Keep Hope Alive Podcast
Keep Hope Alive through the power of knowing who you are as a person and expressing self-love. Life is a journey and with the blank pages we create our story. Keep Hope Alive is about the power of knowledge in today's world. ALL topics are welcomed.
Keep Hope Alive Podcast
Balancing Passions and Crafting Memories: Gary Parker's Journey through Writing and Life
Ever wondered how a family man, golfer, and budding guitarist balances these passions while navigating a successful writing career? Join us in a captivating discussion with author Gary Parker as he shares the transformative impact of a sixth-grade teacher's encouragement and the journey that followed. Through Gary's stories, get ready to explore the intricate dance between personal growth and the craft of storytelling, fueled by his love for life and family.
Our conversation takes a nostalgic turn as we reminisce about the evolution of wedding planning, the unpredictability of Texas weather, and the joys and challenges of parenting a gifted child. Gary opens up about overcoming medical odds and the delicate balance between intelligence, hard work, and resourcefulness in educational pursuits. These personal anecdotes weave a rich tapestry of family, faith, and cherished memories that resonate with anyone who has faced life's unexpected turns.
Step into the thrilling world of high school football to hear about the inspiring journey of diverse characters led by a trailblazing female head coach. Gary discusses crafting narratives that echo the emotional depth of films like "The Blind Side" and "Remember the Titans." Plus, we chat about personal goals for 2025, the joys of travel, and the evolving challenges of social media for authors. This episode promises a heartwarming blend of inspiration, nostalgia, and motivation, leaving you ready to tackle your own personal goals with renewed vigor.
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Love & Light - Keep Hope Alive
Hello and welcome to Keep Hope Alive podcast. My name is Nadine. Today we have a wonderful special guest. His name is Greg Parker. He is a big time author I can't even talk right now Author and we're going to be diving into his story today and getting to know who he is. So welcome to Keep Hope Alive.
Speaker 2:Good to be with you and thank you for having me, and I love your attitude. It's just so uplifting, enthusiastic, it's let's get at it. It's great on a Friday afternoon.
Speaker 1:Especially, yeah, Friday and what's today? Valentine's Day.
Speaker 2:I feel honored that I'm your guest today.
Speaker 1:Valentine's Day. I feel honored that I'm your guest today. Yes, you should. So happy Valentine's World and Mr Parker, I'm so excited to have you. And while we're talking about Valentine's Day, I'll show everybody my favorite little candy. I have it sitting here for when I'm editing the podcast and getting it out there. That's my go-to snack on Valentine's month. But really quick, talking about Valentine's, I have a quick question, and it's funny because it does circulate around love. So my question to you is so we got invited to go to a wedding, okay, so we're headed to this wedding and then we're walking, I guess let's say church, and right to the right is something for us to sign to let the guests are actually the couple know we came to their event. What are you signing?
Speaker 2:I'm signing a wedding guest register.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, yes, correct you are. So one of our biggest sponsors is Life on Record, and what they do is they have a vintage rotary phone that they set up and it's so beautiful. It's very antique looking. I wish I had one here with me. But your guests can go and pick up the phone and leave a message. Here's my phone Leave a message for one minute, five minutes, 30 minutes to congratulate the couple. Also, they put a QR sign right there in case your guests want to use their own phone to leave the message on that, either before or after that event.
Speaker 1:So they're collecting all these messages. It could be like congratulations, you guys, I'm so happy for you, Wishing years and years and years the best. Or you can have a groomsman going hey, it's about time you're marrying her, I've been waiting forever for this Congratulations. And then what they do after all these messages are collected they will burn it on a 12 inch vinyl record. Or you have a choice of a keepsake speaker box. They're both cute, they're both personalized. I love it. So just think with the weddings and this goes for any events what I tell a lot of people because you are going to get the phone number for a year, starting at $99. Yes, you got to return the phone, but you get the phone number Like if it's a wedding call back right before the one year anniversary and leave happy anniversary message too. So I think that's making the most of it. But to find out more information about Life on Record, visit them at wwwlifeonrecordcom.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:So my big question today, Mr Gary Parker, who are you?
Speaker 2:Well, nadine, that's a great question and I think I would answer it by. You know the old story of the three blind men who grabbed an elephant. And one grabbed the elephant by the leg and said the elephant is a tree, because he feels like a tree trunk. Another one grabs him by the ear and said no, the elephant is a big broad leaf, because he grabbed him by the big broad ear. The third one grabbed the elephant by the tail and said no, the elephant is a rope.
Speaker 2:And so I tell that story to say it all depends on where you grab on as to who I am. You know, if you're grabbing on to my family, I'm a father of two daughters. So I knew the answer to the wedding question I'm a husband to a sharp, intelligent, dynamic wife. I'm a husband to a sharp, intelligent, dynamic wife. I'm a grandfather to three little grandsons. So if you grab hold to me at that point the family side that's who I am.
Speaker 2:If you grab hold to me from you know what do you do in your spare time? Well, I ride, play golf, ride a bike the pedaling kind, not a motorcycle and play the guitar about a year and a half ago. So those are the things I do when I'm just on my own time. And then if you ask me in terms of my writing life well, I don't think I could live without writing, but it would be hard. So if you grab me on kind of that, your imagination, the stories you like to tell, if you grab me on that piece, then then you know that's kind of my art. Like I said, I'm taking up guitar, but you know, I've been writing for over 25 years and so that's the art, that's what I do when I really want to sort of explore my soul, what's inside, and it all comes out on a page. So, based on where you grabbed me, that's what I am.
Speaker 1:Well, we're going to grab the book part today for the podcast.
Speaker 2:You shouldn't say grab me. That's probably not the right thing to say.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry. Then we're going to pull you in and have you talk.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I shouldn't say grab. No, I can't say examine either. I got to find a better word for that.
Speaker 1:Well, I totally get it. So what I want to know? You've done so many different books and writing and everything, so what motivated you? At what age did you learn that you wanted to start writing?
Speaker 2:You know, I can very distinctly remember a sixth grade teacher. If you're a teacher out there, this is just an indication of the kind of influence you can have. But I remember in the sixth grade we had a little short story that we had to write in sixth grade. I think it was a paper or two or whatever, maybe three pages. My sixth grade teacher really liked it. I won the little contest and so I had to read my story to the class. I don't know if that was a reward or a punishment reading the story to the class.
Speaker 2:And then the irony is, when I was in the 11th grade, that woman's mom was the English teacher at my high school and I remember writing a paper and I still remember these things. And she said to me after class one day she said you know, you're really right. Well, you should do something with that. And so then I went to college. I worked on a newspaper for two years while I was at Furman University in South Carolina, and then when I came out, I did a PhD at Baylor. But you have to do a dissertation that's 250 pages approximately. So I knew I could write something long that was long form and and so I started writing. I started writing articles on marriage and family, which, to be honest, I didn't know much about either one. That is, when you're young, you don't really know what you're talking about. When you're talking about marriage and family, maybe you know a little bit, but you have a lot to learn. And then I wrote a nonfiction book and it got published. And then I'd always wanted to try a novel, and so I wrote a novel. I sent it to an editor that I knew. She came back and said yeah, we'll publish this. Here's the check. They wrote me a check that came out it did well. That same editor called and said, hey, do you have any more ideas for a novel? And of course I answered yes, even though I hadn't fleshed them out yet. And so I sold three more novels on about two pages plot outline for a novel, and then I just kept writing. Since then.
Speaker 2:I took a break from novel writing in 2011 and wrote five screenplays and then got real close to one, made a movie. I sold one screenplay. I had two optioned. I got real close to getting one on a movie. I sold one screenplay. I had two options. I got real close to getting one on a screen. It hasn't happened yet. But then I actually wrote the playbook, first as a movie script, and then we kept. You know, hollywood over the last few years has been kind of in a mess. During COVID, they didn't do much has been kind of in a mess during COVID they didn't do much. Then they had the screen actor writer's guild. Nothing was happening there. So I said you know, I think this is too good a story. I want to write it as a novel, which took me back to my first love, which was novel writing, and that's when the playbook came out. So that's kind of the.
Speaker 2:When did I decide I wanted to be a writer? Maybe it was in the sixth grade, maybe it was in the 11th grade, maybe while I was a newspaper reporter. Somewhere along the way the writing thing sort of hooked in and I grew up, and then I'll stop because this is a long explanation. But I grew up. My dad wonderful man did not have much of an education in seventh grade but he read books all the time. He was educated and I grew up reading books and as a boy we didn't have a lot of money but I could read books and go anywhere, you know.
Speaker 2:You can get into a book and it transports you. You can travel in a book. You meet new people that you never knew you'd meet in a book. You can be the hero of the story in a book. You can be the bad guy or the bad lady in a book, you know. And so books from an early age and I've said this at different conferences where I've spoken I've said books in some ways saved me and I've said books in some ways saved me. They gave me life because they showed me other opportunities. And again, we just didn't have much as a kid. Nobody's fault. My parents worked hard, but books reading them created in me a desire for education, a desire for learning, a desire for travel, a desire for meeting new people. So that's how I got started. The public library card when I was seven, eight, nine years old was my favorite possession. It was in my baseball glove.
Speaker 1:You know that's awesome because the last person I interviewed she's a librarian also and we were talking about the car catalog and how today's kids, if they get a book and they see that they're like, oh, this is from the old times, they think it's the neatest thing. Now you mentioned Baylor, so are you planted in Texas?
Speaker 2:No, I'm in Atlanta, georgia. I did doctoral work at Baylor. I met my wife at Baylor. I don't know if I I used to say I wanted to marry a woman who looked like a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader and went to Sunday school, and that's what you did.
Speaker 1:I bet.
Speaker 2:That's what I got, yeah, see us Texas girls, oh yeah. They are the best. Yeah and so, yeah, she was a lowly undergrad and I was a PhD student, and we met on the Baylor campus and eventually started dating and 40-some-odd years later, she's still letting me stay with her.
Speaker 1:Oh, that was so sweet. Well, you just be grateful for that, because I know in today's world and trying to meet somebody is really really hard now, so that's a whole different other topic. But when you mentioned also you wrote about, you know, relationships and marriage, love like that, it brought me back to when I used to write for a magazine called Wedding Wishes Magazine and then I remember writing an article for McKinney Living and the article got featured. I loved it, but it was called RSVP. Why bother? Because that was right at the time everybody was complaining nobody's RSVPing, we don't know what to tell the caterer, and dah, dah, dah, dah and it just kind of went away. And then here comes the new thing on the computer where you can do it online. But you go, yeah, all those people that did wedding invitations and sold the little RSVP cards, that was their bread and butter.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, yeah. Well, things change, that's for sure. And you know I have two daughters and they both met their great husbands at university when they were in undergrad, and I don't know what it would be like out there trying to meet somebody now, because you know there's just so many people. You know it's a question of trust really, and you know.
Speaker 1:Amen on that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, do you really trust who they're saying? They are that kind of thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely, so okay. Yeah, do you really care who they're saying? They are that kind of thing. Yeah, definitely, so okay. Well, georgia's, I've always wanted to go out there and see alana I, I've seen it on tv. What is that? I won my lottery home. David goes and shows and he's out there quite a lot, and I go oh, it's so pretty, you get to see all the seasons out there. I bet you know Texas. We just get bipolar weather.
Speaker 2:Texas, which city? By Dallas yeah yeah, at Dallas the trees don't get to a certain height. You get a lot of wind. You know, living in Waco, my wife was actually from the Dallas area so we went to Dallas fairly regularly and it can get really cold and really icy. But you know it's a different kind of seasonality than you have here. Yeah, for sure tomorrow.
Speaker 1:I was so excited I'm going out, I'm taking a little road trip tomorrow, and it was funny because everybody's like oh Nadine, it's going to be warm, but then it's going to get really cold. So I think the high is 65, going to 70, but then it's only going to last for three hours and then we jump down to the 40s. So I don't know how to dress for that.
Speaker 2:So I don't know how to dress for that. When I was in Waco one summer, we had over 100 degrees for 42 straight days topping out at 117. And I've never been so hot in my life. It gets hot here, but that was just a stretch of heat that just like, wow, this will bake you in no time, so good day I love. Texas in a lot of ways, but the heat was tough.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, the heat is always tough and I think a lot of us are like, oh, bring on fall and winter, and then when it hits 20 degrees here, it's like I don't do anything for the sun, bring back the 100 degrees. On bringing back the 100 degrees. Well, my next question is tell us something nobody knows about you.
Speaker 2:Somebody does. You know that's a tough one. Well, I'll tell you one. I wish I had had a son. I have two lovely daughters and I don't wish I hadn't had them, but I wish I'd had a son, and I don't say that I don't. It's probably been 35 years since I've said that to anybody. So that's something that most people, most people, might say well, that's, that's normal.
Speaker 2:but not not many people, I would say, would know that that that's something I look back on and think well, you know, I'm going to tell you that at some I might have been too hard on him. Who knows, I think I would have been all right. Girls are always lovely, that's a hard question.
Speaker 1:Yes, definitely, and you know I grew up with the doctors always saying I couldn't get pregnant. But it wasn't up to the doctors I did get pregnant with my daughter. And then, 10 years later, I got pregnant with my son.
Speaker 2:Wow, wow, okay, those doctors, what do they know?
Speaker 1:They don't know. It's up to God is what I learned. They don't know, everything. They know a lot, but they don't know everything.
Speaker 2:They don't know everything. They know a lot, but they don't know everything.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly, Exactly. Oh, my goodness. So going back to like as a child growing up, let me guess your grades were probably amazing, correct?
Speaker 2:They were I. You know I was fortunate. I was born with a certain intelligence level and you know, when I was a kid I did whoops. There's my phone. Let me turn that off. I didn't mean for that to be on.
Speaker 1:I can't even hear it, so.
Speaker 2:Can't hear Good, nope. Okay, so I played sports, played baseball all through high school, a little bit. In college I played soccer and I played football. I didn't play all the way my senior year, but I played football through my JV year. I also had to work because, as I said, we didn't have a lot of money, and so for me to buy a car, I had to work, and the clothes that I wanted I had to work and so, and if I wanted to go to college, I was going to have to save for it.
Speaker 2:But I was smart enough to where, you know, the night before a test I could stay up and read, you know, three or 400 pages of a book that I needed to read for an English essay or an English test, something like that. And so, you know, I was blessed. You know, I believe God gifted me in some ways, like he gifts other people in other ways, and so, yeah, I did all right, I made good grades, I was able to do a PhD they don't let just anybody come in and do those. So, you know, I remember going to Furman where I went to college and I had some scholarship there and I went home, and my first trip home after going to Furman, which?
Speaker 2:is in Greenville, about 50 miles from my hometown, and I told my dad. I said you know, dad, there are a lot of really smart people there. And he said well, there's nobody there smarter than you. And I said well, I appreciate the confidence, but that's just not true. There are people that are smarter than me. But I did okay. You know I could read a lot. I've always been able to read a lot. So I could you know, two days before a history exam, I could read 500 pages in two days.
Speaker 2:You know you weren't reading every word but I could read it and get the gist of it and then go in and do final tests and I always wrote well. And so because I wrote well, you know what you didn't know. You could fake, yeah, or at least try to fake yeah. So anyway, yeah, you're kind, but I did to say what you said, but I did, okay, for sure.
Speaker 1:That's good. I, I mean, I was picking up on maybe because, um, my son got diagnosed as a genius and I was like all I told the doctors when he was younger he could do like 100 circles in seven minutes and not get dizzy. So they had to check him for everything and I was in a board room with a bunch of Allen people going well, you have a genius on your hands and even though he's not going to school, we want to start him early to help other kids. Are you willing to do that? And I was like yeah, but what I noticed, you know, raising a son with a high IQ, it's not like young Sheldon or anything for me. But he memorized football plays, he studied, he's good at football, so I have him nonstop in there. But countries with the flags, he can go anywhere on the globe. Like really quick, you can name anything and he'll find it anywhere on the globe. Like really quick, you can name anything and he'll find it.
Speaker 1:And then, um, we were, we took a break over a year from church and, uh, he came up to me. He, I guess he was reading scripture, he memorized it and he said he read the. Well, not, he said it to me and he's like mom, it's time to go to church, I'm ready to serve. I was like for me. I was like in my head oh, thank God, that's great. Like, so we did that. So I find myself coaching him in the right direction with the sports and school and getting the good grades. He'll tell me, oh, my lowest grade was an 86. And I was like why'd you get get an 86? Because it's usually like 98s and 100s and stuff. I guess that was your fault, mom. I go what do you mean? It's my fault, we you didn't like.
Speaker 2:You did the podcast for me, mom, and you interviewed me, but the teacher sent you questions, the answer and you never filled it out and I go, oh, okay well, he's smart enough to figure it out, you know where to where to say okay, mom, it's on you, not on me, that's good how old? Is this kid?
Speaker 1:he's 12, so he said this back at age 11 and I was just like I'm just impressed because it's led me to grow a church. I joined their worship team choir, so, and the one thing I memorize is lyrics.
Speaker 2:Really good, I love singing, so yeah, well, you have to keep that. You'll have to keep him challenged. That'll be a good thing, just keeping him challenged and some kid that's smart they're. They're going to be growing by leaps and bounds.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, he is so definitely. So, as far as the book, the playbook, can you tell us the gist of everything, with the starting and where it goes? Give us the good old cliff notes, right.
Speaker 2:I'll show you just a copy of the book real quick. The playbook yeah, that's the cover. And you know the story of a woman, former big city lawyer from Atlanta I said it in the Georgia area from Atlanta, I said it in the Georgia area former big city lawyer becomes the first female head coach of a small town football team. And it's a variety of circumstances and one of the big questions is how in the world did she go from a big law firm making a lot of money to this little small town and become a football coach? So that's kind of the backstory and part of the mystery all along. So the head coach the regular head coach gets hurt in a car accident. She's an assistant coach and the school board makes her the head coach.
Speaker 2:Well, there are a variety of reasons for that and of course some people don't like that. They don't think a woman should be coaching a male football team. So you get all of that interplay in there. There's another coach who thinks he should have gotten the job instead of her. So there's kind of an antagonist there. The first week she's on the job she finds out that her starting quarterback, an African-American kid, really, really smart, a brilliant leader, wealthy. His dad is an all-pro football player former and so this African-American kid finds out he's got bone cancer. The backup quarterback is a new kid in town who's got a mom in rehab, he's got a learning disability and he loves music more than football, and so you have these three very different characters. I don't know what the problem is with the phone. I thought I had turned it off.
Speaker 2:You have these three very different characters who come together and they're trying to win a state championship, and so they're diverse. They all have obstacles. Her obstacles are you know, some people don't think she should have the job. The other coach who thinks he should have gotten it and who begins a campaign behind the scenes to try to sabotage her. The African-American quarterbacks got bone cancer. He may buy.
Speaker 2:The white kid's trying to deal with his mom and all of the drug addiction that she has. He's trying to deal with his own learning disability and he's very talented in music so he really doesn't want to be on a football field. So you bring these people into a mix and you see what happens. That's kind of the gist of the story and I tell people, it's the tone if you ever watch the Blind Side or Friday Night Lights or Remember the Titans, the football is only the canvas on which the colors are painted, because it's not just a football story. So to my female audience I say, look, you know, this is not just football. And even if it was female head coach? And so the football is like the blind side, and so the football is like the blind side. The football is the backdrop for this very touching, uplifting, encouraging, overcoming obstacles, mentorship, friendship. Because the woman, the head coach and the African-American quarterback come together to try to teach this white backup quarterback the playbook. That's the gist of the story.
Speaker 2:And the other thing is the playbook itself becomes a character in the story. And this is how the playbook is a copy from the starting quarterback, the African-American player named Ty, and Ty has quotes on every page. He's got a football play and he's got a quote, and the quote is from philosophers, religious leaders and politicians. And the quarterback, the backup quarterback, starts memorizing the quotes. He can remember the quotes because they're speaking to some things he needs to hear, and then, as he remembers the quotes, he can see the plays. And then his music comes into play because as he's playing his music and thinking of the quotes in the plays come alive. And so that playbook becomes a real big part of the story as it sort of leads him into the eureka moment. While he's playing his guitar, he can remember, he's thinking of these quotes and then the plays behind the quotes come alive. So that's the gist of the story.
Speaker 1:I like it. I like that a lot. I gotta go buy, buy your book. It's just a no-brainer right now.
Speaker 2:I gotta get that and read it it's got some humor, a little bit of love story and a whole lot of heart. That's kind of the way I describe it hey, it should be a movie too.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you what we're.
Speaker 2:We're still working on that. We've got an agent we're working with. If you've got a lot of rich friends or you have connections to connections, you make it happen and that's what they call executive producers, so you can become the executive producer, and I'm fairly serious with that. I'm just, you know, if there's somebody who's got connections, you know, let's chat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely. I'll say that I'm looking for a producer to keep up a lot of a talk show, so come at me I like it yeah yeah, so definitely, but that is so exciting. And then you know, as far as purchasing your book, it's on amazon. Is that barnes and noble?
Speaker 2:yes, all the major, all the normal places amazon, barnes and noble goodreads. You know, wherever you buy your books, it's there you can find it. Yeah, just so far. You know. It hadn't been out very long. It's gotten 15 reviews and they're all five stars, so good good, good good and my, my website website is GaryEParkercom Real simple GaryEParkercom if you want to go there and get more information.
Speaker 1:My listeners. They already know, so his book is on the storefront already, so you guys can purchase that there too. So it's like watch the show and go to the store. But definitely that is super, super cool Now with the other titles that you help you know write books. What were those stories all about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and just so you know, some of those are out of print. I am looking to get those back in print, but some of those are not in print now. Some still are. But I did a variety of genres and I've had people ask me from time to time why don't you just write in one genre? And my answer to that is I write what interests me. It's probably cost me some sales and all that sort of thing, because if I'd just written in one genre maybe the audience would have built at a different pace or a different way. But I only write what interests me. And so you'll find two different trilogies of what I call historical family sagas. One trilogy is called the Secret Tides Trilogy that happens during the Civil War era of three books, and then another series is called the Blue Ridge Legacy Series.
Speaker 2:And that's another book and it's the story. It started in 1900 at the birth of a young woman, and it carries her forward into her old age. And it started. I went to a family reunion when I was about seven years old and it was up in the mountains of North Carolina. I remember seeing a woman sitting out on the porch of a little cabin. She had on a blouse up to here with the buttons, button boots, skirt, long skirt, sitting in a rocking chair. Looked to be 80, 85 years old and in my little brain I thought I wonder what kind of life she's lived. And that stuck with me until I was an adult and I said I'm going to write a story about that unknown woman. And so that book and that book won a Doubleday Book Club Main Selection Award.
Speaker 2:It won a Christie Award. The first of the series won a Christie Award top three for fiction and it's called Highland Hopes and it really is a high quality story. And that's a trilogy. It's three books about this woman growing through. You know all of her life, so I've written those kinds of things in the past as well.
Speaker 1:That is really cool. So, yeah, and the journey of writing I finally understand and feel that passion now, because not only all last year and into this year do I interview authors. And it's one thing to interview but it's another thing to start writing and see that passion come out. And it makes you so excited because either you know it's a true story or fictional whatever, but you, you're connected and it brings that energy, that good vibe.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I think that writing whatever's in you comes out on the page and you know it doesn't have to be an immediate emotion. You know it may not be that I was angry yesterday, but at some point I've been angry and when I write a novel and I've got somebody having to do something, something's just infuriating them, you go back and touch that angry feeling and you put it in this character. You know, or if you're sad, the same thing You've been sad at some point. This character has got something that's causing him to be sad. You put that into that character. So, whatever is you past, present or you know, really future is going to go into your characters or into your memoir if that's what you're writing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, exactly. And I love taking the two hours to write in the morning, and then I make myself stop and I think that's best because I don't want to burn out for myself, because my mind will say, just write all day. And then I'm going to second guess what I wrote. But I noticed that when I stop, you know at nighttime of course, before going to bed what can I add that I'm missing? And then it's just like I got my computer. It's the happy moment I have my coffee. And then it's just like I got my computer. It's the happy moment I have my coffee, I have a blanket on me.
Speaker 2:So you know, I think it was Hemingway who said, ernie Hemingway who said always stop writing before you're ready to stop writing, because that way you know there's more you can go pick up tomorrow than with where you were when you left, because you wanted to keep writing, because there was more to write today. He said if you write until you're exhausted, then where do you start the next day? Because you've gotten everything you had out on the page and so it's harder to start when you don't have kind of a kernel that's already in the ground. And if you stop before you're worn out, then that kernel in the ground, that seed in the ground, has a chance to grow overnight or until you write again. So he believed in a daily writing, but not to the point of exhaustion, because then the next day it's like well, where do I go today?
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely that was really good advice. I'm listening to everything you say, so that is really good advice. I'm listening to everything you say, so that is really good advice. Really quick.
Speaker 1:Before we continue this, I do have to do a little commercial break for Snap fans. Have you ever seen Snap fans before? These cute little bracelets have you? Yes, so right here is mine. Says hope. Imagine that. So with this these are called mantra words. It comes peace, love, hope, faith, fearlessness. So there's just so many different ones with the different color bands.
Speaker 1:But what makes snap bands unique is this little thing here. You pull it out and let it snap right against your wrist and it helps with anxiety and depression and I'm going to throw PTSD in there it helps. It's scientifically approved that it does go through the body and can help relieve some of those stresses. For example, when I'm at the hospital, I know I'm a heart stick and I'll pull this and I just say a little prayer. I hope that you do find my vein right away, because past it was always like eight times bringing an ultrasound, do you drink water? And you know it's always like eight times bring an ultrasound, do you drink water? You know it was little things like that, trying to get through it. So with each sale of these bracelets here, they take a portion and give it to different organizations and charities that help with those different things of depression and anxiety. With those different things of depression and anxiety.
Speaker 1:You can visit their website at wwwsnapbandscom, and then, oh my gosh, you know what I said? There's bloopers. I just realized I got lipstick on my teeth, so here I'm cleaning this. Go visit at snapbandscom, wwwsnapbandzcom. And if you want the word faith in their code, you have to put K-H-A for Keep Hope Alive and then you can get the faith name. So I hope everybody does check that out. So let me see. We're in the new year, 2025. What are your set goals? Do you have any?
Speaker 2:Well, you know my biggest goal is I do have another book coming out this fall and well, and it's a Civil War novel based on true events, and so that's called Judgment Tree. So my goal is that. You know we've got to get it edited. It's published by a bankrupt press which is a traditional publisher, and then I'm writing another novel now. So that's kind of on the writing side of my goal, and you know I enjoy exercising.
Speaker 2:My goal is to get my golf handicap back under 10. It's like at 11 now, and I don't know if you know much about golf, but handicaps come up and down based on how well you're playing, that sort of thing, and a single handicap is not too bad. It's not. You know, I'd love to be a scratch golfer but I'm not there. But I do want to get it back into the single handicap this summer. So that's a goal. My wife may be retiring this year and if she does, we've got some trips we're going to take. We're going to Florida this April. We're going to Florida this April. Would we do that anyway? We would do that anyway. But we're thinking about doing the see, the northeast, the foliage in the fall. We want to go up and you know, my idea is to fly into Portland, maine, rent a car, drive down and drive down through the best little towns and then fly out from, I don't know, boston or somewhere like that. So that's you know. Those are kind of some goals. Keep writing.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I want to get to my guitar where I'll feel comfortable playing a song for someone else. I can play songs now, but I'm not ready to make a debut. I'm still working on it.
Speaker 1:I hear you on that. Yeah, definitely Like, I love singing, so I'm in church choir but I also go to karaoke. So there is a difference of those two types of singing. But you know, that's one of the things. And taking those trips, it's well worth it. And congratulations on the new book and her retirement too. So that's fun and traveling seems to be what the doctor ordered in this world right now.
Speaker 2:It's fun and you know my wife loves to travel and you know it's my wife loves to travel and and sometimes I get you know the the process of getting where somewhere is not my favorite.
Speaker 1:But once.
Speaker 2:I'm there, I'm happy. Yeah, so yeah, yeah, traffic and all that sometimes is a pain. That's for everybody.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I know you said golf, and how much do I know about it? That's a good question for me. I used to work at country clubs, whether it was catering in the grill or Bev cart girl.
Speaker 1:I've done it all. Can I play golf? No. Can I pop back? No. But I can do Mario golf and win. I don't get it, so video games are easy for me. But I did interview Neil Young's brother, bob Young, so he is on. I wish I knew the episode. You got to go through all the episodes and see. But he wrote a book, master of Golfing, of how he does it, so definitely go check that out. That was amazing to do that interview, that's great.
Speaker 2:Well, your son you said he's into sports and football and everything. He'll eventually want to try golf. I'm sure of it. But you know, I tell people all the time golf will cost you a lot of money, it takes a lot of time, it'll frustrate you to death. So if you're up for all of those, go do it. Spend a lot of money, get frustrated and spend a lot of time, then it's perfect for you notice he didn't.
Speaker 1:I hate seeing this. It was just putt putt. I took him but he was so frustrated and because he couldn't make a whole one each time and I was like, oh, this very tense. And then it was the same for bowling and I was like he would just get disappointed and I was like, Okay, so why does he get mad when he's not doing so good? I try to understand that. I think he's a perfectionist, probably like I am, and I give myself way too much on that, Like I wish he was not that way and just open-minded. What I did see we were talking about faith. He has brought church into football. I could not believe it. And there was a show, something that Defeating the Giants or something. It was a football movie or something.
Speaker 2:Something the Giants Facing the Giants, I think, maybe Facing the Giants, that's what it was called.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I've seen it twice and I love that movie. But I remember this was a few years ago in our Denton team Some kids, and it was just practice, but they were arguing and he made a comment God wouldn't want us fighting with each other and dah, dah, dah, dah. And I was like when he told me that I go, son, I love you. But in this world it could have gone two ways Either they're going to listen to you and let it go, or they're probably going to come and try to hurt you, and that's the reality. So I go. You're lucky it was the first one.
Speaker 2:But you know, right then and there I just realized how special he is like to have that- yeah, and you know, I think every kid gets frustrated, want to be great immediately, but that's part of the learning process. It seems like that. You know they have to learn. You're not going to be great immediately, but that's where the hard work and the perseverance and overcoming adversity and that sort of thing. And you know, we all, we all learn those lessons at different rates and different times.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, and you know, I here, I am at age 47 right now and I realized I did not know life in my 20s yet I did not realize it in my 30s and I was like listening to another podcast today while driving and she was talking about why it's so hard for adults, especially women, to make friends and it changes, it's just a season, and I was like man, I really am happy that I was listening to that podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you think about it, I think of a single woman. And where does she find her friends? I mean, she makes a guy friend. Well, is he married? Is he not married? Is he going to be the kind of guy she wants to be a friend with, or is he going to expect something else out of it, you know? So, yeah, that could be difficult. I can see that, and I guess the same would be true of a man, but maybe it's a little different with men, I don't know. You know, I've got my golf buddies, I've got a book club, I'm a part of a bunch of guys, and so, you know, you sort of find guys built into that.
Speaker 1:That's good. Yeah, I started to make friends with the people at church and the choir.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's so nice.
Speaker 1:And I was feeling so blessed about that. I was just like, oh my gosh, it's so nice, but karaoke, when I go there, of course, all this similar is singing and genre songs and stuff and just having a good time. And I realized back in the day I was alone after my divorce and I just didn't know what to do. I didn't have friends out there or anything, but it just took one simple conversation. Walking into a donut store there was an older man that always said hi to me and one day I just happened to have that day off and I asked him can I sit with you? And he's like, yeah, but we became best friends for close to eight years and he was like a father figure to me. But he was the one who said, hey, do you do karaoke? And I go, there's karaoke around here and it was in the same shopping center and it was a little place called Bullwinkle's and I was so excited. He's like, well, you go and sing, I want to introduce you to my friends.
Speaker 1:And so I opened that door, that journey, and I think it was funny because there was a lot of people and I was like I'm not shy. I think I'm a free spirit I can float, but when I'm as a photographer or event planner it's easy. But just sit there and be still. I remember the KJ they call it karaoke DJ came up to me and she's so sweet. She's like so what's your name? And I was like I don't want anybody to know my name here. So I just said Jersey, because I'm from New Jersey and that has stuck with me. Everybody calls me Jersey to this day.
Speaker 2:So that's great. Well, now I have to ask you what is your go-to song at karaoke?
Speaker 1:Sweet Child of Mine, Guns N' Roses, oh really Okay, okay, okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:That's good, but you knew immediately what it was have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, definitely. I loved singing that song.
Speaker 2:I've entered a contest and it girl had this I think you need to use the line of it. You need to sing a little bit of it.
Speaker 1:She's got eyes of the bluest skies, as if they thought of rain. I hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain. Her hair reminds me of a warm, safe place where, as a child, I cry. I wait for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass her by.
Speaker 2:The end, what can?
Speaker 1:I say You're singing, you got the what.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. This is going to be the most popular podcast ever because everybody's going to want to hear you sing. It's got nothing to do with me and my book. It's got everything to do with.
Speaker 1:I'm singing for your book. He's got a playbook he is selling and it has great characters. You open that book, you get drawn in and you don't want to let it go. You fall asleep and said where did I leave off? I'm going to read it tomorrow. So go to the store and buy Gary's book right away there you go.
Speaker 2:Jersey girl is doing it on Valentine's. That's great. Good for you, well, I think everybody has a voice.
Speaker 1:That's great, good for you. Well, I think everybody has a voice. Everybody needs to be heard and I think it's fun, you know, when people say you know, when I'm at Carrie, oh, do you sing? And I go, yes, and I go, do you? And they're like, oh, no, people would pay me not to sing. I was like you sing in the shower and the car. I bet yeah.
Speaker 2:That's why you sing only in the shower and only in the car. That's funny.
Speaker 1:Well, good for you.
Speaker 2:I've never asked anybody to sing just on the drop of a dime, but perfect.
Speaker 1:Hey, perfect. Hey, well, you know, I asked you some a tough question. Tell something you know nobody knows about you and you were just game on with that. So I was very happy about that.
Speaker 2:So that's fine, that's great yes.
Speaker 1:So let me ask you um are you on all socials, um regarding with your book and being an author, do you do tiktok? Do you do instagram? Do you do blue sky? That's a new one to me, so I do instagram?
Speaker 2:I don't really. I'm not one to take pictures of myself somewhere and put it on instagram because I'm like I got other things I can look at that's better than this. But certainly Facebook, linkedin, my website. I've got some publicist that's doing some stuff on TikTok and Facebook and Instagram. You know my publicist says OK, we need to get you doing more on Instagram. I'm doing a good bit on Facebook, a good bit on LinkedIn and you know you can help me here. I look at TikTok and think, well, is that under 35, where everybody you know that's people who look at TikTok. I haven't looked at the demographics or anything like that.
Speaker 1:So I still learn something new every day where I'm posting. It's amazing, and I think I'm going to start taking the course of all the new AI stuff that's coming out. I'm very intrigued to learn that. I think, as I look for my next new job, if I have that under my belt, it'll be beneficial to a new company, sure yeah, but Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and I'm kind of bulking that up.
Speaker 2:So, YouTube I've got a YouTube channel. I haven't done a lot on that, but I'm planning to. That's something that I'm doing more of now, trying to spend more time doing that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, youtube is my favorite, but I'm doing more of now trying to spend more time doing that. Yeah, youtube is my favorite, but I'm still yesterday. Somebody goes oh, you do the podcast, you have shorts, I go, shorts what?
Speaker 2:And maybe it's just my age.
Speaker 1:I was like, what is that? And they're like, yeah, you need to have shorts. So I quickly learned how to do it, bought into a great program that lets me make the shorts, so but that's supposed to help the CEO or, yeah, seo or whatever not CEO and then also bring more people. I hope I'm praying, so you know, I think it's just, it's a day by day thing, you know of learning, and then you know having merchandise. I got led to a place to do that, so I've made a couple items that I can sell, you know, and have that on my website as well.
Speaker 2:So the social media is? It can drown you. You know, there's just so many outlets now that, you know, really, in the last five years, it's just been this deluge and you have to almost spend a full-time job keeping up with all of it. You know, and as I said, my publicist keeps saying, well, you need to do this, you need to do that, you need to do the other, and I said, ok, but when am I going to write? Because my writing is, you know, the most important thing that I'm doing as a you know I'm not talking about family or anything like that.
Speaker 2:But in terms of you know the things I spend my time on writing is one and it's like OK, do I spend my time on writing is one and it's like okay, do I spend less time writing and more time marketing?
Speaker 1:and trying to find a balance between those two, because it is a flood out there of social media yeah, and you know what I noticed, like even just a year or a half ago, that websites are starting to add a late podcast, the podcast that you've been on and interviewed. They want to watch those. So that's becoming a thing. And last year I remember talking to the industry, I'm in like this is going to be a new thing as we move forward in life. So it doesn't cost you anything to interview and it's free, it's you get to, it's free marketing, you get to tell about what your business is, your product, everything. So. But then you know, for us, we're going to work and doing this and I, even when I started, I timed myself how quickly of a turnover could I get this? How quickly of a turnover could I get this?
Speaker 1:And the reason I did that is because I'm a professional photographer and everybody would go, oh, when do I get to see the pictures? So I always did a sneak peek for them. But I was like, what are people going to say about the podcast? And so I noticed it takes 50 minutes at the most, sometimes 45. I get everything posted. Ai helps now, which I love, but that's a little time consuming as they're going through the whole videos that I do and I want to see which one I want to use, and then you know. But to get that out right away, the same day or the next day, that's huge on me. That says a lot about my passion of getting the word out fast. I've been on a couple shows where, oh, you'll get this in two months and I'm like even questionating. I was like it's okay.
Speaker 2:So good for you. Yeah, that you know you've got a lot of oars in the water. Yeah, I do, and that's good. You, the energy that you have and, uh, you know the I don't know the enthusiasm you have for all of it, it sounds wonderful well, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:I mean I can work all week and put my heart and soul in it, but it's all about time management, like today. I said I'm going to do write the book, I'm going to answer a few emails. I'm not going to be fully committed because I want to take three hours to go get my hair done, get my nails done the whole nine yards I need to take care of me run to the store and I came back and I was like okay, you know, I'm ready to get started all over again and jump into it your hair looks very nice well, I only went for a shampoo.
Speaker 1:I go, I'm not gonna pay for you to blow dry my hair or anything. She goes, get over here. It's valentine's day and I was like, okay so, but yeah, I'm happy she did a little curling to my hair today and everything. So I feel good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I would have curled mine, but at least I still have you have that glow right now that gray hair glow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right? Well, definitely so, to my listeners listening over to us talking. Let me get my glasses. I'm such a my son says these are my grandma glasses. So, as I said, we have Gary's books on our storefront.
Speaker 1:You can find us at wwwkeephopealivepodcastcom. You can leave a message for Gary or myself about this episode on there too. To the right of the website it says leave message, and it's really cool option. They can say hey, I like this episode and stuff like that. You know, come review us on the website. There's new things and stuff like that. You know, come review us on the website. There's new things. We're starting a new vendor talk page where I will have a lot of the vendors logos with the emails to go directly more faster. So that is coming in 2025. I opened a VIP member group on Facebook so you may see that. Come and check it out for Keep Hope Alive podcast the VIP, so you can be in touch with the people I interview too. If they're doing any specials on a book or music or merchandise, they're going to let you know right away. But other than that, wherever you find your podcast, you're going to be able to find us way, but other than that wherever you find your podcast, you're going to be able to find us.
Speaker 1:Super. All right, well, thank you so much for being on the show today. You were wonderful. Remember, go buy his book. I know I am so, but thank you for your time and until our next show.
Speaker 2:love and light everybody. Bye-bye, thank you.
