Thanks for being here today, Stan. Would you please share a short bio about yourself?
Thank you for having me. Well, I am a full-blood Choctaw of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, a divorced grandfather to 13 wonderful grandchildren, a published photographer and photojournalist, and a member of the Military Writers Society of America. I am a serving member of the Army National Guard with the rank of staff sergeant, with prior service in the active duty Army, and the Army Individual Ready Reserve (mobilized for the Persian Gulf War). I enlisted in the Army National Guard in October 2004 and was mobilized for Federal active duty for almost three years, including Operations Noble Eagle (2004-2006) and Iraqi Freedom (2006-2007). I have been writing most of my life—first published in 1992 after which nothing else happened until 2001. I am about to retire from the Guard so my second career goals include being an aspiring painter and studying for a degree in photography and anthropology—hopefully to someday work in and photograph underwater archaeology. After 12 years of brown desert in the Southwest and overseas, I miss the Rocky Mountains, yellow aspens in the fall, running rivers, and a warm fireplace during snowy winters. As of December 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada, I officially became a homeless Iraq War veteran.
Thank you so much for your service! Do you consider yourself a shy and/or introverted person?
I was once shy (lacking confidence) and very introverted (still somewhat introverted). But as ruling personality traits, I would say no more.
What’s the hardest part of this business for you?
The public relations and/or marketing aspect. Unless you are a “big name” author most such activities are undertaken by you. Many people, as I do, write a lot of blog guest postings. Others, as I do, establish Author Pages at Amazon US and UK, and Facebook pages; we never miss the opportunity to let people know where they can find our work. Others do book signings at local bookstores and libraries. The list goes on and on. To me, all of this is harder than writing and editing.
I SO agree with you there. Tell me about a time that you had to step outside your comfort zone either in your writing career or in your personal life?
That is easy: falling in love. As for “had to step outside”—that sounds like a choice, and such a circumstance, I believe, is not a choice. It happens. It is wonderful and frightening at the same time. It is a risk, sometimes successful, sometimes unsuccessful. And, that is all I will say about that.
What’s one tip you could share with shy and introverted people that’s helped you (whether you’re shy/introverted or not)?
First, there is nothing wrong with being shy or introverted—as long as they are not your dominant traits and you make decisions due to those traits. If you are going to be a writer, you need to develop a thick skin for the publisher rejections to come and those readers and reviewers who do not care for your writings once you are in print. You will need to get out in public to “hawk your wares” (I hope I used the right phrase) and that will require personal modesty, the ability to make a good impression on people, sense what they may be looking for, and projecting an air of friendly confidence. No room for shyness and introversion as dominant traits.
Oh yes. Never sell yourself short even if someone calls your work “disappointing.” You already have the best validation there is: a valid publisher has accepted your work, sent you a contract, and is willing to invest the time, money, artwork, and editing necessary to turn your manuscript into the best possible story it can be. Would you please share a short blurb of your book and where my readers can buy it?
“An Incident on MSR Tampa”
BLURB: Halloween Night, 2006 – a resupply convoy commanded by the Air Force and escorted by Army gun trucks, is leaving Kuwait for Baghdad. The lonely desert highway north is MSR Tampa, a bloody highway along which for years the convoys suffered insurgent attacks. And on MSR Tampa there is a particular wooded bend that no one speaks of, though many know of its haunted reputation, a reputation given new life by a gun truck crew testing a new generation of enhanced night vision goggles…
Buy here
Where can my readers find you on the web?
First, a lot of the guest blogging I have done in the past year can be found if you Google “author SS Hampton, Sr.” Otherwise, I can be found at the below sites:
Melange Books Musa Publishing
MuseItUp Publishing
Amazon.com Author Page
Amazon.com UK Author Page
