Interview
with Robert K. Swisher Jr.,
Author
of Conversations with
The
Golf God
Questions
from Author Roy Murry
CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF?
I started writing in
1967 when I got out of Vietnam. No, I was not an officer. I was a
radio operator in the infantry. From then until now I have had about
2,579 odd jobs ranging from cowboy, mountain guide, bartender - a good one was
dressing up as Uncle Sam in front of an income tax office. During all of
this I have written full time - sorry to say my college career was short. I
have placed 14 traditional novels ranging from historical fiction, to
contemporary, to young adult. Several of these books were reviewed by
Publishers Weekly, Best Sellers, Midwest Book Review and others. Two were
optioned but the movie deal did not go through but, I do not write format or
slot fiction. It makes the writing game harder but I write what pops into
my head.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST STORY YOU WROTE?
It was called Ned and
was published in THE LONG STORY. I also placed a lot of outdoor articles
to magazines - mostly fishing. I placed over 500 poems to literary
magazines and many other short stories. I no longer write short stories,
articles, or poetry. The muse is gone. I am stuck on novels and
relish reading rejection letters. They seem to inspire me. My first
novel, THE LAND, was rejected 400 times before it found a home - it is still in
print. Go figure.
WHERE YOU INSPIRED BY SOMEONE?
My high school English
teacher that informed me after I told her I wanted to be a writer that my
chances of being a published writer were slim and none - maybe not being able
to spell, hating semi-colons, and flunking English had something to do with it.
I will not divulge her name but I did send her my first published novel
that received great reviews. Not nice I know but I have mellowed with age.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT WRITING A BOOK?
I have a love hate
relationship with my books. One day I love the process and the next I
hate it, but even hating it I still hit the keys. I have worked on books
for a year and then erased them. I have burnt some. The ones I like
I keep. Besides the five books I have indie published I have six that
keep begging me to send them out. Once a year I take a few weeks and go
through the process of contacting agents and publishers. After that I
don't mess with it. The story from agents and publishers has not changed
- everyone should read the book ROTTON REJECTIONS - it's funny and true.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR BOOK?
I have been the head
greens keeper at three golf courses around the country. Golf helped pay for
a lot of stamps to send out manuscripts. I started playing when I was six
years old. Now at 66 I have a 4 handicap - not from the senior tees
either. I wrote CONVERSATIONS WITH THE GOLF GOD because I wanted to be
serious and also funny. I had just finished a novel that left my brain dripping
put of my right ear and I needed a break. GOLF GOD is slightly political
with some great tips about life and golf and a lot of absurdity - bit golf is
absurd - think about it. Trying to hit a round object straight with a
club that is set at an angle and then getting angry when it doesn't ----
please? It is almost as bad as trying to make a living as a writer.
ARE YOU WORKING ON SOMETHING NEW?
At the moment a lady
is editing a novel called HOPE - the story of a group of elderly people that
learn how to fly. I recently finished a novel titled THE LONELY COWBOY.
I am going over a novel I finished last year - HOW BRIDGE MCCOY LEARNED
HOW TO SAY I LOVE YOU - story of a man who walks two steps forward and one backward
who has fallen in love but when he tries to tell the lady he loves her all he
can say is I, I, I, Lo, Lo, and then he starts to choke -something about trust
in this modern world. And I am half way through a novel titled VENT- where it
is going I have no idea but I am enjoying it. The six novels in my closet
I am ignoring. They started complaining they didn't like the tense they
are written in so I am letting them stew for a while and get over it.
DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS
FOR ASPIRING WRITERS?
I taught a class at a
university called THE REALITIES OF WRITING, go figure; I flunked out of
college, but back to the point. ADVICE - don't listen to too much advice.
I have seen books that show and don't tell. I have seen books with
little punctuation and some with so much they should have been a textbook.
I have seen books that use just, had, very and all that no-no stuff.
I have heard a zillion times write what you know. QUESTION?
If you wrote what you didn't know it would be a blank page. To
write put your rear in a chair and write. They invented editors to figure
out all the other stuff. JUST DO IT.
WHERE CAN PEOPLE READ YOUR WORK?
Libraries, Amazon and
other sites, ordered through book stores. The 5 books I indeed I did
through kindle select. It's free and they have the biggest market share
and if you get lucky and a mainstream publisher wants to pick up your book all
you have to do is unpublished. I will say I made a lot of mistakes when I
first jumped into indie but I am learning. I have also made some good
sales but that is from many years of writing - I have a mailing list. I
like the indie process but one must control the promo and keep writing.
My indie books have received from 5 to 2 stars - don't let bad reviews
get you down - no big deal - if we were all the same we would be in a cult. I
sell my indie books from $2.99 to $3.99 although I feel they should really go
for about $8,000 each.
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD?
A lot of getting
published is luck and hard work. Don't give up. Here is my author
page, if you have any questions feel free to message me....
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Robert-K-Swisher-Jr/296768763702474?ref=hl ....also leave a like...this face book
is a funny thing. The best to all of you. Enjoy the journey -
nothing in life is easy.
Oh yes, I almost
forgot, if one of you will buy 85,000 copies of one of my books I will put you
in my will and you can visit once a year after I have moved to the big island.
************