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The Hourlings Podcast Project, S2E6, War

The Fast Friday Interviews: Gregory Peterson

Gregory Peterson

Tell me about yourself, Greg?

I will put the things here that I didn’t put in my public bio. I’m a Navy brat, my dad was stationed at the El Toro Marine Air Base when I was born and we ended up settling down in that part of SoCal. I attended a Catholic school in Tustin, California, until high school which is why I’m no longer Catholic. I’ve been a voracious reader since I was a child: fantasy and science fiction being my first true loves. I was obsessed with the Lord of the Rings and was voted Most Likely to Read It 1,000 Times by my junior high class. I had decided by the time I was twelve to be a writer and by fourteen I was submitting my horrifying stories to Omni, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and several others who shall remain nameless. Oh yeah, those stories were horrifyingly bad. I spent the next decade collecting rejection slips and hiding them in a drawer. I never told anyone I was writing and submitting stories, I was too embarrassed.

I kept at it and when I was twenty-four years old I won a short story contest in the Orange County Register. After that, I decided to get off my ass, stop surfing and bartending, and go to college to study writing. I ended up a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, with an English degree and a minor in Chinese studies.

I was hired out of college as an assistant at a Los Angeles magazine publisher, and after I had impressed my bosses with some unsolicited pieces, I was moved up to associate editor three months later. I also discovered I hated magazine writing. I ended up leaving after four years and moved to Portland, Oregon, where I met my wife of now fifteen years. After relocating to Houston, Texas, I experienced a series of catastrophic injuries that led to multiple surgeries (when you turn 40 your warranty expires, btw) and I didn’t write a word for the better part of 7 years as I spent my time recovering and being a stay-at-home dad to my kids. When the munchkins were old enough to be bored with me I committed myself to my dream of writing a novel and… here we are.

Tell me about your current Book:

Aloysius Leigh is a former elite Marine turned high-tech thief. In the aftermath of a heist gone sideways, the technology he was meant to steal invades his body - and leaves him holding the bag

for murder. While the explosive technology seizes control of his body. Leigh must also do battle in the real world as he is hunted by the Russian mob, the FBI, and his former counter-terrorist unit who would like nothing more than to get their hands on the dangerous machines swimming around inside of him and who definitely wouldn't care how. Leigh is alone and running out of time in a war where his very body and mind are the prize. He is outmanned and outgunned - with no friends, no allies, and nowhere to turn.

What he does have is a plan.

What are you working on now?

Right now I’m working on the sequel to War Machines. I also have a separate urban fantasy novel outlined and sitting on the back burner ready to go, but I am hesitant to go after that one right now. The issues it deals with are profound to me and I’d like to grow a little more as a writer before I tackle it.

What is something that people don't generally know about you?

I have dysgraphia and all its attendant little buddies that travel along with it. If you don’t know, dysgraphia is a specific learning disability as well as a transcription disability. Simply put, it’s a deficiency in the ability to write, primarily handwriting but also coherence. It also overlaps with other neurological disabilities like ADHD and developmental coordination disorder (DCD). So basically, I’m genetically hardwired to not be able to write and to be an uncoordinated klutz. 

So I decided to become a writer, musician, and athlete. Fuck you, genetics.

What is a favorite lesson you have learned about the business of writing?

My favorite lesson and best piece of writing advice go hand-in-hand. Finish it, and write your first draft like no one is looking (cause they’re not). 

I learned those from Neil Gaiman when he came to do a talk in Houston. I was stuck on the first act of my book and couldn’t move forward. He talked about those two subjects and it was like a giant kick in the ass. You can’t do anything if you don’t finish it. The second is more about learning to turn off that inner critic in your head that’s reading over your shoulder as you write. Those were transformative pieces of advice for me. I would hear Neil’s lilting British accent in my head every time I sat down to write, “Finish it.” Over and over I would hear him in my head while I wrote my way to the end.

I had Finish It carved into a piece of wood that hangs over my writing desk.

Links:

Email:  sixstringwordsmith@gmail.com

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Gregory-Peterson/e/B09XQBJHZH/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/6StringWord

 

RIP: Chris Schwartz

Schwartz, Bailey, and me.

On April 23rd I lost a dear friend. We simply called him Schwartz!

There are not many grown men, outside my immediate family, that I have told, "I love you, man." He was as close as my immediate family, he was family, the family I choose. 

Not many friends during my life have shared so many interests with me. Everything from computers, movies, coffee, building stuff, steak, shooting, reading, TV, the internet, hunting, camping, beer, bourbon, bacon and more...

He loved my cats, the books I wrote, and even my wife Brenda. He was so frequent a guest in our home he had his own bedroom. We'll probably always call it "Schwartz's Room."

Camping

I usually camped with Schwartz for about 20 nights every year. So many deep or absurd conversations on the entire spectrum of topics. Politics to history to movies. He had the best jokes. He was the king of photobombs. Whenever I wrote a new novel he was always the first to read it and was never shy about pointing out my mistakes with humor. 

He was there for me when my father died, when first one brother died, and then another. He always knew the right thing to say.

Schwartz was 10 years younger than me and I always expected he was going to be the one making people laugh at my funeral. Instead, your ashes rest on my mantle waiting for that last camping trip.

Rest in Peace, my friend, my Brother. 

You have the answer now to that mystery.

 

  

The Official Obit:

Christopher Nichols Schwartz, 53, of Silver Spring, Maryland, passed away unexpectedly on April 23, 2022.

Born February 21, 1969, in Washington, D.C., Christopher grew up in Germantown, Maryland. Prior to graduating from Seneca Valley High School in 1987, he completed the necessary requirements in the areas of leadership, service, and outdoor skills to obtain the rank of Eagle Scout. 

Chris continued his education at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, majoring in history. He was a member of the Corps of Cadets, Alpha Company, and Navy ROTC. He graduated in 1991. Commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy, he served at Pensacola Naval Air Station until 1993. 

An informal apprenticeship with the head brewer of McGuire’s Irish Pub in Pensacola taught Chris the craft and the business of brewing beer. He decided to turn one of his hobbies into a career. He soon became head brewer at Potomac River Brewing Company in Chantilly, Virginia, winning awards for Rappahannock Red Ale, a recipe he developed. 

In 1999, Chris transitioned to employment as an information technology engineer, eventually advancing to system administrator at Eagle Alliance in Annapolis Junction, Maryland. 

Aside from a dedication to excellence in his professional life, Chris had many varied personal interests. His love of history was reflected in his passion for woodworking, especially using non-powered hand tools and traditional techniques. A deep appreciation for skillful handcraft and shooting sports led Chris to gunsmithing. In 2003, Chris joined friends for the first time at The Pennsic War, an annual medieval camping event that he attended every year after. Never without a book, Chris’s home library was as extensive and diverse as his knowledge which he was happy to share and discuss over a cup of coffee with friends. In addition, Chris’s rich voice and uncanny ability to come up with humorous movie quotes for any situation made it a pleasure to be in his company. 

Preceded in death by his grandparents, Esley and Ruth Schwartz, Chris is survived by his father, Edward “Ned” Schwartz (Molly); his mother, Melinda Schwartz (Susan Russell); his brother Brett (Sally); Brett’s children, Ruth and Lilly; his former spouse and long-time friend Darcy Ramisch; and many friends who loved him like family. Chris will be deeply missed by all those who were touched by his kindness, quick wit, and sense of humor. A celebration of life will be scheduled at a later date. 

 

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