere appreciation for your chosen profession. Yes, there are hassles and frustrations, but smell the frangipani blossoms, my friends. We’re writers and storytellers – the chroniclers of human life! Your journey will lead you to wonderful places, people, and experiences you can’t even imagine right now.
Onward & Upward!

 

Renee Garrison is the award-winning author of The Anchor Clankers. To suggest an author interview, email her at rgarrison@bestversionmedia.com.

Renee interviews author David Edmonds

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author, books, history, inspiration, Teacher, travel, writing

David Edmonds is an award-winning author who recently took home the silver for his non-fiction short story at the Royal Palm Literary Awards.

Tell me about your background. Where you grew up, where you live now, education, work experience? Share some interesting things about yourself that we should know about.

I’m a Southern boy, raised in rural areas of south Mississippi and Cajun Louisiana. No surprise that I went to LSU where I later became a professor of economics. I also attended Notre Dame, Georgetown, and American University and hold a doctorate in international economics.

I moved from Nicaragua to Florida in the mid 90’s to be with my lovely wife Maria, who recently passed away. I now live on the Anclote River in beautiful Tarpon Springs, Florida.

My work background covers a lot of territory from the days I served as a US Marine, then Peace Corps Volunteer, Fulbright Professor of Economics, academic dean, and US government official or scholar in several foreign countries—Iceland, Norway, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua and Brazil. And, yes, there’s a story in each of those experiences.

What inspired you to write this book? What is the story behind the story?

My most recent literary award at the Florida Writers Association was for a creative non-fiction short story called “The River of No Return.” It’s the story of my participation in an ill-fated drug raid in the Peruvian jungle in the early 1990s. I wrote a fictionalized version of the same event in Lily of Peru (Peace Corps Writers, 2015) about a professor’s search for his missing girlfriend. Lily was inspired by my participation in the search for a young American woman who threw in with the guerrillas during the dirty little war between the Peruvian government and Shining Path subversives in the early 1990s. It won a number of top literary awards.

My second novel, The Girl of the Glyphs (Peace Corps Writers 2016), is about a young woman’s search for a mysterious “glyph” cave in war torn Nicaragua. The cave was a native holy site in pre-Columbian times and also a hiding place for pirate treasure. Glyphs was inspired by my search along with former Sandinista soldiers for their hiding place in a Mayan jade mine during the war. I co-authored this with my late wife Maria, who encouraged me to write about it. Glyphs also won a number of top literary awards.

A third novel, The Heretic of Granada (Southern Yellow Pine Publishing 2018), is a prequel to Glyphs and also received a number of literary awards. It’s the story of a Jesuit priest who discovered the same cave in 1740s and refused to divulge its location to Inquisition fanatics who wanted to destroy it. He escapes on the day he is to be burned for heresy and is chased across the Spanish Main by soldiers of the crown, agents of the Inquisition, pirates, and even bounty hunters. Heretic also has a strong romance element.

What has been your biggest challenge or obstacle?

I began Lily of Peru many years ago when I was a young Peace Corps Volunteer in a dismally cold Mapuche Indian village in southern Chile. It was supposed to be a romance about my involvement with the girl who got away—a young Peruvian exchange student who had to return home. Graduate school and employment interfered so Lily remained on an old floppy disc until I was back in Peru in the early 1990s with US/AID (Agency for International Development). The story evolved during a period of intense danger and bloodshed, but was not completed until I retired and my late wife encouraged me to submit it for publication. Although the novel is fiction, it’s based on many actual experiences, so I had to change names, locations, and circumstances, hoping the bad guys (and there were many) wouldn’t find me.

What has been your biggest “aha” moment or success?

The success of my first published book, Yankee Autumn in Acadiana (UL/Lafayette, Center for Louisiana Studies 1979) was unexpected. The book was inspired by Civil War events that took place in and around my old family home in Louisiana. The house was constructed in 1790 and was used as a stagecoach stop from New Orleans as well as a meeting place for vigilantes in the 1850s and a Civil War hospital and headquarters during one of the Union invasions of 1863. Yankee Autumn won the top literary award in Louisiana that year and gave a big boost to my literary aspirations. It was also the basis for a couple of stage productions about the Civil War in Louisiana. My second non-fiction book, Vigilante Committees of the Attakapas, was adapted into the movie, Belizaire the Cajun, starring Armand Assante.

What authors do you like to read? What books have had a strong influence on you?

Favorite dead authors—H. Rider Haggard, Joseph Conrad, W.H. Hudson, Herman Wouk, Robert Louis Stevenson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Michener, Cornelius Ryan, and Hemingway.
Favorite contemporary authors—Ken Follett, Nelson DeMille, Ann Patchett.
Strongest influence—For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms.

Do you write every single day? Any writing rituals?

I write almost every day, beginning in the morning until about 2-3 pm. As for rituals, I research every subject, every item, every period and location. This slows my progress but I want every detail to be as accurate as possible—the way people spoke or dressed, the issues of the time, what they ate, the cars they drove.

What are your interests outside of writing?

I enjoy international travel, exploring places I’ve read about but never visited. I also love exploring the streets, restaurants and docks of Tarpon Springs. I’m active in my local Rotary club, history society, and serve as moderator for a writers’ group, and am on a museum board. I have seven beautiful grandchildren and try to spend time with them and also time with relatives and friends at my old family home in Louisiana.

Share some tips: What would you do differently? What would you do the same? Please share anything you think would be beneficial to those reading this.

I have enjoyed my work and occupation but often wish I’d studied to become a professor of creative writing instead of a professor of economics. I also wish I’d worked harder at being an author when I was younger instead of waiting for summer breaks or retirement. On the other hand, my adventures/experiences in my occupation have been an important resource—sooo I probably wouldn’t have done anything differently.
As for writing tips, I have a few. When I switched from non-fiction to fiction I prepared myself by attending classes on creative writing, by reading dozens of how-to books, by joining writing groups (or creating my own groups) and studying the craft by analyzing every movie I watch and every book I read. I’ve since taught a couple of college level courses on creative writing centered on what I call the elements of best-selling novels (or blockbuster movies).
I believe serious wannabe authors can master the craft by using each book they read (or movie they watch) as a learning process. Focus on the following elements to see how it’s done. The protagonist. The inciting incident that sets the story into motion. The goal. The consequences for failure. The obstacles hindering the character. The supporting cast. The setting. The clashes of the character with the obstacles. The final showdown. The resolution.
Here’s the bottom line for me. In order to keep my attention, a good novel must have certain crucial elements.
1. A character faced with a BIG issue that he/she must resolve. This issue may have been thrust upon the character by circumstances or an issue the character takes upon himself/herself.

2. Serious consequences for failure.

3. Formidable barriers standing between the lead character and the goal.

4. Big clashes with these barriers. Conflict is what keeps the reader turning the pages. Will he/she succeed or fail?
In short—no big issue, no stakes, no barriers, no conflict = no interest.

 

Renee Garrison is the award-winning author of The Anchor Clankers. To suggest an author interview, email her: rgarrison@bestversionmedia.com

Top 100

Tags

Florida architecture, history, Houses, Memories, Preservation

From the onion-domed palace of Henry B. Plant in Tampa to the quaint conch houses of Key West, architecture in the Sunshine State reflects the dreamers who built it.

Floridians recently had the opportunity to vote for their favorite buildings throughout the state (www.aiafltop100.org.) More than 1.8 million votes have been cast and the winners of the Top 100 competition sponsored by the American Institute of Architects of Florida will be announced later this month.

It’s important to remember that many of these remarkable buildings faced demolition at some point. Without the tireless efforts of historic preservationists, much of Florida’s cultural legacy would have been lost.

Of course, the original purpose of many surviving structures has changed: Marjorie Merriweather Post’s 1924 Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach now houses a private club. The San Jose Hotel built in Jacksonville during the Roaring 20s became the Bolles School in 1933.

But the fact that they survive allows future generations a peek into Florida’s rich heritage and history.

　Gov. Rick Scott proclaimed April as “Florida Architecture Month” and this year marks the 100^th anniversary of the Florida chapter of the American Institute of Architects. I suggest you visit their website, and then visit the Top 100 winners that give Florida its unique character!

Above: The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables