I ran through a stop sign today. Went right through it without ever looking. That’s bad, Į know. That’s a really bad thing. I wish I had it to do over again, maybe I’d… No, I’m sure I would stop if I had it all to do over again. But, like everything else in life, there are no do-overs. You do it once, and it’s done. Whatever that may be.
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Posted Nov 18 2019 by TheButler in Interviews with 0 Comments
The Indie Book Butler Interview – Jim Steele
Tell us a little about yourself and your work.
I’ve written for probably 30 plus years, but only in the last 4-5 kind of graduated into starting to learn how to craft a novel. On that topic, I’d say that I started trying to figure out how to write more than 4-5,000 words about 20 years ago. Little by little, I finally completed Ride My Highway in 2017. Ride is a rough and tumble story of a guy who is just out of control. Meanwhile, he’s driving an 18-wheeler cross country. But it also tells a lot of stories along the way: how he got to be the way he was, where he’s going, relationships ruined, lessons learned. For me, just to complete that first book was a pretty big accomplishment.
Then I got Just Across The Way in 2018. I’m finishing up Out Past Round Barns now, which is a prequel/sequel to Just Across The Way, both are just very messed up psychological Thrillers/Horror. The thing about those books is that they’re told in the first person, so they read like the journal of mad-man or something, which I think is pretty compelling. I use real places, hotels, towns, you name it. You could go to these places, and the story is right there in front of you. The first person is pretty much my favourite voice to write.
More than anything, I’m just wanting to complete the works I’ve already started, and then continue on with this business of writing books. I also enjoy short stories on occasion, and maybe even a bit of poetry if the mood hits me right. But, day to day, I’m pretty much focused on putting out books.
You’ve got 20 words to sell us on your work. Tempt us.
I write raw. My dialogue is real and conversational. No topic is off-limits. My stories are authentic and alive.
Were there any particular parts of the writing/publishing process that you struggled with?
Not selling very many books! Haha. But then again, I remind myself that I was never in it for the sales, even though that might be nice at some point. I have a day job that I enjoy, my family, kids, granddaughter, and our dogs. But at times, and this probably has a lot to do with being an Indie Author, there is nobody pushing me to do anything! If I start a work and then don’t finish it? Nobody cares. So for me, sometimes the grind of it all, putting the words down, and completing a book… when nobody is ASKING for it, that’s a tough thing to make yourself do sometimes. But, what can I say, I love it? So, I write.
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Snapshots
Gathered up to form,
A portrait in a frame
All of them together
Tiny pictures with no name
Through them we can see
Years and times gone by
With them we may feel
At times the urge to cry
Each one had a life then
Now they’re simply frozen
An image staring back through time
Forgotten, once was chosen
Snapshots
Stills and hazy memories,
Never in a frame
Fragments of a lifetime
Tiny pictures with no name
~ Jim Steele
On the wall of my office, hangs a beautiful portrait of a lovely young lady. It is the only picture of a woman, other than my wife or family members that I have. If I had to guess, I would say that it will be the only one of “another lady” that would ever be allowed, now or in the future, to reside on any wall in the house, let alone the wall directly opposite my desk. I am confident that the only reason my wife allows it to stay is twofold– the first part being that she knows that, for whatever reason, I like it; and secondly, I am usually the only one in my office, and my dear wife never really has to look at it… at her. “Her”, or that “lady”, a generic descriptive is all that I know of her, of the portrait. I have no idea, nor will I ever, of the origin or name of the lady in the portrait. It is a mystery. She is a mystery. However, to me, it is a grand mystery, one that is better left unsolved. To solve it… to know of her… to place her, would be to ruin her forever.
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“Books… They transport us to many locations, and we dare not retreat; we beg to go, and clamor to become acquainted with the mysteries held within the binding.”
Since the invention of the PDF and then of the iPad, Kindle, and other E-Reader’s, the debate of which is best- paper versus “books in the cloud” has been going back and forth. I have no dog in this fight, since I simply refuse to be swayed from my opionion that old fashioned paper books are so much better- in so many ways- than a digitized version of the same. In fact, I don’t regard my postition as opinion, I look at it as just another fact of life that some people wish to argue over from the point of view of sheer laziness.
If YOU are too lazy to physically hold, store, and care for a book- then you might not deserve to read it.
Continue readingThey say that a picture is worth a thousand words- unless it’s a picture of the Ocean. The Sea appears as an endless expanse, constantly changing, calm at times and violent at others. It ebbs and flows, coming and going, and however chaotic- follows the order of life.
The Pacific ~ Jim Steele
Viewed in that way, that picture- much like our lives- is now worth more than a million words, and an absolute meaning will never be achieved. Still, as a writer I try to put into words what others may hear, see, or feel. I attempt to convey emotions: Love, Hate, Bravery, Fear- Birth, Life, Death, and Dying.
It all goes together. We are all made up of millions of bits and pieces, put into words.
Listen as I tell our Story.
