Blog Archives
Our Own Crossroads in Life
The Road Not Taken follows two former classmates that drifted apart and reconnected that decided to give love a chance. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
I think nearly all of us can relate to the feelings of “what if…” One of the things I enjoy most about writing fiction is the ability to make the “what ifs” come true … at least for the fictional characters. As readers, we can vicariously enjoy revisiting the “road not taken” by the characters of the book while remembering our own crossroads in life. Most of us went to high school, had a boyfriend/girlfriend, and have similar memories of our childhood experiences, so the setting for my novel was one that almost anyone could recognize.
What was your inspiration for the characters and their relationship?
Readers tend to identify those who try to write outside of their own boundaries as frauds. The characters are compositions of people I have personally known, and the relationships are ones I have had or wish I had. I think most readers will also recognize many of the characters and relationships from their own lives. I wrestled in high school and college, and I was a pilot in the Navy … but I’m not Ty! I have never flown in combat. I’m familiar enough with the lingo and dynamics of flying to be able to write credibly about the adventures of military aviation. Because I have lived in many small towns, I’m able to write from experience about the nuances of it.
Are there any emotions or memories from your own life that you put into your character’s life?
Many. The impacts of mistakes made in youth as we live forward. The hypocrisy of religious people who do sacrilegious things. The brutality and inhumanity of war. The realization as we mature that “true love” is constructed of a lot of “like”.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
The next book after The Road Not Taken was The Other Side Of Good (Gold Book Award from Literary Titan), which was released on January 18, 2022. This year, I’m working on a fourth novel, tentatively titled Pedaling West. It is a COVID-19 era novel about a young woman who “resets” her life during the pandemic by bicycling across the United States.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Preachers and Teachers of God’s Word
Simple Preaching Prep provides clear guidance designed to help new preachers succeed. Why was this an important book for you to write?
There are two primary reasons Simple Preaching Prep was an important book for me to write.
The first reason is because of what I feel God has called me to do. For many years I have felt that my purpose is not only to preach and teach but to train up other preachers and teachers of God’s Word. For most of my life, I assumed as though that would play out in me being in a classroom setting. While that may still happen, in 2021 I began sensing a strong urge to write down the process I had developed, and make it widely available.
The second reason is because of the need I see for the American church. Fewer individuals are going into seminaries and Bible colleges with the intention of serving in ministry, all while churches of every size and type struggle to find someone to serve in their congregation. There are a lot of underlying issues that feed into each of those realities, but I wanted to create something that I felt could help alleviate some of the pressure that exists. That is why I wrote a book designed to help lay leaders and students in the task of preaching.
What is a common obstacle you find new preachers face and how can they overcome it?
If someone is brand new to preaching I find the most common obstacles determining what they are going to say and how they are going to say it. A weekly twenty-five-minute sermon equates to a weekly term paper for most. Where do you start when you have no idea what you are going to talk about? Then, how do you put all that information together in a way that actually connects with your audience? These issues are part of why I developed a model for sermon preparation. In Simple Preaching Prep, I want to help those new preachers gather their information and put it together as a coherent message.
What is one piece of advice someone gave you that had the largest impact on your preaching?
One piece of advice I received was from all the way back at age 16 when I had only preached once or twice before. Our associate minister, Scott, encouraged me to preach with the personality God had given me. He encouraged me not to try and emulate anyone else, or try to be anyone else. But instead, allow my personality to come through in how I communicated.
This is why, as I state in the book, I believe a great definition of preaching comes from nineteenth-century preacher Phillipps Brooks who defined preaching as, “Communicating Truth through personality.” The Truth of God’s Word will remain, but every preacher should utilize their own personality to communicate that truth.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am just now releasing Simple Preaching Prep and am not actively working on another book at this time. However, I am developing a variety of ideas for other potential follow-up books including:
- A more business-specific version of Simple Preaching Prep
- A book of “next steps” to move beyond the simple model I present and further develop one’s preaching ability
- A book focused on finding and developing one’s preaching style and voice, using their God-given personality
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Simple Preaching Prep is written to provide a straightforward, customizable sermon development model for preachers who are new or perhaps just looking for a new approach. In Simple Preaching Prep, author and pastor Mark Messmore demonstrates how to:
Interview the Text
Narrow the Focus
State the Main Idea
Include Supporting Material
Deliver the Message
Evaluate the Result
While preaching is hard, Simple Preaching Prep aims to help you finish your first sermon and flourish beyond.
And Never Looked Back
The Mongoose Crew follows a military veteran that wants to keep his past in the past, but everything he built starts to fall apart when his former crew starts looking for him. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
The inspiration behind the “Mongoose Crew” started with my own tour in the United States Army, where I served on active duty, of which a portion of that time was spent in Somalia from August of 1993 through December of that same year. Like the main character, “Mickey Frank,” I was a member of a team of five soldiers who provided mobile security for military personnel throughout our entire tour in country. The words “Mongoose,” was stenciled on our modified gun ship (vehicle), and other soldiers in the area began referring to us as the Mongoose Crew. About a year later, my Army tour was over, and I returned home to begin a new chapter. As the years passed, I started noticing that I had some internal difficulties as I tried to adjust to civilian life. I didn’t know it at that time, but like many other military veterans, I was suffering from trauma due to my experiences in the military, and self-medicating with alcohol to manage my mental health. Ultimately, I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I tried to discover healthier ways to manage the emotions, and writing my thoughts on my laptop served as effective therapy for me, and still does. Of course, the story I create in “The Mongoose Crew” is fiction, but the guts of the story came from our deployment to Somalia in 1993, and the memories I have of the four other members of my crew, all of whom were wonderful people when I served with them, and nothing like the sadistic characters portrayed in my novel.
Mickey is a good guy that ended up in the wrong place in Somalia. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
The main character, “Mickey,” is a guy who was very gung-ho throughout his time in the Army, and clearly identified with the gritty and tough-minded American Soldier mentality. He embodied all of the characteristics of a tough soldier, but Mickey also had a conscientious side to him. He was well read with a passion for political issues and social justice, not only in America, but around the world. His buddies joked with him about being an intellectual because Mickey would often challenge his buddies on the politics and business of war, and the motivations of the power elite in our government. Mickey loved America and would be the first to fight for her, but he was not naive when analyzing the history and policies of his own government. Once he’s in Somalia, and is able to witness the level of poverty and the inhumanity happening around him, he comes to the conclusion that the civil war among the Somali clans were about basic human survival and power, survival of the fittest. Mickey saw it as the poor vs. poor, fighting a civil war in one of the poorest nations on earth. Perhaps he was still a bit naive at age 22, but Mickey wondered how the world would be if the power elite around the world, could share a small portion of what they have with the poorest among us. He grew up plenty during his deployment, and when he was primed and groomed by superiors to accept his next promotion, the conscientious Mickey Frank chose to decline the promotion and chose to leave the Army. He loved his time in the Army, but he was ready for the next chapter in his life, and never looked back.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
When focusing on the strong antagonist in the story, “Tommy Cuttler,” I wanted to explore the theme of power and privilege in our society. If you have the political muscle and financial fortune behind you, a person can get away with almost anything, especially when those very influential elite are being provided cover by their wealthy and powerful friends. That theme could not ring truer after analyzing Cuttler and the influential people in his life. A second theme that I was not aware of until already in the midst of the project, was the conviction and trust that all the characters in the story had in one another. Mickey and Jimmy Ortega were always close when serving together on active duty, but the two had to re-establish that trust in one another if they were going to accomplish their mission. They had not spoken or kept in touch since Mickey left the Army many years ago, so you can only imagine the doubt that each man had when teaming up again. How had the other changed over the years? Would each man be committed to the other in their mission? The same applies to all three antagonists in this story. “The Stooges,” as they are often referred, had the clear advantage of remaining inseparable over the many years, but when people can do the evil deeds as they have over a long period, there is no conviction or bond stronger than those three individuals. The three men were really an extension of one another, with the same conviction and purpose, which was to kill.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I’m currently working on a single book of short novels, which will be my first volume, and I hope to have it completed this summer. Some stories revolve around social justice themes, so I’m basically writing often, taking breaks on some projects and tackling others with a bit more vigor. I do plan to link my work to the social media platforms that you mentioned, so that’s coming. Thank you again for this opportunity to share my thoughts on my book, as well as my future plans.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
As the years passed, Mickey has grown comfortable in his family life, until he is shaken to the core by the knowledge that members of his past life are searching for him. He believes he knows why the army is after him, but he is not prepared for the even darker secrets three members of his crew hold.
The Mongoose Crew is a deep dive into the complexity of a soldier’s experience in a land thousands of miles away from home and the trauma many veterans experience when they return.
About the Author
Marcus F. Fair is a social worker and has enjoyed a twenty-five-year career in the field as an investigator, along with several other titles over the years. He has been blessed with a wonderful woman and life partner to be by his side for the past twenty years, whom he owes his life.
Fair finds family to be essential in his life and always tries to remember this face through the good times and the bad. In the community, he dedicates himself to aid those who are underprivileged and families in need. In his spare time, he enjoys playing chess, shooting at the gun range, reading a good novel, and anything involving outdoor activities. However, spending time with his family is what he enjoys the most.
Helped Fuel My Ideas
DREAMer follows a young immigrant girl as she tries to find her family with the help of a kindhearted couple and a stack of postcards she has collected. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
I used to teach elementary school and had many immigrant children in my classes. Marisol was one such girl and although her past is not the story I wrote, she is who I had in mind when writing the book. I also have a friend who taught children stuck at the border in Tijuana and conversations with her also helped fuel my ideas.
How much research did you undertake for this book and how much time did it take to put it all together?
I already had some knowledge of the problems immigrants faced, but I did quite a bit of research on DREAMers and DACA. I also had to research the many California locations in the book.
Each book I write takes about a year between me starting it and publishing – about eight months of writing it and then my three editors read them and I make changes.
What were the morals you were trying to capture while creating your characters?
The morals I try to live by: compassion, respect, initiative, integrity, courage, trust, resourcefulness.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I have finished writing my next book with the temporary title, “Luther in Limbo” and am waiting for my editors to send it back for my changes. I assume it will be published this spring.
I have started writing the next one with the temporary title “Dutch’s Last Hurrah” while waiting for my editors.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Something Fun To Write About
Advent of Dreamtech follows a young woman that wants to change how humans live in a post alien contact world. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
My main inspiration was a short story I wrote when I was a kid: a little boy, unhappy, alone, with only his dreams as an escape of harsh reality. He eventually learns to control his dreams, and then enter the dreams of others. Never really wrote the end, but when I was thinking about something fun to write about for my debut novel, this old story was very present in my mind. The character of Edda wants to change things and faces a lot of challenges.
What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
I wanted to explore the accumulation of power, and how it changes the individual. Edda’s journey through the trilogy is a prime example. Her hunger for power is only instrumental to achieve her real end, which makes her quite special.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The one theme that permeates the trilogy is the impact on our survival as a species on the struggle between truth and propaganda.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Book 3, the last of the trilogy, is already in the oven. Should be out, warm and delicious by April 2022.
Author Links: Facebook | Website
Civilization has long collapsed—the legacy of an inescapable disease. Only a faction adapted to lifespans of a mere twenty-seven years, spreading into the global rural utopia known as Goah’s Gift. A happy society, oblivious to its own fragility.
A STEP AWAY FROM EXTINCTION.
Welcome to the history seminar of Professor Miyagi of the University of Lunteren-Deviss. Using the latest twenty-sixth century dream sensorial technology, you and your fellow students are about to dive deep into the momentous events when doom was playing dice with humanity.
AND WINNING.
This is the story of a badass woman that meets an alien deep in her dreams. An alien with an agenda.
This is the story of a world-shaking religious revolution. In a deeply religious world.
This is the story of DREAMTECH, and the impact of alien technology on a dying human world.
What The World Wants Them To Be
Knights of the Alliance follows several warriors that are brought into an elite group of Knights in order to save their world. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
The Alliance series in its earliest form was a fanfic of an online game I used to play. Which one? That’s the secret! Diehard fans may be able to figure it out, but Alliance has evolved so far from the game it has practically no similarities. The characters are based off the top players in the game.
Mirari has a complex backstory and works through a lot of emotions from her past. What were some driving ideals behind your Mirari’s development?
Mirari works through grief and loss while struggling to find her identity and place in the world. It echoes the way many people in the real world have to choose between who they want to be vs what the world wants them to be, whether it is among family, friends or peers.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The biggest themes are overcoming adversity and learning how to forgive and move on from the past. Despite how prominent political themes are in the book, those are only meant to serve as a backbone for deeper subjects. I like to make my characters as real as possible. I think it’s important that we don’t sugarcoat the struggles in life, and for readers to have themes they can relate to in some way.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My heart and soul is 100% dedicated to the Alliance series. Book 2, Birth of Resilience, will be available August 2022. If you like diving into the minds of complex characters, this is the book for you.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Meanwhile, Fangbane has spent his life trying to end centuries of social and political hostility. As his fame spreads, brave Knights rally to his cause.
But to truly succeed, Fangbane must have two others: Gaven, the headstrong warrior he helped put on death row, and Mirari, a simple merchant with a past as secretive as her formidable magical ability. Their aid could be the difference between success and failure.
Can Gaven put aside his apathy to fully commit to the alliance?
Will Mirari become a worthy fighter and subdue her desire for revenge?
With the threat of a growing movement of underground vigilantes bent on tipping the system, the Knights must act quickly.
Time is running out to rid the world of evil.
A Life Changed Forever
Dry Heat follows a high school jock who is arrested for attempted murder while the real criminal goes missing, and he must make choices that will alter the course of his future. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
Back in the 90s I had an engine rebuilding company in Phoenix. The son of one of my employees was arrested and charged with shooting at an off-duty police officer during a highway altercation. The actual shooter escaped and despite having no record, the boy was facing a trial where he could be sentenced to jail for ten years. His family had to make an instant decision to take a plea deal for three years. So instead of college he went to prison.
The agony for the boy and his parents of having to make that kind of instant decision was something that stuck with me. A stupid mistake and bad luck and a life is changed forever.
Joey has a really bad day that only gets worse as the story goes on. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Joey is a good person and he’s trying to do the right thing, but he’s facing pressures he’s never faced before and he keeps making bad decisions. I wanted the story to be a cautionary tale, but also a hopeful one. Joseph (the adult Joey) makes a new life for himself. He finds redemption and has not given up on love.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Loyalty. Family ties. Friendship. The enduring power of love.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am about 2/3 through the first draft of a novel titled, “Freedom’s Just Another Word…” It takes place in 2018 and is the story of fictional Chicago Tribune columnist, Jake Doyle, who fell from grace years ago (had an affair and a child with his twenty-year- old intern) and is struggling to survive in the newspaper world of the 21st century. When the new billionaire owner of the Tribune recruits Jake to help him with his campaign to run for president, Jake must decide whether to go along or get out.
I am hoping it will be available by the end of 2023.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | Indeed | Twitter | Instagram
The high school bonfire is supposed to be the kickoff to a great night: Joey has just won a football scholarship and he’s hoping for a sex breakthrough with his new girlfriend. Then his true love–but ex-girlfriend–Mallory tells his she’s pregnant. He’s reeling from that news when the bonfire explodes.
Joey, his new girlfriend and her drug dealer friend TJ, flee in her truck. When the police pursue, TJ shoots at the cop’s car. It crashes and in the ensuing chaos TJ slips away undetected. Joey, the only adult in the truck, is hauled off to jail.
Joey is charged with attempted murder and released on bail. TJ is nowhere to be found. When Joey discovers that Mallory’s father is pressuring her to terminate the pregnancy, Joey has to remain free to prevent that from happening. In desperation, he reaches out to notorious gang leader, Chico Torres, whom he met in jail, for help locating TJ.
When Joey is offered a deal–his freedom in exchange for his cooperation in nailing Chico–he faces a decision that will change the course of his life and Mallory’s.
Make Happy Family Memories
Living with Trisomy 18 / Edwards Syndrome tells the story of your daughter Melissa and the struggles you all faced. Why was this an important book for you to write?
I felt the need to share our amazing experience in caring for a daughter who had been given the diagnosis of Trisomy 18 and being told in the first week we would be lucky to make it out of hospital and she would be unlikely to reach her first birthday as this diagnosis was incompatible with life. For this reason every day counted and I wanted to make happy family memories.
What is a common misconception you feel people have about Trisomy 18?
That these children cannot/will not achieve milestones.
Their 24-hour care is too difficult.
Each child is different and therefore time is the real thing that identifies what is required to manage their needs.
In New Zealand these children would be unlikely to receive medical procedures to improve their quality of life.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
Being honest was necessary so people could have a better understanding of how difficult and scary providing 24-hour care can be with all the feeding issues and caring for the family’s needs as well. This sharing for me needed to be as it was so people could really understand. Having a non-verbal child able to indicate to me what was wrong was amazing and even her pediatrician was amazed how we learnt to manage Melissa’s needs.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from the story?
As a family we wanted Melissa to live life – she did. She rode her adapted bicycle in the house with assistance and enjoyed every minute of it. As her body slowly developed, she played ball while using a standing frame, she went horse riding with amazing support {the only morning of the week she would eat her breakfast without fuss}. The local swimming pool gave us a time we could go when there were not many people there and she loved that time there. For a short period, she spoke a few words but then stopped though still communicated with her carers and family non verbally. Melissa showed us who she trusted (she refused to eat if she did not trust them feeding her). Melissa taught me so much about life I treasure every minute we had with her in spite of the high toll it took on our lives.
I believe that the rainbow that appeared at her funeral confirmed her life was meant to be, I feel privileged to be her Mum and to be able to share our journey.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website
LITERARY TITAN 