Retired USN flight engineer with 43 years service. Started writing while in the USN Public Information Office -articles for major media releases and Stars & Stripes and Station paper ( North Islander)Worked as corporate exec up to 2001 then sold corporation and started writing. Action adventure fiction with two series in print as of this date. When not traveling and giving motivational lectures to recovering cancer survivors ( which Addison is ,) he lives with wife in Texas and Mexico. Most avid hobby for available free time is flying space available with the military.
How do you approach cover design?
I have always considered the cover to be the "sign on the door" for readers. They look at the cover and establish a preview of what is inside. I use a question on a lot of my novels because it helps to establish why the story was written. ("MH370 Heavy, Where Are you?"). I only did the cover on two novels that I published and to this day when I look at all the covers in a group, I can spot the ones that were done by my favorite cover gal Digital Donna. They stand out. This, in my opinion, is what you want when your book is on a rack with the others on the news stand or in the selection page of sites like Smashwords.
What are your five favorite books, and why?
All the classics of American literature comes to mind but in reality and truth, my "Top Five" changes periodically. I just finished Leonardo Da Vinci- the complete paintings by Pietro C Marani and following The Sistine Chapel: A Glorious Restoration by Michael Hirst and others. For some reason I became absolutely enthralled with the stories behind famous artists after seeing "The Da Vinci Code." The late Vince Flynn's The Last Man was the very best of Flynn's work. I had meant him several times and he was so very encouraging and motivating to be around. I was very sad when he passed. A Generals Life by Omar Bradley was full of ideas and great story plots. The Bin Ladens by Stephen Coll provided a lot of background on Al Queda and was very interesting to read. Next week, if you asked this question again, I'd have five different I'm sure.
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