What would you like to tell readers about yourself?
Today S. B. Redstone will be talking about how he became a writer and what inspired him in regard to the story he's promoting.
* I had a childhood full of imagination. When I watched a cowboy movie, I created stories of cowboys and Indians, and I was always the star. I was Superman, an astronaut, Tarzan, policeman, and every other action hero. There was no creative writing in my school during my era. I hated boring school. Writing was school work. I hated school work. I did it. but I hated it. It wasn’t until I was in a junior, at a new college, in the library, with hours to kill, that I finally put my imagination on paper. I wrote loneliness sayings. “Wouldn’t it be horrible if you were good your whole life, never committed a sin, had a boring life, then went to heaven, and found no one there!” I enjoyed those silly thoughts, but I didn’t show them to anyone. Let me back up. I grew up with friends, engaging in the hobby of the week, always new fun projects, sometimes success and sometimes failure. It’s easy to try new things when you don’t worry about criticism. In college, English lit classes motivated me to write poetry. Friends liked them. With no skill or brains I took a giant leap and wrote a short story. Thankfully, it’s been lost in history. More years pass. The demands of college, masters’ degrees in school psychology and clinical social work, a post-graduate degree in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, working days and evenings, with a growing family, and home projects, my imagination never faulted, but who had free time to write. Near forty years of age, with more free time, it took my envy and jealousy of other writers to get me to finally sit in front of a typewriter. Stephen King was my inspiration. Picture this, two fingers hitting typewriter keys, reams of paper crumbled on the floor, no skill, no technique, and no brains, all I accomplished was writing a confused, sadly written story full of run on sentences, repetition, misuse of adjectives, and worse. Blind to my inadequacies, I sent The Demon Hunters to literary agents. One kindly one wrote back, saying you have talent, learn to write! With that kick in the pants, I stopped being delusional. I learned my craft through writing short stories, all of which were eventually published in online magazines. By the way, being self-taught is not something I would suggest other writers to do. We can be too blind to our mistakes. Spurred on by success, using my clinical experiences as an inspiration, I began writing a mystery thriller. Stop! In my therapeutic career, when I began to look at our species’ behavior from a unique standpoint, I’m urged by colleagues to write a book on human nature and relationships. I said, you would care what an obscure therapist from Long Island thinks? I’m not Freud. And my colleagues answered. “Everyone.” So, after years of research and development, Taming Your Inner & Outer Bullies: Confronting Life’s Stressors And Winning was published by New Horizon Press Books. Pure joy. More years pass. Back to fiction writing with no success. Believe me I had more than my share of impediments, mistakes, and phonies in the business. I retire. Now I have more than enough time for a writing career. All my efforts finally pay off. Black Opal books publishes my mystery thriller, A Sinister Obsession, to rave reviews. My dream comes true. I’m certain most writers have at least ten stories in their heads that they think are worthy of turning into a novel. I’ve accepted that fate has been in control of my life. One evening, I was with my senior friends and they were talking about how many books they read. I didn’t know that. And that got me thinking. Change course. Write a love story. Sort of a new hobby of the week. About dreams? My love of science fiction. Human nature. Nothing ordinary. Something out of this world. Out of this world? Sparklers flashed! Stardust Dreams was born. As I do, for several months I wrote the complete story in my head to make certain it was viable and interesting. Then I made it come alive on the pages.
* Unfortunately, true life is not a Hollywood movie, as much as Sage might want it to be, and problems abound. Mistakes in the past have turned Sage into a bitter old woman, and she turns out to be a less-than-perfect traveling companion which no amount of optimism, youth, or good health can cure. Can these two intrepid octogenarians-turned-immortals overcome the emotional scars of their pasts and achieve true happiness, or are they doomed to suffer for their mistakes, no matter how far from Earth they go?
* First, Sage gave me a look as if she’d just bitten into the foulest tasting food, then a burst of anxious laughter erupted from her unenthusiastic face. “That’s your hope?” She tried to hold back her mocking smirk, but couldn’t. Her defiant nature hardened to ice. “Now, why would I want to do that?”
* Lance and Sage awaken on an alien world. “Hi, Sage,” I said calmly. “It’s safe. You can come out. No monsters. Just friends. He doesn’t bite.”
* Despite my attempt to relieve her mounting worries, she was still wary and stepped cautiously out on the patio, her head nervously jerking about. She was wearing blue jeans and a pink blouse. “We’re on Earth---right? We’re back home?”
* My laugh was kind. “No Sage. We’re on the friendly planet of Pirodinos, some eight thousand light years from Earth.”
* “Bullshit! I know Earth when I see it,” she said nastily, apparently thinking I was deceiving her.
* “Then, you better take a good look. Look at the tree bark. The sky. I don’t believe the last time you were on Earth that it had more than one moon.”
ANNOUNCEMENT! S. B. Redstone will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour! So be sure to leave a comment AND use the Rafflecopter below. Also, visit the other tour stops for a greater chance of winning!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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