From Thunder to Breakfast: Gene K Garrison

From Thunder to Breakfast by Gene K Garrison
Published Xlibris Corporation
ISBN 978-14010-03777
Price: £14
Genre: western, biography

WHAT IS YOUR BOOK ABOUT? It's about the life of a Southwestern U.S. man who came from the State of Oklahoma to the State of Arizona with his large family in 1914. Hube Yates was eleven at the time. He was a horseman, firefighter, hunting guide, dude wrangler, but best of all, he was a great storyteller who could see the humour in everything. He had a special way of speaking. If he spoke about snow when it was coming down in tiny flakes he would say, "It's spittin' snow."

The title of the book comes from the expression "from hell to breakfast," which means something is scattered all over the place. Thus the title, "From Thunder To Breakfast." His father was a minister, so he didn't say "hell." He substituted the word "thunder" as in "We were in a thunder of a fix." It's a clean book, about a man you'd love to know. People hung on to his every word, usually with smiles on their faces. Hugh Downs, a former TV commentator, wrote the foreword for us. He said, in part, "When you first meet him you know that he is rugged. You would judge him to be dependable in a pinch, because he looks like he must know the land; and a look in his eye steers you to the notion that he is probably pleasant to be around. You might conclude that he is the strong silent type." He says you would be fifty percent right. "To our considerable good fortune he has no reticence to loquate." In other words, Hube Yates was a charmer.

WHY DID YOU WRITE THE BOOK? Hube Yates was there, and he was in his seventies, and I'm a writer. I was right. He died when he was 77. He was amused about almost anything but that. He talked about the summer long covered wagon trip to Arizona across deserts, renegades, Indians that they weren't sure about, flooding rivers, and horse thieves. He ran away from home for a short time when he was a teenager, and when he married he called it the "best day's work he ever did in his life." He was a hero and received the Carnegie Hero Medal. He was an athlete, and the list goes on. He even went through a practical joke period when he was a grown man. The pranks were creative, to say the least. How could I NOT write about Hube Yates?

WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR INSPIRATION FROM? From the man himself

HOW DOES YOUR BOOK DIFFER FROM OTHERS THAT ARE SIMILAR? Other Western books are more concerned with shoot-'em-ups, chasing the bad guys, and restoring justice to the frontier. Mine is more gentle, full of humour and humanity. It's a pleasant read. One recent book review began "I met the most interesting man last night." That warmed my heart.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE POD? Actually POD was my third choice. I sent out the manuscript query (not even the actual manuscript) to about six publishers. They turned me down. I wasn't astute enough at the time to realise that six publishers are not many, so I published it myself. It sold out in seven months. Fortunately a very good publishing company in Arizona, Northland Press, published the second edition. After it was out of print for quite a while I heard about POD and decided that the book deserved to live on. I liked the fact that it supposedly will go on forever, and that I wouldn't waste time trying to find the right publisher. I knew that I didn't want to be a publisher again.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THIS METHOD? I just mentioned the advantages. The disadvantages are doing all the publicity oneself, and forever plugging the book, even though it's worth plugging.

HOW DO YOU MARKET YOUR BOOK? I market mostly online. I belong to http://www.authorsden.com/ggarrison, http://www.shelfari.com/, various groups on http://eons.com/, http://nothingbinding.com/ and others. I also belong to a writers group and at times have spoken to clubs, and have been on radio talk shows. Amazon is a big help. It's whatever I think off that might work.

WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU HAD TO OVERCOME? Simply getting the book published. It was my first one. Now I have four on the market, all PODs.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO OTHERS CONSIDERING POD? If you don't have the time or inclination to go the route of pursuing publishers, and the book is good (get professional opinions), then do it.

WHERE CAN I GET A COPY OF YOUR BOOK In the U.K. I would suggest amazon.co.uk It can also be ordered through www.xlibris.com/bookstore.

Widowhood Happens by Gene K Garrison

Widowhood Happens by Gene K Garrison
Published Xlibris Corporation
ISBN 9781401046378
Genre: non fiction, self help
Price: from £18.80 (paperback). Hardback edition also available.

What is your book about? Widowhood Happens is about preparing for widowhood.

Why did you write the book? A friend of mine was recently widowed. Knowing that I am a writer, she said, "Gene, you HAVE to write a book about widowhood. There are so many things that aren't anticipated. Women don't know what to expect." Actually, I didn't want to write the book. I made a list of pros and cons. The cons turned out to be the longest list:

1. Nobody wants to read about a spouse's death.
2. It will not be a best seller, or come anywhere near it.
3. It will be difficult to find a publisher.
4. It will be difficult to sell.

The more I thought about it, I gradually changed my mind.

On the pro list I wrote: "I want to do it." That was my final decision.

Where did you get your inspiration from? My inspiration came from my friend Margaret, especially after she told me all the odd things about her bereavement.

How does your book differ from others that are similar? It differs greatly in the way I chose to write it. Twelve widows and two widowers told me their stories, starting with Margaret. They were all different in their personalities, education, circumstances and ages. One widow's story after another can get to the point where they begin to blur into each other, and since I try not to give advice, I interviewed professionals who deal with problems of the bereaved.

The solicitor (attorney) had the expected list of papers you should immediately be able to put your hands on, but she also had some very intimate stories about women and men who couldn't cope well. These examples show the reader what to avoid as well as positive things to do. A psychologist said that it is not very often that a widowed person needs help with his or her emotions. A sign of needing that kind of intervention is if the bereaved blocks out ordinary life by never opening the curtains, not answering the phone, not going out — avoidance.

I interviewed a priest about a therapeutic weekend, led by lay leaders (not officials of the church) who had been trained to ask key questions and listen to the bereaved air his or her distressful thoughts. This is amazingly helpful for both the widowed and divorced. They say goodbye to their former spouses, and start a new beginning. This does not mean that they will forget them. A minister said that churches generally are not very helpful to the bereaved. Friends and relatives often say hurtful things to the surviving member of a couple. I told him about the therapeutic weekend, and he agreed that that was an exception.

One bad example of people who say the wrong thing is the lady who said to a young, grieving wife, "Don't worry, you had six years together, you'll get married again." Horrible, awful — and stupid! Bossy, argumentative relatives are another cross to bear. Maybe friends and relatives will take a few hints from the bereaved and be careful of what they say. It's better to give your attention to the person in need of it, but it's no time to give your opinions. I did give two pieces of advice, but it wasn't to the bereaved. It was to the friends and relatives: LISTEN and DON'T JUDGE! That is so important.

The book is neither religious nor non religious. If a widow or widower wanted to talk about religion, they did. If they didn't that was fine. I wasn't pushing any particular belief. In fact, some women were angry with God. Some were angry with their husbands for leaving them. One woman was relieved when her former husband ran into a tree and died. She was in an abusive marriage for 30 years before she divorced him.

A chapter that surprised me was the result of a question I asked friends. I asked them because I didn't want to approach a stranger with this question: What have you done to prepare for widowhood? There was such a variety of responses. Many made me smile. This book is not all doom and gloom. It's honest and revealing and, I hope, helpful to readers. I've been told so.

Why did you choose POD? I chose POD for the same reason that my other books have been published that way — to save time, have control, get it out to the public, have it on record.

What do you see as he advantages and disadvantages of this method? What I saw as a disadvantage early on was the lack of distribution. That has recently been improved. Amazon.com helps with that and one of my POD companies has worldwide distribution. Another disadvantage is that some newspapers refuse to review books by POD publishers. That is not good. The advantage to writers is that they can see their books in print even though the large traditional publishers won't touch them because they won't be best sellers.

How do you market your book? I have several books that I market the same way — websites, newspaper announcements, radio interviews and talks to groups. I'm open to all kinds of ideas, except the ones that cost money.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome? It is getting people to realise that they really SHOULD prepare for widowhood — even if they're young and healthy, and don't want to give a thought to dying.

What would you say to others considering POD? It takes more effort to be a POD writer, but it saves time, and you get your book published. Just make sure it is as professional a job as the ones published by traditional publishers. Maybe you should start with magazine articles. That's what I did. I was a features articles writer for a local magazine for 20 years, and am a freelancer. The pros judge my work.

Where can I get a copy of your book? In Britain I would choose amazon.co.uk. It can also be ordered at xlibris.com in the U.S.

There's Something About Cave Creek: Gene K Garrison

Title: There's Something About Cave Creek: It's the People
Author: Gene K Garrison
ISBN: 9781430309826
Published by: Lulu.com
Genre: non fiction, western
Price: £7.95

What is the book about? "There's Something About Cave Creek (It's The People) is about characters who lived in the tiny desert community of Cave Creek, Arizona, USA in the early 1900s.


It's a Western, but not all shoot-'em-up. For instance, there was a sometime-prospector/sometime artist who painted landscapes in oils. He sold or traded his art at the local bar for drinks. That bar, Harold's Cave Creek Corral, was the centre of the social life, along with parties in homes where local musicians were very much in demand.

There's a chapter about Katherine Jones who had a reputation as a good shot. She was sheriff for while in the 1930s and she meant business. During Prohibition (a law that prohibited the making or selling of alcoholic beverages) she kept the bootleggers (illegal brewers of booze) at bay, except for a few choice ones that she felt were acceptable.

Another sheriff, at a different time was tall, slim Frank Donars. He didn't want to be sheriff, but nobody else would do it. His most dreaded job was breaking up fights at the bars on a Saturday night. It was dangerous. A very odd thing that he did was chain prisoners to a tree overnight instead of taking them down the dirt road to jail in Phoenix. It was about a thirty mile trip, and he did not want to waste the time. The prisoners, surprisingly, preferred being chained to a tree than going to jail, which would cause them to lose a day's work, and they couldn't afford that. The kind sheriff would unchain them in the morning and drive them to their jobs because most of them didn't have cars. It turned out that Sheriff Donars was really a musician.

Why did you write the book? I am a freelance writer, and in the 1970s I chose to write about these characters. I found them fascinating. Then in 2006 I decided that they deserved a book. I decided to share them with the world.

Where did you get your inspiration from? My inspiration was from the people themselves. Leadpipe was squatter who lived in a trailer and lean-to next to the County Dump. That's what it was called then. Now they call them "landfills." The Mothers' Club was composed of strong women who wanted the best for their children. They set out to solve problems whether they knew what they were doing or not, and they were great achievers.

I wrote a chapter about a cowboy who worked for the government mending fences way out in the boonies. I discovered him by accident on my way home from interviewing a charming elderly couple who owned a gold mine, but lived without electricity, or any other modern day amenities. The cowboy was packing his horse with supplies for a long fence mending job. That's what I called the chapter — "Mendin' Fences."

How does your book differ from others that are similar? The Cave Creek book brings to life a long ago era. You can call it history if you like, but there were no wars, no gigantic discoveries, except for gold, silver and copper, and they were just mentioned in passing. It's about getting to know people and the way they lived. The book preserves that era.

Usually writers do research about times gone by. They stick their noses into library books or pull up facts on computers and write, with a little change here and there, about what other writers wrote. Sometimes the facts gets changed in the translation. I got my information first hand, from the people who lived it. I listened intently as they told me about their lives, their struggles, their humour in their colloquial style — and I always checked back with them to see if there was anything that needed to be added, or changed in any way. I was told by one of my editors that I didn't have to do that because I'm a professional writer. I did it anyway.

Why did you choose POD? I have had two books published by traditional publishers, even published one myself, and then after those two books were out-of-print for a while I decided that POD sounded like the answer. I would have information in front of the computer world, and the POD company would take orders and do the accounting. I would receive royalties. I thought I had it made.

What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of this method? The negative: distribution was non existent, they charged for everything they could think of, and I had to do my own PR. Bookstores don't want to stock them. I don't want to be my own distributer, and I would like to have time to write something other than PR. I went to a different POD company for the book under discussion here. I feel I have more control and that they are doing more for me.

How did you market your book? In marketing I I try different things. I have it for sale in one bookstore, The Well Red Coyote, and have it in a few Barnes & Noble bookstores. I recently sent one book to the B & N headquarters for them to determine if they want to put it in their "system." This takes four months. I have written press releases for newspapers, and a local arts and entertainment weekly has published items about the books, but that's a one time event for each one. I have been on radio interviews right from home, and I like that. I have spoken to groups — a retired teachers club, a community centre, and a museum. I have participated in book festivals. I had an expensive ad in an expensive magazine.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome? I'm still trying to overcome marketing. It takes up too much time, and prevents me from doing creative things.

What would ylou say to others considering POD? For those considering POD I would say to go with http://www.lulu.com/, but realise that there is much more work to do than with a traditional publisher. The trouble is that traditional publishers are there to make a profit, and most won't take chances on anything outside the genres that have been profitable for them in the past. POD is a great time saver in the sense that authors don't have to spend years trying to peddle their manuscripts to publishers.

Where can I get a copy of your book? "There's Something About Cave Creek (It's The People) may be ordered online at http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=9781430309826&Go.x=13&Go.y=6 or http://www.lulu.com/ggarrison