A Truckload of Authors

This past Wednesday, I drove just a few miles out of town to a farmhouse, where I was one of five local authors in a photo shoot for Living Jackson magazine. The weather was sunny and the temperature was a bit nippy for October in Georgia, but the welcome was quite warm. Publishing partners Roxane Rose and Priscilla Daves are featuring the local authors for their holiday edition, and the designer and photographer were also present to orchestrate our group shot, taken as we stood in the bed of a beautifully restored glossy black 1961 Studebaker pickup truck. After that, the photographer took individual shots of each author, and they did mine twice— once in the cab and once standing in the door way of the truck.

The other authors were all men: Caine Campbell, Frank Gilbert, G. Richard Hoard, and Malcolm Campbell. While the designer and photographer were helping Buddy Hunt, the owner of that beautiful truck, get the it situated in a spot to take advantage of the lovely rural setting, the authors visited for a few minutes. All of us either live in Jackson County, or hale from it, as is the case with Hoard, who was a senior at Jefferson High the year I entered as an eighth grader. After the pictures Roxane invited us into her kitchen for refreshments, along with Josh Barnet, the intern who is writing the actual article. We laughed, especially with Frank, who always has a tall tale, and talked about our works in progress.

During our conversation over coffee and snacks, Hoard mentioned what a humiliating experience it is to write a book. He said that the best compliment is when someone just loves it, and the next best is when someone hates it. The bad thing, he said, is indifference. Hoard further stated that people seldom realize the vast amount of time that an author puts into that book, and he said it took him ten years after his first book to get started on another one. However, he said that years after he wrote Lost Among the Living, he still gets feedback from that first book.

I couldn’t agree more with Hoard’s assessment of the experience of being an author. I’ve experienced the “love it/hate it” scenario myself. Sometimes being an author seems anticlimactic. So much time goes into writing and editing, for days and weeks or even months, and finally, the thrill of seeing those first books with your name on the cover. Then, there is still more work, and sometimes little recognition for either the writing or the promotional activities which come afterward. Yep, it can be humbling, but it is sometimes interesting, and that gathering of local literary talent was entertaining.

If the upcoming article is half as much fun as the photo session, then it will be worth reading, and the pictures should be wonderful. Look for the year end edition of Living Jackson in late November or early December, in various locations throughout Jackson County, Georgia.

A Good Writer You’ve (Probably) Never Read

Approximately three decades ago, I discovered motorcycle magazines. Until then, I learned most of what I knew about two wheel transportation from my dad, who had ridden since he was a child, and from standing around in showrooms and shops, bothering the folks who worked there.

My cousin, who was seriously into motorcycles at the time as well as the proud owner of a “water buffalo” (or a Suzuki GT750 to youngsters or the uninitiated) had a large stack of such magazines in his living room. After having read them, sometimes more than once, I took the plunge and took out a subscription. The first issue that arrived had a feature article by Peter Egan, a narrative of his finding and restoring an old Triumph Bonneville. The rest of the magazine was okay, but this article, complete with a double page spread photo of the restored bike hooked me on the writer and on Cycle World magazine.

Fortunately for me, Egan took a job as a writer and later columnist for that magazine, and I eagerly read everything he wrote, even the technical “how to” articles, until he jumped ship to write for a car magazine. Time passed, and I quit reading motorcycle magazines or riding motorcycles, mostly due to the ongoing interruption known as motherhood.

Hubby still rides motorcycles for recreation, and he takes several magazines, including Cycle World, where Egan is once again a columnist. Like many modern periodicals, current motorcycle magazines often suffer from a lack of writers who can write or editors who know enough grammar and/or spelling to edit properly, but Egan still produces quality columns and articles. I've included a link to another Triumph Bonneville story, albeit a modern one, on the CW website.

Even if you’ve never read about two wheeled transportation, you might find something to like in Egan’s prose. His current article bears the subtitle “Engine by Shakespeare, Chassis by Michelangelo” which lets readers know that his education and interests go far beyond technical manuals.