A description of what my calling has produced

Senesis Word Publishing
104 Leeward Court  -  St. Augustine, FL 32084  904-687-1865
Nationwide cell phone:  574-265-3386 - email: senesisword@yahoo.com

 Publishing Services for Writers who choose to Self Publish  

May 26, 2015 - an update:

May 24, 2012

With this little booklet, I will try to explain what has become my passion and my last HURRAH so to speak. I am sharing this with each of you, to read if you wish. It has taken me more than ten years to reach where I am with this passion and it is my hope that I will continue to grow from my experiences. I also hope you will take the time to read the pages that follow this short letter.

Why I Write: I am a story teller, both fiction and memoirs: fabricated and remembered. My writing dreams are bigger than I could possibly be. That alone should help keep me young at heart and always thirsting for another day, even at my age. Some time back I told everyone on my email list that I discovered I was a writer, but I didn't say why. Each story, thought, idea, or memory that I put into words brings forth from the depths of my mind and imagination, more stories, more thoughts, more ideas, and more memories. I am deliciously excited by writing these things. It has become my  great passion, somewhat like this little phrase I wrote several years ago. Those in their youth, who can, dream. Those in their prime, who can, do. Those in their old age, who can, write. For many years I was an avid reader, devouring all kinds of literature. Once I started writing, my reading time gave way to mostly writing time. Writing is so much more rewarding. Certainly I would like my words to be read, but my main pleasure lies in the writing. I would write even if I knew no one would ever read my words.

So think about writing. If there is a story or memory in you, give it the wings of the written word. Who knows how many others you may touch.

—Howard Johnson, 2011

I am sending this to tell you about my writing and my own, new publishing company, Senesis Word.

Struggling with several kinds of publishing companies, agents and others for ten years taught me a great deal about this rapidly changing business. Actually, I have just scratched the surface. After two very expensive lessons, I dug in and learned a lot about what makes for a successful book. If you are not an established author or a celebrity or politician of some note, making a living writing is difficult, and for the inexperienced, virtually impossible. Having been engaged in this struggle, I decided to offer my services to others starting on the path I have already trod. As a result I started my own publishing company, Senesis Word, to provide development assistance to the many unpublished and unheralded writers struggling to have their words published, if only for friends and family.

My website, www.Ho2Jo.com, can provide much information about the services offered. The costs for these services are surprisingly low and depend on just how much the writer asks me to do. An estimate of the costs associated with any project will be provided free of charge.

As an active member of the Florida Writers Association and several other groups of writers, I know many really good writers who have never made a penny from their work. I also know a very few who have at least made some money. Still, they all say, “Don’t give up your day job until . . . .” There are, of course, those lucky, and usually hard working, writers who have cracked the best sellers lists. This can happen after being noticed for any number of unfathomable reasons. Knowing someone already successful in the business can give you a leg up. Even then, there are a number of very necessary steps one must take to turn one’s idea onto a finished book, and that’s before a single copy is sold. Should you have any interest, I can and would love to provide you with invaluable information, books and reports on writing for both newbies and experienced writers.

I have become a prolific writer and work hard to make my writing clear, interesting and compelling. I have three finished books published and three more that will soon be published, hopefully early in 2012. I have five more writing projects in stages from half finished to just started, and many more in the idea stage. Most, but not all of my fiction is hard science fiction. Hard science fiction is fiction in which the science behind the story is relatively accurate, possible—usually extrapolated from our current science—science pushed into the future—sometimes, far into the future. It is quite different from fantasy and there is no magic or suspension of the basic laws of physics, math, or chemistry. Sometimes fact catches up with fiction as new and real technologies replace previously fictional ones. From Jules Verne to Arthur C. Clark, SciFi imaginings have become later realities.

LATEST BOOKS PUBLISHED BY HOWARD JOHNSON:

DOUBLE JEOPARDY is the second book of the BLUE SHIFT Trilogy.  BLUE SHIFT, the first book, tells the story of the discovery of a star moving at ninety percent of the speed of light toward an intersection with the path our solar system is taking through the galaxy. This intersection will take place in approximately thirty years.

Dr Charlie Botkin, from Cal Tech, one of the worlds top authorities on high energy physics is asked for help in determining just what the effects of the star’s passing so close to the Earth might be. Shortly after the mysterious disappearance of his uncle C he becomes deeply involved in the ongoing task of predicting how close the star will pass, and what damage it might do. Working with the original group from Gemini, Crazy Charlie helps in their effort to keep the public calm. Armed with increasingly accurate projections of the path and possible effects of the ghost star, Charlie predicts there is a good chance it will pass with little or no effect on the Earth. In the midst of this, a new menace appears in the form of a large asteroid that is on a collision course with Earth. International cooperation on an unprecedented scale is organized to try to solve this unexpected new cataclysmic danger. Published, May, 2015

EARLIER BOOKS PUBLISHED BY HOWARD JOHNSON,

LISTED EARLIEST FIRST TO LATEST LAST

Blue Shift is my first book, a SciFi novel published in 2002. I received several rave reviews in newspapers, but sales were meager. That was mostly because of my inability to follow through on my publisher’s marketing plan. My wife, Barbara’s deteriorating health kept me from attending the speaking engagements and book publicity my publisher had arranged. The few book signings I did manage to have were quite successful. All told more than 400 books were sold, a very small number in the real world.

The story takes us from the big island of Hawaii to a Mohawk Indian reservation in upstate New York and back. The characters are mostly from the two very different groups of native Americans found there, Hawaiians and Mohawks. Using the new Gemini telescope on the island of Hawaii, astronomer Angus Thomas, a Mohawk Indian and popular pro football player, discovers a wayward star that threatens to destroy all life when it races past the Earth in about thirty years. Discovery of this inescapable menace unleashes snowballinig events that batter the former all-pro running back, his beautiful Hawaiian assistant, Lani Namahoe, their families and friends. This determined group of people battle ignorance, internal enemies and government agents as they deal with the discovery of this irresistible, unavoidable  menace that man is absolutely powerless to change or escape. Then they face the awesome responsibility of publicly announcing the probable end of life on Earth while struggling against forces that want to prevent them from doing so. Love, adventure, and intrigue heighten the anticipation of the growing threat of annihilation.

The book is still available from most popular book sources and from my website. An ebook form for the Kindle is available, with other formats coming in the near future. Also coming in the future will be the second and third books in the Blue Shift trilogy. Blue Shift II deals with the significant people and events during the twenty eight years between the conclusion of first Blue Shift and the near approach of the ghost star. Blue Shift III deals with the last two years as the star approaches and what happens as it passes through the solar system, the final conclusion of the trilogy. I hope to finish and publish Blue Shift II in 2012, and Blue Shift III in 2013.

My second book, Energy, Convenient Solutions, How Americans can Solve the Energy Crisis in Ten Years, is a non fiction book about energy. It is the culmination of ten years of my research into all manner of energy creation and use in a field where I have had considerable experience.

In the book I say, “We can replace all fossil fuels with renewable fuels and alternative energy sources within ten years and with relatively minor disruptions to present manufacturing and distribution systems.  Energy, Convenient solutions describes most of the existing and proposed energy systems, all within current technology and capabilities. Some of these proposed systems are quite unusual and recently announced. It provides many unique and workable, long-term answers to growing concerns about energy, the economy, and dwindling supplies of petroleum.  Adopting these new systems would improve our balance of trade, our economy, our job opportunities, and our technological presence while eliminating the CO2 problem, regardless of its importance. We no longer have the luxury of time. The growing economic/political menace is here, now, real, and dangerous. If we don’t act immediately, the consequences could be catastrophic.”

Publication of the book was followed by publication of numerous articles in trade publications in many fields related to energy. Numerous book reviews, most quite positive have been written and published since publication early in the fall of 2010. Most of the negative reviews focused on the comments made about politics, Islam, and the lack of a single definitive answer. Obviously these reviewers failed to recognize the power politics and politicians have over energy decisions, even though most are poorly informed on the subject. Anyone who doesn’t see the danger oil-rich nations can pose, and the financial drain this causes the western world are wearing blinders. As long as petroleum remains our primary energy source, these factors must be considered. The answer is not a single system, or technology, but a combination of many, some effective in one field, others in different fields and industries. The one-size-fits-all solution so adored by politicians and the media, is completely impractical. The obvious difficulties and expensive collapse of many companies developing radical new technologies is just one of the lessons we must learn.

The third one of my books, Words from the Lakeside, has just been replaced by two new books, Memoirs from the Lakeside, and Words from the Lakeside, are updated and expanded versions of the same book. See the next section for information about these books. 

Both  books are identical except for the titles. They are a combination anthology and collection of quips, quotes, poems, essays, letters, and memoirs. My contributions date from as early as the 1930s. Some quotes are from earlier times, dating as far back as before the Common Era.

Over many years I have collected a wide variety of sayings, letters, poems, and essays. All of the short stories and essays are my own work along with many of the sayings and other writings. In any case, the sources and authors are acknowledged except for those marked, unknown or anonymous. The memoirs are from my childhood and youth years around Lake Tippecanoe in Northern Indiana and continue to the present. Because of the variety from one liners to complete stories, both Lakeside books are ideal reads for a few minutes or for a relaxed hour. Many of the memoirs recall memorable happenings from a very full life. I have had a blast for a life with many contacts with wonderful and fascinating people—friends, relatives, and those sharing but a single moment. Many of these haunting experiences are shared within the pages of this book.Parts of the memoirs are very personal revelations. Most are fond memories of treasured experiences, often with loved ones. Some are memories that carry some unpleasantness, but that is just the way life happens.

There are quite a few new memoirs, not in the earlier books. I have simply expanded Words from the Lakeside into two books. This one contains all of the quotes and a greatly expanded number of memoirs.

I am a member of a group of memoir writers who meet for an hour and a half every Wednesday morning. Several members read their work during each meeting, then we all can comment. It is interesting to note that often one memoir will trigger a memory of a similar or related story in one or more of our minds. Almost every meeting, one reading will trigger a memory in my mind and prompt me to write a new memoir. The number of memoirs I have written as part of this group are now a part of this new book. I’m sure I have enough more memories to fill at least one more book of memoirs. It seems that each memoir I write prompts memories of other happenings worth writing about.

Starring, a completely new book, has just been released and is available through most book outlets. It was originally titled, Short Stories, Mostly SciFi. A fellow writer and member of the Science Fiction Novelists group, D. Keith Howington, suggested the title, Starring after seeing a copy of the cover of my book with the title, Short Stories, Mostly SciFi. Keith very graciously suggested this title and told me I could use it if I wanted to. Once I placed it on the cover, I immediately loved it and so I took him up on his offer. I will be sending him a copy from the very first printing of the final version.

From the text on the back of the book:This collection of mostly SciFi stories is taken partially from the collection, Howard Johnson says, “Hard science fiction is basically all fictional writing that uses extrapolation of real science—or actual science and technology expanded by the writer’s vision—as far into the future, or past, as his or her creative imagination can take us. It is based on what we can imagine technology of the future to be. Jules Verne was a pioneer in this type of fiction. Look at all the things he imagined that have actually come to pass.

“Several of these stories deal with not only our own advanced technology, but with that of alien species from other worlds, other galaxies, even other universes. Yet all stories deal with mostly very human foibles, problems, interactions with others, sometimes even alien intelligent species. Many of the settings are on other planets where things like the atmosphere, gravity, the native flora and fauna, can be quite different from here on our small planet. While many of the writers of science fiction are scientists, enjoyable SciFi stories should be written so those not based in the  sciences can understand and enjoy the action. Much of what we use every day would have been far out science fiction 50, 30, or even 20 years ago, the iphone for example. When I was young, I knew man would some day go to the moon. I never dreamed then that it would be in my lifetime. Our abilities and knowledge grow at an exponential rate. The time to the future is becoming increasingly compressed.”

The Crystal Feather is my second hard science fiction novel and is very different from the first one, Blue Shift. In 2008 an early manuscript of The Crystal Feather, was submitted in the Florida Writers Association Lighthouse novel contest along with more than a hundred others. The first several chapters and a synopsis were the submission requirements. I was surprised and elated when The Crystal Feather, entry took the first place prize. It has taken me three years to finish the novel which is now published and available in both print and ebook versions.

The story: Dr. Draxel Syl has a wild, off-Earth adventure with a drop-dead gorgeous lady named Leura Clauson. Reeling from this experience, he wanders about trying to learn what really happened, who Leura actually is, and what these strange happenings are about. This leads to his learning of and interacting with other humanoids from universes in other dimensions, actually other, parallel universes. In the process, he is abducted and transferred by “portal” to another part of our galaxy by a Segwah star ship captain. The Segwah are a humanoid species closely related to Humans, but from a different universe in a different dimension of space-time. The Scentar, another humanoid species, are from yet another universe in another dimension. The Scentar and Segwah have been at war with each other for millennia, invading each other’s universes and killing each other.

Drax, a principal gravity scientist of the Eegis project in Pasadena has inadvertently created a slowly growing rift or tear in the space-time fabric between the Human and Scentar universes. This tear, caused by one of his research projects at Eegis, could cause the two universes to fold into each other, annihilating both. While the Segwah are virtually identical to Earth’s Neanderthals, the Scentar are quite the opposite, slender and physically very beautiful by human standards. Both Scentar and Segwah have cultures very different from each other and from Humans as well. The Scentar are quite different in another way. There are twice as many females as males because each female birth is identical twins, while male births are always single.  This makes their culture and morality based on two female twins bonding with a single male, a very unusual family structure and related sexual morality.

Parts of this book, The Feudals, are about very controversial subjects, so must be read with an open mind. To those who are offended or think me crazy, I address the following quote from Angela Monet. 

“Those who dance are thought insane by those who can’t hear the music.”

The Feudals, is a collection of political essays: It is mainly about those I call “Feudals” because of their desire for a political system similar to the Feudal system of the middle ages in Europe. Please note: This book is not “politically correct.” Some of my words will probably  offend people with widely varying viewpoints.  I’m certain I have written something to offend everyone.  Let’s say I am an equal opportunity offender. These words represent many viewpoints, some quite controversial. They are not written deliberately to offend or insult, but to stimulate debate and interest in things we often choose to ignore. The final edition of the book is planned for release late in 2012.

This book is a collection of my own ideas, thoughts and concepts in the arena of politics. The conclusions and projections are based on frequently cited evidence. I refuse to believe, accept,  or trust the words of any person considered to be a politician or media personality. I do believe their actions and often hidden agenda. What they do is what they are and what reflects their agenda, not what they say or promise.

The book explores the actions and motives of those who mostly ignore the realities of rational people, finance, and the marketplace. These despots, mostly elitist intellectuals, use the emotions of class envy, hatred and racial tension to gain supporters. Their use of base emotions far overpowers rational thought in the minds of many voters. This book seeks to examine this irrational phenomenon. In these words are descriptions of those things I distrust:  hypocrisy, ignorance, snobbery, elitist intellectualism, closed minds, propaganda, political slavery and irresponsibility. I favor using emotions to enjoy love, the arts, people, and successes of any size. I also favor logical thought processes for making life decisions, especially political ones. I quote from one of my earlier writings, “Observe what politicians do and ignore what they say. Their words are seldom sheeted to the winds of truth.”

Days of the High Morning Moon is a completely new and different type of novel for me. A suspense thriller, it explores a planned crime that leads to unplanned murder on Lake Tippecanoe in northern Indiana. Having grown up there, I am very familiar with the locale and all of the places in the book. They are very real places one can visit and see. Of course, the characters and situations are all fictional.

Among the folklore of some native American Algonkians, there is a belief that the five days when the moon is high in the sky near mid morning, are days of big troubles. This moon is called Wakiapah Tibik-kìzis in the local Algonquian dialect. This translates roughly into High Morning Moon. The danger rises with the gibbous moon, two days before the half moon of the third quarter and continues for the two days after. During this period, the worst day is the middle one when the half moon stands at the zenith at sunrise. Many researchers think this belief originated around women’s menstrual period.  During these days, believers will not plant any crops, hunt, fight wars, or conduct any business. They will, however, defend themselves if attacked.

The story takes place around labor day in modern times during these days when the morning moon rides high. Its locale is in an area of Indiana rich in the lore and history of the Algonquian tribes, mainly Miami and Potawatomi. An unlikely mix of characters lead a retired Chicago homicide detective on a confusing set of activities. Ragan Yoder grew up on the lake as did I. He returned to his boyhood home when he retired, but was soon the principal homicide detective in Kosciusko County where much of the action takes place. His home is the home my parents built in 1958 where I lived for more than twenty-five years. That makes it easy for me to describe in the book.

I started this book on a whim when Daphne and I were in Hawaii. That’s where I took the photo that makes up the cover. If history is any indicator, it will take me two years to finish the story. I must say that so far it has been a great pleasure writing such a different and plausible story so unlike the hard science fiction I usually write. Also, it seems to be progressing much quicker than my previous works. As of this moment, the book is nearly completed. Only the final few chapters need to be finished and a final edit of the entire book completed. Maybe I’ll finish and publish it in 2015. Only time will tell.

I have also created a large number of small booklets on many different subjects. This one, Genesis 2012, is the current version of the booklet I use with my lecture, Science and Religion, a Revelation.

Do you have a story or stories to tell? I’ll bet you do.

Each of us has stories to tell, stories that should be told that others would love to read, especially family members. We all know how to write. We write letters, emails, we tell people jokes and little stories about our experiences. Not all of us can be writers. That’s just a simple fact. However, many of you could write about things you would like to pass on to your children and grandchildren, things about you that you would like for them to know. My grandfather, George Dickinson told me many stories of his life growing up and as a young man. My father and mother did the same. I remember but a tiny portion of those stories. I would love to be able to read all of them, but they didn’t write them down. Some of theses stories are imbedded in my memoirs. I do not want to deny my grandchildren access to the stories of happenings in my life so I have written and collected many memoirs. These are the little stories I would tell people about things that happened, significant things, things my progeny might like to know about before they were born or while they were very young. Not all of these are pleasant or happy stories for there are dark times in all of our lives. Still, time helps lessen the memories of trauma, physical and emotional. I therefore urge you to write. Write the stories of your life. Tell your as yet unborn descendants about your life so they will know you.

I remember just a few stories my parents told about my dad’s parents and about my sisters before I was born. To me my paternal grandparents are virtually unknown other than those few stories and a few photos. How wonderful it would have been if they had written about their childhoods and lives. I would then at least known something of my ancestry. As it is they are merely names ad faces frozen at an advanced age. How did they meet? What about their parents? A hundred years from now, who will know anything about those ancestors just two generations back? If you write about your life, they will be able to learn at least some part of who you were, what you did, and how you lived your life. Think about it.

Should you make the decision to write, I would be pleased to offer help and instruction, mainly so you won’t have to make the mistakes I have already made. Writing memoirs can be an exciting and rewarding experience and provide your family with valuable and permanent information.

CONTACT:  Howard Johnson - Senesis Word Publishing

104 Leeward Court  -  St. Augustine, FL 32084  904-687-1865

Nationwide cell phone:  574-265-3386 - email: senesisword@yahoo.com

To read my description of how my calling came to be, see the next entry.

I Finally Listened - See What Resulted?

I heard it in fifth grade when my teacher, Mrs. McManus, banished me to the boys’ room after I turned in a poem mostly plagiarized. “Howard, you know that is not your poem,” she scolded. “Take your notebook and pencil to the boys’ room and don’t come back until you have written your own poem.”

After spending a great effort for two nights, rehashing someone else’s work, I put it together as my own poem. Caught in this unforgivable act at such a tender age was a powerful lesson. Alone in the boy’s room, I crafted my first real poem in less than half an hour and handed it to my teacher as instructed. It won the award for the fifth grade at Taylor School and was published in the school paper. My family was proud. I never told them the whole story. I first heard the call then, but ignored it.

When I was a seventeen-year-old freshman at Purdue, I was placed in a special, advanced creative English course because of the results of my orientation tests. In mid semester, my professor took me aside one day after class to talk about a story I submitted about a boy and his dog.

“You have an unusual talent,” he told me. “I knew it when I saw your orientation test results. Your work in this class confirms it. I strongly recommend you switch to journalism.”

At that age, I knew that I wanted to be an engineer and ignored his suggestion. Again, I heard the call, but ignored it.

While I was in college, I started writing stories just for fun. I remember one story, “A Christmas Tree for Carol,” about a blind girl who miraculously recovered her sight when her bed was struck by lightning during a Christmas snow storm. I particularly liked that story and was devastated when my sister told me it was nonsense because lightning never struck during snow storms. Absolutely certain it did, and yet never having experienced it, I could call on no personal knowledge. A few years later, I was standing by the back door of my wife’s parents’ home in a blinding snow storm just before Christmas when a brilliant flash lit up the whole sky. The loud thunder that followed confirmed it was lightning. As I stood there watching flash after flash, I remembered that story and my sister’s words. I was vindicated. I have since learned thunder snow storms are not terribly rare. Again the urge to write came over me, and I wrote several stories that Christmas season. Yet again, I ignored the call.

As the years went by, I collected quotes, witticisms, and poetry I liked. Occasionally I would write an essay, poem, or short story. Each time, I would wonder if I could really write something of value. During the seventies, my daughter Deb sent me a poem she wrote entitled, “Enigma.” I immediately answered her with my own poem, “Epilog to Enigma.” Those two poems remain among my favorites. This experience triggered a short flurry of writing which included one really wild poem titled, “Sound Rainbow” which won an award and was published in a collection of poetry in 2000. This time the call held me for a while, but once more I turned and ignored it.

In 1980, I spent nearly a year working in the Philippines. While there, I began writing descriptive letters and experimenting with haiku, a highly condensed Japanese form of poetry that uses few words to paint a picture. It was at this time the first ideas for a novel began going through my head when going off to sleep. I tried various ideas to start weaving into a novel. Though I heard the call quite loudly then, I still ignored it.

In 1984, I bought my first computer, an IBM XT clone made by Zenith. I used it with AutoCAD software as a design tool for the dental offices I was designing for a living. It was much quicker and easier than the paper and ink I had been using. In the software I received with the system was a word processor named Word Perfect. It wasn’t long before I began using Word Perfect to write stories, essays, and poetry. Several times I even began the novel I dreamed about. Still, my main effort was not in that direction. I heard the call once more, but still did not listen.

Soon I was all wrapped up in a struggling computer business I started with hardly a nickle to my name. Survival was the name of the game, and all my efforts were so aimed. In 1990, I met a lovely little lady who soon became the focus of my life. Both of us were soon singing in the choir of the little Methodist Church in Leesburg. On friendship Sunday in October of 1992, I stood up in the choir loft during our sharing of joys and concerns and proposed. Incredibly, one of our members was videotaping the service, so we have a complete record of the proposal and Barbara’s acceptance on tape. The following May, we were married in the same church.

I continued with the computer business while Barbara became a Methodist minister and was appointed to a nearby small country church. The call kept getting louder and more persistent.

Finally in 1999, I started writing my long-considered novel in earnest. Working from five in the morning until about nine or ten, I wrote feverishly. Those four or five hours each morning flew by as the story miraculously appeared on the computer screen before my eyes. It became much more like reading a novel than writing. New characters and circumstances appeared out of nowhere as my main characters became real people to me experiencing real-life situations. Never in my life have I enjoyed doing anything more. Well into the story, I realized one book could not tell the entire story, so I decided to make it into a trilogy. This time I heard the call loud and clear and finally I answered. I was hooked. Writing soon became my main passion in life.

It took eight months to write the first book and fourteen more months to rewrite it. About the time I finished the first draft, I found and joined an international group of writers named Science Fiction Novelists who critique each other’s work. This wonderful group of writers, from all walks of life, provided invaluable assistance in the rewriting of my book. Without their excellent (and sometimes brutal) critiques, my rewrite would not have gone nearly so well. I was so encouraged with my writing that I sold the PC business in June of 2000 to pursue a writing career full-time. We decided that with Barb’s salary as a pastor and my social security, we could survive until my writing began to pay off.

Then misfortune struck as Barbara’s health suddenly began to deteriorate. Soon after I sold the business and after nearly six years spent in the pulpit, she was incapacitated by the pain and weakness of post polio syndrome. On December 31, 2000, she stepped down from the pulpit. It was the saddest day of our lives together. Not too long after this emotionally draining and terribly devastating event, she began helping me by proofing my writing. Soon she was my invaluable aid in editing, proofing, and rewriting my work. Her expertise in English and completely different nontechnical view of the world from my own became an important factor in my work. Without it, my writing would not be nearly as readable or grammatically correct. In short, we became a writing team.

On January 8, 2002, I composed and sent the following letter:

To my treasured family and friends:

I do believe I have discovered who and what I am.

This Christmas, my daughter Debby gave me a book entitled For Writers Only by Sophy Burnham. I opened it immediately and read these words by the author, “I give this book then to all writers, to all creative people, to all of us poor troubled humans who are struggling with our doubts and love. I hope that it will live in your hands until it drops, stained and dog-eared, into dust, too yellowed and frayed even for the outdoor racks of second-hand bookstores. I hope you steal it from libraries and buy it in stores to give to your sons or wives or daughters or nephews or husbands or mothers, in order to encourage them to write the stories of their hearts.

“For we all have stories. And they must be told. In telling our stories we affirm ourselves, our being, and thereby the purpose of our creator and our lives.”
This book’s cover says, “Inspiring thoughts on the exquisite pain and heady joy of the writing life, from its great practitioners.”

A quick glance through the first few pages fulfilled the promise of marvelous thoughts from kindred souls. If ever I knew who and what I am, I do now. This book reached my soul and prompted me to say, “I am a writer.” In one of the early pages, a John Gardner quote said, “True artists, whatever smiling faces they may show you, are obsessive, driven people.” As I search for more quotes to share, I realize all these writers say what I so deeply feel. Each quoted paragraph is a footnote to the man I found myself to be. However, there is one repeated comment that misses me completely. Several writers describe the pain of the empty void that comes when a work is finished, the empty mind searching for a new verbal mission. I have never experienced that emptiness.

In fact, I know I will not live long enough to empty my thoughts of valid things to put to paper. Writing my first novel was an unbelievable joy. I hated even those interruptions for biological necessities such as food, sleep, and others. Typically, I wrote during the silence of the morning from five until nine or ten. It took eight months of every moment I could spare to complete the book. Then it took another fourteen months of equal dedication to rewrite it. Even that was a great joy as I carefully read and recrafted phrase after phrase and paragraph after paragraph.

Robert Heinlein said in one of his books on writing that a novelist was a true storyteller who read more than wrote his story. I found that quite true. In fact, it was an unbelievable joy to write a story that created itself as it went along. New situations, new characters, and new actions constantly appeared spontaneously as the words seemed to place themselves on the screen. Although I certainly had a rough idea of the story, the details seemed to come from nowhere, like an actual happening. This never ceased to amaze me.

When a day starts as I sit in front of that magic screen, I am never sure just what is going to happen, or even what I am about to write for that matter. After finishing Blue Shift, I started immediately on the second book of the trilogy. A third completed, that book now waits as I struggle to work other more pressing thoughts into organized words. During the last six months, I have completed a collection of quotes, poems, comments, and short stories into a book entitled Words from the Lakeside as well as two collections of essays, Thoughts on the Cultures of Today and The Feudals. The first collection contains a number of essays about things we don’t really often think about yet which profoundly affect our lives. The Feudals is a collection of essays and comments about the intellectual elite who control the media and much of the extreme political left. I call them Feudals after the political system of the Middle Ages to which they seem so bent on reviving. These books are not politically correct. I have written something in each of them to offend everyone. I call myself an equal opportunity offender.

More recently I have been writing short stories, mostly putting on record stories of my life which I have told and retold over the years, or which have particularly strong memories. I started out with a list of eight. By the time I had written four of those, the list had grown to twenty-five. The writing of a true story requires details which, when dredged up from deep in memory, bring to mind other memories which need telling. My excitement continues to grow almost exponentially. To paraphrase—so many stories, so little time. Like the proverbial kid in the candy store, I hardly know where to start.

As a seventeen-year-old student in an advanced composition course in my freshman year of college, I was told I had the tools to be an effective writer. My professor urged me to transfer from engineering to journalism. My mind and heart were set on becoming an engineer, so I didn’t listen then. Now, his words reverberate in my head. I have no regrets for my choice, for I have had an exciting, event-filled life of many joys and marvelous experiences with good friends and a wonderful family. Now, in my seventies, I am truly a writer. It’s all I want to do. I think, or at least hope, I am good at it, and perhaps time and good fortune will now smile on me once more. Each moment stolen from writing hurts somehow. There is never enough time to say what must be said. Each word I read written by others demands a thousand in reply. I could not possibly live long enough to say what I must say.

Even if I never sell another book, article, story, or poem, I will still be pleased with what I have done. I have two closing quotes:

To believe your own thoughts, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men—that is genius.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

The world has no room for cowards. We must all be ready somehow to toil, to suffer, to die. And yours is not less noble because no drum beats before you when you go out to your daily battlefields, and no crowds shout your coming when you return from your daily victory and defeat.

—Robert Louis Stevenson

Love to you all, Howard Johnson - January 8, 2002

February 4, 2002: At this point in time, my first novel, Blue Shift, is about to be released. I am well into the writing of the second book of the proposed trilogy which I am hopeful will be completed within the year. I am currently putting the finishing touches on several other books, mostly nonfiction, including: Words from the Lakeside, a collection of quotes, comments, poems, short stories, and other writings; Images of Pain, comments and responses, mostly e-mail, triggered by the September 11 attack; Thoughts on the Cultures of Today, essays about many of the problems now facing humanity; The Feudals, political commentary and opinions about the challenges facing Americans. As these words are written, Barbara and I are traveling westward from Texas through New Mexico on our way to Arizona and California. I set up my laptop at each motel and work on my short stories each morning until Barbara wakes up. Even as I write, the adventures continue.

July 8, 2002: Much has happened since the last chapter. Early in February, we arrived in Visalia, California, to visit my daughter Deborah and her husband, Michael. Barbara’s hands and feet were becoming more paralyzed every day as her condition steadily worsened. Thanks to the suggestion of a doctor friend of my daughters’ I took Barbara to the Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara. After emergency spinal surgery, a heart attack, and twelve weeks in a halo device, Barb was much better than she was before we left home in January and was improving each week. While here, my book came out, and we received five hundred copies that now reside in Deb and Michael’s garage. After calling on bookstores in Visalia and Fresno, I held my first signing at the Magic Dragon bookstore in Visalia. There, I sold and signed eleven books. It was an exciting learning experience, not terribly successful, but certainly not a failure.

July 21, 2002: Home at last. We arrived precisely six months to the day we left home. This is an ongoing tale. While I may add to it from time to time, someone else will have to write the final paragraphs.

January 26, 2007: Since my last entry, my life has been turned upside down and inside out. I lost my precious Barbara on October 16, 2005, after a long steady decline in her health and ability to get around over the intervening years. During this period, I shelved my writing except for a few essays and short stories. I have also written a Great deal about Barbara in several stories and essays elsewhere in this book. After a period of recovery and adjustment to life alone, I have returned to completing Words from the Lakeside, and have nearly finished another, a nonfiction study of our energy crisis and what to do about it titled A Convenient Solution. It is my hope that both books will be published by the end of next year.

As I again look toward restarting to work on the Blue Shift series and several other novels, I find myself with a new lady in my life, Daphne. We are both in a period of readjustment in our lives, having both lost a dearly beloved spouse. Who knows what the future holds for us, but for now, we are adjusting and enjoying being together, one day at a time. Each a bonus is how we look at the future.

January 18, 2009: Finally, my book on energy, A Convenient Solution, is about to be released, almost two years after I thought it would be. If I had ever known just how much work it was going to take this to get this book into print I might never have started. Believe me, fiction is far easier to produce for many reasons. I had to rewrite virtually every page of this book several times—some dozens of times. Confirming research reports with multiple sources and then recognizing the differences between opinions and facts took a Great deal of effort and great gobs of time. Thanks to Daphne’s efforts for the last two years, I have softened my expressions in the book of many of my positions on debatable subjects, primarily political. Unfortunately, even being neutral on some subjects can rile some people.

For example, I am quite neutral about global warming. I do not think it is a serious or human caused problem, but only because the current science on the subject is quite flimsy, ambiguous, and inadequate. Show me some definitive and conclusive data confirming human caused global warming and I’ll get on the bandwagon. Until such time, I stay neutral, being neither a subjective supporter nor denier.

Also, I’m putting the finishing touches on my anthology, Words from the Lakeside. I have four other novels in progress, Blue Shift II and III, The Crystal Feather, and an unnamed semi-historical novel involving native Americans. Writing these novels is a Great deal more fun than writing non fiction. ‘Nuff said!

September 22, 2009: I find it hard to believe that I am still working on my book on energy, A Convenient Solution. I keep finding reasons to make minor changes both to correct small errors and to respond to suggestions about layout or content from people whose opinions I trust. Also, new, important information about energy is constantly coming to my attention. Information that simply must be added to the content. Numerous Internet links and references must be removed as they are no longer available. While I decry the continuing delays in publication, I am thankful these changes and corrections are being made before the book is released. As these words are being written, the final galleys of the book are being sent electronically to my publisher. The first copies of the book should now be available in October, probably while we are away on a major trip.

This book, Words from the Lakeside, is also in the final edit process and might even be available before the other, something I never thought possible. I have discovered just how much work must go into finishing a book and making it ready for publication, especially when the author must rely on friends and his own effort to supply the necessary finishing touches.

Though the promotion of these two books will consume much of my time for the rest of the year and well into next year, I can hardly wait to get back to work on several writing projects that were set aside so these two books could be finished. From now on I will stick to fiction and try to complete these five other projects. They are in various stages from just started to about 60% completed. How much easier it is to conceive of a new project than to complete one already started. I have made a promise to myself not to start another one until at least two of the ones I have already started are either finished or abandoned as not being worthy of the effort.

July 27, 2010: Will my book on energy ever get released? After an unbelievable software glitch that has cost me quite a bit of money and a lot of valuable time, my final files are once more off to the printer. I still have 450 of the original books in boxes in the garage. They have such egregious errors they cannot even be used for promotion. Nearly a hundred errors had to be carefully found and corrected, errors caused by an errant word processor whose developer says what happened was impossible. When I sent him a copy of the file with the errors, he quit talking to me and wouldn’t answer my calls. Thank you Corel.

With Word Perfect continuing to generate errors on its own, I had to develop my own system for creating errorless Adobe Acrobat pdf files. It was a lot of work and delayed the release for at least three months. Just to make certain there was no confusion, I renamed the book, Energy, Convenient Solutions, and rewrote a number of sections because of new information. I have checked each of the 280 pages in the final pdf file for errors. Although I probably missed a few, it’s going to press as it is. The new name is far more search-engine friendly than A Convenient Solution, a big deal in the age of rapidly growing Internet commerce.

December10, 2010: Energy, Convenient Solutions is finished and available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook through most popular book outlets. The book, Words from the Lakeside, has been approved for publication and will be available in Mid January, 2011.

For my birthday my thoughtful Daphne gave me a canvas bag with the following appropriate quotes:

“The only end to writing is to enable the readers better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”

—Samuel Johnson - 1709 - 1781

“When the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.”

—Samuel Lover - 1797 - 1868

August 23, 2011: I have been quite busy since my last entry in this blog. Some two dozen articles I wrote about energy and my book, Energy, Convenient Solutions, have been published in trade and local magazines. The Tucson Citizen, the only sizeable newspaper to review my book, published a glowing review. I couldn’t have done better if I wrote it myself.

The second edition of my anthology, Words from the Lakeside, has been published replacing the first edition which is no longer available. Two other books are nearing completion and should be released by November. Starring, is a collection of short stories, most of which are SciFi. I have D. Keith Howington, a member of my Science Fiction Novelists critique group to thank for that name which I really like. The other one is an anthology of memoirs titled, Memoirs from the Lakeside. In it I share a number of interesting life experiences from my long and active life.

I also have two non fiction projects nearing completion. One is a collection of political essays titled, The Feudals. (Those on the far left and far right would probably call it fiction) The other is a collection of essays about possible solutions to many of our painful problems titled simply, Solutions. The first is nearing completion while the second is at least a year away from publication.

I also have five novel projects underway, four are SciFi including The Crystal Feather, almost completed, and Blue Shift II and III, and Carol Hughes which are each more than half completed. I am also working on an historical novel about native Americans (some of my forebears) from the late 1700's up to today. In it I use some of my grandfather’s tales about our Indian ancestors. I hope I live long enough to complete these projects and even others already coursing through my head. Incidently The Crystal Feather though unfinished, won first place in the Florida Writers Association Lighthouse novel contest of nearly 400 entries. Required entry was the first two chapters and a synopsis of the rest. Work on my energy book delayed the completion of my other projects more than I liked.