Interviewed by:   Krista Schnee, Pacific Book Review

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PBR:  What is your personal and professional background?

Personal background.  Married to my wife Joanne for forty years.  I have two sons and a daughter and nine grandchildren, plus one great granddaughter.  Professional background.  President of a marketing company since 1974.  Still active.

PBR:  When did you decide to become a writer?

Writing has always been a hidden desire; however, it was many years later before I attempted to write.  My wife and I were on vacation in Mexico and in the middle of the night, I decided to scribble some notes on a piece of paper in pencil in the hotel where we were staying.  The next day I purchased a notepad and continued to write.  Thirty years later I published my first book.  I was seventy-two years old.

PBR:  What inspired you to write this book?

I have always enjoyed science fiction stories.  It occurred to me that many of these books and movies do not get into the element of how these beings evolved and think.  With each mission, the Stranger progresses from a mortal human to almost a god-like creature.  In addition, many science fiction writers emphasize warfare and killing to overtake civilizations, etc.  I believe if advanced beings do exist, they would not be violent but compassionate and willing to assist in the survival of other worlds and intelligent beings.  I am trying to keep my stories exciting but still show the compassionate side of an advanced intelligence. This book and the sequels will deal with that in more depth.

PBR:  What interests you about this genre?

As mentioned above; however, with each mission, I have a statement about the human race and our world as it is today and how it could change in our twenty-first century.

PBR:  Are the skills portrayed in this book—the strategic, fighting, and military skills—from your own life or someone you know?

I served in the Marine Corps in 1957-1960.  It did give me some insight of the preliminary training the Stranger had to encounter.  The story goes way beyond normal military preparation and involves all types of conditioning from martial arts, mountain climbing to a fast draw.

PBR:  Give us some insight into the Stranger. What makes him different?

The Stranger evolves step by step into a super human being.  Eventually, he obtains immortality.  Many science fiction stories that are published, the characters are already superior or super human.  Another difference is that the Stranger and the Creators are trying to improve the human race and the universe.  It’s not about killing and eliminating enemies for selfish means or power but rather for improving the cosmos.

PBR:  How much research did you do in writing this book?

Every mission and events are thoroughly researched.  Whether it’s time travel, mountain climbing, fighting gladiators in the Roman Coliseum, the fast draw, or going back in time, all are researched before writing that episode.

PBR:  What is the easiest thing about writing?

I have never had writer’s block.  I imagine a lot of my stories during the night, in between sleeping.

PBR:  What was the hardest part of writing this book?

Writing came easy.  Research and editing were time consuming.

PBR:  Did you learn anything from writing this book?

Researching facts about the fast draw, climbing mountains, events in history, and going back in time, all of this was a learning experience.

PBR:  What do you believe is the focus of this book?

Although these stories are science fiction, I believe that the human race can obtain most of what is enclosed in these episodes.  It will take many years and a united world working for the good of humanity, science, and the environment to make it happen.  Volume II will delve more into these topics, packed with adventure and some new science-fiction twists.

PBR:  Is there anything in particular that you would like to say to your readers?

That by now the human race should have eliminated illiteracy, hunger, poverty, greed, crime, and racism.  Wars, hate between religions and humans killing our own species should not exist in this day age!  This is the twenty—first century…all of this should have been eradicated at this moment in time.  With today’s communication and technology, I would have thought that we would have evolved to the second level of intelligence.  Imagine if all the nations of the world combined what they spend on wars, crimes, and drugs and diverted that to the common good for humanity and the world.  We could feed the world!  Most diseases would be eliminated; life expectancy doubled, and possibly we would have colonized the moon and Mars.  Who knows?  Maybe we would be traveling beyond our solar system?  Before this can be done you need to eradicate greed, crime, poverty, hate, and dominance by the few over the populace.  I will try to explain how this can be accomplished in the next series.

To learn more about "The Stranger and the Time Machine, Volume 1" please read the review at Click here