What can you tell us about your new release, Walks With The Wind? Walks with the Wind is a vision quest story about a young man from the Southern Ute Tribe in southwest Colorado. Sam Cloud-Carson has a good life. He’s a budding baseball phenom who packs the stands with scouts. He’s surrounded by a loving family. And he’s well known as the best wildlife tracker anyone has ever seen–anyone including Drake Dixon. Dixon owns a private military company and wants to use Sam’s tracking skills for his security team in war-torn Afghanistan. When the worst day in Sam’s life becomes the best day of Drake’s, their paths become impossibly intertwined in a journey across the globe–a journey with life-altering implications for them both. What or who inspired you to become an author? My mom, Bette, inspired me to read. She always had a book with her. I remember as a fourth-grader, sitting at her feet while she read Kenneth Roberts’ novel Arundel to me. It amazed me how someone could be so creative with their words to form these images in my mind. How did they do it? I read everything after that, particularly historical fiction, stories about the American Revolution, the birth of our nation, the Lewis and Clark adventure, the War of 1812, the history of slavery, the genocide of our Native American culture, WWI, WWII, etc. I believe my love of storytelling led me to become a baseball broadcaster. The history of the game fascinates me, and the game itself is perfect for one who loves to tell stories. It’s basically five minutes of action and three hours of conversation. I’ve been telling sports stories for 45 years, and in recent years, returned to my first love…books. What’s on your top 5 list for the best books you’ve ever read? Tough question…so many to choose from. But I’ll go with the ones that moved me as I grew up. a) Arundel by Kenneth Roberts b) Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell c) Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry d) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (entire series) e) A Course in Miracles Say you’re the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask? Diana Gabaldon of the Outlander series. We’ve become friends, and her story about how she became a writer is fascinating. I think Diana is one of the best of our era, a true artist who writes with such passion and heart, who has that rare ability to pull her readers into the story and make them fall in love with her characters. She’s brilliant. My question…”What motivated you to write Outlander and how has Doug (her husband) inspired you in your writing?” He’s a great guy! What’s your favorite thing about writing? Writing about characters who want to be better. As humans, we all will face some kind of crisis in our lives. How will we handle it? What will we do? Will we grow from the experience or let it bring us down? I like writing about people, who, if they were real, I’d like to spend time with…maybe have them over for dinner…or at least a glass of wine. I think we’d be good friends. What is a typical day like for you? Wake up at 5 a.m. Pray. Meditate. Write. Coffee. Granola. Walk dog two miles. Stationary bike. Yoga. Write, write, write, read, read, read. Nap. Walk dog again. Go to the ballpark. Talk baseball. Come home. Do it again the next day. I’m blessed to share all of this with the woman I want to walk home to God with, my wife, Stace. What scene from Walks With The Wind was your favorite to write? So many. Sam’s scenes with his sister, Jenny. Pitching in college. Tracking in the wild of Afghanistan. Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by? “If you knew who walked beside you on a path that you have chosen, fear would be impossible.” – A Course in Miracles
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