Pump Up Your Book Chats with Social Issues Author Greg Middleton

Greg Middleton is a prolific writer, community leader, public speaker and advocate. He is the author of In Search of the Soul, Pearls of Wisdom, Food for the Soul, Living Christianity, and The Seeker, which are highly inspirational works designed to bring self reflection, healing and restoration to individuals and families.  His writing career has spanned over a decade and has won the admiration of many. His most recent and prized work, Real Men, is a culmination of all of his life’s experience and spiritual pursuits. This book is the heartbeat of Greg Middleton. It is his clarion call to reach to young dysfunctional males and help them to reach their God given potential. Middleton’s belief is that wise, experienced, older men should reach back and teach younger men to become true leaders, dedicated husbands, devout fathers and hard workers. These core values stabilize societies, without them societies fail. Greg has a writer’s website dedicated to promoting his published works: www.gregemiddleton.com In addition he has a website for his business, Real Men Seminars, LLC, that his book Real Men accompanies. This company is dedicated to dealing with key male issues of the 21^st century: www.realmenseminars.com.

Thank you for this interview, Greg.  Do you remember writing stories as a child or did the writing bug come later?  Do you remember your first published piece?

The writing bug came to me much later as a conscious effort. When I first started expressing my thoughts on paper I did not consider it to be formally writing. Since my early twenties I started keeping a journal of my daily affairs and some of the key things that were happening in my life. Even though I lost many of these journal entries stored in boxes hidden in my garages over the years, I realize now that writing was a large part of my self-expression for many years. It always gave me great comfort. My muse was always expressing itself to me, even without my understanding what a muse was or why I was having such thoughts. Today after writing so frequently I realize that this ability was always hidden in me waiting on the right opportunity to come out and become something.

The first thing I published was not literary works, but musical songs. I was a songwriter for many years before I started writing literary pieces. I published my first book back in 2002. Since then writing, along with getting my material published, has been a continuous ambition of mine. Next I need to learn how to get my works into the hands of my potential readers.

What do you consider as the most frustrating side of becoming a published author and what has been the most rewarding?

The most frustrating side of becoming a published author is learning how to get your published works in the hands of the readers. If you were the best writer on the planet and no one was exposed to your works, it would be like a tree falling in the middle of the jungle with no one there to hear the sound. If no one reads your works it is like a musician playing his heart out with no one hearing him play. What’s the significance?

The most rewarding would be learning to communicate with your muse. The joy of receiving thoughts from somewhere in the universe is very thrilling. I get great joy out of receiving such thoughts. Even though I would love to have my works published and read… there is plenty joy in going through the writing process as well.

Are you married or single and how do you combine the writing life with home life?  Do you have support?

I am married. Since my children are grown and out of the nest it is easy to spend my days working on my writing projects. My wife works full time so I have over 9 hours in the middle of the day to write on weekdays. When my wife is home I try not to work as much on my projects so I can give her my attention. To combine my writing life with married life I have learned to take advantage of my empty nest for my writing time and give my wife more of the hours we spend together. Regarding the support of my family, I do not get as much as I would like, but I realize that until you have something published that is recognized by others as significant, even your family cannot totally understand the life of a writer. Since the support has not been as forthcoming as I would like, I have trained myself not to look for it.

Real Men by Greg Middleton (click on cover to purchase at Amazon)

What do you like to do for fun when you’re not writing?  Where do you like to vacation?  Can you tell us briefly about this?

I enjoy reading just as much as I enjoy writing. Reading takes me to places and gives me adventures that I would not normally have. Even a great spiritual book opens a part of me that was not previously exposed. I love reading to the point where I could hide from the world with a great book and feel totally satisfied. As a person from the entertainment industry I had a chance to travel a lot while I was in my twenties and thirties. Traveling was a part of the business I was in so there was no great need to vacation as much as some people may experience. I was the bass player for the Temptations traveling the world at one point in my life and that filled my cup for the need to travel. However one of the things that I love to do at this stage in life is play golf. I find the challenge quite thrilling. I also love to take walks in the hills alone or even with a friend so we may experience nature in its natural element. Being in nature makes me feel “one” with the world we live in.

If you could be anywhere in the world for one hour right now, where would that place be and why?

Although I have never been there I think I would pick Egypt because of its ancient rich history. I would love to be standing on the top of the tallest pyramid looking out over the area and thinking about how such a great feat was accomplished that many years ago without the technology that we have today. I think the ancient Egyptians understood things about our human experience that we have since lost. Just being on the grounds there in Egypt would inspire me and would take my creative mind to a nice place, deep into my spiritual cavity.

Who is your biggest fan?

As a writer my mother would be my number one fan. She has always enjoyed being the one person that would read nearly everything that I have written and grown from it. Since I write primarily about the spiritual experience my mother has grown in many ways from reading my material. I guess she has also given me the confidence to continue writing and exploring my spirituality.

Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

I have a dedicated room with all my computers, printers and even a library of books to read and enjoy. I have my own workspace and the solitude that I require in order to write as frequent as I do.

What’s your favorite library and why?

There may have been a time when I did frequent the Altadena Library for research but the Internet has long replaced that need. I can Google nearly anything without leaving my own workspace. I love Wikipedia as a source of information regarding many of the topics I cover. As a reader I love what libraries can offer but I am afraid such businesses may not last much longer because of technology. The Internet may be taking customers away from the public libraries already. Perhaps as long as there are students there will be a need for public libraries but there may come a day when all the books there may be stored electronically or digitally rather then on printed paper.

What’s your favorite bookstore and why?

My favorite bookstore has been the chains that specialized in spiritual material. In my area it was the Lighthouse, which is no longer in business, or Alexander’s Book Store. I find many bookstores going out of business during these tough economic times. I am not sure if the cause is just the economy. I think technology may also be a factor in the demise of bookstores.

Do you have any pets?

For most of my adult life I had a pet. I always had a dog as my pet. A couple of years back my dog ran away from home. Since my children are also grown and away from home we decided not to get another pet for now so we were free to leave home and not have to place the dog in a kennel or find someone to watch our pet while we were away. The answer to this question is, no, I do not currently have a pet.

What are you reading right now?

For the immediate moment I do not have a particular book that I am reading. I have been currently concentrating on my health so I am reading so much material about my medical conditions. I just recently found out that I am a diabetic. I had prostate cancer a couple of years back as well. Currently I am reading material regarding my personal health including proper eating habits. I also frequently read my bible or other spiritual books that keep me spiritually inspired. This habit stays with me.

Tell us a secret no one else knows.

There is no secret that I alone know. All knowledge comes from a single source that is universal and everyone has access to it, albeit subconsciously or unconsciously. Even if I thought I alone knew a secret it would only be my coming into the knowledge of something that was already known by others. This secret would be as such: “The ALL is in God and God is in the ALL. We are part of the ALL therefore we are part of God.” I am not the only one who knows this.

What’s the first thing you notice when you meet someone?

I notice their aura. I get an inner sense about a person even before I am formally introduced. I sense their spirit.

Have you ever won anything?

I find this question very vague. I have won many things. I played sports for a long time so either I won a particular game or my team won. I love to play golf with my golfing friends so there are times when I actually won the game we were playing. I won at Las Vegas playing certain machines. I won certain arguments or spats with various people. I have won many things. In addition, when I thought I was winning at certain things I was actually loosing. Winning and loosing has a lot to do with what we think is important. Many things that I formally thought were important are no longer even significant to me.

What’s on your to do list today?

Other than filling out this survey I intend to complete a couple of essays that I have been working on. One is the Dysfunctional Male Syndrome and the other is Marriage and Stardom. Both essays speak to the issues males are currently facing. I also intend to work on my workbook for my Real Men Seminars program.

I understand that you are touring with Pump Up Your Book Promotion in January via a virtual book tour.  Can you tell us all why you chose a virtual book tour to promote your book online?

This tour was chosen for me through my PR agent, Linda Leon as one of the best resources available within the confines of the budget we were working with. I have yet to work with this agency, but look forward to what it could possibly add to my book project.

Thank you for this interview, Greg. Good luck on your virtual book tour!

Thank you for having me.

You can visit Greg’s official tour page by clicking here!