Interview with writer Eddie K. Wright

My special guest today is Eddie K. Wright. We’re chatting about his memoir, Voice for the Silent Fathers.

During his virtual book tour, Eddie will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

First time author Eddie K. Wright is a fitness trainer, Yoga instructor, spiritual motivational speaker and an inmate at a federal prison. His personal transformation upon realizing the Universal laws and love of life, supports his conviction in his "Gangster to Guru" book series. The premier release Voice for the Silent Fathers details the struggle and inner conflict with being the parent of a homosexual child in the day, and a known connected gangster at night. Overcoming his "No son of mine" mentality, by realizing the true meaning of unconditional love wasn't easy, but his deep insight, heartfelt honesty, and 'laugh to keep from crying' attitude, makes for a humorous read for anyone touched by this issue which means it's for everyone!

Welcome, Eddie. Please share a little about your current release.

Voice for the Silent Fathers is about the difficult relationship between me and my son. I was a teenage parent with a young son that spoke like a girl, whose favorite color was pink and had a mother who was the epitome of baby mama drama. I was no angel either as my criminal lifestyle is sprinkled throughout the story. This memoir is character driven and will take you on an emotional roller coaster from start to finish.

What inspired you to write this book?

I can claim to be the top leading expert in this field since as of June 2016, when Voice for the Silent Fathers was released, it was and to my understanding currently the first book written by a father of a homosexual son. It's a topic that fathers don't discuss and I know how important the father/son relationship is. I was inspired to let my son know what I was dealing with emotionally, the struggles that I was having to find the right answers to questions I didn't want him to ask since I didn't want a gay son.

Excerpt from Voice for the Silent Fathers:

Introductory Chapter Excerpt:

Was there anything I could do to stop my son’s homosexuality? When did I know my son was gay? What made him that way? I've witnessed the desperation in the eyes of fathers, from all walks of life, who have pulled me aside, away from listening ears wanting to know the answers to these frequently asked questions, agonizing the possibilities that their son might be gay.

Mothers seem to be more liberal about their sons decisions to choose what makes them happy in life and most importantly "who" they share their lives with, but for fathers, nine times out of ten the topic is taboo, especially the fathers who I've met in Federal prison, or on the opposite end of the spectrum working with celebrities in the entertainment business.

I can tell you first hand, I never thought I would write a book and never a book on a topic like this, but life is funny that way. I found myself raising a son at 18 years old, still a kid myself, with a baby boy headed down that taboo highway. I was confused, frustrated, and angry at the world. "Why me?" I often thought in those early days... Why has life thrown me this crazy curve ball?

Back then it wasn't so easy to talk to my friends about my son’s odd behavior, something's you just didn't talk about it. So I struggled alone, doing everything I could to stop the unstoppable.

This book is the "Voice of the Silent Father” for those going through the same thing I went through; and this is my story:

I was raised by my single white mother in the suburbs of Suffolk County, Long Island along with my sister Luvina who's three years older than me. Our African American father played a limited role in our lives, moving back to Rochester New York, when I was two months old.

Visiting with my father a few weeks out of the summer wasn't enough to make a big impact, let me correct that, it wasn't enough to instill the positive impact a young black male needs.

I wanted the type of dad that all of my friends had, taking them to Yankees games, and throwing the football around, but my father never made much of an effort to be interested in my life, which looking back to those early days definitely a contributing factor for me turning to the criminal lifestyle.

I promised myself that I would be the father I needed instead of the father I had. But who would have thought that fatherhood would inflict me with a catastrophe that would have me second guessing that promise.

My son Drew was born September 20th 1990. I don't know if homosexuality is a biological or mental condition. I never thought Drew grew up making a conscious decision to be gay, in the way other kids are making plans to be firemen, police officers, or doctors.

When I would ask him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would tell me all the normal kid choices and never straight out said "Dad, I want to be a gay ballerina dancer!" but as a father with a keen street intuition I sensed something was having a premature influence affecting Drew.

At a very young age he started sucking his teeth and rolling his eye's copying his mother. He would alter his voice to imitate a girlish tone and it would get on my nerves with every word spoken like the gayest stereotype on TV. This was when he was still very young, a toddler and I avoided paying too much attention to these signs for fear of re-reinforcing those flamboyant behaviors.

Around others, especially the women in Drews life, I was depicted as "Mr. Macho"... The bad guy who was "over-reacting" when I addressed and attempted to correct certain mannerisms that couldn't be ignored.

My "Gaydar" was active watching all his behaviors for a "Gayness Alert!" which would make me rush in like the heterosexual swat team to stop whatever he was doing and make it more boyish.

What exciting story are you working on next?

Next, I'm releasing The Evolution of a Gangster Turned Guru, which is a journey of my spiritual transformation over the last 13 years of being in prison.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

At the end of my third year of incarceration, I wrote a letter to a Chaplin, who read that letter to his congregation of over 2,000 people. He then asked me to write his Christmas Eve service. It took about 20 minutes to read and he read that letter over 11 times at different events, with life changes responses.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

One of the blessings of being in prison is that I do have time to write full time. I still have days when I get so busy that I might skip a day or two out of the week. I dedicate from 11:30 until 3:00 Monday thru Friday as my writing time. Other than writing, I spend at least 2 hours working out , an hour meditating and from 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm, I'm making cheese cakes or pizza's to sell so I can support myself and then call it the day.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

My writing quirk is that I use my bed as my desk and always have a cup of steaming hot black coffee close by.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be and became a gangster. I loved the movies like Scare face and the Godfather as a young teen. My younger childhood years, I loved Robinhood, always rooted for the Indians or the outlaws in cowboy movies. It was a struggle for my single mother, so I guess I really wanted to be rich and I saw the best way for me was to be a gangster.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

My main focus is spiritually self-helping my readers. As much as I tried to attempt to change my son from being gay, I realized that the change had to come from within. That's the solution to all of our difficulties and challenges we face.

Voice for the Silent Fathers will make you laugh out loud, drop a few tears, you'll hare me at times but love me in the end and find that you made a new friend. Thanks again!!

Links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Blog | Goodreads | YouTube

Buy link: The book will be FREE through Smashwords during the tour

Thanks for being here today, Eddie!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New interview with author Douglas Wells

Writer Douglas Wells has come back for a visit and today we’re chatting about his new contemporary literary fiction, How We End Up.

Bio:

Douglas Wells is an award-winning author who was born in Seattle, Washington. His father was an officer in the U.S. Army, and by the time Douglas finished high school he had lived in Hawaii, North Carolina, Texas, Okinawa, South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida. He earned his B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of South Florida and has taught English and Literature at several colleges.

Douglas has a unique interest in and perspective on the tragic, comical, and the redemptive in his characters. TouchPoint Press released his novel, The Secrets of All Secrets, on May 12, 2017.

The Secrets of All Secrets received the Literary Titan Silver Award on August 4, 2017, was a Finalist in the 2017 Independent Author Network’s Book of the Year Awards, and was a Finalist in the 2018 Amelia Island Book Fest and Expo Book Island Literary Award.

His new novel, How We End Up, released by TouchPoint Press on March 20, 2018, received the March Literary Titan Silver Award, and the following are comments from reviewers:

“Suspenseful…Nothing can prepare you for this tale as you find out how these characters ‘end up.’ Thought-provoking and intelligent.”

“If you only take one suggestion this year on what to read.  Read this!”

“This story forces us to transcend the pages of the book. A true masterpiece.”

“This book has it all.”

Douglas is a Professor of English at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Florida. He is the father of two grown sons, and he lives with his wife and two cats in Panama City Beach.

Douglas, welcome back to Reviews and Interviews. Please tell us about your newest release.

Jackson Levee, a professor, saves young twin girls, Hadley and Haley, from drowning. He soars to literary fame by writing about the incident and from media attention. The twins mature into troubled young women. Jackson’s success leads him to a job at an esteemed university where he meets and marries LaVeda, with whom he has a happy marriage, but his ascendant star falls soon thereafter. Hadley marries a womanizer then realizes she is gay. She sinks into alcohol and drug abuse. Haley suffers from depression then begins an ill-fated affair with her supervisor. She later marries an army reservist who is horribly wounded in the Iraqi War and whose PTSD threatens everything. Through twenty-five years, Jackson’s, Hadley’s, and Haley’s recklessness in sex, love, marriage, and life produce wild and horrific results. Through it all, they struggle to realize their destinies and find balance.

What inspired you to write this book?

I used to walk the beach in a park near my house. The park gets numerous visitors, mostly families, and I would frequently walk by young children playing in the surf. This area is known for its rip currents, and there are always news stories about people being caught in one and having to be rescued. It occurred to me that one day I might have to jump in after someone, particularly a child. Fortunately, I never had to. It got me thinking, though, about how these rescues are often called “miracles,” but the story stops there. It did not, of course, tell us the aftermath, so I began formulating a story that shows us how the characters were brought together by the rescue then what happens to them over a long span of time. People marvel that the girls’ lives were saved and at Jackson’s heroism, but it’s only for a brief moment. We live with them as their ensuing lives ironically often spin out of control, and we stay with them until they “end up.”

What’s the next writing project?

I’m working on a novel in which the central character leads five different lives, all separated from the others.

What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book? (or the biggest challenge with this book)

In reference to the novel I’m working on, I have to keep the character’s lives separate but somehow work in an oblique reference to the others. I think I’ve found a way to do that, but I’ll have to judge how it works out.

If your novels require research – please talk about the process. Do you do the research first and then write, while you’re writing, after the novel is complete and you need to fill in the gaps?

I usually know where in the novel I will have to do some research, but I wait until I reach that particular place in the story then I pause to investigate. A good example from How We End Up is the part when Haley’s husband is sent to Iraq. I researched the environment he would be in, what his duties would be, and similar details. I’m pretty sure I got it right. At least some readers have told me so.

What’s your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.

I work at a small desk where I have a view of my backyard and the canal beyond it in which boats pass by. I insist on working where I can see out a window. Better to stare at trees, birds, squirrels, and boats than at a wall.

What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside of your genre?

For fiction, I’m reading a literary novel by Taylor Larsen called Stranger, Father, Beloved. I alternate that with a biography of John Cheever. I went through a phase of reading all of Stephen Hawking’s books, two books on the Civil war, and my next book to read is John Le Carre’s Legacy of Spies. My reading choices are eclectic.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers today?

Just that I hope they will read How We End Up. I think it speaks to the experiences many of us have as we ramble through life.

Links:
Facebook | Twitter | Website

Thank you for coming back to Reviews and Interviews!

Thank you for the opportunity.

Interview with international thriller author Ed Mitchell

I’m ending the week with author Ed Mitchell, as we chat about his Gold Lust Series 3-in-1 bundle of books which are action-adventure international thrillers: Gold Lust, Gold Raid, and Gold Fire.

Bio:

Ed Mitchell was a foster child who later graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He went on to be an Airborne Infantry Ranger, a RAND Corporation Fellow, an aerospace systems engineer, and a community activist fighting to protect water resources in California. Along the way, Ed became a national award-winning author by weaving his real-world experiences from foxhole to space into his contemporary adventure/thrillers.

From private to Lieutenant Colonel, Ed served in Airborne, Air Cavalry, Armor, and Mechanized Infantry units, including guarding the DMZ in Korea and protecting nuclear weapons. Prior to the 1st war in Iraq, as the Space-Ground Combat Analyst for U.S. Joint Space Command, Ed fought that war in a simulator and analyzed the results for the command. Additionally, he spent years working National Missile Defense and Homeland Security research and development. Ed helped develop the prototype command launch center for the Army’s Strategic Missile Defense units in Alaska and California. Later, as a civilian Payload Integration Manager, he helped develop and test NMD kill vehicles for Lockheed Martin and Boeing. As a writer, he is proud of being a charter-founding member of the International Thriller Writers Organization.

Welcome, Ed. Please tell us about the book bundle for the Gold Lust series.

A bundle of three thrillers for the price of one, consisting of:

Gold Lust: Winner, best new fiction in the USA. Awarded by the American Self-Publishers Association.

Gold Raid: Winner, best action adventure thriller. Awarded by the San Francisco Bay Area Publishers Association

Gold Fire: As real as today’s headlines, threatening an attack on the U.S. mainland using nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.

The saga of Army hero Nolen Martin and stockbroker Maida Collins stretches from a massive gold strike, to Washington D.C. senate offices, and to terrorists threatening nuclear attack on the USA.

Nolen’s family and relationship with Maida are battered and challenged as they attempt to outwit a powerful international mining conglomerate, disloyal partners, and the Japanese Mafia. All determined to take control of their gold vein and destroy them. After the public learns of Nolen’s courage and character he is elected as an independent to the U.S. senate. There he applies his count-terrorism and financial experience to help America hunt down the son of Osama bin Laden who is threatening the world with stolen Russian nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles. Senator Martin is branded a traitor for negotiating with the terrorists, while behind the scenes he causes the President to emplace a prototype missile defense to protect East Coast cities. At the same time he pressures the FBI to send agent Cholo Cantera to team with an Israeli counterterrorism unit to find the deadly weapons.

But time is running out. Not only for the country but also for Maida and Nolen’s new baby. Little Georgia is losing her battle with an unknown syndrome that doctor after doctor does not know how to cure.

What inspired you to write these books?

I’ve always been good at looking downstream and assessing possible alternative situations. It’s a good skill for a military guy. So I often consider contemporary situations and ask myself what if x, y, or z happens? For example, the idea for the Gold Lust series of thrillers about an Army counter-terrorist who resigns his commission to help his ailing foster parents, came to me while attending the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

After class one day, I was thinking how useless it was for a terrorist to blow himself up in a market and kill a few people. It dawned on me that if we ever faced a terrorist general who had the strategic, logistic, and tactical skills trained into our military, then America would experience a terrible day. I also realized a story about a mastermind turning on sleeper cells in American would be informative and interesting. That’s when I began the writing my series of thrillers.

Unfortunately while I was halfway through writing the third book in the series, the 9/11 attack on New York City happened. I stopped writing that story because I had assessed vulnerabilities in America too well. I switched to another downstream threat that I felt could possibly happen: a modern-day Pearl Harbor attack on America with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles. Now, Gold Lust is as real as current headlines about North Korea threatening America with nuclear destruction.

If you want to experience the difficulty of defending American from inbound missiles, written by someone who helped develop the National Missile Defense system, then read Gold Fire.

Excerpt:

Chapter 1 — Advantage

August — Monterey, California

I hope she’s okay? Nolen Martin escaped from the noisy campaign hall into the dark, enclosed hotel veranda. He smiled spotting his wife silhouetted at the window, studying the crescent of lights sparkling along the shore and hills rising above Monterey Bay. Stepping behind her he crossed his arms around her pregnant belly. “Maida, I love you,” he whispered as he nuzzled the back of her neck, enjoying the sweet scent lingering in her brown hair. “How are you feeling?”

“Big, bloated and unattractive. But very proud of you. You’ll make a wonderful senator once the election is over in November.”

“You’re as attractive to me as the first day I saw you.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better. I was firing a shotgun at you while you ran off screaming into the woods.”

“I did not scream.”

“It sounded like screaming.”

“I was hollering at Digger to start the pickup. And I meant afterward when I first spoke with you at your cabin. I’ll never forget how those leotards molded to you.”

“Wrong day to try on a new mail order outfit a size too small. I would have blushed at the way you ogled me if I had not been so angry at you.”

“You forced me to look up at you standing on the porch. I couldn’t avoid noticing a beautiful shape and a face I wished I could wake up with every day.”

“You stared.”

“Gave you back the gold we pulled from your stream and answered all the questions you growled at me. That’s all. Nothing more.”

Maida turned to face him. “I liked how you stared.”

Nolen leaned down and kissed her lips until she slipped away. “I can’t wait to have this baby,” she sighed. “Eight weeks after that and I can return to jogging. I want to be able to look down and see my feet again.”

“I guess it’s time to tell you. Plus-size women turn me on.”

Maida softly punched Nolen’s bicep. “You’re wicked.” She cuddled her cheek against his shoulder “Most of all I want the waves of nausea to stop. Every time they return I worry I’m going to lose the baby.” She twisted a strand of her shoulder-length hair around her finger.

“Let’s go inside.” Nolen answered. “I’ll say goodnight to the crowd and we’ll slip upstairs to our room. You can rest while I massage your back.”

“No. Stay and network with the locals. You need their votes. But I appreciate how you always reassure me that I’m not ugly.”

“Votes are not as important as doing what the doctor ordered since you’ve been sick so often. Anyway, running for senator is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I can’t spell diplomatic and I’m not a good horse trader.”

“You mean you won’t sell your vote. That’s why I encouraged you to run for office.”

Maida stopped speaking when the ceiling lights brightened. Turning toward the doorway the couple saw Shirley May Hobalero. Tall, thin and sparkling from numerous diamond rings, bracelets and dangling earrings, she glided toward them in a shimmering white gown, disclosing the tantalizing contours of her mature curves.

Maida kissed Nolen on the cheek. “I knew it wouldn’t last. The world of politics has tracked us down again.”

What exciting story are you working on next?

The fourth book in my series is scheduled for release December 1^st. It is another international thriller. Hank Cameron, cousin to a U.S. Senator, is the most hated and most hunted man in the Middle East. Framed for stealing a religious relic that could enflame or end religious warfare around the world, he is isolated in Jordan. A dead or alive bounty has been issued for his capture. Agents of the Vatican, the Israeli Mossad, and Muslim terrorists all want what he has. Where to hide? Who to trust? Can he survive? Can the world?

To add to reader enjoyment with this book, I’m asking readers to take five minutes to preview the book as if THEY are the publisher’s trusted editor. Sitting in the editor’s inbox is the next book in my series. Their task is to select one of the author’s recommended titles and assess how it and the synopsis, and first grab, or turn off, the reader. Then pass their comments to the publisher and author, while realizing they are betting their company’s time, money, and future success on approving what’s submitted … or recommending changes or … recommend killing the project. I’m eager to hear from readers. Please click this link and begin previewing: https://booksbyedmitchell.com/category/preview-next-book/

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Fourteen years after I wrote the first word, sentence, and paragraph of my first thriller I saw it on a shelf in a bookstore. Six months later, in San Francisco I received the Best Fiction award from the American Self-Publishers Association. But it wasn’t until I started hearing from satisfied readers that I could call myself a writer. It made me smile when Carol D. said: “It’s your fault I have a sunburn. I couldn’t put the last three chapters down and stayed in the sun too long.”

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

My series is my time mistress. When my wife was alive and I had a full-time day job I would steal away to a room to write late at night. Now, I work every day on the book, and much of that effort is NOT writing. It includes doing a publishing task, such as converting a manuscript into an eBook. Or doing a marketing task such as interacting with book reviewers or improving my author website or getting a blurb from an expert to add to the back cover of the book. Time is also eaten when I prepare to write by conducting research on a technical aspect that will appear in the next thriller. Far more enjoyable is interacting with fans and readers on social media or those who provide comments at my website.

But the fun begins after I stop myself from doing everything else to write and edit a chapter.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I can confidently say that the only quirky thing about my writing is the hero is devilishly handsome, like me. More seriously, this is a hard question to answer. I’m not sure readers will consider the following two habits quirky. First, to quiet and focus my mind, I always turn on symphony or elevator music. Second, after I’ve drafted a chapter I slowly read it out loud. This helps we read the actual words and not what I planned to write. This editing technique helps me find and eliminate errors.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A good guy. A soldier.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Most of my readers are surprised by the surprising twists in my stories. I hope you are too. Please verify my claim by reading the first chapter of any one of my thrillers on my website.

Links:

Website | Twitter | Ebooks | Autographed books

Thanks for joining me today, Ed.