A Visit with Patra McSharry Sevastiades, Co-Author of Grace Unbound

Patra McSharry Sevastiades

Patra McSharry Sevastiades is an accomplished author, editor, and advocate whose career bridges publishing, education, and community leadership. She began by editing scientific papers for Soviet émigré scientists before authoring nine acclaimed children's nonfiction books, including The Vietnam Veterans Memorial and The Hoover Dam. Her editorial work includes significant religious texts such as Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation and The Gospel of Love: A Meta-Translation. 

She served as Editorial Director at Rosen Publishing Group in New York and later as Executive Director of the Duluth Library Foundation, championing literacy and civic engagement. A widow of Greek Orthodox priest Fr. Philemon Sevastiades, she now lives in Duluth, Minnesota, with husband Dean Casperson, their blended family of seven children, and nine grandchildren. Her latest work, co-authored in 2025, is Grace Unbound: The Sacred Activism of an Orthodox Bishop, a compelling narrative of faith-inspired social justice through the life of Bishop Demetrios C. Kantzavelos.

 

EN: What was your role with the Duluth Library Foundation and what is the foundation's mission? 

Patra: I worked at the Duluth Library Foundation from 2011 to 2021. In the last several years of my time there, I was the executive director. Before that, I was an independent contractor, a consultant trying to make things happen. The mission of the Duluth Library Foundation was to expand the Library's capacity to purchase materials and offer programs beyond what the city budget allowed, and I'm happy to say we were able to accomplish that owing to the graciousness of generous donors and the success of pursuing grants. 

 

We had an endowment, of course, which grew from $700,000 at the time that I started, to $2.1 million by the time I left. That felt pretty good. Obviously, that has to do with how money is invested and how the market is doing, but it also reflected remarkable bequests and gifts from people with a heart for the library and books. It gave us a capacity to help the Library, as did several fundraising events and campaigns that we ran each year. It was a joy to see the librarians happy with expanded resources and especially to see children and adults enjoying something that the Foundation made possible.

 

EN: What prompted you to ask Santa for a dictionary when you were six?

Patra:  Why did I ask Santa for a dictionary when I was six years old? I liked language. I thought it was fun knowing stuff. I think, too, that to the child I was, a dictionary embodied the idea that life is safe, not chaotic. A dictionary means that a word has a meaning, or meanings, that are predictably the same.

 

EN:  You have published four books for young readers on diverse themes including The Vietnam War Memorial and the Hoover Dam. What inspired you to tackle these projects and what did you learn from writing books targeted to 8-10 year olds?

Patra:  The reason I wrote the children’s books that I did was because there was an opportunity.  Those books needed to be written to round out a series, and I was willing, and I needed to earn more money. It was a way to accomplish those things. It was fun to learn how to write for a certain age. It forced me to simplify my thoughts and boil them down to their essence. I also like learning facts and the often-surprising histories behind each topic.

 

EN: Your career has taken you from studying Russian in Moscow to editing in Washington, DC, and advocating for literacy in the Midwest. How have these diverse experiences shaped your perspective on resilience and adaptability, especially for women navigating multifaceted careers?

Patra:  Looking back, there seems to be rhyme and reason to it, but at the time, it certainly didn't seem like it. Life is full of twists and turns, and you follow your heart and your intuition. Opportunities popped up in moments I didn't expect them. Things happened, and I had to pay the bills. A door would open and I'd walk through it, and unexpected things would happen on the other side of the door. I suppose I don't see that as being unique to women, or to parents. As a parent, I found, part of you has to pay the bills for your children’s sake, they're depending on you. It's not just you or your spouse, but these little faces looking up at you. Necessity and resilience both played a part.

 

I'm grateful there has been so much good in my life. So many doors did open, and there was a kind of a through line that brought me from being a six-year-old wanting a dictionary to studying Russian in college because I loved the work of Dostoevsky, then from translated Russian manuscripts to mainstream publishing, through publishing to my first husband, and from that to raising money for the library, which in turn brought me to my second husband, himself a book collector.

 

I would say this: keep your eyes open. Look for the next opportunity. I often kept my nose to the grindstone and didn’t look up enough to see what else might be possible. I wish I'd done more of that.

 

L to R: Patra Sevastiades, Catherine McSharry and
Bishop Demetrios C. Kantzavelos

EN: Your role as an editorial director in New York involved growing both the team and the number of books published. Can you share a memorable experience from that time where you helped bring a writer’s vision to life, and how did that shape your perspective on the power of storytelling?   

Patra:   My interest in the power of story and storytelling and shaping it got started when I was working outside of Washington, DC, for Delphic Associates, a “beltway bandit” that secured government contracts seeking information during the Cold War about Soviet science. My boss, Gerry Guensberg, owner and founder, had a vast and growing collection of resumes from Soviet scientists who had immigrated to the United States. The US government might want a paper on Soviet helicopter technology, and Jerry would find a scientist to write it and would submit a proposal. Once the contract was secured, we would commission a paper and then have it translated. 

As a rule, the scientists  are brilliant but usually not great writers. We would have it translated into English and then work with the author to improve it, working by phone and also face to face. We added historical background and political context and made sure the text was clear to the general reader. Then we published it. I discovered that I loved the process, and I loved working with authors.

 

EN:  Can you share a little more about your career as an editor?

Patra: In my experience as an editor, the magical part happens when you help an author see with fresh eyes how their manuscript reads. I remember one particular moment when I had the pleasure of working with Robert Olen Butler, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He submitted a short story to our publication, Icarus, a quarterly of international writing, modeled after Granta but for young adults. It was excellent. As was my norm, I wrote a letter complimenting the author on the story and suggested only one small change, to clarify a slightly confusing image of the movement of a fish.

 

Then I called him, as previously agreed, and he was angry at me. He had a point: he was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Who was I to suggest a change to his story? I listened to him, and when he was done venting, I said, “I understand what you're saying.” Then I asked, “May I tell you how I understood the sentence as it is written?” 

I read the sentence and told him what had confused me: I couldn’t tell if the fish was in the boat or outside of it. That had made me stop and wonder.

“My concern,” I told him, “is that if a reader stops reading because something is unclear, they might just stop reading and put the book down. I don't want them to put the book down. I want the text to be clear enough that they'll keep reading.”

He listened and perceived that it was in his interest that I made my suggestion, it wasn’t about my ego. “Tell me how you would change it,” he said. I read it to him with my suggested change. “Oh, that's all,” he said. “That's fine.” He was a lovely, gracious person.

That was a great experience. It was and is a pleasure to work with other people and come to a good resolution. It is satisfying to see good ideas get better. 

CONTNUED

Nevada Bob in Nashville: Sharing Experiences from His Storied Life

Nevada Bob with Eric Dahl on set of
Nashville's Rock & Review

Yesterday morning singer/songwriter/rancher/author Nevada Bob Gordon was on Nashville's Rock & Review show to discuss his new book 50 Years with the Wrong Woman. Hosted by Eric Dahl, the program was filmed when Nevada Bob was in Nashville this summer recording his sixth studio album/CD, backed by Charlie McCoy and some of Nashville's finest. 

One aim of a show host is to make guests feel comfortable in front of the camera, and you can tell Nevada Bob is precisely that. He looks right at home.

A second goal of an interviewer is to get the interviewee to talk by asking open-ended questions. No producer likes dead air during a show. 

A third aim is to produce a show that viewers will enjoy and tell their friends about. That's why Eric Dahl enjoyed sharing Nevada Bob Gordon with his Rock & Review viewers.

Nevada Bob loves telling stories and as anyone will attest he has a massive warehouse of stories inside of him. Mr. Dahl was clearly having a good time. (Or else he's an exceptionally talented actor.)

I had to laugh when Bob talked about his age. When this segment was filmed he was nearing 83 but he often hears people say, "I can't believe you're a day over 80." 

I'll add here that Nevada Bob still has the spirit of a youngster and the innocence of a child in some respects. Yes, he's seen a lot of life--both the sunshine and the storms--but he continues to be remarkably curious about new things and has become neither cynical nor jaded. 

For the record, this is just a fragment from a longer interview which is slated to air on Saturday. 

Here's the link to yesterday's interview on YouTube:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQHa3CzIjAo

You can follow Eric Dahl on Twitter @ericrocksnash   

You can follow me as well: @ennyman3

Purchase 50 Years with the Wrong Woman HERE

Purchase the Audiobook HERE

Related Links
Nevada Bob Meets the Beatles 

Singer/Songwriter Nevada Bob is a Storyteller Too
Nevada Bob Finishes Album Six in Nashville

Nevada Bob Gordon in Nashville.

Roz Warren Writes for Everyone from the New York Times to the Funny Times

Librarian/author Roz Warren

As I've indicated many times, Medium has been a great place to meet a lot of interesting people. It's a community of writers and readers, with a full spectrum of interests on every facet of life and a range of experience from beginners to lifetime professionals.

In some ways Medium is similar to other social media platforms. For example, you can choose to "follow" people, and they frequently follow back in turn. And since Medium was founded by Ev Williams, who co-created Blogger and later Twitter, it has gives member writers a chance to write self-descriptions that succinctly say who they are. I very much liked Roz Warren's slogan, which got me into reading one of her stories, and then another.

She's got a bright wit, and knows how to tell a story.

EN: Can you briefly describe your path as a writer?

Roz Warren: Like a lot of writers, I began writing as soon as I could hold a pencil and never stopped. I began publishing short fiction in my 20s, in magazines from Beatniks from Space to Seventeen Magazine. These days, I write essays and humor, for everybody from the Funny Times to the New York Times.

And, of course, I write on Medium.

EN: What kind of law did you practice and was there a trigger incident that prompted you to leave that behind to become a librarian?

RW: I was a bankruptcy attorney. Twenty-two years ago, I impulsively took a job at my local public library when I realized that having fun was more important to me than having money. I have no regrets.

EN: Do you have an especially funny library story you can share here?

RW: Here's the first funny story I ever wrote about library work. It's included in Our Bodies, Our Shelves, my collection of library humor.
(EdNote: Go read A Nun Walks Into A Library...)

EN: Were you a class clown? Would it surprise your Detroit classmates to see you getting published in Reader’s Digest and the New York Times?

RW: I was never a class clown. I was not a goofy, attention-grabbing little girl. Instead, I was the kid in glasses with her nose in a book at all times. So I doubt anyone was surprised when I became a writer. But they may not have expected that I'd be a humor writer.

EN: Do you have a philosophy or process about humor writing?

RW: I don't know why, but I've always cared a lot more about funny stuff than other people seemed to. I like to laugh. I read a lot of humor and watch a lot of comedy, and when I write, I "write funny." That's just my voice and it always has been.

EN: What is it that makes written humor effective?

Roz loves libraries and being a grandma.

RW: For written humor to be effective, it has to surprise the reader. In a good way.

EN: In the same vein, have you ever done stand-up? You strike me as outgoing. How is stand-up comedy different from humor writing?

RW: I'm not at all outgoing. I think of myself as a friendly introvert. Library work is perfect for me because I love interacting with people, but one at a time. And in a situation that has some structure.

I've never wanted to do stand-up. Becoming a successful stand-up means hanging out in bars and clubs with other comics till 2 in the morning. It also means hitting the road to hone your act.

I want to write in my home office alone in my pajamas and be in my own bed every night by 10. That, to me, is a perfect life.

I once appeared on the Today Show. My Today Show goal was to not die of fright on live TV in front of 5 million people. I'm happy to say that I met that goal. And while I'm glad I met the challenge of entertaining millions of people on live television, that one taste of fame didn't make me eager to repeat that kind of live, high-pressure tightrope walk.
(EdNote: Here's where you can read Roz's An Introvert on the Today Show.)

EN: Your Leonard Cohen story was a fun read. Did you ever get a chance to see him again?

RW: I'm glad you enjoyed it! It's so great when your heroes turn out to be as wonderful as you'd hoped they'd be.

My editor at the Times required that Cohen sign off on the accuracy of the essay before it was published, which he did, through his manager, so I know that Cohen read it. But I never saw him again after the night I wrote about.

But that's okay. I got one more night with Leonard Cohen than most fans got.

EN: Any tips here on how to get bylines in Reader’s Digest or the NYTimes?

RW: In both cases, I didn't submit work. Instead, editors read my work online and got in touch with me. Reader's Digest asked if they could reprint one of my humor pieces. And an editor at the Times recruited me to write for "Booming," their (at the time) brand new blog for Baby Boomers.

I wrote about that experience here: Why Every Essay You Write Should Be the Best Essay You Can Write.

The takeaway? Make sure that everything you write on Medium is as good as it can possibly be before you publish it. Because you never know if an editor for Reader's Digest or the New York Times (or a Today Show producer) will end up reading it.

EN: Thanks, Roz. Great fun, and useful info for writers as well.

* * * *
Related Links 
OUR BODIES, OUR SHELVES: A COLLECTION OF LIBRARY HUMOR 
JUST ANOTHER DAY AT YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARY
You can also read more of her work here: https://muckrack.com/roz-warren
What’s In A Name? A Batch of People With Interesting Medium Profiles
Roz Warren on Medium

A Visit with Optimistic Futurist Joe Tankersley, Author of Reimagining Our Tomorrows

Joe Tankersley

I've always been an amateur futurist it seems. Perhaps it was the 1964-65 World's Fair that set the wheels spinning. The Ford, GM and Disney Pavilions showed us fantastical visions of tomorrow. (Nothing quite so fantastical as Woody Allen's Sleeper, but close.)

In 1964, pictures of the future were all around us. I remember eating Cheerios and reading the back of the box over breakfast in which they showed a car of the future floating on a cushion of air so you could float from land onto lakes. That was supposed to happen the 80's. Back to the Future II showed skateboards that were like hovercraft as well. We apparently love the concept of hovering.

All this to say that I've routinely taken and interest in articles and books about the future. In the 80's I used to take Futurist magazine out of the library and we all read Toffler's Future Shock. Megatrends seemed to have a pretty hefty title and created a measure of buzz. And who among us has not read Brave New World or 1984?

A couple years ago a friend and I outlined a concept for a novel about a positive future, primarily as a response to the seeming multitude of dystopian futures being written about or portrayed in movies today. That exercise, of trying to solve all the world's problems in the 21st century, served as a good appetizer for Joe Tankersley's Reimagining Our Tomorrows which I acquired at the beginning of 2019.

According to his Amazon.com bio, the author is "a futurist, writer and advocate for better tomorrows. He combines his experience as a storyteller with the tools of strategic foresight to help others create compelling visions for our futures." (You read his full bio here.)

EN: What is your background and how did you come to be an optimist about the future?

Joe Tankersley: I’ve always been a storyteller and I’ve always been intrigued by the stories we tell about the future. About twenty years ago those two interests came together. At the time I was working as a writer for Walt Disney Imagineering and was assigned to a project on the life of Walt Disney. It was there that I discovered Walt’s vast body of work dedicated to imagining “Great Big Beautiful Tomorrows.” In fact, the first time I heard the term optimistic futurist was in an interview that Ray Bradbury did talking about the old Disney Tomorrowland episodes. It immediately clicked for me and I knew that this was the perfect way to combine my skills with my desire to contribute to better tomorrows.

EN: Over the course of a lifetime there have been many predictions about the end of life as we know it. The energy crisis, the population bomb and the threat of nuclear war were dark clouds during the past half century and global warming is the most recent iteration of this fearful end-of-the-world future. Is progress being made?

JT: Being an optimistic futurist is not always easy. The threat of climate change is a perfect example of the kind of challenge that can make it difficult to imagine a positive future. Being optimistic means putting end of the world scenarios into perspective. I always tell people, the past was messy, the present is messy and so there is no reason to imagine that the future won’t be messy, too. But, I do believe we have the capacity to nudge our future in positive directions. History supports this idea. Less people live in poverty today than ever before, fewer die from wars, more children and women survive childbirth. The list of our positive accomplishments is long. Humans have a fascinating ability to often wait to the very last minute to address the biggest problems but when we get mobilized we tend to be very good at imagining our way out of these predicaments.

EN: We pretty much know that bad news sells, that wars have been invented to sell newspapers. Is the media at fault for the widespread dystopian views of the future? How will this be fixed?

JT: I believe the media does have a powerful impact on our current lack of optimism about the future. While bad news has always sold there was a time when optimistic visions of the future were popular. There may be many reasons for the shift. One is the overwhelming flood of media outlets. The competition for attention has the effect of driving sensationalism. There is also the Future Shock factor that Alvin Toffler described 50 years ago. We are living in a time when change is happening so fast that our imaginations have a hard time keeping up. The result is that we retreat to darker stories.

This lack of optimistic imagination is, in my mind, the biggest threat to our future. Far greater than killer robots, or surveillance societies or out of control AI. Fixing it will not be easy. I am hopeful because I see a growing thirst from the public for positive stories. There are a handful of media outlets that are starting to try and serve this desire. If they can survive and grow, then we might see a slow shift back toward more optimistic storytelling.

We can support this movement by teaching children the value of critical imagination. Foresight should be taught in schools just like we teach history.

Photo by Drew Beamer on Unsplash

EN: Have there been any new studies (neuroscience or psychology) that show how what we imagine (or tell ourselves) will create what happens?

JT: I’m not aware of any large-scale studies that look at this question at the community or nation level. There has been research done that suggests corporations with a positive vision of their future tend to outperform others. A great deal of research has also been done on the individual level- everything from the power of visualization to help athletes perform to the role of hope in a person’s health, academic achievement, and happiness. Most of those studies find a positive correlation.

EN: Social media was purportedly going to bring people together. Have you been surprised by the polarization and rise of hatred caused by social media?

JT: I’m not sure that I would agree social media has caused these problems. It has certainly been a platform for ugly views that have long been widespread. By bringing these views out of the darkness it certainly has helped to embolden some fringe players and has contributed to specific acts of violence. Long term, though, I actually believe that by exposing these views to a much wider audience we will see a greater effort to silence the hatred being spread. Transparency will turn out to be one of the most powerful weapons for protecting democracy and promoting equality in the future.

EN: What kinds of things have you learned by writing this book?

JT: The hardest thing for me in writing Reimagining Our Tomorrows was figuring out how to create positive future visions that were still filled with some sense of conflict and excitement. It is much easier to write exciting stories about the end of the world than to write stories that reflect a positive outlook without becoming fantasy.

EN: What was the most surprising feedback you’ve received from readers?

JT: I’m surprised by the diversity of readers who have responded favorably to the book. I really imagined that it would appeal to audiences between the ages of 18-35, but I’ve had people of all ages tell me that it changed the way they thought about the future. That is always humbling.

Related Links
Find it here on Amazon:
Reimagining Our Tomorrows
My review of Reimagining Our Tomorrows:
Feeling Blue about the Future? Not All Futurists Are Dystopian

An Interview with Author and ePublisher Nicole Akers on the Writing Life

In June 2007 I created this blog called Ennyman's Territory for the purpose of learning about blogging. Little did I know that 12 years later it would become a way of life of sorts. When I learned last year that Ev Williams, the co-creator of Blogger who was later instrumental in the creation of Twitter, had now founded a new platform for writers and readers called Medium, I was more than intrigued.

There were many aspects of Medium that I especially liked. Foremost was the elegance of the "look" of the pages, plus the ease of use. It was populated by a community of writers and readers from the four corners of the world, and it was possible to receive financial remuneration for one's efforts. For me personally, the feature I especially liked was that I could import content from my other blogs and website without having it hurt SEO.

I've met a many interesting people through Medium over the past 18 months. One of these is Nicole Akers, a writer who also manages a publication she created on Medium called Publishous.

EN: How did you come to take an interest in writing?

Akers' first book.

Nicole Akers: I took an interest in writing in fourth grade. My Creative Writing teacher, Janet DiSilvestro, was influential in my writing path. She encouraged us to be different. I remember her standing Robert Frost’s “The Road Less Traveled” and kind of adopted it as a motto for life, to be different. Little did I know then how different I would be.

Janet DiSilvestro has been extremely influential in my life. As she stood (standing) there in front of class orating Robert Frost's poem, I can remember everything about her, down to her feet close together and the bow on her black shoes. She encouraged us to be different in our lives and in our writing. If we followed the road less traveled, it would make all the difference. I've made that my motto for life, to stand out by being different. Actually, my husband and I are very different from the rest of our family, much to their chagrin.

We never know when we will be deeply touched by something or someone, but Janet touched me deeply and continues to do so. She drove from Ohio to Indiana for my first book signing, a self-published book of poems called Crossroads.

EN: What kinds of writing do you do?

NA: I write mainly non-fiction, on the topics of self-help and parenting. An interesting shift, since I graduated from college at Indiana State University as an English major, with Journalism and Creative Writing minors. I hope the well-rounded schooling serves well as a foundation for multiple ranges of techniques.

EN: Do you make a living as a writer or is it something that is a moonlighting occupation?

NA: Writing is close to becoming a full-time income for me. It developed as a hobby but became a dedicated passion when my husband took a one-year sabbatical. It was time to make the thing I enjoyed also pay the bills.

Stats show how Publishous has gained traction on Medium.

EN: How long were you on Medium before you started Publishous? And what prompted you to start a publication? Did the publication precede Medium or is it an off-shoot from your Medium activity?

NA: The progression on Medium for me is interesting because Medium is the platform where I did not want to be. I drug my feet, with heels dug in, before literally being drug onto the platform by writer friends. At first I thought it was just another platform, and I need another platform--said no writer, ever. (joke). I started writing on Medium to get my writing noticed in other places and was only there about 6 months or so before starting the publication. The publication grew quickly and had strong traction before Medium opened the option for writers to make money by publishing the writing on the platform. Timing, as they say, is perfect, and I feel I am in the place I am supposed to be in the time I am meant to be here.

Publishous is almost two years old, as of the first week of December we will be 2. In that short time, we've achieved a lot and continue exponential growth. I'm making some additions this weekend. We have three full-time columnists and ambitious goals to meet by year-end. By the time your piece is published, we should have 22,000 following the pub and I've included a pic of recent stats, showing more than 400,000 unique visitors in 30 days. It is much closer to 425,000 now.

EN: Where would you like your writing to take you in five or ten years? Do you have a path?

NA: Yes, I have a path. I think a writer who doesn’t have a path needs to develop a plan, at least with a six months to one year outlook and a 3-5 year general forecast.

Next for me, includes speaking. I’ve found Toastmasters and there’s something exciting and exhilarating about speaking. I’m honing the skills and soon will be looking for speaking opportunities. The broader outlook also includes podcasting and a publishing house. Publishous (Publish-us) has also been called Publish House from day 1. We joke about this often. We don’t care how you say our name, just that you write and read with us.


Related Links
Publishous and PublishousNOW.com

A number of Medium and Publishous writers have been meeting on Twitter from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. using a tool called PubChat. To participate use #PubChat to join the conversation between writers about writing.
To learn how, read What the Heck is a Twitter Chat?

A Visit With Amateur Futurist and Instant Millionaire Eric Martin

On several occasions I have mentioned my having become involved with Medium this past year, the blogging platform developed by Ev Williams. Williams, you may recall, was a co-founder of Blogger in the late 90's and later Twitter.

Eric Martin

The elegance and ease of use make Medium popular among users, but especially interesting is the multi-cultural community that has evolved. It has been enjoyable meeting so many new people, sharing one's writing and ideas and getting feedback.

In addition to posting on the forum you may also submit articles and poems to publications that have built followings on Medium. The publications cover all manner of interests, from literature to business and entrepreneurialism. Eric Martin is editor of a publication called Predict, a forward thinking publication to which I have been occasionally contributing. It wasn't till more recently I discovered he has many other facets of his life than merely managing this digital periodical.

A relatively young man, Eric won a competition that made him an instant millionaire. (See link at the end of this interview.) But that was only the first of many features of his life adventure.

EN: You called yourself an amateur futurist. Where did your passion for thinking about the future come from?

Eric Martin: It started with Technology, our family got our first computer when I was 4 or 5, and I've been hooked ever since. In about 6th grade I got interested in programming. Then, over the past 5+ years I've really gotten interested in Artificial Intelligence. In my mind, AI is the single biggest development that will shape the future of technology and the economy, so naturally I think about the future implications of it. A fascination with a computer led to a fascination with computation, which led to a fascination with AI, which leads to a fascination with the future.

EN: What prompted you to start Predict, your publication on Medium about futurism?

EM: I'm interested in future topics, but with Predict, I'm trying to create something where anyone can publish an article about the future. Many publications are very exclusive and only let certain writers in. Predict is the opposite of that. If someone is thinking something about the future and can write it into words, we want to publish it. We are not elitist and I believe that anyone can have an insight into trends and how the future will play out. No one holds magic cards with all of the answers, but any can have an insight that is valuable and turns out to be correct.

EN: Your book Liberation Day is a pretty dramatic response to government overreach. How did government infrastructure become so bloated in the first place?

EM: Quite the question. It's the slow but steady creep of Leviathan, compounding exponentially over 200 years now. In the case of the Roman Republic and Empire it probably started out slower. Unfortunately, not one has successfully created a system to stop the overreach of government. The Constitution would be amazing, if we only followed it.

EN: Politically speaking, you identify fairly strongly with a Libertarian view. Is this something that is fairly common among young people?

EM: I sure wish it was more common! Most young people vote less than older people. I think most young people largely try not to think about politics.

EN: Looking into the future… Do you think we’ll ever see a successful presidential bid by a third party?

EM: We already have, right? Wasn't Lincoln the first Republican when two other parties were entrenched? I think given a long enough timeframe we will see it. In the current state of affairs, a third party could win because people are disillusioned by the old way and because of new means of reaching the masses. In particular, I think an AI could enable a candidate with low funding to win in the future, as long as he's employing it much better than any of his opponents.

EN: What did you go to college for and how did you take an interest in writing?

EM: Good questions! I went to college for Political Science. I would say I don't have an interest in writing, per se, I just feel compelled to write about certain things that I care about, or ideas that I think up because I'm afraid they could be wasted if I don't publish them.

EN: What do you do for a living now?

EM: I'm helping to market an upcoming game of self-awareness... right now I'm helping to run a referral contest for them. Stock options are available to the top 20 referrers. You can learn more here: https://500bcfoundry.com/ and even sign up and compete if you're so inclined.

I work as a contractor remotely.

EN: Taproots looks intriguing. What is your role in this, other than modeling the benefit of a big incentive?

EM: My role is the referral contest team lead, I'm also helping with their social media, their blog, marketing in general, and just trying to improve their product with ideas and critiques here and there.

The company's goal is to help propel the know thyself and mindfulness movement into the mainstream. The movement is already getting there, but by creating a game that rewards users, we hope to make mindfulness a fun experience that also helps people live better, more self-aware lives.

EN: Thank you for sharing.

* * * *
Related Links
Story of an Instant Millionaire
Wal-Mart Deal Makes Overnight Millionaire Even Richer
Liberation Day @ Amazon

Roger DeLoach Shares His Passion for Nostalgia and Cars with a New Book: There Was A Time

About a month ago I brought my car to Melanson's in Adolph for an oil change and there on the counter was a new book by Roger DeLoach. I met Roger through the church we attended, but really got to know Roger through his involvement in stock car racing. Roger loved cars and enjoyed building race cars, for himself, his sister and later his son, who left the area to work with one of the NASCAR teams for a couple seasons.

The book is titled There Was A Time, and for car guys it's a pure delight. It's about the size of a glossy hard-cover children's picture book. Each two-page spread features a full-sized photo of a classic car on one panel and a story on the other. I was not only impressed by the beautiful photography, I was equally impressed at Roger's storytelling. He's a guy with a good heart and a passion for cars, and it really comes through.

EN: I like the title of your book, There Was A Time, where did the title come from?

Roger DeLoach: When I was young, I was anxious for the future. I had so many dreams that I couldn’t wait to get there. Now the future seems to be here before you know it, and the present slips into the past way too soon. At this age, I have a treasure chest full of dreams fulfilled; a treasure chest with the words “There Was a Time” carved deeply into its aged hardwood exterior. The title expresses my gratefulness for a past I very much enjoy remembering.

EN: You’ve always been a car guy. What is it that makes Baby Boomers so nostalgic about cars?

RD: I love this question because it goes to the very heart of the book. The term Baby Boomer was birthed in the aftermath of World War II. December 7, 1941 caused America to change over night. The bombing of Pearl Harbor forced men to war, women to factories and children to paper drives. Money once spent on creature comforts now went for War Bonds while factories stopped making toys and began making bullets. 1941 through 1945 became years of sacrifice. When the war ended, America took a deep breath and dove back into life with gusto. Our parents were ready to work hard and play hard. The price of freedom had been burned into their souls.

We Baby Boomers were blessed to be born in a time when people were happy to be alive. For most Americans, family time was valued: road trips, camping trips, trips to Grandma and Grandpa’s, visits with cousins who lived two hundred miles away, extended family picnics where grilled hamburgers and swimming made us believe life could never get any better. And all of these wonderful times had one common denominator…the family car. To a kid the family car was more than a mode of transportation to the next outing; it was a vehicle of anticipation for the next great adventure.

Not all Baby Boomers are car guys or gals. For many it’s not the love of the car, but the love of what the car represents. We are nostalgic about old cars because they spark a memory of a time and place we yearn to go back and visit.

EN: There are so many decisions that go into creating a book. This one is a picture book. How did you select your photos, and what was it like writing a story for each one?

RD: Sometimes I think the photos selected me. There were photos that just had a story to tell. Because cars have been such a big part of my life, it’s hard for me to look at one without being reminded of something. I can walk a car show and come up with a personal story for about ninety percent of the cars I see. In a way, writing this book was a wonderful release; it allowed me to put on paper things that have been rolling around in my mind for years. Of course, there were some stories that needed pictures. That began another adventure, hunting down the right picture for the story I had already written.

The challenge to this book was writing 25 one-page stories that had a beginning, middle and end, and, at the same time, convince the reader a complete story had been told. I read two books on writing short stories before I even attempted to put my thoughts to ink. Truth be told, though, I enjoyed this project more than most others I’ve done. This was not laborious; it was more like hanging out with old friends.

EN: Which are your favorite cars in the book and why?

RD: Picking a few favorite cars in the book is easy: The ‘59 Chevy, the ‘57 Oldsmobile and the ‘58 Corvette. The reasons simply come down to styling. I think they are beautiful cars to look at. The Chevy is the only one of the three I have personally owned, but the Olds was a family car and part of my childhood. The Vette, well, that’s something to dream about. My favorite car of all, though, is not in the book, but I am happy to say that it is in my garage. It was love at first sight, and I was only six years old at the time. The 1958 Chevrolet will always be first in the carport of my heart.

EN: Do you have a favorite story?

RD: Now this is a question that is harder to answer. It’s like asking which of my children I like the most. When you spend intimate time with each child you begin to see them as individuals that don’t compare to the others. I have favorite thoughts or maybe even a favorite sentence in each story. Some stories are true to my life, other stories I wrote because I knew they would be true to a reader’s life. The “Christmas Truck” that I end the book with, though, probably holds the most meaning. Yes, I did exercise some literary license in the telling, but the core of the story is true, and it was a life changing moment for me even though the full extent of its meaning wasn’t realized until some years later.

EN: My grandfather was supervisor of the Packard Plant in Warren, Ohio in the 50s and 60s. What makes the Packard so special?

RD: I have a feeling you threw this question in because you know the answer. If my grandpa was Supervisor of a Packer Plant I think I would know the answer. I do quite a bit of reading on automotive history, but I have to be honest and say I have not read up on Packard yet. You have sparked my interest, though, and now the Packard is the next car I am going to spend some time with.

EN: Was there a “best year” for Cars? Some might say 1957 because the ’57 Chev, ’57 Olds and ’57 Ford were all rewarding to drive and look at. What years were your favorites?

RD: Oh, golly, when we were kids we thought every new year was the best. I bet a lot of your readers can remember the advertising blitz that hit the airwaves and magazines as the new models were rolled out. The designs and innovations of the fifties and sixties were, at times, beyond our imaginations. Government regulations and gas shortages put the brakes on in the seventies. I couldn’t say which year was best, but I would be willing to argue that the fifties was the best decade. And if I ever did find a time machine, well, I know where I would be right now!

EN: Where can people buy your book?

RD: My website is cdmproductions.net. This is set up for single sales. If anyone is interested in multiple copies they can reach me at rjdeloach@juno.com to save some money on shipping. If brick and mortar retail stores are interested in carrying the book, I do offer wholesale pricing on bulk orders. “There Was A Time” retails for $19.95.

Related Links
Hood Ornaments
One of my Pinterest Boards: All About Cars

Claudia Oltean Talks About Writing, Crime Fiction and Prohibition-Era Detroit

This is a follow-up to yesterday's blog post about the crime thriller Another Chance to Die. Claudia N. Oltean is a lifelong reader and writer. She's co-author of the LexisNexis-published book, Media Skills: The Lawyer As Spokesperson, and former columnist of Vines By The Glass, a wine column. The catalyst for this new direction as a writer was this: both of Ms. Oltean's grandfathers were newspapermen in Detroit, Michigan. Her paternal grandfather, Allen J. Nieber is the inspiration for her first novel, Another Chance to Die, historical crime fiction set in Detroit during the tumultuous, danger-filled Prohibition years.

Since 2003, Ms. Oltean has been a partner and co-founder of LegalPR, a public relations firm representing lawyers, their clients and other professionals in their interactions with the court of public opinion. She works closely with local, state and national media. I'm guessing that this proximity to legal processes has also been an informative influence on her new project.

Ms. Oltean is also a prolific business writer, particularly related to news stories and public relations, business development and organizational development. She's written and published national surveys on customer satisfaction and has acted as corporate spokesperson on marketing and customer satisfaction. She has extensive experience with video scriptwriting and production. 

Having crossed paths on Twitter, I quickly found myself drawn in by the work she was doing.

EN: You inherited your grandfather's reporter notes and physical articles. Were you already a writer yourself, or did this inspire you to develop the craft?

Claudia N. Oltean: I have been a lover of words and books since I was about four. My grandmother was English and a great lover of literature. She read to me from many genres and encouraged me to read widely. In school I found English and Lit to be among my favorite courses and I started writing poems, short stories and even a detective novel I’m certain was dreadful. I did a column for my high school newspaper and later wrote and published some magazine articles. My life and career took me into the corporate world, where I wrote many business pieces, including corporate video scripts. Several years ago I did a wine column for my local newspaper (great fun) and then co-wrote the nonfiction “Media Skills: The Lawyer as Spokesperson,” published by Lexis-Nexis. I have always wanted to return to my roots in fiction and inheriting an amazing archive in words and pictures of my larger than life grandfather’s life and times, especially during Prohibition, was the catalyst to starting this project – a labor of love on several levels.

EN: It's an ambitious project to write a novel, and more so a series of novels. When did you take a serious interest in writing how did it happen?

CNO: As described above, I got serious when presented with a wealth of information about a fascinating man in a time so crazy it’s hard to believe. You’re right, it is an ambitious project. I have written in whole the first book, “Another Chance to Die” and worked with a professional editor. I am now in the process of doing some reconstruction based on learnings I’ve accumulated during this process. Novels are a very exacting and complex form of writing, as I’m sure you know, and I keep learning and honing my skill by inches every day. I still hope to write the Man in the Middle series of three books, but realize it’s quite a task I’ve set for myself!

EN: Based on your opening chapter, I get the impression that your grandfather was a pretty tough cookie. Did you know him while growing up and what did you see in his notes that cast him in a different light from the man you knew?

Grandfather's badge.

CNO: My grandfather was one of the strongest willed, most formidable and yet charismatic men I’ve ever known. I was fortunate to be very close to him and my grandmother during my formative years. He made a big impression on me. And yes, he was a tough cookie. As a crime reporter he walked and worked in danger on a daily basis. He investigated, instead of just reporting obvious facts. He was deputized by Detroit’s Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and The Michigan State Police, so he carried a badge and a gun, along with a notebook – not something reporters are generally known for. Reading his notes brought him back to life for me and gave me new details about some of his escapades, but they very much reflected the man I had known.

EN: Detroit is one of those cities with a history... Henry Ford, unions, Heartbeat of America. Your book will unearth an underside that people are quite unfamiliar with. Can you tick off a few of the insights that will be revealed through Another Chance to Die?

CNO: Many people don’t realize that Detroit and SE Michigan were a major hub for Prohibition activity. Here are some interesting facts:

With its immediate proximity to Canada (in some places less than a mile across the Detroit River), this area is credited with bringing in 75% of all booze smuggled into the U.S. during Prohibition.

Michigan went dry almost two years before the Volstead Act was brought into law nationally. Michigan criminals had a tremendous head start in organizing ways to break and monetize the ban on alcohol. The most successful and notorious Detroit-based gang was the Purple Gang. They brutalized, intimidated and murdered their way to great wealth and a fearsome reputation. Al Capone made a move on their territory, but they scared him so much, he backed off and made a deal to split up the state, east to west. He also used them as distributors of his private label whiskey. The Purples are credited with 500 kills, more than Capone and his outfit could have claimed. It is believed that a few of the Purple Gang were among the shooters in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Working on another scoop.

Before Prohibition took effect, there were something like 2500 places to get a drink in Detroit. During the ban that number mushroomed to 25,000 places to drink – from little dives to swanky clubs complete with music, dancing and gambling.

Prohibition in Detroit spawned the mixing of the sexes and races in public, out drinking together and thumbing their noses at a law they thought was a joke. My grandfather’s notes indicate he felt that women were out in an unprecedented way and, in his experience, were open to sexual encounters. I don’t know if this was generally true, but I do know my grandfather was a player.

There was plenty of police and public official corruption during Prohibition. A number of them chose to participate in rather than prosecute illegal activities. In one year, 1925 I think it was, both the Detroit Mayor and Sheriff were arrested at a speakeasy.

EN: What made your grandfather tick? That is, what was it that drove him to put himself in such risky situations?

CNO: My theory on that is based on what happened to his mother and what kind of person his father was. When my grandfather was about 6 his mother was killed before his eyes. They were on the streets of Detroit and a runaway motorcycle trying to avoid collision with a trolley slammed dead on into her and grazed my grandfather. She died instantly, and he received a wound in the hip, which caused him a slight lifelong limp. I believe he felt responsible for not having saved her and did not like the sense of losing control. Control was a central element of his character and in his relationships. His father was Detroit’s top commercial photographer and owner of Colonial Studios. By all accounts he was a very exacting Dutchman and may have been emotionally distant. He was the son of a hard core Dutch Reform guy (my great-great grandfather) who emigrated to Michigan in the 1800s and was a founder of Detroit’s first church of that faith. Looking at my GG grandfather’s photo is enough to scare you, he appears so stern and unmoving. One interesting thing, my great grandfather was very dapper, and he passed that proclivity along to my grandfather – he was a tremendous clothes horse.

EN: What is your main character's quest in this series of stories in The Man in the Middle Series?

The Rum Runners were operating with impunity
while Federal agents looked the other way.

CNO: In the first book his drive is all about being the top guy on his paper and against the competing newspapers to uncover and report the big stories. As crime reporter there was an abundance of those during and after Prohibition. He goes through a big change however when his actions result in the death of his colleague and best friend. Then he is interested in working in cooperation with law enforcement to stick a wicket in the operations of the gangs, while being seen as the same old hale fellow well met reporter. It’s a dangerous path he has chosen to pursue, as it is for all double agents.

EN: Will there be some inside dirt on the auto industry? What other historical figures will show up in your pages?

CNO: My grandfather knew everyone who was anyone. He had a close relationship with the Kelley family – my father’s contemporary was Frank Kelley who was Michigan’s Attorney General for 38 years. His uncle Tom was chief of detectives for the Wayne County Sheriff’s office and a close associate of my grandfathers. He knew and interacted with various mayors and governors and yes, he had association with some of the famous automakers, especially the Dodge brothers. There is a kidnapping episode related to the Dodges that could show up in book 2. Al Capone is an active character in book 1 and will probably show up in book 2 as both he and my grandfather had a connection to the alcohol production industry in Montreal, Canada.

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Ms. Oltean is a member of the Historical Novel Society, The Florida Writer's Association and the National and Florida Sister's In Crime Organizations. She is active on social media, particularly Twitter. You can follow her on Twitter: @claudia_oltean

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RELATED LINKS
Last of the Capones Talks About Uncle Al