I like stories. I like writing novels, novellas, short stories and songs, playing in my band, going to camp.
I like good, edgy, writing, something with meat and teeth. It doesn't have to be horror, scifi or fantasy; those things are nice but not necessary. It just has to be good. It has to make me think and be in awe.
I'm interested in, no, I'm fasinated by, astronomy, things like super novas, black holes and colliding galaxies. Carl Sagan is my hero. I'm as psyched as he was at the prospect of life elsewhere in the cosmos. I'm still mourning his passing. I'm in awe of the universe and its vastness. I'm very much interested in man's quest to explore our neighboring worlds. But in the process I don't think we should abandon this one. Real or not, UFOs and the culture surrounding them are very strange and very cool.
I like spending time on the bay, or in my back yard overlooking Swan Island. I like drinking good wine and having nice quiet dinners with my wife, Sheila. She's very cool too, the love of my life. We garden together and go to flea markets and hunt for antique treasures. She reads all my stuff first and tells me if I need a reality check. She doesn't lie to me and I do my best to listen to her wisdom. I like book signings and the camaraderie of other authors in this crazy business of writing. For the most part these are good people, complex people, like minded.
I like throwing a good party and having friends over. I like stimulating intellectual discussions and backyard barbecues. Getting drunk once in a while.
I like traipsing through the north country in pursuit of the elusive eastern brook trout, spending time back at camp in front of the fireplace with old friends and their wonderful stories. I love my two daughters. They're great people, fun to be with, and party with. I’m lucky.
I like taking my dad fishing. I like the adventure of it. He did it for me, and sometimes I think it saved my life, now I do it for him. I like his dynamic; he’s an old Yankee from Maine, but no dummy. He’s a painter a craftsman, a musician, a philosopher. We have a strong connection.
I like antiques because of the wonderful stories they tell.
I like stories. Did I say that already?
I like guitars, especially Stratocasters.
I like old houses and back roads, and colorful native people, rough around the edges, with pickup trucks and local dialects. They seem like the foundation of our society.
I like Pink Floyd.
STEPHEN HAWKING
CLIVE BARKER
NEIL YOUNG
DAVID GILMOUR
Don't much like television. There are a few smart things being produced, but in my opinion most of it is moronic, as if the audience doesn't know the difference. But I think people are smarter than they're given credit.
Television is merely a tool for greedy corporations who will stop at nothing to sell their junk to an unsuspecting public.
And the news. What a joke! Don't get me started.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
To name a few:
Joseph Campbell
Albert Einstein
Carl Sagan
Thomas Jefferson
Martin Luther King
Neil Armstrong
John Lennon