How Will You Spend It?

Most of us walk through life as though we’ll live forever. We don’t give much thought to our relationship with time. We’re focused on the ups and downs of life events so much more than it's measurement. Minutes and hours are merely units of measure that steadily transition from the present to the past. Very soon we’ll be setting the clocks back an hour (depending on the timezone you live in you might already have.) Although there are still twenty-four hours in a day, while this time shift still new, it will feel as though we magically gain an extra sixty minutes in our day. I ask you, if you could spend this extra hour any way what would you do with it? Would you finally take the time to call that relative or old friend who you’ve been meaning to chat with? Would you start a exercise routine or catch up on your reading?

Most years for me, the ambrosia of sleep swallows up every minute of this gift but not this year. Daylight savings time will be very helpful to my career this time around. It will be my goal to spend at least an hour of every single day writing. I’m going to use this gift to carve out more than enough time to emerge from winter’s hibernation with the first draft of my second novel, Truth Is Stranger.

How will you spend your hour?

~Eric Vance Walton~

Announcing My New Book!

Nothing I've ever experienced quite compares to the excitement of a book launch. I've waited for this day for a very, very long time. I'm incredibly excited to present to you my first traditionally published book! This book contains everything I've learned in my nearly two decades of crafting a career as an indie author. I've done my best to write an honest and helpful book for writers going through the same struggles that I did. It's my wish to help save you time in reaching your goals as an author. I can't thank you enough for your comments and your support. Writing, and my communication with you, add immeasurable substance and happiness to my life.

If you are a writer struggling to achieve your ideal writer's life, please give this book at try. If you know an indie writer, please share the link with them.  One Word At A Time is available today in paperback format on Amazon.com and from Barnes and Noble.com. The eBook version can be found in iTunes and across most other eBook platforms.

Click here to view the announcement from the publisher!

One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way as an Indie Author

Why Is It So Easy?

Life can be extremely difficult. Life can also be magical and wondrous. When your eyes are opened to the deeper meaning of events unfolding around you in this physical world you begin to experience more of the latter. This great Universe is an interactive web of energy that has a way of giving you exactly what you need at the precise moment you need it. As a practicer of meditation and yoga for nearly twenty years I've learned a few things but most importantly I've realized I have much more to learn. A couple things I HAVE learned are:

1. None of us are given preference when it comes to these receiving these gifts of guidance and windows of opportunity. Certain people are just more aware of what's going on and recognize them when they occur; and

2. We are awesomely powerful beings and the quality of our thoughts dictate the quality of our life experience. Our thoughts, consciously or subconsciously, draw to us certain events and circumstances.

The great problem is most people (myself included) don't always remember they have the power to change their lives through something as simple as changing their mindset. This is so simple that, at first, seems like nonsense. Most times our lives have been like a rudderless ship drifting aimlessly in the current for so long that we're used to not being able to steer. We've become accustomed to reacting to life events instead of being proactive and taking control of them. Even after opening yourself up to the idea that this could be possible and then seeing it work first-hand it's still so easy to forget that we can do it.

Luckily, we have many tools to help us in our journey to begin to actively steer our lives towards our destinies. One awesomely powerful tool is the gift of affirmation. I was recently reminded of this from a massage therapist that my wife and I met. She explained that an affirmation is so much more powerful if it's framed into the form of a question. Questions have a way of focusing the energy of our minds like a laser beam and gets much better results than mere statements.

You can use these affirmations for anything you want to change or attain in your life. For example:

"Why is it so easy for me to be successful?"

"Why is it so easy for me to be happy?"

"Why is it so easy for me to be healthy?"

"Why is it so easy for me to make friends?"

These are just general examples but the beauty of these affirmations are their simplicity and flexibility. You can adapt this tool to pretty much any situation. Go ahead, give it a try! Really, what do you have to lose? I don't know about you but I could use a little more "easy" in my life.

~Eric Vance Walton~

Eric Vance Walton invites you to follow his unfolding story by “liking” his Facebook author page at https://www.facebook.com/EricVanceWaltonAuthor for updates and promotions on his current and upcoming projects.

Download a free preview of Eric’s new book One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way as an Indie Author, here: http://www.authorspublish.com/press/sample/

The Decade of Distraction

There’s no denying that the combination of social media and mobile devices are transforming us. The next time you’re in a public place, take notice of how many people are staring zombie-like at their mobile devices, totally oblivious to the world that is unfolding around them. Technology is advancing at such a fast pace that we haven’t had the time necessary to adapt to it from an evolutionary perspective. Science is showing that our brains are being rewired by this technology. We’re becoming less able to focus, self-absorbed, and more @ssholish than ever before. It seems like there's a massive emptiness in people’s hearts and they try to fill this void with material things. It seems we’re more connected to the world but less connected to those people in our lives who really matter. So many people are becoming more interested in recording our lives on social media than living it.

People, used to the relative anonymity of the internet are becoming increasingly brash in both their online as well as face-to-face interactions. This behavior is epidemic and stretches across all age and socioeconomic boundaries. There’s nothing more sad to me that watching a table of people in a restaurant staring at their smart phones instead of enjoying one another’s conversation and company. Life moves swiftly and there’s nothing worse than the sting of regret.

It wouldn’t surprise me if this time in history is eventually coined, “the decade of distraction.” I get it, there’s a lot to be fed up with these days and it’s mighty tempting to search for a mindless escape. The problem lies in how bad things will get if people become completely distracted and no longer are willing to actively participate in the real world.

I like the convenience of my iPhone as much as the next person and social media has completely transformed my writing career. Technology can be an amazing gift if used to our advantage and in moderation. We clearly haven’t found this happy medium, we’re drunk with it. It seems each day this world is becoming more like the dystopian society in my novel Alarm Clock Dawn and it scares the hell out of me.

Some days it takes immense strength and patience to be decent to people and engaged in this world but let me tell you why it’s worth it to make every effort. We’d never know it from watching the nightly news but this world is still a beautiful place and it’s full of interesting and incredible people. History shows us repeatedly how disastrous things happen when society becomes distracted. There’s still much this world has to teach us if we only look up from our phones long enough to pay attention.

~Eric Vance Walton~

Vertigo

Put a buzz on my brainlike some whimsical whisper barely audible yet so beguiling that it takes me away, tipping my world ever so slightly...vertigo

when I regain my balance I am never quite the same, my psyche, slightly altered, We may fall but never falter destinies intertwined, it's true

traveling through this string of simple moments our souls speak to us if we only step aside, as this world turns, we learn in times of blessed vertigo.

~Eric Vance Walton~

How I Spent My Summer

I was busy this summer.  I'm thrilled to announce my first traditionally published book One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way as an Indie Author.  My soul is in this book, it contains hard won knowledge attained from 20 years in the writing business. Please click on the attached link below to download your FREE PREVIEW of the book before it's released to the public in mid-October. Also, feel free to share this link with anyone you know who is interested in writing. Thanks for your support! Link to download the exclusive preview:

http://www.authorspublish.com/press/sample/

Losing Our Humanity

We hear it all the time...there's no stopping change. We've been led to believe that you must either learn to be flexible and operate within ever changing parameters or be rendered obsolete. This doesn't mean you always have to like it or it's the best thing for all parties concerned. In the last 50 years technology has thrust change upon us time and time again. One profession that is queued up to take a huge hit is that of the taxi driver. In America, car services like Uber and Lyft are the more immediate threats to the traditional taxi cab by offering what most would consider a better experience at about 20% less cost. The death blow for the whole taxi industry will be delivered by a bulbous little car that looks like it's smiling. Google's pod-like self driving car is expected to be on the roads in every major city within the next 10 years and for the taxi industry it will be disastrous.

Just think how nice it will be to pay a monthly subscription fee and have access to a car to meet you within minutes of wherever you are. You'll be able to read the a book, browse Facebook (safely and legally), take selfies, or even enjoy a power nap while being driven to your destination. There will be obvious benefits to the elderly and it will be great for those who've had a few too many drinks and need to catch a ride home. Sure, this technology will provide convenience but like many of our recent technological advances I think it’s bound to make life far less interesting.

My wife and I live in a upper Midwestern city that’s so spread out we need to own cars to get around. The only time I have a chance to ride in a taxi is on the way to the airport which amounts to a couple of times a year. Still I’ve acquired a long list of interesting memories from these rides in a taxi. There must be something about the anonymity of the encounter that makes some taxi drivers willing to reveal deeply personal things that they normally wouldn’t.

I remember one frigid February morning, my wife and I were heading to the airport to catch a dreadfully early flight. The cab arrived at our door and standing next to it was a gruff man who appeared to be in his sixties with about two days of gray stubble on his face. We said good morning and he only grunted. We told him we needed to go to the main terminal of MSP. He said nothing but radiated this immense irritation. As the cab pulled away from the curb he clicked on the radio and the station played nothing but 70's love songs all the way to the airport. We think we saw a small tear spill out from his eye during Hall and Oates', "Baby Come Back". As he was getting our luggage out of the trunk we handed him a pretty sizable tip, his face lit up in one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen and he politely said, "Thank you." It was a complete transformation.

On another occasion, again on the way to the airport, a taxi driver of about the same advanced age came to pick us up. He was eager to talk and seemed like an average grandfatherly type. We chatted it up for a few miles and he told us about how he got into the profession. Shortly after he asked if we'd mind listening to the radio and we obliged. We were fully expecting light rock or oldies but no, he prefered to listen to something much different, gansta rap. We felt as if we were in a movie scene. The cab driver's head was bobbing rhythmically to the beat. He told us later that his stepdaughter was a local rapper and he was introduced to the music this way. Again, an experience that totally blew away preconceptions.

On a trip to Chicago we were picked up by cabbie in his mid-thirties. He was already seasoned, you could tell. In our short ride to a Bucktown restaurant he told us all of the exciting moments of his career including the exploits of a few national celebrities and local politicians who he had driven. No detail was spared. All I can say is I hope he embellished. If not, then the world is even more twisted than I imagine it to be.

I have more taxi stories but I’ll save them for another time. The point is we’re about to lose this. In just a few years this experience of getting into a car with a stranger that you’ll likely never see again will be gone forever. Yes, the experience is awkward and it’s uncomfortable at first but in the end you walk away with a memory that enriches your life and maybe just make you rethink a stereotype. It opens you up to new possibilities.

Change for the sake of change isn’t always a great thing. As a species we must progress beyond this honeymoon phase we have with technology. We’re transfixed. It’s a love affair and we’re mad about the newest, the fastest, the best. We must learn to have the foresight and the courage to think deeply about how change really impacts us and make appropriate decisions accordingly. One thing is for sure, little by little we’re losing our humanity. When you consider our traits sometimes this isn’t a bad thing but let’s be careful not to lose the good.

~Eric Vance Walton~

Writing Saved My Life

Writing Saved My Life. I’m what you would consider the polar opposite of Hunter S. Thompson or Ernest Hemingway in the sense that writing doesn’t summons my demons but rather it helped to deliver me from them. Writing words that have the power to capture people didn’t come naturally to me, it took years of hard work.

I began writing when I was in my early twenties. In hindsight most of what I wrote was bad to mediocre poetry. I didn’t make a dime off of it but it was a kind of therapy to help heal me from years of anxiety and depression. Writing allowed me to express bottled up feelings and emotions privately in the comfort of my own space, in my own time. I wrote every single day.

It was at some point in my mid twenties that I decided that I was going to attempt to write for a living. I had no idea how to go about this. Honestly, this has been a blessing and at times a curse. The road I’ve chosen hasn’t been an easy one. I’ve worked a day job for the last twenty years while building my writing career. I’ve watched nearly all of my peers at my day job pass me on the ladder of success. During my moments of waning hope I would sometimes feel like I’ve wasted my life pursuing a pipe dream.

I’m lucky in the fact that the strongest trait in my family’s bloodline is tenacity. So through it all I kept the faith and continued to do what my ancestors have always done. I worked, I honed, I soaked up all the knowledge I could while I waited for my moment to arrive. When I was younger I really believed that success would come all at once some day when a publisher or someone in the business would “discover me” and my life would be forever changed. I realize now this isn’t how it happens for most of us.

One day, shortly after I published my novel in 2013, I woke up. I realized that a writing career isn’t a destination as much as it is a lifelong journey. Ever since I had this epiphany I’ve viewed writing to be the great blessing that it is. In life no one can hand you your dream, you must to seize it on your own. When I realized this everything changed.

In these last few years I’ve been lucky enough to connect with so many wonderful and interesting people from places like New Zealand, Britain, France, Estonia, and Africa. Each time I publish a book or an article it feels as though I’m sending something I’ve given birth to out into the world to make its mark. Words can’t describe the joy that I feel when someone really is touched by something I’ve written and it changes them or even makes them stop for a moment to think.

My first traditionally published book, "One Word At A Time: Finding Your Way As An Indie Author" will be released in just a few weeks. I have jitters like I’ve never experienced before. Will this be the book that changes my life? My life has already been changed through these last twenty years. I no longer chase after material success but rather do the best work I possibly can and will already be smiling with contentment the day it catches up to me. I owe everything to writing and my readers. Because of writing and you I am already wealthy beyond measure in everything that matters. For this, I’m thankful.

With Gratitude,

~Eric Vance Walton~

Ditching Satellite Television - Eight Months Later...The Conclusion

As many of you might remember my wife and I got fed up with the insane cost of satellite TV earlier this year and decided to seek out other alternatives. We opted to try a digital antenna (Amazon.com, $30 one time cost) which brings in 24 free stations from the air and AppleTV (refurbished from the Apple Store, $79 one time cost). We subscribed to HuluPlus and Netflix through AppleTV for a total monthly charge of under $17.00 versus the $130 per month we paid for satellite television. We're eight months into our experiment and have discovered a few things, some of them we expected and some we very much did not. Obviously, we love the cost savings. The total return on the investment of $109 for the antenna and AppleTV was made back the very first month after we cancelled our satellite tv subscription. We have $100+ more in the bank now at the end of every month. What's not to love about that?

Now it’s going to get real. First, there was the honeymoon period. For the first few months our excitement over the cost savings carried us through with smiles on our faces. For me, doubt began to set in around the third month. We found ourselves starting to grumble about the lack of good things to watch on tv. Although Netflix does have really good independent and foreign films (which I love), the bulk of their mainstream movies are horribly outdated for the most part. HuluPlus? Forget about it unless you missed all of the bad movies from the 1980's and 1990's. AppleTV has a vast variety of current movies but our internet connection isn’t fast enough to stream them. For more current movies Redbox is a great option.

Over the air TV programming during our peak viewing time of 6 to 8PM consists of nightly network news, Wheel of Fortune, and a few sitcoms. The former of which bombards you with a steady stream of depressing/negative stories, fear mongering, and mostly nonsense. Our savior has been a combination of PBS and a weak local over-the-air channel that plays reruns of 1970's sitcoms like MASH and Sanford and Son.

Now for some of the things that we weren't anticipating. We are watching far less television. As a result we have more of our time to do other things, like read, listen to good music, exercise, and write (for me). This has enhanced our lives in ways that are both measurable and in many ways that aren't. We find that we aren't zoned out in front of the tube so we talk more. About six months into the experiment I noticed that my brain isn’t as fuzzy, my mental recall is faster, and even my perception of reality had become vastly different than it was before.

Even before this experiment began we watched far less television than the average American. Still, this transformation took a full six months to start to occur. Once I reduced my television viewing I began to realize on a deeper level that the importance our society places on celebrity gossip, consumerism, and trends seem utterly ridiculous given the more serious things going on in the world. Some programming seems like an absolute insult to your intelligence.

Eight months into life without satellite TV life is different but I can assure you that it’s better. I feel more intuned with my body and soul, I feel healthier physically and mentally, I have more free time, and there’s more money in my wallet. I realize that more than our television was deprogrammed as the result of canceling that satellite television subscription! In conclusion, although I miss American Pickers and a few other shows, the positives far outweigh the negatives. A veil has been lifted and our lives are so much better for it.

~Eric Vance Walton~

Finding My Way Back To Me

Only a year ago I felt as though I was living in a nightmare.

For the previous year and a half I was working 50-60 stressful hours a week at my day job, writing and self publishing my first novel, and trying my best to hold my personal life together. I was stretched far beyond the point of exhaustion, unable to sleep, constantly anxious, and feeling desperately stuck. I even started to rely on a couple of glasses of wine each night just to unwind. What was so shocking to me was how quickly my life had become unbalanced. I hadn’t gotten there overnight but it certainly felt that way.

Despite two decades of meditation, I had become disconnected and so immersed in getting through each day every aspect of my life suffered. Finally, one morning I woke up and realized I was just tired of being tired, sick of feeling like this was all my life would ever be. I grew weary of the intense frustration of not having the time to write or promote books that I had written. After all, my writing career was my ultimate dream and my day job was consuming all of my energy and most of my joy.

During the darkest hours the positive reviews of my novel, dialogue with my readers on social media and writing in general gave me a ray of hope. Write that helped me to see the light and find my way back to "me". What I realized was, yes, my job was providing me money but it wasn’t giving me a feeling of purpose or teaching me any new skills. The job consumed so much of my time that I didn’t have time for my writing, which would’ve provided me with a huge sense of purpose and acquiring new skills.

Out of a desire for sheer survival I set out to retool my life. It was my hope that change would happen when I stepped outside of my comfort zone. For months I searched for, and eventually found, a job that would provide a much better work/life balance. All the while I threw 150% of myself into my writing. As a result my life has been transformed into the exciting adventure it is today. My first traditionally published book (a book on writing for beginning Indie authors) will be released on October 14th, I'm now getting published in literary journals on a regular basis, and the sequel to my first novel should be complete by time the snows melt next spring!

I’ve heard the stories, I know there are so many other indie authors going through similar struggles or worse. What I learned through my experience is the only way out is to regain your balance. To achieve that balance we need to get three things from our careers: money; the opportunity to learn new things; and a true sense of purpose. It's every writer's wish that their words provide them with all three of these things. I’m so thankful to have found my way back and am grateful for all of those who have stuck by my side throughout my journey. I think I’m a better writer and a better human being because of it. I guess even in the bad there can be some good.

With Gratitude,

~Eric Vance Walton~

It's Crunch Time

The book is written, the cover is in the works, the title will be chosen by reader poll, and a launch date has been chosen.  My first book launch with a traditional publisher is steadily moving forward. It's been an amazing experience so far.  After self publishing for the past twenty years it's been wonderful to be able to focus more on the writing and have other competent people to take on the myriad of other tasks involved in a book launch.  

There are a lot of moving parts at this phase. I'm soaking it all in and learning as much as I can. The publisher has asked me to host a webinar just a few days before the launch. I've done a little public speaking but this is new territory for me. I have lots of preparation before me in the coming month.  A YouTube channel is also planned with short instructional and motivational videos for authors. 

I am so excited to share this project with you.  It's a book on writing for beginning authors. To me, this book is very special because in encompasses so much of what I've learned (the hard way) in the course of my 20 year writing career.  My wish is to prevent other authors from making the same mistakes that I did.  

I will have lots of announcements to report in the coming weeks as different aspects of the book launch gel. Stay tuned! 

 

Reboot

Spiritual sages have been telling us for millennia that to find true inner peace and contentment that we must be mindful. My definition of, “mindful” is to be grateful for and live in the moment as much as possible. Living in the moment is more difficult now than it ever has been. Modern life is frenetic. We’re bombarded almost each second of every day with things that prevent us from living in the moment. I’ve been meditating for nearly two decades and still find myself constantly having to bring my mind and thoughts back to center, concentrate on my breath, and having to “reboot” my consciousness.

More often than not the need to bring my mind back to the moment is triggered by some external thing or circumstance. My most recent reboot was brought about by the news that Robin Williams had taken his own life. The news truly brought about a flood of emotions very similar to when I heard of Michael Jackson's death. I liked both artists work but never was what you would call a hardcore fan of either of them. Only after they passed did I think about how much their work had truly impacted my life and how much I appreciated them.

After Michael Jackson was gone I found myself wanting to go back and listen to Thriller and some of his deeper tracks that were intertwined with a good portion of my young life. More recently, with the loss of Robin Williams, I thought about the quality and richness of films and the hilarity of his stand up comedy. He created such an amazing body of work but the two films that had the most impact on me were Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society.

As a writer I’ve so often wished that people would appreciate the work of creative people more when they’re alive than when they’re dead. Instances like these make me realize I’m guilty of not fully appreciating them myself. Whether you’re a painter, a photographer, actor, dancer, musician, or author, all of us put so much of ourselves into our professions. It’s difficult beyond comprehension of most people who haven’t walked a similar path.

Think for a moment how much music, films, books, paintings in general can truly impact your life. Have you ever read a book or seen a film that changed you in some way? Have you ever had a song the elevated your mood or comforted you during a difficult time? I credit Pharrell’s song, “Happy” for single handedly allowing me to survive the polar vortex laden winter of 2013. Really, how do you place a value on that?

I guess the lesson I’m walking away with from all this is a major reboot of my appreciation for my fellow creative people. I know how hard it is. I’ve felt your pain but I’ve also experienced your great moments of triumph. In a way I feel as though we’re all part of some big family that keeps humanity laughing, crying, and sometimes when we really do our jobs we keep them thinking.

Have a great day all. I hope you appreciate and enjoy each and every moment of it. To quote the Dead Poet's Society, "No matter what anyone tells you words and ideas really can change the world."

~Eric Vance Walton~

Deeper

That Fall, before the snows came
the bees buzzed in spite of us
and nature still danced its magic

something in us knew
that life would never be the same
we closed our eyes and soaked
up the rays of the sun
as though we wanted
to hoard them in a cupboard
to feast upon in the midnight hour,
our superpower against
the gathering darkness

I snickered at the thought
but the only choice was to endure
what was to come
and let it change us
to learn, to grow
and develop a deeper appreciation for the warmth of the sun.

~Eric Vance Walton~

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From The Land of the Lost

Michael Callahan started down the well-worn path leading from the edge of the woods. His gut told him he wasn't alone, but his passion to wrap up this project had long ago eclipsed any fears he might have for his own safety. He scanned the underbrush for any signs of movement.
Five weeks of life on the road were starting to wear on him, especially in the sauna that was summer in Florida. Michael’s once chiselled physique had become soft and shaving was a chore he gave up weeks ago. He looked like a character that stepped out of an old Woodstock news clip from the 60’s.
He longed for the old, comfortable routines of his life, but more than anything, Michael was itching to start the months of editing the footage he’d shot. The only thing stopping him from heading home, was a nagging voice in his head that kept telling him he wasn’t done.
As his eyes swept the woods, he felt a ghostly presence among the trees. He quickly spotted what he had been looking for. Not far down the path, was a sunburned man wearing a tattered Yankee’s baseball cap, poking at a small fire with a stick.
Michael called out to the man. “Hi there. I mean you no harm. Are you hungry? Would you be interested in a free lunch?”
The man looked up, but seemed dazed from staring into the fire.  He sprang to his feet.  “I always heard there was no such thing as a free lunch.”
  “You’re right. I just have a couple of questions to ask you. In return, I’ll give you as many subs as you can eat.”
 The man looked at Michael suspiciously. “Are you a cop or some kind of pervert?”
“What? I’m no pervert! My name’s Michael Callahan, and I’m just a storyteller, or should I say, a story gatherer. There’s no pressure at all. Just follow me if you’re interested in answering a few questions.”
 Michael knew that hunger was a powerful motivational tool.  He turned and headed back towards his vehicle.  Within minutes, he heard the man’s footsteps crunching the forest floor behind him.
“My name’s Jeremy--Jeremy Schiller,” the man said as they neared Michael’s dingy, yellow RV.
     “Nice to meet you, Mr. Schiller.  Welcome to my humble abode,” Michael said, unlocking the door and standing aside to allow the old man to enter. He thought he caught a glimpse of an Asian man watching intently from behind a large oak tree at the edge of the woods.
“Mr. Schiller, come right in and have a seat on the couch and make yourself comfortable.” Michael was being overly attentive, speaking in a slow tone that he might use addressing small children.
“I’ll get those sandwiches that I promised you, but first let’s just talk for a minute.  I’m traveling around this country of ours, gathering the stories of people like yourself in hopes of someday turning the footage into a documentary. Are you camera shy, Mr. Schiller?”
A hesitant smirk appeared on Jeremy’s lips as he took off his faded baseball cap and ran his fingers through his thinning blond hair.  “Umm, no.  I suppose not,” he said.
Michael walked over to a video camera perched on a tripod in the corner.  Turning it on and adjusting its aim, he turned back to his guest, handing Jeremy a cold Gatorade from a large cooler. “Good. Just try to forget this thing is on. Now, could you please tell me a little about you and your situation?”
Jeremy stared at the bottle for a moment and then ran his sunburned finger down the tiny beads of sweat that blanketed its label. He cracked open the cap, and took a long drink before clearing his throat.
“Well, where do I start? Umm, my name is Jeremy. These woods out here have been my home for close to...I guess, eight years now. It’s not a bad place, once you get accustomed to it. To me, it almost feels like a resting place between two worlds.”
“I’m not sure what you mean. Can you explain?”
“You see, sometimes in the morning, in the hazy moments right after I wake up, the life I now live still seems unreal to me.  During the day, memories of the life I once lived seem like they happened a hundred years ago.  These memories sometimes fill me with joy--most times they make me angry--but nonetheless, they are mine, and they’re all I have left.
There are a lot of things I miss. Sometimes I close my eyes and swear that I can see Ashley and Genee playing on the jungle gym in the schoolyard.  It might sound strange, but there are times that I’ll just sit among all these trees and smile, thinking of something as mundane as a trip to the neighborhood co-op to buy groceries, or walking the dog in the crisp air of Fall. As each year comes and goes, I’ve replayed these memories over and over again. You see, if you’re an optimist, time has a funny way of polishing the bad and leaving you with only the good.  There are a couple of things I’ve learned in my forty-three years on Earth. The first is there are lessons to be learned in every second of life; the hard part is, you must be awake for them. Second, none of us are entitled to a goddamn thing. If life is good, enjoy it and give thanks to whomever or whatever it is you believe in. If life is bad, don’t blame anyone, just get busy fixing it.   Time is a precious thing and too many people waste too much of it playing the blame game.”
Michael paused to reflect. “Hmm, you’re right. Very wise words, Mr. Schiller. What was your childhood like?”
“Well, I had two brothers. My parents, I guess they were lower middle class, but they worked hard, every day of their lives. My mother told me I was always chasing dreams, but she raised me to believe they were all within my grasp. Things never came easy for me, but what I lacked in intelligence, I made up for in persistence.”
Jeremy chuckled softly and continued, “I had a few years of college and was majoring in journalism, but learned how to write computer code the summer of my sophomore year.  It took me a year to master it, and then I dropped out of school.  I took the plunge into the world of software engineering. It was good timing, we were smack-dab in the middle of the dot-com boom.
My friend Matt and I, you could say, we had a fairly decent idea, and just happened to be in the right place at the right time. We started our own firm and opened up shop in an old warehouse. It wasn’t long before we had a staff of ten. That’s how I met Ashley.  I’ll never forget the first day she came through the front doors to interview for one of our first marketing positions. Lord, she took my breath away.  She still does--every time I think of her.”
Jeremy stopped for a moment; his eyes began to well up as he continued. “Those years were a whirlwind and before I knew it, Ashley and I were married with a beautiful baby daughter, Genevieve.”
“What a great name.” Michael said.
The grin of a proud father flashed across Jeremy’s weather-beaten face, “Thank you. The name was popular during the Victorian era, Ashley felt an affinity towards that time. Our house was filled with all kinds of antiques. She always had such a great eye for a bargain, buying pieces dirt cheap and refinishing them.”
Jeremy cleared his throat and continued, “Well, after Genevieve was born, we bought a house in an exclusive gated community called, ‘Whispering Pines’.  Ashley never asked for any of this excess, but I felt she deserved only the best of the best--the American dream, you know?  Whenever I would buy her anything nice or expensive, she would look deep into my eyes and ask, “Do you know none of this is necessary?””
  Michael noticed an ever so subtle twitch in Jeremy’s eyelid as he took another small sip of his Gatorade.
  “The ironic thing was this place, ‘Whispering Pines,’ was the type of place I wanted to live in since I could ever remember, but once we had achieved this lifestyle, it never really felt like home. It seemed like everyone was just trying so hard to convince themselves, and everyone around them, that they were happy.”
“How do you mean?” Michael asked as he sat back in his swivel chair. His Zippo clicked as he lit a cigarette.
Jeremy’s brow ruffled as he leaned forward on the couch and looked Michael directly in the eye. “It was more like a sickness, this endless aching for more things.  It was a kind of darkness that slowly eclipsed every part of life that had any meaning. More money, nicer things, more exotic travel destinations. People in that community had one thing in common, this tired, empty look in their eyes. You know what I mean?”
Michael squinted as he took a drag off of his Winston. “Yes, I’ve seen that look many times in my travels.”
“We were surrounded by all these nice things, but we weren’t happy.  I personally was too focused on the future to enjoy my life then. I suppose, we all got caught up in the euphoria of it all. The one thing I noticed about lusting after money, after a certain point, it was worse than walking around hungry. It was a hunger that a person just couldn’t shake.”
“I understand, please continue, Mr. Schiller.”
“We lived in one of the largest houses in the community, but still that wasn’t enough. I felt we also needed to have the best vehicles money could buy. I drove a BMW 740i. The instruction manual for the damn thing was as thick as a phone book! Do you believe that? I bought Ashley a top of the line Land Rover.  At this point, I could tell she was beginning to get a little worried we were in over our heads. She walked around in a cloud for the next few days. To ease her mind, I logged onto my broker’s website and finally showed her exactly what our stock was worth.  She was speechless. I will never forget the look she gave me. Her eyes were glazed, her mouth upturned in a silly smile, as though she had just taken a hit of some potent drug. I pinpoint this as the precise moment she changed. Never again did she look me in the eyes and tell me the material things weren’t necessary. From that moment on, we were both spending like mad and it was my fault--all my fault.”
Michael’s leg began to bounce nervously as he pulled a small notepad from the pocket of his wrinkled Hawaiian shirt. “How were you doing financially at that time, Mr. Schiller?” Michael asked as he furiously scribbled notes.
Jeremy hesitated, and his eyes took on a look of suspicion. Michael knew people desperately wanted to tell their stories, and a good interviewer knew how to massage and coax, not prod and probe. He’d forgotten this basic rule and hoped Jeremy would let it pass.
Although he still held a slightly guarded look in his eyes, it seemed Jeremy’s memories had been locked away for far too long. His words continued their flow, “Well, let’s just say we could’ve paid off everything--all of our bills--and lived out the rest of our days comfortably just off of the interest from what we had.”
Michael’s eyes widened as he took a sip of his coffee. “I see. Can I call you Jeremy?” asked Michael, as his voice suddenly took on a more respectful tone.
“Sure you can.  What about those subs you promised me?”
Michael began to see beyond the tattered clothes and leathery face and saw a glimpse of what once made Jeremy such a successful business man. There was a certain “realness” about him. Despite his ragged appearance, in only a few minutes, he earned Michael’s complete trust and respect.
Digging through the loose ice cubes in the cooler Michael asked, “Roast beef or turkey?”
“Both please.” Jeremy answered politely.
“What happened next?”  Michael asked as he handed him two subs, still dripping from the melting ice.
Jeremy unwrapped the first sandwich and placed the other one on the seat beside his leg.   “Well”, he said, his words muffled between chews, “the stock market crash happened. It was as though everything we had acquired disappeared into thin air. We lost the house. Shortly after, we lost everything, and Ashley left with Genee.”
“I’m so sorry.” Michael put his hand on the old man’s shoulder, but Jeremy jerked away then smiled, as if to assure Michael that everything was alright.
“I was too ashamed to take help from any of my family. It was too much for me to deal with at once. At that point nothing mattered. I felt completely numb and the only thing I could think of to make me feel better was to see the ocean, to feel the salt breeze on my face.  So I left town.  I drove twenty-two hours straight to Cocoa Beach with nothing but the clothes on my back and whatever cash was in my wallet.”
“What is the hardest part for you now?
“There was the loss of my family, of course, but there was also the shame. The hardest part was knowing there was nowhere to go. It was a strange predicament and filled me with anxiety.  After eight years, I’ve learned to come to terms with it.  The life most people are living is not natural. It’s simply not the way it was meant to be. Michael, we have been conditioned to be nothing more than money-making robots.  The most difficult thing now is also the easiest.  Out here, there are no laurels on which to rest, you’re staring your demons in the face every waking second, so you’re forced to deal with them. This, I think, is what drives most people to the bottle or to madness and I came very close to both.”
Michael was engrossed, but at the same time shaken by Jeremy’s words. He felt exposed as if his own deepest fears were on display.  He asked his next question with the desperation of a snake bite victim searching for an antidote. “And what saved you, Jeremy?”
A deep smile flashed across the face of Jeremy Schiller as he finished the last bite of his sub and crumpled up the wrapper. “My savior came to me.”
“Do you mean Jesus?” asked Michael.
“Not exactly. I have to ask you something. Did you feel the presence out there in the woods?”
Michael nodded, not wanting to interrupt Jeremy’s train of thought.
“I’d bought an enormous jug of whiskey, stumbled into these woods almost a decade ago with the intention of drinking myself right into oblivion.”  Tears began to stream down Jeremy’s face as he continued.
“I was sitting out there in the dark in horrible, drunken misery when he came to me.”
Michael was beginning to wonder if madness had taken hold of Mr. Schiller. Jeremy’s eyes took on an ethereal glow as he continued. “Through this drunken haze, I remember seeing this thin, toothless Asian man. Honestly, he scared the hell out of me.  He came out of nowhere and was dressed in rags from head to toe. Duct tape looped around both of his shoes to hold them together, but something about this man left me speechless. His eyes were so humble and kind.  They sparkled with so much pure happiness it was almost like there was a fire lit behind them.  He didn’t speak a word, just held out his hand.  This stranger, who had nothing, was standing there, offering me something rare; his total acceptance and unconditional friendship.”
"I think I saw him at the edge of the woods. What's his name?"
"Yep, that was him. I have no idea what his name is, he never talks, he just smiles, but we manage to communicate just the same. He sometimes scratches pictures in the dirt.  Mostly pictures of tanks and artillery.  My best guess is that he’s a Vietnamese refugee.  He's taught me survival. He delivered me from my misery, from the land of the lost. Now I am a free man."
Michael was moved by Jeremy's story.  He realized the nagging voice in the back of his head had served him well. This interview was the Holy Grail of his documentary. It was a testament that one small act of kindness, something that costs absolutely nothing, can ripple forth in waves and touch the lives of countless others.
"Jeremy, do you ever think you'll ever want to give the world another chance?"
Jeremy didn't pause before he answered. "Never. Not that world!  That world out there is too far gone; it is nothing but a fragile house of cards. Power and money are now the only gods left."
As they said their goodbyes, Michael handed Jeremy all the cash he had in his wallet.  Although Jeremy argued, Michael insisted, comforting himself with the knowledge that the two hundred dollars would keep the two from going hungry. He fired up the engine of the RV and began his journey home.
The documentary that started out being about the perils of homelessness in America, was transformed.  Instead, Michael knew the film would be about the root cause of homelessness, the broken system that helped create it.
He invested all he had, less than twenty thousand dollars, and dedicated the film to ‘His Savior’ and called it, ‘The American Dream’.  It debuted the following year at Sundance and became the surprise hit of the film festival.  It was released nationally, and in its first year, grossed one hundred and twenty-three million dollars.  When interviewed, audience members credited Jeremy’s interview as the reason for the memorable impression that people walked away with from the theatre.
    Michael went on to produce a string of successful films and acquired all the material things that spelled success, but he was careful to live a balanced life. He spread the money around to those who needed it and he never forgot the lesson he learned from Jeremy—his—Michael’s savior.
Years after the release of ‘The American Dream,’ Michael took a road trip.  Leaving Manhattan, he drove down the coast with nothing except his phone and a duffel bag full of hundred dollar bills.   He knew that he had met Jeremy at the exact moment he needed him.  He had time during the ride to reflect how everything unfolded the way it did for a reason.  He was awed by the fact that all actions and reactions are part of an amazingly complex web that can best be deciphered in reverse. If success had come his way before meeting Jeremy, he was certain he would've been sucked into the very same hellish world that Jeremy had narrowly escaped.
Michael entertained many fantasies about what Jeremy would do with the cash. Now that he’d absorbed the lesson, maybe he would finally be ready for a new beginning.  Maybe he would just hide the money in the woods, but he’d never have to wonder where his next meal would come from.
He took the Rockledge exit off I-95, his heart racing as he got close to the patch of woods that were the incubator of his rebirth.
He threw his Prius into park and grabbed the duffle bag, making his way down the familiar path. This time, something seemed different.  At first, Michael couldn't put his finger on it.  Then it dawned on him.  The presence that he once felt in the woods was gone.  Farther down the path, he noticed a bright yellow bulldozer standing motionless near a pile of fallen trees.
"Jeremy!  Jeremy!" Michael called out frantically. While holding the heavy duffle bag, he continued calling, but his voice dropped to a whisper.  He sat down on a fallen tree just long enough to realize how foolish he was. Jeremy and his friend would have moved the minute the bulldozer encroached on their peace.  He picked up a rock from the path, dusted it off and studied it in the sunlight.
  In a year’s time, when the magical patch of woods was replaced by another outcrop of cookie-cutter condominiums, he figured that he would have just a single stone to remind him of a wonderful journey.  He felt a tingling sensation on the back of his neck, and he noticed the hairs on his arm were standing straight up.   His eye caught something in the sunlight near his feet--a weathered Ziplock bag. Inside, he found a piece of paper with Asian characters flowing wistfully down the page. Instinctively, he knew that he was holding something of value.
There was nothing left there.  It was time to go home.  The first thing he did when he crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan was to head to Chinatown, the only place he knew where he could get the treasure translated.   He double-parked on the street in front of a small souvenir shop.  A stocky man with a soggy stump of an unlit cigar dangling from the corner of his mouth, sat behind the counter. Michael inquired about the translation and the man happily obliged after he pocketed the twenty-dollar bill offered for his services.  He leaned over the outstretched paper on the counter and, with furrowed brow, quickly scribbled the translated text onto a stiff yellow note card.   

From the Land of the Lost

This life is a free-falling dream
In which time is the only gravity
reach out, but there's nothing to cling to
Until you awaken to discover your wings
these wayward wanderings will bring
many a lonesome stings
but your soul is a phoenix
and a most faithful guide
make your journey to the peaks
and take comfort in the sunrise
of each day born anew
taste the wine and know in time
that you will make your way
from the land of the lost.

Michael thanked him and walked out of the shop staring up at the sky in a blissful daze.  The words on this card were a testament to him that no matter what negative forces existed, they could never, ever extinguish the good that dwells in the collective hearts of humanity.
 Michael laminated the card and carried it with him for the rest of his days.  It served as a reminder, not only of Jeremy and the smiling man who never spoke, but the lesson he too learned in the woods.  He never forgot—the gifts--the sunshine, birdsong, and the kindness of strangers.   As a result Michael never, ever found himself among the ranks of the lost.

~Eric Vance Walton~

Sacrifice

I've watched you 
through these years 
give yourself away

It happened slowly,
nearly unnoticed
like a slight faucet drip
with every forced smile
you handed away small
pieces of yourself 

I wonder if 
you felt 
it was a worthy 
compromise?

sometimes still 
I search you
for that lost spark 
of what once was

I can't help but
remember 
when your eyes 
held hope and dreams 
instead of the scathing
sadness of regret.

~Eric Vance Walton~

You Say It's My Birthday...

…Happy Birthday to me.  : )  Exactly 43 years ago I came into the world at around 4:40 AM.  Ironically this is very close to when my alarm chimes every single weekday morning for work.  In spite of these early morning wake ups, it's truly been a wonderful life thus far. Today I'm thankful to have the opportunity to spend my day doing one of the things I love most in life…write!  I'm wrapping up my manuscript for my first traditionally published book on writing for beginning (Indie) writers.  The working title is, "The Writer's Life - How To Live It"  

I'm wrapping up edits today on a chapter pertaining to maximizing profit from your work and budgeting. It's the largest chapter so far and contains tips on painless ways to cut the excess from your budget as well as ways to squeeze the most profit from your writing. This afternoon, I'll be hammering away at three new chapters on craft.  I can think of no better way to spend this day. 

As soon as we have more updates and release date for this book I'll be sharing these things here! 

Have a wonderful day, all!