Albert Camus on the purpose of writing.

“The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.”
― Albert Camus -

Reading this quote my first impression is that Mr. Camus took himself way too serious. Accepting his philosophy would put a huge responsibility on my shoulders (or that of any writer.) I rather hope the people who read what I write will leave with two thoughts: First I hope they found it uniquely stimulating and secondly I want them to have enjoyed the read. What do I mean by uniquely stimulating? Well, that should mean different things to different readers.  To one reader it might mean that the plot was unique and interesting. To another reader it might mean that they believe my character of Aunt Gussie is a representation of our older social customs which have become lost in this postmodern techno fanatic culture where pleasantries are replaced with rudeness in everything from the music to politics. Not that I meant that at all... but one can never be sure what the reader will come away with. All I'm saying is that Mr. Camus in putting a lot on the writer to insinuate that he/she can defend the world itself  in the novelty of a humorous short story, or a romance novel. Then again... maybe he is right and maybe that is exactly what we are doing. Adding the spice to the mix so everything blends together better. A humorous story to act as an aspirin against the headaches of the real world might keep it running one more day. My short story "Aunt Gussie's got a Gun" is in my book  "Spies Lie & Spies Die." I think you would enjoy it.  

Changing the Viewer's Perception

Here I am again, what a handsome red-headed devil. Only this time I'm at a photo shoot. Actually two separate photo shoots. I find it amazing that in 1962 they were still taking professional photos in black and white. Of course in the B&W picture you'd have no idea how red my hair really was. That black and white photo is the focus of this story. My mother told me it was time to go get my picture taken, but I was busy playing. I didn't want to go. She said, "Alright, that's fine but I'm getting my picture taken and you must come with me." So, that was that and I went with her. She put my tie in her purse just in case. When we got to the studio we had to wait because a couple of little girls were getting their pictures taken before us. Mother noticed that I was paying the girls attention. (...or maybe they were paying me attention and I played along?) She said, "Those girls got their pictures taken don't you think they would like it of you got yours taken too?" I put on the tie and got in front of the camera, but I couldn't take my eyes of the girls. Mother struck up a conversation with the girls mother (probably to keep her around until my photo session was over.) The girls were giggling and waving at me. That's why I'm not looking at the camera. Mother loves telling that story. It's not really a special one. There isn't any real excitement, but it's one of her favorites. Now to my observation... It is about my hair. In the B&W picture my hair looks dark... but it's really quite bright. The camera changes the viewer's perception of what he/she were seeing. The writer is in control of what the reader sees... through the whole book the reader may be seeing the story in black and white until the end when the writer pulls out the color camera and shows us that what we thought was right was not. It is the twist that makes the reader hang on. Ernest Hemmingway was a writer who didn't resort to explosions and gun battles to keep his readers interested. His characters were deep and seemed real. They had real life problems and hunted for real life solutions to those problems. It was real life that grabbed the reader. Life comes with twists. It's the twists that keep it exciting. If you haven't read one of my books then you simply must. "Spies Lie & Spies Die" and "The Secret King & Poetry of Praise" are available at Amazon and Goodreads.      

One of my Shoe Illustrations from Ancient History

At one of my jobs (back when I was putting myself through college) was illustrating shoes. So, for my readers of "Spies Lie & Spies Die" who know that I mention shoes in some of my stories and they are important to the plot in some form or fashion. Here is one of those illustrations. This illustration brings back a ton of memories. It's kinda like in the story "Aunt Gussie's got a Gun" where her brother said that his souvenir gun was "...the source of lots of memories and some regrets." I would have to agree - souvenirs can be like that. 

CLICK HERE - Books by Dan Dwayne Spencer

Spies Lie & Spies Die

The Presentation for the Rotary Club in Post, Texas

Sorry there are no actual pics of the event in this post... I finished my presentation for the Rotary Club in Post, Texas and it went great. What wonderful people. (South Plains people are indeed wonderful but these guys were terrific.) Thank you for having me. As for pics... I was talking so I didn't get one of the event myself, I'll get one from the Club President or maybe the Assistant Governor of the Rotary Area and post it later. It was all great fun.

If any group or organization would like for me to come and speak about writing and publishing please contact me at Dan.Dwayne.Spencer.Novelist@gmail.com

CLICK HERE - Books by Dan Dwayne Spencer

"The 38 Special"

I went to an auto show not long ago. Where was it? On the Texas Plains where I live of course. Anyway, there were some terrific Rat-Rods in the car show. For those of you who don't know what a Rat-Rod is... well, it is a cut up collection of cars and parts reassembled into a hot rod. Most are extremely cool as the builders have searched high and low for just the right part to put in just the right place on the hot rod. They usually don't even try to paint them but let them be in whatever condition they come out being. This picture is the dash of one of my favorite Rat-Rods at the show. I can't help wondering if the driver has to have a (firearms) carry permit to drive the car. The name written on the side of the rod was "38 Special." I bet the owner is a mystery writer... What do you think? Oh maybe not.  

Your books sure are different from each other. How do you classify your writing?

Question: Your books are so different... how do you classify yourself as a writer?
Answer: Yes, on the surface my books seem very different. It is easy to only look at their differences, but let's stop and step back looking at their similarities. Everyone has an adventure. It started when you were born and goes till you die. (We don't like to think about that... but there it is.) Some of us have plain or ordinary adventures. Selke in "The Secret King" has an exotic adventure. It was set in a romantic time period and he had the privilege of being Jesus' best friend as they grew up together. What one might miss is that the whole story is really about Selke not Jesus. If a person is expecting to read a religious story focusing on Jesus... then they will probably be disappointed when they read "The Secret King." The character Selke is like everyone of us. We have a life full of events and adventures. our adventures are usually about us... the Me, the I, the Ego... not about anything else. That is until we open up to include others into our adventure. Sometimes these others go along with us on our adventures, and sometimes we go along with them on theirs (even if it is by coincidence and not by choice.)  This is what happens to Selke. He is having his own adventure when he is forced into Jesus' adventure. You might not have realized it but Selke is even mentioned in the bible. No... not by name. He is simply called "a man." But back to our topic. Selke's story is an adventure. I write adventure stories. Yes, I simply insist that  all my stories are adventure stories. Not all have ghosts, not all have detectives, not all have journalists, but they all have characterized people who are having an interesting adventure.  (Actually thinking about the similarities... if you look close enough you will agree that each one of my stories has a savior.) Find them on Amazon.com

 

What kind of Gun is on the Cover of "Spies Lie & Spies Die?"

I had to decide what kind of gun to use on the cover. I knew I wanted it to be golden and hang on the ribbon but should it be a Smith and Wesson? Maybe it should be Remington or maybe it should be a Barretta. All three of these guns appear in the nine stories of "Spies Lie & Spies Die." I decided on the Berretta because there are more Barrettes in the book.  I looked at one and using my mouse I clicked off the image of the gun in Photoshop. I added in the shadows and details. (Although I purposefully kept it a bit nondescript on the details.) Then I flipped it upside down onto the ribbon.