Interview with Bert Carson author of Another Place Another Time

DLC: I'd like to welcome you Bert to my blog. I'm so grateful you've taken the time to do this interview with me. Please introduce yourself to everyone. 

Bert: My name is Bert Carson. I’m sixty-eight years old, the age where one looks in the mirror and wonders who in the world that is looking back at them. If I had changed inside to the same degree that I’ve changed outside, I suppose I would have less difficulty recognizing the man in the mirror; but, in all honesty, the inner changes, since I was sixteen, have only been in the area of clarification not transformation. Or to put it simply, inside, I’m still sixteen and on good days I’m closer to fourteen. When the bus heading for grown up land pulled away from the bus stop, I wasn’t on it. I suppose that means all the people who have told me I missed the bus were right or maybe I’m just a late bloomer who hasn’t bloomed.

DLC: LOL You're cracking me up Bert! I thought I was the only one that saw teenagers in his mirror. =) Now as I was looking up your book I found your book to be most unique. Tell us about your book.

Bert: I originally called Another Place Another Time, Two Dog Stories, because two of the book’s principle characters are dogs. But, that didn’t feel right, so I changed it to The Right Thing, since it’s about men and women and dogs that always do the right thing. When I finished it, I put it away for a bit, not quite ready for more agent/publisher rejection. A couple of months ago, I ran across it, reread it, and hit on the line, another place another time. I knew that was the right name, and I knew it was time to publish it.

Another Place Another Time consists of two books. Book One is the story of Leonard Jacobson, who at age nineteen, is drafted. He’s an unusual kid who just doesn’t fit well into any organization. While going through Advanced Infantry Training, his Company Commandeer takes Leonard under his wing and introduces him to the possibility of becoming a scout dog handler. Leonard becomes obsessed with the idea and partners with an amazing dog he names Whispers. An uncanny communication develops between the two of them, such that their work makes them legends in Vietnam. Book Two is about Luke Jensen, a long-haul trucker and his dog, Traveler. Luke and Traveler become involved with the Parkers, a Tennessee farm family and Charlie Evans, a time traveler, from fifty years in their future. These events lead to the book’s surprising end.

Mixed in with the love of dogs and the resulting adventures are some enlightening notions about time and life.

DLC: Something for everyone. =) Out of the two stories which character did you most identify with?

Bert: The book is written in first person; however, there are four different speakers. Of the four, I identify with both Jake (Leonard) and Luke. I relate to Jake because I was in Vietnam, and I understand the effect it had on everyone who served there. I understand Luke, because after my military service, I worked in trucking for twelve years. I know that industry, and it’s been my pleasure to know many drivers like Luke.

DLC: Breaker 1:9 we have an author here! My father was a trucker so I can relate. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Bert: I’ve had two “career objectives” in my life. The first time I saw the effect a powerful speaker has on an audience, I wanted to become a speaker. That probably happened when I was four years old. A year or so later, I learned to read, because I couldn’t count on someone always being available to read the comics to me. As soon as I learned to read, I determined I wanted to write.

Each of my objectives came with a major obstacle. I was deathly afraid of speaking to more than one person at a time, and every attempt I made to write became a source of derision from my friends. Finally, at age 39, thanks in part to my membership in five Toastmaster Clubs (one meeting per day, five days a week) I overcame my fear and became a competent public speaker. I took the next step and became a professional speaker. I was “on the circuit” for eleven years with my former wife. I’ve spoken in 48 of the 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and I even forced myself to speak in Tahiti.

During my years as a speaker my obsession with writing resurfaced. In 1986, I self-published a short novel and sold 9,000 copies at seminars and workshops. In my spare time, I began writing short stories and novels. It’s only this year that I dusted them off and began publishing them as eBooks.

DLC: That's fantastic Bert! You've had many years of experience, so for us young folks who are wanting to get into writing or just starting out in the writing world what would be your sage advice?

Bert: This may not be conventional advice but it’s what I would tell any aspiring writer. Write for yourself. Write the stories and books you want to read. Write stories and books that make you laugh and make you cry. Create characters that are so real they begin to write the story themselves, and then let them. Conventional advice is to find your audience and write for them. I say, write for yourself and your audience will find you. And, I’ll add this, when they find you and they will, they won’t ever leave.

DLC: I agree 110%! What source or sources do you draw from when creating a new story?

Bert: I can only write about things I know. Let me clarify that. I don’t write about things I believe, I write about things I know. There is a major difference there. For example, I don’t believe there is a Creator; I know there is a Creator. I don’t believe in the Oneness of all things, I know the oneness of all things. I don’t want to sound like a preacher here; I’ve been there and done that and I don’t need to do it again. I just want to make the point that believing and knowing are two entirely different things. Believing has no foundation in reality. Knowing is reality.

I realized many years ago that everything I believed was wrong. I was devastated until I realized that everything I knew was absolutely bang on. When one reaches that point they are ready to shift their perspective from believing to knowing. Knowing is the source of everything I write.

DLC: Cool, I like someone who has conviction and I don't just believe that. =) On that note who is your favorite character?

Bert: That would have to be Leonard Jacobson, “Jake.” The reason I picked Jake is, he got the difference between believing and knowing at an early age, and he followed the path of knowing without resistance.

DLC: What was your greatest challenge personally when writing Another Place Another Time?

Bert: I had two challenges with Another Place Another Time. The first was finding time to write – like many of today’s writers, I have a day job. A day job tends to interrupt writing continuity, which is a gross understatement. Unlike Woodrow Wilson or Winston Churchill, I cannot write effectively in fifteen minute time frames that are separated by long stretches of non-writing. The other challenge with Another Place Another Time was, its length. It was barely a novella, because, after Jake and Whispers’ story, I thought it was done. I put it away for a few days and then, out of nowhere, Luke and Traveler appeared. So, the second obstacle was gone in a second, the first, I just had to deal with, and today I still deal with it.

DLC: What factors do you use that tell you the manuscript is done?

Bert: I write in first person. Maybe someday I’ll shift my writing perspective but until that day, it’s easy for me to know when the book is done; the main character tells me that it’s done.

DLC: Why did you choose general fiction as the main genre you write in?

Bert: The genre I write about, general fiction is the genre I live in – regular people making right choice; which leads me right into your next question about my favorite authors.

DLC: Do you have any favorite authors?

Bert: In the world of fiction, I have only one favorite author, Nevil Shute. I have everything he wrote; twenty-two novels, his autobiography, and a play. Nevil wrote about normal people doing the right thing and I write about normal people doing the right thing. He has been my unfailing model. I have two favorites, Round the Bend and Trustee from the Tool Room, and I read them over and over.

DLC: That's great. Are you working on a book now and if so tell us a little bit about it?

Bert: I’m working on a sequel to Southern Investigation. It’s called, Southern Investigation – Tucson. Both the books are about a group of Vietnam Veterans and the widow of a Vietnam Vet, who operate a commercial, private investigation company. When I complete “Tucson,” I intend to dust off another manuscript called, Maddog and Miss Kitty, the story of two Vietnam Veterans, a nurse and an infantry officer; their love, their life during the war, and their struggles to return to “normalcy.”

DLC: Now for a fun question. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could pick only 2 books to have with you, what would they be and why?

Bert: Great question. I’d be torn over which of Nevil’s books to take but in the end I think it would be Round the Bend, because of its esoteric base. The second choice would be the Tao Te Ching, specifically R.L. Wing’s translation, The Tao of Power.

DLC: Where can people go to get more information about you and your book? 

Bert: Information is available at my website http://www.bertcarson.com and on Amazon at my author’s page Amazon Author Page.