Ghost32, From Hereford, Arizona, 1481 Fans, 1205 Hubs, Joined 4 years ago
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WillStarr interviews Ghost32
This Hubber gives The Most Interesting Man in the World a run for his money
I know you’ve worn many hats in your day, Fred, so would you walk us down the back trail of your very interesting life?
LOL! Bill, you asked for it. Let's see, even a thumbnail sketch would fill an encyclopedia. Maybe by the alphabet:
- A. Ranch-raised and rodeo-bred on a western Montana ranch.
- B. College degrees in auto mechanics, psychology, and auctioneering--in that order.
- C. Two years in the U.S. Army, wire rat, stationed in Germany after training.
- D. Mixed in with everything else, 7 years of rodeo. Started on bareback & saddle broncs, ended up best on the bulls.
- E. 12 years in total as a commercial insurance underwriter for various carriers.
- F. Once made a couple million with a network marketing business that lasted 20 years (plus 2 months).
- G. Been a child protective social worker and twice worked as a live-in houseparent and/or Executive Director for teenage intervention group homes.
- H. Worked as a derrick hand on the workover rigs in the oilpatch.
- I. Commercial truck driver, both long haul and offroad in the drilling booms for both oil and natural gas.
- J. Other stuff it would take wa-ay too long to tell.
You’re an outstanding HubPages writer, whether it’s fiction or a peek at everyday life in the desert. Where do you think that extraordinary talent originated?
From several sources, as follows:
- I believe absolutely in reincarnation and can remember being a writer in other lifetimes. There's a saying: "New knowledge easily gained is old knowledge."
- My mother was a high school English teacher who gave me a big head start; we used to compete at writing when I was growing up. Additionally, her father (who died before I was born) was a university English professor.
- I read voraciously and am always learning from the better authors.
Your political leanings are decidedly conservative. Were you ever more liberal?
Oh, absolutely. Not fiscally; I've always seen the welfare state and UN membership as big mistakes. But on some social issues, I'm still liberal. Like Obama, I see nothing wrong with gay marriage, for example. Barry Goldwater scared me ('64), I almost voted for Hubert Humphrey ('68) and did vote for George McGovern ('72) in his landslide loss to Nixon.
Also campaigned for Ross Perot in '92 in South Dakota, though I wouldn't call that liberal.
You write, sing, play guitar, take great pictures, build houses, and are a great husband to Pam…is there anything you don’t do well?
Heh. Ask my six ex-wives...or maybe the judges for my two bankruptcies. I'm also not a great dancer...unless you count the Bronc Rider's Twist, which I invented and with which I can (wearing cowboy boots) clear an entire dance floor.
Have you considered writing a novel? I’m sure there’s a great one under that cowboy hat, just waiting to be put on paper!
I've written several. The first, a sci fi book titled Ptolia, still had a couple of copies floating around the last time I checked the Net. The sequel, Dwagelia Rises, was self-published and is harder to find. About a third of The Seeder is online at HP in Hub-series format as we speak. And as far as I'm concerned, the 120-Hub series titled Tam the Tall Tale Teller is a novel despite also being a whole big bunch of short stories.
You obviously have a great love for nature and all the critters. Did that evolve over the years or have you always felt that way?
That's been there from the beginning. I had a face-to-face meeting with a big, jet black wolf when I was around 5 years of age (and wrote a Hub about that).
I know you have a great interest in local politics. Have you considered becoming more involved? Perhaps running for Office?
The only way I could get any more involved (due to time constraints) would be to run for office--which is not happening. The very idea gives me cold chills. What politicians have to do to get the job done is bo-o-oring...except for the campaign trail. (Which is no doubt why Obama prefers it!)
No, my preferred role is as the black ops guy, the organizer behind the scenes, the sneaky strategist...and an occasional appearance as the closer, sort of an uninjured Mariano Rivera delivering not a fastball but a 3 minute speech calling for a bad office holder's ouster.
In other words, I've found my niche. Big time.
You have a huge following, and despite your busy home life, you are a prolific writer. When do you find time to write?
At night, mostly. It helps that I'm technically retired, but 90% of my output hits the keyboard between 7:00 p.m. and 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. I'll get back up around 8:00 (or whenever), help my (disabled) wife for a while, catch a few more z's later in the day if I can.
What advice do you have for those who are in awe of your success?
Aw, man, you had to go and ask the tough one. I'd like to tell 'em, hey, if I can do it, you can too--but we all know that's not really true. Or rather, yeah, they can do it--IF they're willing to pay a similar price to the one I've paid: Multiple lifetimes of hardcore suffering and learning and loving and hating and killing and dying and figuring things out. Bill, I'm HARD on myself. I've reinvented myself more than once just in THIS lifetime. Wouldn't have it any other way, but recommend it to anyone else? Hardly.
Two things I can say with confidence, I guess: One is, forget the awe. If you can pick up something from my writing that's of use to you in your own production, then steal it, use it, disguise it so nobody can accuse you of plagiarism, make it work for you. Number two: Read, read, read. My style has become my own, but there must be a thousand or more authors who've influenced my output along the way.
Including this here interviewer, known on HP as WillStarr, master of the short story twist ending.
Hm. Maybe a third thing: Use everything. Like a buffalo taken down by a Cheyenne warrior of old, nothing needs to go to waste. Just one Hub of mine might contain a tidbit I got from the dream state, a critter I saw here on the land, something in the news, and and and....
Gotta stop somewhere. Th-th-that's all folks!
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