Interview of Author, Poet, Samuel E. Stone conducted by Mz Janice Eakle
Interview of Samuel E. Stone
By: Mz.Janice Eakle
Today’s Woman’s Interview is with Samuel E. Stone. Who is this man with such a smooth name? He is a member of today’s-woman. He has completed the journey of a career, as being a Police Sergeant for twenty-five years. He has been involved in many undercover assignments. Now he is retired and enjoying life. That’s not all. He is a Best Selling Mystery Author sharing the action of Law Enforcement packed within his novels.
Samuel is a very talented writer; not only with his novels but writing poetry as well. His poetry speaks to one as the heart of a peaceful individual, an honest human being. He has five books that are published and all of them are getting fantastic reviews. Here are the titles: “Shades” “Crush” “Downfall” “Blink” and “The Fiction Writer’s Bible”.
MZ.JANICE: I’d like to thank you Samuel for taking time for this interview. I would like to start with asking questions regarding your poetry: When did you first become interested in writing poetry?
SAMUEL: You’re welcome. First, I just want to thank you as well for conducting this interview. I first became interested in poetry back in high school. I believe it was the mystic nature of having to decipher the hidden meanings of words and phases that first sparked my interest in poetry.
MZ.JANICE: What would you say inspired you to write poetry?
SAMUEL: Oh, good question, but you’re going way back to my teen years. I really don’t remember what got me to start. I think, as I recall, I first started writing poetry just to see if I could and for the challenge it presented. Today, however, I write for more significant reasons exploring the qualities of life and existence.
MZ.JANICE: Do you have any poetry in publication?
SAMUEL: Yes, I have numerous poems which have found there way to publications.
MZ.JANICE: Who is your favorite poet?
SAMUEL: My favorite poet, that’s a hard question. I appreciate many poems by different authors, but I really don’t like all the poems of any one author. I have always been fascinated by the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Wadsworth, William Wordsworth, Robert Frost, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Emily Dickinson just to name a few.
MZ.JANICE: What is poetry to you?
SAMUEL: Now this may sound way out there but in order to give you an accurate and true answer I have to say that poetry to me is the window to our inter thoughts, desires, feelings, and beliefs. It is a blend of fantasy and reality as seen through the eyes of the author. It is a precious release valve of life’s hardships and unanswered questions stemming from personal issues and questions that haunt the depths of the writer’s very soul. I find reading poetry to me is inspiring, educating, and entertaining.
MZ.JANICE: Did you study writing, and if so, where?
SAMUEL: Yes, I studied prose and poetry in High School and found it fascinating. I went to San Francisco City College and studied literature where I once again studied poetry.
MZ.JANICE: Do you believe that people are born with the talent to write, or is it something that one has study to be successful at?
SAMUEL: I believe people are born with the intuitive ability to be great writers but that the actual skill of writing is an acquire skill constantly requiring practice and learning in attempt to achieve the unachievable perfection which we all desire.
MZ.JANICE: When did you become interested in writing mysteries?
SAMUEL: In 1996, I retired from the police department and found myself with a sense of lost of identity. I was after all, “the Sarge,” for many years responsible for overseeing operations within the department and safe guarding the community. Now, I wasn’t sure who I was any longer. I found myself rekindling the passion for writing I developed back in my youth and then put aside for 25 years while I wrote nothing but police reports. I transcended into Samuel E. Stone, Author.
MZ.JANICE: How do you come up with your characters?
SAMUEL: The golden rule of writing, as I’m sure everyone is aware, is “write what you know.” Little did I know at the time that my 25 years in Law Enforcement was actually my research years for my writing adventures. All of my fictional characters are made up from different traits and qualities I have witnessed in people over the years of dealing with literally thousands of people. One of my characters usually consists of qualities from a number of different people I encountered. I take these desirable traits and mold the behavior into the character I am envisioning in my story line.
MZ.JANICE: Do your stories just fall into place, or do you have to write, edit, rewrite, etc.?
SAMUEL: Do your stories just fall into place, yea right that would be so nice if they did but then again maybe it wouldn’t because then where would the challenge be? It takes me close to 4000 hours to write a novel. Now the story itself usually takes less than a thousand hours and writing the storyline is the fun part. Then comes the work, editing, rewriting, editing again, rewriting again, constantly striving for that unobtainable perfection and finally settling with the fact that it’s about as good as you are capable of making it be at this time.
MZ.JANICE: Is there anything new that you are working on right now?
SAMUEL: Yes, in fact there are two books which I am working on. The first is another in the Sam Stone series; it concerns the adventures of Sam Stone the retired cop turned private eye. This story I ran into a writer’s block with and it lost momentum so I shelved it for the time being. I am also working on a biography of an ordinary man which has required a lot of research which I have found to be fascinating.
MZ.JANICE: What advise can you share with the readers as far as your publication experience?
SAMUEL: I spend about a year back in 1998 attempting to get my books published. I spend $400.00 per month sending manuscripts out to agents and publishers most of whom I never heard back from and those I did sent me reject notices. About that time I decided that the money would be better spent to take my wife on a cruise every year instead of wasting it on copying and mailing manuscripts. About this same time, I received a call from an e-book publisher (not one I listed above). The man who called wanted to publish Shades in his e-book company. Shades was published in the Spring of 1999 and went to the top of the publisher’s best seller’s list where it remained for nine months. This publishing company was on the fast track to the top and Kiplinger Consumer News did a television interview of me as a Best Selling Author on the internet. E-books were still a new thing at the time and I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I got my 15 minutes of fame, and was invited to be a guest speaker at what was called the First Big Literary Event of the new Millennium. The publishing company I think grew faster than they could handle and spiraled over the next year. I received a call from the agent handling my account for the publisher advising me I should think about pulling my book, which I did a short time later. I don’t believe they are still in business but I am not sure. I enjoy writing, I don’t really enjoy selling….so I really don’t promote my books very often, I figure what will happen will happen and I’m just along for the ride. Currently a screenwriter from Beverly Hills is writing a screenplay for Shades, with hopes of stirring interest in the movie industry. Apparently he has some movie producers with whom he is in contact with, so time will tell.
MZ.JANICE: Do you have a website that one can visit?
SAMUEL: Yes, it’s http://homestead.mysterypen.com
MZ.JANICE: I ask everyone this question. Could you share with the readers- What is your philosophy on life?
SAMUEL: My philosophy of life I would have to say is that the key to happiness is being satisfied with yourself. You want to have just enough while always wanting for a little more, for it is the wanting that challenges us and makes us feel alive. Above all enjoy “Today” for the ordeals of yesterday are but cherished memories and tomorrow is merely a hope.
MZ.JANICE: On behalf of today’s-woman, I would once again like to thank Mr. Stone for this interview. I wish you the best of luck with your writing career, and enjoy your retirement life. Many Blessings….~Peace~Mz.Janice~
SAMUEL: I want to thank you as well as today’s-woman for conducting this interview. I consider it an honor and privilege. I also would like to wish you well with your writing endeavors…
MZ.JANICE: “Thank You Mr. Stone”.
No one person(s) is allowed to reprint this interview without permission from Mz.Janice Eakle and Samuel E. Stone.
Mz.Janice Eakle
Interviewer
Todays-woman.net
Author of "Heart of Joy" To be published 2005
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