ERIC OSTROFF
- GUEST AUTHOR -
G'day folks,
Today, I interview a very interesting author. His responses are quite lengthy but worth reading.
Welcome, Eric ...
1.
TELL US A LITTLE
ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY.
I think that the first thing that really defines
me is the importance of family. My mother was one of eight children from
a Methodist midwestern family that hailed from Joplin, Missouri.
Even though my parents were divorced when I was
very young, I would never say that I came from a broken home. My mother,
younger brother and I lived with my mother’s parents on my grandfather’s (who I
always called “Granddaddy”) Christmas tree farm in Wayland, Massachusetts USA
Granddaddy grew up on a farm in Missouri, so
naturally it was in his blood and he brought it with him when he and the family
transplanted to Massachusetts in the 1960’s. He was brilliant! He was part of the secret team that secretly
developed radar that went into the bombers during World War II. After the war he became a pioneer of radio,
and later bringing television to the midwest.
I idolized him and his accomplished. For a
boy who did not have an active father around, he was the father that I loved
and needed, and the role model to my own children that I aspire to be.
Growing up I had no shortage of cousins to play with. Otherwise, I was a shy kid who loved to lose
himself in books, especially books in the Fantasy/Sci-fi genres.
I have three children. My oldest son is twenty-seven.
He is married and lives with his wife and two sons in Toronto, Ohio. He
is a fireman and works very hard to provide for his family. My younger son is seventeen and is a senior
in high school. He is now beginning to look at colleges and find part
time work. He is an extremely bright kid
with a very large heart. I also have a
beautiful (I twelve year old daughter, who is always smiling, loves to sing,
play softball, and is just a joy.
I currently reside in Worcester, Massachusetts.
2.
WHEN AND HOW DID YOU
BECOME A WRITER?
From a very young age I was
introduced to books and reading by my mother. My mother read to my
younger brother Alex and I virtually every night. Other than the usual Sesame Street books, and
others that I can’t remember, I do recall that I was especially fond of the Berenstain
Bears and Richard Scary books.
The summer of 1977 was a very big year for me.
I had seen the original Star Wars with mother and my older half-brother.
For a six-year-old, whose only prior experience in a movie theater was Disney’s
The Apple Dumpling Gang with Tim Conway and Don Knotts in 1975, this
movie was epic! It was beyond epic!
I remember when Darth Vader’s ship passed the audience in the opening
scene of the movie and the bass thundered in my little chest!
The other memorable event that occurred in my
young, impressionable life was that the animated interpretation of J.R.R.
Tolkien’s The Hobbit was released one Sunday evening at 7:00pm, and my mother
allowed me to stay up and watch the
entire movie. Once again, I was captivated by a tale from a tale immersed
in fantasy.
Soon afterwards, my mother came home one day
with a large book of the Hobbit that was illustrated with actual still pictures
from the movie. This wasn’t just a short picture book. This was the actual “adult” book. My mother at first afraid that it was too
advanced for me. But she read a chapter
with me every day. I listened intently, not moving an inch. Uttering not one question-not one single
word. I was lost in Tolkien’s world and
the magic of his craftsmanship.
that point on, I have always been writing
stories in one form or another. In junior high and high school, I had notebooks
filled to capacity with names of people, ships, events, places, quotes, and
actual scenes. It was always my
plan to continue when I went away to college, but the box was lost by UPS in
transit. I was heartbroken.
The writer in me has always been
there. Whether it was with each paper I wrote while at college, every
letter or email that I have written where I told a story. Over the years
I have had dozens of potential stories formulating in my head. However, with the responsibilities of life I
never had the time to dedicate myself to the task.
As a writer within the historical genre, I am
influenced by Mike Shaara, David McCullough, Bill O’Reilly’s series of “Killing…”
books, and the film director Ken Burns.
3.
WHAT TYPE OF
PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR JUST
SHOOT FROM THE HIP?
Oh, Goodness! It
seems that all I have been doing is research! I have been working on this
project for the last five years. Because of the type of story, I am
writing everything has to be precise and accurate. I have tried to “shoot
from the hip” but I can’t do it. It
causes me a lot of anxiety. Besides the information that I study gives me
a defined picture or framework of the story that I am going to tell, breathe
life into the characters that I am creating. I want these characters to
be real for the reader because they were real people who lived in the past. My research informs me of true events, and
some events weren’t pretty. Some of the events that I am writing about
aren’t well known. One of the goals of
my project is to educate.
My research does not
always follow a linear route. Much of my skills in research were developed
while researching the genealogy of my mother’s side of the family. I was able
to trace my maternal grandmother’s side of the family to England in 1510.
Three of my ancestors are actually characters in my book.
There isn’t a right or
wrong way in writing. I just prefer to have a framework. Some of what have written you may only
consider to be “scenes” of dialog and descriptions. I am a proud
subscriber of Scrivener on my iPad. This
tool has been essential in my work and gives me the ability to add information,
organize it, move it around, paste and cite resources, and create those
little blurbs that I referred to that are already linked within my Scrivener
project where I need to find it.
I’d also like to say
that I am not inflexible. I could be on a long drive, or on a walk in the
woods, or wake from a dream and I am inspired by something that would be
great. The first thing that I would do (even at 3:21am) I would take my iPad, whip out my Scrivener
and take some notes and flesh out the idea. Essentially, it is like one of my old notebooks from long
ago.
4.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY
MOST ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
Although my preferred genre is fiction, I could just as
easily write non-fiction. I thoroughly enjoy the expression of thought to
paper. I went to college at Marietta
College in Marietta, Ohio. I graduated with an Interdisciplinary Bachelor
of Arts in English, Speech and Theater.
I had to develop a very large toolkit to accommodate the variety of
subject matter.
I had to wear my Director’s
hat when I needed to write a thirty-page analysis of Tennessee Williams’ The
Glass Menagerie. I had to wear my literary hat when composing my
papers for my English classes. I also needed to use my research and
writing skills when I wrote and prepared my speeches.
In each and every case,
it requires work and discipline. But I enjoy expressing myself. Admittedly, I am a bit of an introvert.
However, if I were to be sitting in a group and begin telling a story, or if I
were to get up in front of a large group of people, I come out of my
shell. My Speech and Theater experience helped me with that. It also taught me how to project my voice in a
room.
Writing allows me to
express myself to the reader at a very intimate level. If I am able to
transport the reader to another point in time in the life of another person, I
have achieved my goal. I want the reader to experience the characters,
live the story, and walk away having learned or experienced something.
Since I now write full
time, I enjoy how that I have a lot of freedom to my day. I am divorced,
and I love to visit with my kids. Unless
I have been sick, I have not missed a game, or a concert, an event. I
like how that when I am needed my ex-wife can call me up and ask me for help with
transportation, which enables me to see my kids more and feel more involved in
their lives. It grants me the
freedom to take off when I need to travel to a new locale that I am researching
or track down information that I can’t otherwise find online or in a book.
Some days you just need
a day off, or you need to mix your day up due to appointments and other
commitments.
5.
WHAT IS THE HARDEST
THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
With all having been
said above, writing is like training to become a Jedi. It takes the
deepest commitment and tremendous use of time management. Think about it! You are essentially
composing (figuratively) the longest “paper” of your life. If you went to college, back then you were
enrolled in other classes. You had tests and papers for them as
well. You also had campus life
activities, or possibly a job. You also
had a life to live. All of those things
could still be said today.
In a nutshell, time
management can be your friend, and it can be your enemy. If you can’t a
system down, you are done for. I think
the the better way that I can describe it is that you need to find the best
level of balance in your life. One of the problems that I would have is
that I didn’t know when to stop for the day.
I was finding myself getting sick often, and it was because I was eating
right, and I wasn’t getting enough sleep. I always made time for my kids,
but I wasn’t so good (don’t worry I showered) at self-care.
Writing is not just word
craft. It is a discipline. Many
writers find their discipline faltering, I have those days too, and this easily
leads to procrastination. There is nothing wrong with taking time off,
but don’t let it become like not going to the gym. I have been guilty of that. As I mentioned, it is like a Jedi’s training:
Commit to do something. Look over what
you have done. Look at your outline if
you have one. Look at your notes. I participate in several forums over several
social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. And I have a few
close individuals with whom I share my progress. The point is to keep your head in the game!
6.
WHAT WERE YOU IN A
PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?
I have worn many
hats. I always wanted to be a teacher. But I couldn’t find a
job. I became a software trainer, which
I did for many years. I was then affected by the Dotcom crash and I was
not able to keep a job. I’d find a job,
and then be laid off four months later. This happened multiple
times. I sold satellite TV. I was a debt collector. I absolutely hated this, but it was a
paycheck.
Then in 2004 I joined a
Fortune 500 company that sold technology (Information Technology) to
companies. This long position that I ever held at a single job. I enjoyed the job, I enjoyed my colleagues
and customers, and I made good money. But it was sales. And the difficult thing with sales is that
you really can’t predict with any real certainty what your paycheck is going to
be. After the economic crash in 2008, my
take home from my earnings went from nearly $70,000 the first year to $54,000
the following year.
One circumstance after another,
I was divorced, burnt out, in recovery from depression and at a crossroad.
Do I throw myself back out in the lion’s den, setting myself up for failure, or
do I take charge and move forward with my dream to become a writer. In
the immortal words of Master Yoda: “Do or do not…” I chose to “do not”. And I certainly was not going to “try”. I was committing myself to this.
7.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING
ON AT THE MOMENT?
I am writing a series of historical novels that
tell the true story of the little known 17th Century Indian war that took place
fully from 1675-1677. Also known as the King Philip's War, this conflict
has the distinction as having the worst loss of life per capita in American
history. This was the golden age of the
frontier. By the end of the short and bloody war, Indian and colonist
populations were decimated. Twenty-five
New England towns were razed in fire to the ground. And the boundary of the
English presence that once reached as far West as the Connecticut had been
pushed back as far East as nearly back to the coast. Many wanted to
return back to England, ending the fledgling colonies.
Both Native and English were just as guilty of
savage atrocities toward each other alike. The European identity was
changing. A line was being drawn between
what it meant to be European and not. This distinction and prejudice
between cultures will last for centuries, and will be the root to many wars,
8.
WHAT GENRE DO YOU
WRITE?
I have tried various genres, but they have
always ended in false starts. At the moment, I have chosen to write
historical fiction. This decision came
from my love of history. The decision also came from my love in
genealogy. I grew up in Wayland,
Massachusetts. In the adjacent town of
Sudbury, the last major native victory against the English colonists during
the King Philip’s war on April 21, 1676 occurred. Also known as the “Little Big Horn of the
East”, I was enthralled with stories the accounts that I had heard of the
battle. Then I learned that I had family
that I fought in that battle!
I find that I truly enjoy researching my subject matter. I enjoy learning about my characters that
lived in a time from our past that shaped our society today. I enjoy the
idea of breathing life into real-life people and transport the reader to a real
world and allow them to experience events that they may have read about in
their history books, read in the media, watched on the small or big
screen. But, I also want to dispel any myths and inform the reader of any
little kno. wn facts.
Other writers who
choose to write in the genre will create a completely fictional story that
takes place within a certain time period. This is a gray area because
isn’t that the point of setting the scene of a story?
9.
DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS
FOR NEW WRITERS?
As I have already
mentioned, there is no right or wrong way to write. Just as a writer must
discover their own voice, their own style, they also must develop their own
methodology. If perchance you decide to decide to delve into the genre of
the historical novel, DO YOUR RESEARCH!
Do your very best to learn about the time period. What technology
existed at the time? What kind of
clothes they wear? Were there certain
words that we speak today that weren’t used then? Was there an equivalent? Would the reader
be able to understand the way the way the spoke? As the author, do you want to make the
artistic decision to keep the language basic so that the average reader may
easily understand the dialog.
An author needs to
capture their audience and keep them engrossed. If the storytelling is
not believable because the events are not factually true, or at least
plausible, the reader will move on to the next book.
A prime example is the
book The Killer Angels: A Novel of The Civil War by Michael
Shaara. The successful movie Gettysburg is based upon this
book. This book was so well researched, the characters, to me at least,
were so well written and believable, I was not by the number of story arcs and
how often they switched at all.
I also mentioned that it
is important to write with a plan. Many writers like to write by the
hip. For them the story flows from them
naturally. For me, I am not able to do that. I become overwhelmed with the big
picture. Anxiety kicks in, then comes
procrastination, then comes the dreaded writer’s block.
Theater was one of my
majors in college. When memorizing and rehearsing a play, including tough
ones like Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, apart from the play
being broken up into Acts and Scenes as written, the script was further divided
into blocks. These smaller blocks helped to make it easier for us to
focus on key points and sure that we hit our marks on the stage. We would
also often practice scenes out of order.
Eventually, by dress rehearsal, we would stitch the parts together for
the performance.
In the same way, don’t
be afraid to write out of order. You may be suddenly inspired by a place,
or person you see in a store that meets the description of a character that you
have been trying to write into a scene. At least write it down. You can always stitch it in later.
DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?
Of course, I do! I
wouldn’t be human if I did not. It always happens when I look at the big
picture of the project. For example, at this moment I am at a crossroad
where I a m debating on whether I should increase the scope of my story to
include The Pequot War, which took place forty years before my topic. I
wonder if I were to only make references to the prior conflict would it
potentially hurt overall story.
But, J.R.R Tolkien, in The
Lord of the Rings was able to set up a conflict that occurred thousands of
years ago without going into too much detail.
The best thing that I do
is just walk away from it, whether it be for the rest of the rest of the day,
or through the weekend. I have developed the discipline to always come back and do
SOMETHING. It could be more genealogy,
reading more source material, which would later become actual scenes in the
book(s). Look at my notes in Scrivener.
Go outside. Go for
a walk. Go to the movies. Go bowling. Go to the bookstore. This is one of my
favorite things to do. I enjoy perusing
through the magazine racks and bookshelves with the music playing in the
background. Go for a drive. With a
long drive, my mind seems to go into autopilot and sometimes ideas for the
story pops into my head.
Don’t isolate
yourself. Have a life. Make time
for self-care and friends and family.
11.
DO YOU HAVE A
PREFERRED WRITING SCHEDULE?
I typically work in
blocks of two or three hours at at time. I’ll get up early in the morning and
read with the morning news in the background. I’ll then come back a few
hours later. If I am studying new source
material, I am devoting more time to reading, and transcribing notes into
Scrivener. I will soon be at the point where I will be dedicating my
efforts one hundred percent to writing.
My writing schedule is flexible, but I prefer to have my allotted time
completed by early afternoon, so that I can have the rest of the day to
myself.
12.
WRITERS ARE
SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?
Of course! One of the things that I have had to deal with my life
is that I have experienced a lot of loss in my life. In many ways this loss held me back for many
years. I was depressed, I was in a dark place, isolated, filled with
anxiety.
But in the shadow of
loss, I was able to overcome. I was able to enter recovery and find a
source of strength from my faith.
I can imagine how much the
English relied upon their faith to get them through a very dark period.
In these little frontier towns, the fear of an attack from the dark in the
middle of the night was very real.
The English were guilty
of many violent travesties as well. Philip and his allies were now
hunted. And every non-European, whether
they were allied with Philip or not were racially considered to be the enemy.
13.
OTHER THAN WRITING,
WHAT ELSE DO YOU LOVE?
I am an avid
reader. As much as I have been filling my head with all of my research, I
need to feed my mind. I enjoy reading fiction and non-fiction. I like to read a wide range of topics and
genres. I can read up to three to six books a month. I enjoy connecting with other authors. I feel that it is very important to network
with your peers. Other authors can be a vital source for information and inspiration.
I enjoy going to the
movies. I enjoy all animated features and cartoons. In particular,
I enjoy Japanese animation, or Anime. Some of it is brilliant! I enjoy music. I enjoy Boston Sports. I enjoy the
performing arts. I enjoy museums. I enjoy wandering through antique stores and
art galleries. I enjoy exploring historical landmarks and old
battlefields. I enjoy hiking in the
White Mountains of New Hampshire.
I love my friends and
family. My career path has afforded me the ability to be present as much
as I can in my children’s lives. I would not give that up for any
treasure.
14.
IF YOU WERE STUCK ON
A DESERT ISLAND WITH ONE PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE? WHY?
My Granddaddy. While I was going through my personal
challenges and struggles, my grandfather was very advanced in age. He was in
his nineties. My aunt and I mutually decided that in his weakened
condition to not tell him, and to always be positive with him on the
phone. In order to protect him I had to
distance myself from him; and I know that it hurt him. I would love to
make up for the time that we lost.
15.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS
FOR THE FUTURE?
First and foremost, I
wish to be the best Father and Grandfather that I can be. I have made
mistakes in my past life. I am not the
same person, and I wish to make amends. Plus, I wish to be an example
for my kids, and for the people who cross my path.
Secondly, I wish to
continue to write. There are plenty of historical stories out
there. I may decide to not write in the “based on a true story”
style. But I want to challenge myself.
I like the idea of writing a series.
16.
DID YOU EVER THINK
OF QUITTING?
I have never consciously
had the idea of quitting. I have become frustrated, or I allowed life to
get in the way. I advised above to make sure that you have a life, don’t
allow it to become an excuse. They say that it takes three weeks to build
a habit. If you allow yourself to lose
your mojo, you will lose your flow. There have also been times where I
have had to just walkway for a day or two, but that is all. Don’t allow procrastination to become your
enemy.
17.
WHAT SHOULD READERS
WALK AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS KNOWING? HOW SHOULD THEY FEEL?
What I want my readers
to come away with is more than just enjoying a story. I don’t just want
the readers to be educated. My desire is
that they come away having had an experience. With my current project, I
do not wish to convince the reader of a particular bias. The war was a very real conflict. Both
sides were devastated. Both sides were
guilty of terrible travesties. Both cultures
were forever changed. The reader should
come away from the story understanding some of the complexities that started
the war.
18.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO
HAVE YOUR BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES? EVER WRITTEN A SCREENPLAY?
Yes. I would very
much so. I think that the story has a very strong social message.
I’m sure that Hollywood could create some very exciting battle scenes.
But, if I do my job correctly, the audience would focus more on the story and
the characters, and the fighting is just action that pushes the story
along. I once again refer to the movie Gettysburg. One giant
conflict. Many characters. Many
overlapping story arcs. The audience become invested in the
characters. There is some fighting
intermixed within the story arcs. But it is not until the climax of the
movie that the grand scale and significance the conflict is realized.
I haven’t written a screenplay,
but I have written one-act plays when I was in college. When I was a teen,
I would also write short scenes.
19.
DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN
FIVE WORDS.
Christian.
Father. Grandfather. Brother.
Loyalty
20.
WHAT PISSES YOU OFF
MOST?
I am a mental health
advocate. It upsets me that even in this day and age of supposed
tolerance, the stigma of mental illness continues to be a problem.
Governments may have enacted laws for protection, and initiated programs for
social awareness. But sadly, individuals
with mental illness are not treated fairly. This prejudice can
affect their ability to find work, find housing, succeed in obtaining
services, and even enjoy healthy relationships.
It upsets me how people
can just stand back and ignore the elephant in the room. According to a
recent study, 1 out of 4 Americans have some form of mental illness. I
view that the public needs to open their eyes to those who are struggling and
hurting. Ignoring the elephant in close spaces does not make it go away.
21.
WHAT IS THE TITLE OF
THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? GOOD ONE?
Star Wars - Thrawn:
Treason
I am a fan of
Timothy Zahn. I like his books because he also likes to write from a
different point of view. This book is the third book of a trilogy written
from the perspective of the Imperial Navy, not the heroes that the readers
would naturally root for. The protagonist is the mysterious and brilliant
Grand Admiral Thrawn, a member from a race beyond the known boundaries of the
Galaxy. A favorite of the Emperor, he
is not trusted by the echelon of the fleet, but his tactics and results can’t
be denied. Zahn’s story has elements of sci-fi and mystery. I love how Thrawn’s character has a of
Sherlock of Holmes’s genius.
Clancy's comment: Thank you, Eric. Finally, it happened. You offer some wise advice. Good luck.
I'm ...
No comments:
Post a Comment