Aloha and a warm welcome to SS Hampton Sr., one of my fellow Muse It Up Publishing authors and another HOT writer! Stan is a prolific writer, with a variety of genres, from fantasy, science fiction to erotic romance. With Stan's Choctaw Nation and military background, his books have many different elements in them which give them an interesting edge. He's also involved in photography and would love to photograph the cenotes in the Yucatan Peninsula, the underwater archaeological site there. So please say a big welcome and aloha to Stan, glad to have you here! :-) Aloha!
Tell our readers a wee bit about yourself. What are 5
things you wished you’d done, have done or are still to do, on the Bucket List?
J
1. I hope to visit the Hastings Battlefield in
southern England, where William the Conqueror won England in a day long battle
in 1066 A.D.
2. I hope to visit Ireland, a place whose
history goes so far back you might really believe it came to be as mythological
legends describe.
3. I would like to discover a photographic Muse,
as I once had in Colorado Springs, Colorado (in the same vein, though different
field, discover an artist Muse). A Muse can’t be hired, but has to be
discovered unexpectedly. That special Muse can inspire a photographer or artist
to expand and create beyond what he would normally expect of himself. Even
better is when the Muse understands what the photographer or artist is hoping
to accomplish.
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| Cenotes are sink holes |
4. I plan on photographing underwater
archaeology, primarily as a result of my studying for a Bachelors degree in
Archaeology. Areas I would like to photograph in are the Yucatan Peninsula (the
cenotes), Europe, and the Middle East.
5. Someday I want to own a plot of land and a
home somewhere in the Rocky Mountains where I can photograph, paint, draw, and
explore any number of artistic options that appeal to me.
Tell us about the genre you write, why do you love it
and how did you get into it?
I write in several genres—military fiction, horror, erotica,
science fiction, fantasy, and even a little bit of dabbling in Greece, Rome,
and the Old West—because I enjoy those type stories. Each one offers something
different, and that appeals to me as a reader (though I haven’t read fiction
for relaxation and enjoyment in years) and a writer. Of all of these genres,
the military fiction is easiest because of my serving almost 30 years in the
active duty Army, Army Reserve, and the Army National Guard.
What’s your most favorite restaurant in the world?
Where, why and the best dish/es they make?
Well, not that I’ve traveled and eaten out that much, but as
memory serves, it would have to be the Cracker Barrel in Colorado Springs, Colorado,
and Flagstaff, Arizona. Again, as memory serves, they make the best biscuits
and gravy and hash browns that I have tasted. There is also a small place
outside of Reno, Nevada, that comes close. Sometimes I am an ordinary, simple
man, with simple tastes.
Remember those ads for Expedia (if not, just play
along) that asked, ‘If you could go anywhere in the world, but have to go right
now?’ Where would you have gone and would you have said to YES to right now? What
pulls and entices you to that country?
I would have responded with “Yes” when asked if I wanted to
leave immediately. And I would go to the Himalayas. Even in the 21st century
that region of the world sounds mysterious as if it is a wild border at the
edge of the known world. And beyond the Himalayas, only legends might hint of
what lay beyond that wild border. Imagination aside, I would love to explore
the mountains, the trails and passes, mountain valleys, rivers, and villages.
Who knows, maybe there really is a Shangri-La somewhere out there.
What parts of you, are incorporated into your
characters?
None that I am aware of. But, I have read that writers do
include a part of themselves in their characters. It may be that if I do look
back on the many characters I have written, I might discover an occasional
personality or physical trait that is me.
Favorite male hero/public figure you admire in the
world, dead or alive, and why?
This is a difficult question only because I have never
identified anyone I admired, nor do I have heroes. I only consider a question
like this when I am guesting on various blogs because the question comes up
from time to time. Anyway, one person would be George S. Patton who, for all of
his faults, understood himself and his men, and led one of the best armies in
the world. Perhaps Julius Caesar, for the same reasons.
Favorite female heroine/public figure you admire in
the world, dead or alive, and why?
Well, actually, there is none, really. Golda Meir might come
close for her accomplishments on behalf of her nation, though something she
once said during the Yom Kippur War with the Arabs (1973) remains with me. To
paraphrase her, she said, “We can forgive them for killing us, but we cannot
forgive them for forcing us to kill them.”
Jacqueline Kennedy impressed me, probably because she was so beautiful and such a wonderful counterpart to a young war hero during “America’s Camelot.”
Maybe Princess Diana because, in spite of being rich, famous, and a member of royalty, she didn’t seem to be full of herself. She came across as being a kind and caring person. And the same for Princess Kate.
Jacqueline Kennedy impressed me, probably because she was so beautiful and such a wonderful counterpart to a young war hero during “America’s Camelot.”
Maybe Princess Diana because, in spite of being rich, famous, and a member of royalty, she didn’t seem to be full of herself. She came across as being a kind and caring person. And the same for Princess Kate.
Have you ever had a character just “do their own
thing?” Have you ever had an argument with one of your characters? Or anything
else odd happen?
The only odd thing is when the plot, or sub-plot, suddenly
makes more sense even if it is deviating from the outline. Combined with my
“gut feeling,” such an unexpected story shift usually seems to work out better.
What’s your passion in life?
Art. In this sense, that includes photography and writing.
And I want to learn how to paint, draw, and sculpt, even write on real
parchment with a real quill feather pen.
What’s your writer’s routine? Do you write whenever or
at certain times? Are you a pantser or plotter? Where do you like to write?
Unfortunately, I do not have a set routine. I write when the
mood strikes me, or when a deadline is looming before me. I tend to write the most
from late or early evening until dawn, or shortly before. I’m generally a
plotter, relying on an outline with Beginning, Middle, and End, with
“action/event points” within each area. I have a desk set in the corner of my
bedroom where I do most of my writing; when smoking I move to the island that
separates the living room and kitchen, with the front door open to let some of
the smoke out.
If you could pick a past life, what time period would
appeal to you and why? Would you be male or female? Rich or poor?
So many possibilities. Rome or Greece? Probably Greece
before its own Dark Age descended upon it. Probably a warrior. Anyway, before
the Greek Dark Age the world was still young and mysterious, and though we
judge their superstitious belief/mythology as being just that, it was all very
real to the people. I’m sure there were rich warriors, probably through
individual looting, or from a defeated tribe or conquered town, the distribution
of goods by the army commander.
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What new things have are you working on?
I have to decide between
stories about a haunted Tiger tank in North Africa during World War II, a
science fiction story about what makes a man “great” in the eyes of others; an
erotic romance story set in the Bronze Age, or the second sequel to Sharing Rachel. There are others as
well, but the above is a sampling of the various works among which I have to
decide which one to start next.
CONTACT STAN:
Amazon.com Author Page
Amazon.com. UK Author Page
Goodreads Author Page
“Sharing Rachel.” MuseItHOT, MuseItUp Publishing,
forthcoming 17 October 2014.
TAGLINE: Sometimes people
choose to live life to the fullest…
BLURB:
Burt and Rachel
Markham are ordinary small business owners of a feed & seed store in a
small Kansas farming and ranching community. Many years before, as young university
graduates eagerly anticipating exciting overseas employment, a lifetime in
Kansas was the furthest thing from their minds, particularly Rachel who was
raised overseas and dreamed of going back. By July 2013 their twin 18-year old
daughters, having graduated high school several months before, go east to
attend a university. Burt and Rachel settle into their new life of an empty
house and a predictable and unchanging routine that threatens to stretch far
into the future. One summer evening Burt has an idea—but will Rachel accept the
idea? If she does, will the idea add new excitement to their marriage, or
destroy it?
EXCERPT:
She stood and
grasped his hand. “It’s a little windy out, but it looks like there’s only a
slight drizzle. We won’t get too wet walking home.”
Burt glanced at the steaming dancers again and smiled. “It’s
been a long time since we walked in the rain.”
“It has been,” she said and leaned against him.
“I always liked walking in the rain. A light rain that is. A
slight drizzle is better.” They stepped into the cool twilight. “Anyway, when
your blouse is soaked your nipples really stand out.”
“Oh God,” Rachel giggled. Silent lightning lit the wet road
as if showing the way home.
Burt slipped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.
“Hi,” he whispered in her ear. She responded with a little
sigh and reached back to place her hands on his hips.
The greeting was their signal when in public that one or the
other was horny. They began whispering “hi” to each other shortly after they
became lovers; now they also whispered it after he slipped into her or when she
seated herself on him and they were looking into each other’s eyes.
The storms passed and the humid summer heat returned. The
feed store remained busy. The trains rumbled past Four Corners, past their
home, as they had done for the past two decades. Burt always thought that the
late night train whistle that echoed across the moonlit prairie was one of the
loneliest sounds he ever heard.
One night during their dinner walk they passed by the dark
school. Rachel paused and stared at the small wooden building. Twinkling
fireflies floated through the schoolyard.
“Are you going to volunteer this year?” he asked. Classes
would start in a few days.
She was silent for a few moments before shaking her head.
“No. I enjoyed being a volunteer teacher’s aide, but with the girls gone…” Her
voice trailed into silence. “It wouldn’t be the same.”
Burt brushed her long hair away from her face. “What about
soccer?”
“They asked me and I said I’d help on special occasions,
like the end of season awards banquet.” She folded her arms around herself as
if she were cold, though a warm breeze blew across the moonlit prairie. “But
otherwise, no.”
“It wouldn’t be the same?”
“Jah, jah,” she whispered.
“Well, okay. I mean, there’s been a big change in our lives,
but it doesn’t have to mean cutting most ties.”
When they returned to the farmhouse Rachel announced she was
going for a swim. She poured a glass of Sauvignon Blanc for herself and picked
up a CD player. She usually listened to classical music, waltzes, and operas
when floating in the pool. There was a chakra wind chime hanging near the pool
for the times when she felt like floating in near silence except for the chimes
and the sound of the prairie wind.
A few moments later Burt followed with beer in hand. Maggie
trotted behind him, rawhide bone in her jaws. Classical music floated through
the night; fireflies played hide and seek among the neatly trimmed hedges along
the perimeter of the yard. Others drifted in and out of the nearby cornfield,
while the insects of the night droned on in disharmony.
He saw Rachel drop a dark robe to her feet. In the silvery
light of the moon her nude fleshy form had a ghostly white sheen to it. She
glanced over her shoulder, flashed a lusty smile at him, and dove into the
pool. He stood by the edge of the pool and watched her gliding beneath the
sparkling moonlit water. Then she surfaced, rolled and floated on her back with
closed eyes. A pair of fireflies circled above her face.
It was the second time she was skinny dipping. It was like
she was shedding the older, busy exterior of motherhood so that her younger
carefree personality could reassert itself.
He sipped his beer and watched her face with Bettie Page
bangs plastered to her forehead, surrounded by a fan of long hair and the
glimmering water. She looked so content.
A thought was born.
A surprising thought.
A thought he never entertained before about his wife of 21
years—and the mother of his children. He walked unsteadily to a wooden chair
with thick cushions and sat down heavily. He gulped his beer. A warm breeze
flowed through the night; the trees rustled and the field of corn swayed like watery
currents. Fireflies sailed past him.
“Dammit,” Burt whispered to himself in disbelief…disbelief
and excitement. And trepidation. What would her reaction be? What would she
say? Could he even find a way to suggest it?
“Burt?”
He returned to the poolside. Her eyes were open. Moonlit
water droplets on her beautiful face sparkled like tiny diamonds.
The thought wouldn’t let go. It took root…
Pre-order:
MuseItHOT, MuseItUp
Publishing: http://bit.ly/1nzi91i
Stan Hampton, Sr. is a full-blood Choctaw of the Choctaw
Nation of Oklahoma, a divorced grandfather to 13 wonderful grandchildren, and a
published photographer and photojournalist. He retired on 1 July 2013 from the
Army National Guard with the rank of Sergeant First Class; he previously served
in the active duty Army (1974-1985), the Army Individual Ready Reserve
(1985-1995) (mobilized for the Persian Gulf War), and enlisted in the Nevada Army
National Guard in October 2004, after which he was mobilized for Federal active
duty for almost three years. Hampton is a veteran of Operations Noble Eagle
(2004-2006) and Iraqi Freedom (2006-2007) with deployment to northern Kuwait
and several convoy security missions into Iraq.
His writings have appeared as stand-alone stories and in
anthologies from Dark Opus Press, Edge Science Fiction & Fantasy, Melange
Books, Musa Publishing, MuseItUp Publishing, Ravenous Romance, and as
stand-alone stories in Horror Bound Magazine, The Harrow, and River Walk
Journal, among others.
In May 2014 he graduated from the College of Southern Nevada
with an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Photography – Commercial
Photography Emphasis. A future goal is to study for a degree in archaeology—hopefully
to someday work in and photograph underwater archaeology (and also learning to
paint).
After 13 years of brown desert in the Southwest and
overseas, he misses the Rocky Mountains, yellow aspens in the fall, running
rivers, and a warm fireplace during snowy winters.
As of April 2014, after being in a 2-year Veterans
Administration program for Homeless Veterans, Hampton is officially no longer a
homeless Iraq War veteran, though he is still struggling to get back on his
feet.
STAN'S OTHER BOOKS CAN BE FOUND AT:
SS HAMPTON Sr
Dark Opus Press
Edge Science Fiction & Fantasy Publishing
Melange Books
Musa Publishing
MuseItUp Publishing
Ravenous Romance
Very interesting interview, Meg. I tried to leave a comment but for some reason none of accounts or open ID could be verified.
ReplyDeleteHere is my comment:
Very interesting interview, Stan, you are a fine example of a renaissance man. Thank you for your service in keeping us a free nation.
Dr. Robbi Perna
Robbi,
DeleteThank you for visiting. I'm glad you enjoyed the interview. And serving has been my honor and privilege. Have a great week!
Stan
Aloha Robbi,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for reading and commenting. I appreciate it. :-)
Yes, a very interesting interview. I love people who have done all sorts of things. :-)
Thanks again Robbi. I appreciate it.
Aloha Meg :-)
Meg,
ReplyDeleteAnd, thank you for this opportunity of appearing on your blog. I appreciate it.
Stan
Aloha Stan!! You're welcome. It was lovely to have you here. I loved seeing those pics of the cetones... amazing!! I love being an artist. :)
ReplyDeleteAloha Meg :-)