![]() Please join me in welcoming the author of CLAYTON SHARP: THE COMPLETE WESTERN SERIES, Eugene J. DiCesaris! Eugene, what is your favorite part of being an author? I think it's the satisfaction--and surprise--I experience whenever I take a moment to reflect on how I was able to write a few books and actually get them published! I've never considered myself a professional writer by any means, so to see stories I've pieced together get into print, and made available to people around the globe, truly stuns, yet gladdens me to no end. Have you ever had writer's block? How do you get back on track? Yes, many times. (Actually, my wife, Eva, and I joke about whether it's writer's block or just "creeping senility"! HaHa. As far as getting back on track, mostly I won't force anything. If the well has gone dry for a while, I'll occupy myself with other matters around the house until the ideas start flowing again. I think that sometimes a writer has to step back from his work and absorb what he's done up to that point--much like a painter stepping back from the easel to get a better perspective of his canvas. For me, this includes re-reading what I've already written. Many times, that's all I've needed. As my wife reminds me: don't press, don't despair, you've come this far so trust yourself. What advice do you have for young writers? Don't, don't, don't procrastinate! If you feel that urge, that hunger to write, then write! Write about anything if you have to, but write. Make it literally a part of your very being. Even now, I meet people who tell me, "I've always wanted to write, but just never seemed to have the time. Maybe I'll get to it after I retire." What research has helped you write your Westerns? I've been reading books about history (non fiction mostly) since I was in elementary school. I was always drawn to them and couldn't read enough. Over the years I guess I learned a few things. I also loved to cross check the sources listed in the back of the books. What's the most surprising thing you've learned about yourself while writing your novels? That I had all these stories and characters living within me waiting to be set free. (That, and the fact that at 70 I can still string two sentences together cogently. HaHa ) ESCAPING HIS OUTLAW PAST WON'T COME EASY BLURBS: Bk#1 Messenger of Warning: Wounded by a posse following a botched bank heist, young outlaw Clayton Sharp is taken to a passing wagon train by his fellow gang members, who threaten the pioneers with harm if they don't accept Sharp, and insure his recovery by the time the gang returns. During his rehabilitation, Clayton falls in love with traveler Annie Kimball, and gradually embraces her Mormon faith. Now convinced he must atone for his past behavior, Clayton not only vows to change his ways, but decides he must convince his gang to do the same. Leaving Annie, but promising to return, Sharp searches for and finds his cohorts, only to discover they have other ideas. Bk#2 Life or Death Heading west, Clayton, Annie, and Annie's uncle, Ward, pass through Colorado to visit family. On a back trail, they encounter a seriously wounded lawman, who had been ambushed and left for dead. They care for him, but are shocked when he declares it is his intention to arrest Clayton or die in the attempt. After Ward goes to a nearby town to learn the location of his relatives, Clayton, Annie, and the lawman are kidnapped by a band of Ute warriors. The Indians soon leave the lawman behind, but have a horrible fate planned for Clay and Annie. However, the two escape to a nearby ranch house, and there, help fight off the attacking warriors. Bk#3 Shifting Winds: God's Cleansing Breath Leaving Colorado to return to Florence, Nebraska, Clayton, Annie, and Ward are caught in a tornado and suffer multiple injuries. They are found by a passing Cheyenne Indian family who befriend them and patiently nurse them back to health. In time, both groups develop a strong bond of trust and friendship, but find that bond tested when they discover they will soon be confronted by not only a band of Sioux warriors led by Crazy Horse, but also by General George Custer and elements of the Seventh Cavalry. Bk#4 Danger Every Mile Serving as a civilian scout for the Seventh Cavalry, Clayton is in Kansas and far from his bride, Annie, who, with Ward, has accepted a church assignment to travel west from Florence to Laramie to meet with two special couriers sent by Brigham Young. On the way, a cougar attacks the wagon with Annie and Ward, scaring away the horses and seriously wounding the young woman. Afraid the cat may come back to attack his niece again, but also needing to leave her side to track down the team, Ward finds himself in a terrible dilemma. Suddenly, an unexplainable development occurs solving the problem. The two reach Laramie, rendezvous with the couriers (who turn out to be two members of Clayton's former gang, Joe and Russ DiMarco), but then all four are ambushed by a local gang led by a corrupt lawman. In the end, however, Annie, Ward, and the DiMarcos prove to be more than a match for the gang, as Clayton, depressed and lonely in Kansas, dwells on how to reunite with his wife. Bk#5 Forever and Always Annie, Ward, and the DiMarcos are heading east to Florence, when they are attacked by a Sioux war party. Later, they experience the misfortune of encountering a ruthless badman, whose odd behavior, and inappropriate attention toward Annie, concern and anger them. Shortly thereafter, Joe and Russ will go into a local town, where they barely escape being lynched by a lawman obsessed with executing them for a crime they didnt commit. Still in Kansas, Clayton has been sent on a special assignment by a sympathetic Custer, that allows the young man to leave the army column and temporarily reunite with his wife. In the end, Annie, Ward, the DiMarcos, and Clayton Sharp, will gather at a hallowed location on the plains to express and rededicate the joy, gratefulness, and love they have for each other and for God, forever and always. MORE ABOUT EUGENE: I was born in Los Angeles, California in June 1954, and am the oldest of four children. My parents came to the Golden State from Trenton, New Jersey in 1950. I am of Italian and Sicilian descent and have now made it a goal to learn a little Italian. I've lived in Southern California all my life. Throughout the years I worked as a paperboy, manager of fast food restaurants, several other odd jobs, and finally, until I retired in May 2015, thirty-one years in the local school district as a custodian. My parents had me baptized Catholic when I was a baby, but after they separated when I was ten, I stopped going to church, and didn't step into a service until 1980 when I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (I mention this because later it will explain the subject of my novels.) However, after being a "Mormon" for thirty years, I returned to the Catholic Church during Thanksgiving week of 2010, and have been happily there ever since. It is also where I met my wife, Eva. My wife is a wonderful woman and has truly been a beautiful blessing for me. She is the only woman I've ever married. I thank God every day for her--not only because of how happy she has made me, but also because it was she who encouraged me to return to writing. More on this in a sec. We started dating in 2013, got engaged in 2015, then married in January of 2017. Three weeks later, I had to have a quadruple bypass heart procedure and Eva nursed through the recovery. While I was recuperating, she asked if I ever thought of going back to writing (something I had tried with no success years earlier), and I said "no." But I gave it some thought, pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil, and a day or two later started working on what would be the first chapter of my first novel, "Clayton Sharp: Messenger of Warning." In time, the story began to practically write itself, and because of my study of LDS pioneer history when I was Mormon, the flow and content of the novel seemed natural to pursue. It became a subtle presence in the rest of the series, and also in a trilogy I have since written that takes place eleven years earlier than the Clayton series (1867), but with a couple of the same characters. Naturally, I'm hoping to get these books published as well. As mentioned, I have authored several novels and was published twice by Five Star Publishers. When they closed down I admit I became a bit down, but now I'm with Wolfpack, and things are looking up. Eva and I live in Moreno Valley, California, and love to travel-- having been to Norway, Italy, Canada, Belize (where my wife is from), and numerous places in the good ol' USA. I play the piano (more or less) and want to return to the accordion (an instrument I played when I was a kid). God has been very good to me, and I will always be grateful for everything He's done for me. CONTACT EUGENE:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/p/Eugene-DiCesaris-100073932581046/
1 Comment
|
Archives
January 2025
Categories |