Category: Keyboard Reflections

An Inspiring Weekend

It never ceases to amaze me when things pop up in our lives that we can use for inspiration or motivation for whatever it is we want to do, whether it is writing or anything else.

I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Canada Army 5K Run. It was a first for me and something I’ll never forget. There were runners of all ages, shapes and sizes and in all kinds of physical condition. Some pushed strollers, others were in wheelchairs or walked with canes. The disabled group went out ahead of the section I was in so I didn’t get a chance to see them, but I can just imagine the challenges some of them face and they still took on the run. In total, close to 20,000 people participated. It’s impossible not to be inspired by it all.

When we sagged a little during the run, bands and cheering sections high-fived us or rang cowbells or waved banners and signs spurring us on. My favorite sign was one that read, “When you sweat, you look hot!” I was certainly sweating, so…

I entered for personal reasons. I wanted to challenge myself, of course, but I also wanted to raise money for “Support Our Troops.” The money raised provides the Canadian Forces members and their families with a variety of opportunities that may not be possible otherwise. Their programs range from children’s camps, to vacations to scholarship opportunities.

Organizations like “Support Our Troops” focus on gaps left by governments everywhere that seem to have let the troops down. Our veterans don’t get the recognition they deserve and especially if they have been wounded while on duty.

I set my fundraising goal low and didn’t really make that much of an effort to raise money, but because we have some wonderful supporters, my wife and I received an invitation to a “Top 50 fundraisers” reception Saturday night at the War Museum in our home town and the nation’s capital of Ottawa. We heard from and met some of the beneficiaries of the program and again, their stories were truly awe-inspiring.

One told us he had severe PTSD and lost everything as a result. He was homeless for a while and drank a quarter of a bottle of rum every day. He eventually got the help he needed and, while he still has a long way to come back, he will now participate in the Invictus games. There were many other similar inspirational stories.

It was a tremendously heart-warming weekend and one that I’ll draw inspiration from for a long time. Watching people run who are far less physically capable was amazing to see. Hearing the stories of people who have been to the end of their rope and fought their way back makes some of the challenges faced by most people minuscule by comparison.

I not only gained valuable motivation and inspiration, but I’m applying this to my new book by giving one of the characters PTSD. I’m about 30,000 words into the story, and I hope, in some small way, to raise awareness of the severity of mental illness and ways to overcome it. It will be woven into a work of fiction, but I hope that it may also be educational.

When faced with a challenge, we always need to think about what others are going through. With a little thought, we can always think of someone who has it worse. Not that someone else’s misery should make us feel better, but maybe it can be a reminder that if others can get through their challenges, so can we.


Keep Climbing

Today, Facebook reminded me of a picture I posted three years ago. It was a special moment.

When our son Chris and I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2009, he mentioned he used the phrase, “Just keep swimming” from the movie Finding Nemo as motivation to reach the top. In retrospect, our climb was a sample of the challenges we all face in our lives no matter how significant they are. We have to meet them head on and do our best to overcome them. We have to keep climbing.

With Chris’ mantra in mind and with my own philosophy to keep going no matter what, I came up with the following slogan: Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep on climbing. It was originally just a personal reminder to my family and I to keep pushing ahead when we are met with challenges. I never foresaw the impact it would have.

Since that time, I have been approached by people around the world asking if they can use the motto on tee shirts, posters and rubber stamps and it is often quoted on social media. It was even tweeted by actor Jared Lehto! The response has been amazing, but the best by far was the attached picture sent to me by a woman in Virginia telling me she was inspired enough by the slogan to have an excerpt tattooed on her arm.

I never anticipated the impact of the slogan. I was floored and truly honored that the words would have enough significance to someone that they would turn them into a tattoo. It’s a reminder that we never know the impact of our words so we should always be aware of what we are saying or writing. People remember and words matter.

As for the slogan. it doesn’t matter what challenge we are facing, or the setbacks that might arise, we have to keep climbing. Whether it’s an illness, the loss of a loved one, a career move or writing the next great novel, we have to keep pushing forward. There are no guarantees. Chris and I could have been stopped by altitude sickness or fatigue or weather or any number of factors, but we weren’t because we kept climbing. No matter what the challenge, perseverance gives us the best opportunity to reach the top.

The Evolution of Marcie Kane

Marcie Kane is, of course, the lead character in my Marcie Kane Thriller Collection. While the books stand alone through the collection, Marcie evolves. One reviewer recently commented that he was disappointed that her circumstance change from one book to the next, but isn’t that what life is about?

Without giving away the story, I wanted to write a little about the evolution of Marcie throughout the series.  Marcie is known to readers as a strong, independent woman who often finds herself in trouble. The reader is introduced to Marcie in the first book in the series, The Vanishing Wife,  where she is recently divorced from a professional basketball player whom she refers to as He Who Shall Not Be Named. She is enjoying her newfound freedom after the burden of a bad marriage.  She is witty, sarcastic and smart and that helps her try to track down her friend who has vanished from the face of the earth.

However, in the second book, A Perilous Question, the incident of the previous story has given her nightmares and she becomes more reckless as she stumbles upon a human trafficking ring. She is unsure of the direction her life should be taking. She is still trying to do the right thing by contributing money to fund an orphanage in Africa when she finds out that some of  the girls are being spirited away. She foolishly tries to do too much on her own until a love interest enters her life and calms things down.

The third book in the series finds Marcie in a better place – more relaxed and ready to settle down. She helps her new fiancé, FBI Special Agent Nathan Harris, solve a crime using her brain.  She is a little older and perhaps a little wiser as her life takes off in another direction.  With the help of Nathan, she finds a career she loves, but still manages to find trouble.  

She will continue on in a fourth book, tentatively entitled Flight Risk, in which new life challenges and dangers  will be presented to her. How will she react when her life is turned upside down? We will have to see when the book is released in 2020.

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

One of the things I plan to do with Keyboard Reflections is to share reviews of books that I have thoroughly enjoyed or found to be enlightening. One of those books is The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield.

I was given this book as a Christmas gift by one of our sons  who is a singer/songwriter in Nashville. The book focuses on overcoming  the blockages that get in the way of people starting a project or finishing what they started.  While we often hear of authors with writer’s block, it applies equally to anyone who is creative, entrepreneurs, people starting  to diet or exercise… The list goes on.

Pressfield introduces the subject by pointing out that each of us has two lives. There is the one we live and the one unlived within us. Between the two stands resistance. The first third of the book examines how resistance prevents us from fulfilling our dreams or living our lives to the fullest.

The next third deals with the difference between professionals and amateurs. He uses the term “professionalism” as an ideal and explains what it means to be professional in chasing our dreams and overcoming resistance.

In the last part of the book, Pressfield encourages the reader to embrace the magic allies surrounding us to make a start and to continue on the path towards living the unlived life within us.

I have to admit to being a bit lost in the final section when the concepts become more abstract. Nevertheless,  the first two sections offer enough valuable insight into the resistance that might be holding us back and how to address it to make The War of Art a worthwhile read.  The author cleverly uses interesting anecdotes from his life that are relatable. The blurb refers to the book as a “kick in the pants” and it is that, but it’s also a handy list of the many barriers that could be preventing us from reaching our full potential  and how to overcome them.  In my opinion, the first two sections alone are well worth keeping nearby and picking up when  we find ourselves blocked from the goals we want to achieve.  

The Subtle Art of Blowing Your Own Horn

Every author will tell you the most difficult thing about writing is, well, not the writing part. It’s promotion. It’s telling everyone you have written a new book and it’s really good. Of course, telling someone it’s really good is not going to do it unless they buy the book just so you’ll stop bugging them.

I have to be honest. I don’t have the answer. My books have won literary awards and I always have difficulty telling anyone about them. Quite often, posting becomes boasting in my humble opinion. But wait! By divulging I have trouble telling people about the awards, you are now aware that I’ve won some and you might go away thinking about looking into my books. It’s a subtle way of getting the message across without appearing boastful.

I was sharing a table at a book signing with another thriller author recently who was using aggressive sales tactics. Someone would go by looking in the opposite direction and she would yell at them to come over and look at her books. Two things happened. The first was that I benefited from her aggressive behavior and by taking a more passive approach, I had more sales at the end of the day than she did. The second is that I just told you I write thrillers, that I do book signings and my books sell.

I have done many book signings in book stores now and I find the best approach is to just let people know you’re there with your books and what the genre is. If they are history buffs with no interest in thrillers, there is no sense in dragging them over to try to convert them. It’s probably going to be a waste of everyone’s time. But if they show some interest in thrillers, then it’s time to proudly tell them about your books.

We all have to promote on social media, but a nice graphic with the cover, a line or two from reviewers and a call to action such as “Buy Now” is all that’s needed.

There are subtle ways of letting people know about your work. Confidence, honesty and passion (without being aggressive) will shine through. The internet is full of people willing to promote books at no cost up to thousands of dollars. Let them boast on your behalf.

Who Is Marcie Kane And Why Is She In All These Thrillers?

During the last week, I’ve had the privilege of answering questions from a few newspapers in the U.S. I’m looking forward to sharing the articles when they come out. One of the questions that often came up was something like, “How did your lead character, Marcie Kane, come about?” My answers had to be brief for the interviews so I thought it could be fun to expand on the question a bit here.

Marcie is a figment of my imagination, but she’s also a combination of strong, independent women I have met over the years. She’s an African American in her mid forties from South Carolina. When we first meet her in The Vanishing Wife, she’s happily divorced from her professional basketball playing ex-husband whom she refers to as He Who Shall Not Be Named. She is witty and occasionally sarcastic as she helps her friend, Mason Seaforth, look for his wife who disappears the night of their 20th wedding anniversary.

Marcie intrigued me so I thought it would be interesting to send her along life’s path while she becomes entangled in various other mishaps. She’s not quite the same happy-go-lucky person in A Perilous Question as the gunfight that wounded her in The Vanishing Wife has left her with nightmares and psychological issues. She stumbles across a human trafficking ring and recklessly pursues those responsible.

Life definitely improves for her in Remote Access. She is calmer and has found her happy place. She doesn’t lose her penchant for finding trouble though or her ability to solve problems with brains rather than brawn as she and FBI Special Agent Nathan Harris try to stop an assassination attempt on the president of the United States.

What’s in store for her next? Readers will be able to find out in my next book coming out in late 2019 or early 2020. You can rest assured she will be teaming up with Nathan again to deal with the latest situation she will find herself in. I can tell you this much. Drones will be involved and not in a nice way.

Get ready for the next in the series by catching up with all of Marcie’s adventures in The Marcie Kane Thriller Collection at 2IiNWsr.

Do You Have Anything By Louise Penny?

There are always weird and wonderful things that happen while doing book signings. People like to tell you how they should write a book or ask questions about writing while riffling through the pages of one of your display copies before setting it back down on the stand. Many will tell you they’ll be back, never to return. It can be a humbling experience when you’re sitting there watching people avoid eye contact as they race laser-focused towards their real reason for being in the book store.

There is still huge satisfaction when someone comes to the table looking for their next read after reading your previous novel. It’s fun meeting and chatting with people and hearing their stories. It’s satisfying when they tell you that yours is the first book they have ever had signed by a real author. I firmly believe networking is important and the non-buyers could go home and buy the e-book later. A book signing is never a waste of time.

Perhaps the most interesting question I had occurred before Christmas. After a few signings, you start to recognize the people who really might be interested from the people who just want someone to talk to. I had my books set out as I usually do. Each cover displays the title and my name in large print. A woman approached and from the look on her face, I was pretty sure she was a serious buyer. She quickly scanned my titles, looked up and asked, “Do you have anything by Louise Penny?”

My wife was with me at the time and all we could do was smile and suggest to the woman that she might want to try a new author. She was determined and continued on with her quest.

Something good came out of it though. I have to admit to never having read anything by Louise Penny until that day. I did after that and really enjoyed her writing. As a result of the woman’s question, Louise Penny gained a new fan.

Cynthia the Centipede

For those who have read Remote Access, you may remember a reference to Cynthia the Centipede. Here is how that came about.

While I was writing the book in 2017, we had the good fortune to spend some time in Barbados with good friends Brian and Jean. They had visited this beautiful island many times and they showed us around extensively. One day Brian introduced us to the Marizayra Sanctuary and its owner/operator Ryan. There were many amazing local birds and animals, but one that really made an impression was Cynthia the Centipede, an 11-inch behemoth that enjoyed eating mice among other things. I had never seen anything like her so she had to make a cameo appearance in Remote Access.

Sadly, Brian’s lovely wife Jean passed away in 2018, but Brian returned to Barbados this year with a signed copy of Remote Access for Ryan. This is what happened, in Brian’s words:

“I gave Ryan the book and when he read the relevant passage he got quite emotional and teared up a bit. He asked me to thank you very much, he will treasure your book.”

So, what happened to Cynthia? Brian followed up with Rashid, one of Ryan’s employees and asked about her. Brian reported the following: “He said she died about a year ago. So I enquired about the smaller one. “Cynthia ate her” he replied with a bit of a grin, “I was a few hours late feeding her one day”.

Brian added, “In a way I’m not too upset. She was a bit too close to the house for comfort!!!”