Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why did you decide to write this book?

A: I was always interested in writing, but my profession and raising a family kept me too busy to do much writing. When I retired and began talking with other seniors, I found that many of them had similar problems dealing with self image, depression, loneliness, and poor health. I decided to research these issues and interview enough people to gather information, and then share this information with other seniors.

2. Where did you get the title for the book?

A: I had another title for the book that I was not too excited about. At the San Francisco Writer's Conference I listened to one speaker who said that if you had a problem with any part of your book you could solve it by sitting quietly for 15 minutes and thinking of nothing else. When I returned home I sat down and tried this. No ideas come to mind. I stood up and said to myself, "another senior moment." The words hit me like a bolt of lightning. I knew the title was going to be Senior Moments. I then looked up senior moments in Amazon.com and discovered there were several other senior moment books. They were all joke books and humorous writing. Mine was serious, so I added Getting The Most Our Of Your Golden Years to make the book stand out from the rest.

3. Did your own health issues influence your writing of this book?

A: Definitely, I wanted to rise above my handicaps and continue to contribute to the world around me as positively as I had done in the past. I did not want to sit in a chair and watch TV the rest of my life. By overcoming my own health conditions, I found I could encourage others to overcome their personal problems and learn to live with chronic illness or chronic pain.

4. What is the primary message you want to deliver through this book?

A: The primary message I wanted to give to others was that we are never too old to make changes in our lives or to make a difference in the world. Change is often difficult for seniors. The easiest way to approach this is to look at our self image. With minor adjustments in thinking about our self image, we can make positive changes that improve the quality of our lives.

5. How is this book different from other senior self help books?

A: Most self help books are written by someone who is not a senior, and seniors complain about this much of the time. They have been pleased with my book because it was written by someone who had "been there and done that". This is one of the few books for seniors written by a senior.

6. Why did you mention God so much in the book , and why did you put a prayer at the end of each section?

A: I did not mean for this book to be a book about religion. Many seniors that I have talked with said the same thing. "I used to be really religious when I was younger, but after working so many years on my career, raising a family and now experiencing the health problems that come with aging, I fell away from feeling close to God. I have forgotten how to pray. I wish I could go back to the way things were." A statement similar to this was repeated by so many that I added short prayers at the end of each chapter to assist those who wanted to pray again. I wanted to help them get started if they really wanted to help them strengthen their religious life. In the book I also connect many aspects of your lives and our health to the world of nature as well as our relationship with God.

7. What is the one question you are asked most?

A: The one question I hear all the time is "Why?" "Why is God punishing me like this?" "Why is this happening to me?" I put and answer to that question in the book. You will have to read it to find out for yourself. The answer contains universal truths that you can incorporate into your own life.

8. What was the hardest thing you had to face writing and publishing this book?

A: I think the hardest thing for me to deal with was what I considered to be age discrimination. Writing the book was not hard. It was exciting work. Getting it published was another story. I learned how to write a proposal and had it checked by a professional writer. Then I sent it to agent after agent. I lost count of how many. The response was always the same. "I’m sorry, but we are not taking on new books at this time."

At a writing conference I talked with another writer who pointed our that the agents I talked with asked two questions when they first began the interview. "How old are you?" And "Can you go on the road and promote this book?"

I answered those questions honestly and it was obvious these people were not interested in pushing a book written buy a 76 year old man who could hardly walk. During the course of one year I could not find a single person who would read the manuscript. I decided to publish it myself and began saving money. I looked up information n all the publishers I could find, and when I had saved enough money, chose Outskirts Press. They gave me the most for the money, and produced a beautiful book for me.

9. Have you experienced any rejections of Senior Moments due to the fact that you published it yourself instead of using and agent and a traditional editor?

A: Yes. There have been book stores who refuse to even look at the books let alone carry it. The same kind of rejection can be experienced when you try to get an editor of the newspaper to publish a review. Then there have been other stores and newspapers very receptive to Senior Moments. I realized after researching book marketing just a little bit, that also agents and publishing houses were not receptive of new self published writers. However, having your book accepted by an agent and publishing house does not guarantee success. Take Walt Whitman for example.

I did not write these books to become world famous or to make a lot of money. I wrote them because I saw a need for this kind of book written by a senior. I know that sounds altruistic, but that is the way a lot of men and women from my generation think and act.

10. Do you think you will ever write another book?

A: Yes. Now that I have finished More Senior Moments and God Must Be Laughing, I am working on promoting my collection of short stories. I have also finished a collection of two novellas called Ancient Dreams. I have just published a new book for seniors called Years of A Million Dreams: Seniors Look at Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.