Hello Author Lee Carson, Welcome to ABOUT INSIDER! What was the inspiration behind your book?
When I am writing my inspiration doesn’t come from just one source but from several that I have experienced in life. For instance, I am a retired vocational shop teacher from service in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. John’s meeting with Anna and their association came from those experiences. My experience as a camp councilor with youth at summer camps played a part.
Did you talk to your wife as you were writing it?
My wife’s health prevents her from reading and discussing my writings, but I think if she were able she would be very supportive.
Who was the first person to read it, and what did they say to you about it?
I gave away several copies of Pine Cone County but can’t remember who read it first, but here is a response from my friend “Joe” on a book I am working on now.
Lee, I want to thank you for sharing “Alph” with me.
I must tell you the truth: that after I read the cast of characters and prologue to the story, I made the mistake of thinking that this story might turn out to be a little slow and of mild interest to me. Thanks for proving me so wrong in my presumption.
You have a talent in your writing skills that I do envy. In a few lines, up to a single paragraph, you can define a character (or a donkey) completely. As the story progresses, the growth of each character expands.
I read the entire story in a day. I enjoyed it immensely.
This is a story for young children, adults and senior adults. We all can glimpse a character that is, or was a friend or relative we knew.
Please get this story published. I feel that I have looked back in time and glimpsed a people and life that existed at the very beginning of Christianity, and this is something that is needed today and tomorrow.
God bless you. Your church family brother, Joe Maxwell
Did writing provide a sense of closure for you?
My writing doesn’t give me closure but rather the opposite. The more I write the more ideas I get with sometimes a strong desire to go back and make some changes to the event or events that fathered my idea.
What was the most challenging part to write?
Finding a place to stop writing was the most challenging part of the book. I wanted a short book, not a long one about the life of John Denza that would drag on forever and ever. I settled on a book that could be spliced onto at a later time with Book II.
Who would you like to share this book with?
I have purchased several copies of Pine Cone County for the express purpose of giving them to close friends and family. My pastor got one, members of my Sunday School class and others but most of all I wrote it for Christians who want good clean fiction.
How has writing changed your outlook on the world?
I don’t think my writing has changed my outlook except to maybe think there is hope that people will continue to love one another, that there will be a cure for this pandemic, and Jesus Christ will rule.
Is faith and belief an integral part of your writing process?
Faith and belief are my writing. They are maybe the best way to spread the good news, to let people know they are loved, and to love in return.
Is there anything you would change about the book, now you’ve read it?
The only thing I would like to change about Pine Cone County would be for it to influence and change the lives of neighboring cities, counties, countries, and the world.
What’s the one piece of advice you’d like to share with your fellow writers?
Writers need only to write about what they know, feel, believe in, and spread throughout the world. The written word will likely be here forever. Make it good.
