Spotlight - ‎Kenneth Wayne

Shah Fazli
‎Kenneth Wayne, We are honoured to have you on Spotlight, you may want to tell us about what has changed for you from when we first interviewed you on our 'One Stop Interview', what excites you more, what you have achieved more, we have all certainly grown older, or you may even want to tell us what you have lost?




Kenneth Wayne What excites me? What doesn't?


Kenneth Wayne I guess my family is the biggest part of my life.



Shah Fazli Do you want to tell us a little in detail about yourself, and what keeps you busy apart from writing?


Kenneth Wayne I'm an instructor at several Japanese universities in the Tokyo area.


Kenneth Wayne Frankly, I'm surprised I have any time to write. No doubt, that's the main reason I decided to write Wackos in several parts.



Shah Fazli Thanks, now tell us what Wackos to Obliterate is about?


Kenneth Wayne It's a book about the frustrations most people in the the flat world face when trying to keep up with what is going on in their own local communities while finding themselves constantly having to deal with the SNS world and cyber lifestyles that we have been finding ourselves slipping into more and more.



Shah Fazli Tell us a little in detail about this book, is it fiction or non-fiction, when did you start writing it, and what was the motivation behind it?


Kenneth Wayne How even retired couples who are supposedly living their "golden years" find themselves caught up in interactions with people around the globe and bringing to these interactions a lot of baggage that those with whom they are interacting are not aware exists. I guess a whole lot of miscommunication occurs that can contain a lot of potential for danger and bad effects on their lives.



Shah Fazli What happens in the book, who are in the book, and what hardship and difficulties your characters are facing in the story please?


Kenneth Wayne It's a story that starts with a retired couple who are finding ways to use the Internet to help stretch their finances. On the surface it all appears to be safe and innocent, but other agendas begin to interfere.



Shah Fazli Tell us the couples' names, and what were they before they retired, it is a fascinating story, what is the most challenging thing for them in the book to go through in their retired lives?


Kenneth Wayne The husband, George, convinced his wife, Mavis, to retire earlier than they were really economically prepared for and soon they find themselves a little strapped for cash. He does some online trading, while she starts to realize that she could start selling romances online as an Indie writer. Sound a little familiar?


Kenneth Wayne After retirement, they buy an RV and become RV nomads. So, they are living a rather mobile existence as he does his online trading and she tries to sell her romance novels by using SNS like facebook. Soon, George realizes there is another source of revenue he can do online. He starts to write comments on political blogs for a ultra-right organization. Simply, he becomes a political troll.


Kenneth Wayne As he does so, he gets a little deeper into that organization and goes to a training session to become more adept at laying out the troll messages. In the process, he becomes socially connected with other trolls and begins to draw the attention of others with some other agendas.


Kenneth Wayne As you can see, the story starts to veer into the realm of conspiracies, political intrigue and a lot of interplay with lives of baby boomers in the Midwestern States of the US.


Kenneth Wayne All in all, it's a pretty elaborate story that begins to go in many directions that the reader would not expect. Also, you learn a little about duck hunting and what a wiretap can do to help put a little excitement back into the sex life of an older couple.


Kenneth Wayne So far, Book One is completed and I'll work on Book Two when my winter or spring vacation comes around in early February.



Shah Fazli What is the roll of young male or female characters in the book, is there any young characters in the story?


Kenneth Wayne
Yeah, there are six younger characters in the book. There's a young couple in their mid to late twenties that are obsessed by duck hunting and park their camper next to George and Mavis in the same RV Park. There's a younger troll who becomes a mentor of sorts to George and will play a pretty major role in Book Two, and there's a couple of younger dudes who also hang out in the RV park, who play some rather minor roles in the first book but whom (at least one of them) will be more prominent in the story later. In addition, there are some people closer in age to George and Mavis who are locals in the small town outside of which the RV Park is situated.


Kenneth Wayne Overall, the environment is pretty much rural Indiana in the early autumn; a rather mundane location at which many non-mundane and rather frightening things can escape. Kind of Timothy McVeigh territory.



Shah Fazli Do you want to read for us from your book please?


Kenneth Wayne I can add a little from Chapter two here:


Kenneth Wayne
‎"That looks like his car," George thought as he maneuvered the pickup into the cramped space next to Rick’s vintage 70s blue Malibu. As he walked past the front of the old sports car towards the entrance of the local diner, he wondered howanyone could see any beauty in that beast.

As soon as he pulled open the glass front door, aromas of food cooked and cooking assaulted him with their “eat-me” pleas. Reminiscent of the Sirens in the Odyssey, bakery scents like cinnamon and baked apple mixed with freshly brewed coffee, hash browns, toast, and fatty sausage tempted his taste buds.

No sooner did he smile at the young girl standing behind the cash register than did he notice Rick sitting with his crew at a large circular booth to the back of the restaurant. He pointed in their direction as he walked past her.

The place was not very crowded on this weekday morning. Scattered around were several couples of varying ages as well as a few men in jeans and work shirts who could be anyone from truckers to farmers to local merchants. In addition, there were a couple of men in suits and a smattering of teenagers. Rick and his buddies ensconced in the back looked like part of the décor. Simply, they had the demeanor of late middle-aged locals who spent most mornings here shooting the breeze before they went off to perform some other routine.

Gerold, Bill and Rick were metabolic-syndrome sufferers – a condition that may have been aggravated by a daily ritual of having breakfast in the Fast-Track Restaurant. This local chapter of trolls sported graying handle-bar mustaches; thinning scalps; and wire-framed glasses. Today was the fourth consecutive morning George met with them. On the first morning, he wondered why they chose a booth with seating for eight or more. Soon he discovered the overall acoustics of the restaurant combined with the rather isolated location of this booth guaranteed a secluded space in which to gather.

“Why don’t you slide over and give George some space?” Rick gestured Bill to move.

“Stay where you are, I’ll sit here.” George grabbed a chair on the opposite side of the table from the padded U-shaped booth.

“Why don’t you let Lizzie take your order and then we can get down to business?” Rick motioned toward the waitress to hurry over; seemingly unnecessary since she was in the process of bringing a glass of water. No doubt, it was his way to demonstrate he was in charge of today’s proceedings.

“Hold your horses, honey. I’ll be right there,” Lizzie responded, walking over in casual pumps, with water and coffee mug in hand. In a matter seconds, she stood to one side of George, placed the water and coffee mug in front of him, took his set of silverware from a pocket of her burnt-orange colored apron, pressed her ample chest slightly against his shoulder while she arranged the napkin and silverware, and then pulled an order pad from another pocket. “So what would you like, Hon?”

George leaned back in the chair and looked across the table at the other men seated in the high-backed, light-green padded booth.

“I haven’t had time to see a menu.”

“Is there a menu? Damn, I’ve been eating here for years and never seen one.”

“Gerold, being illiterate, you have no need for one.” Bill winked at George.

“Speak for yourself asshole.”

“Would you like to try the breakfast special again? That’s what these boys have every morning.”

“I guess that’s what I had the past couple of days.”

“Just like a regular customer, buddy.” Rick smiled.

“One of the boys,” Bill added.

“How’d you like the eggs? Over easy?” Lizzie asked.

“Scrambled, please,” George said as he looked into the emerald eyes of the big-boned, early middle-aged woman willing to work a job in which she had to engage in inane banter with the same people, mostly men, on a daily basis. George noticed the boys followed her departure with the intensity of stalkers.

Gerold leaned over the table toward George. “Scrambled like your brain, eh?”

“Like the brain of most dorks online, I’d reckon.”

“Who we’re obligated to educate,” Rick said as he shoved a beefy hand into his black computer bag and extracted a clear plastic folder from which he distributed a couple of sheets of stapled paper to each troll.

For the next hour, Rick conducted a meeting reminiscent of a local chapter of the Kiwanis or Chamber of Commerce. He explained the scripts or bullet points upon which they were encouraged to improvise and modify to help save this country from those who want to "fundamentally change" it. He went on about how it was their duty to "transform the conversation" to a populist movement in the hopes of helping the right people get elected. That the other side was depending on the naïve sucker to vilify them and be fooled into thinking they were on his side.

“You know, we’re kind of like Boris and Natasha depicted on the sweatshirt George wore yesterday. They were dedicated to find the right argument to use to persuade the gullible Rocky and knuckleheaded Bullwinkle. Those who waste their time posting comments are as dim-witted as those two.”

“You’re comparing us to Russian spies?”

“You do look a little like Boris, you know,” Gerold said.

“Your wife’s named Natasha?” Bill asked.

George looked at the other three. “I thought the flying squirrel and moose were the good guys.”

“They were the unpaid dupes. Boris and Natasha were the professionals. Like us.”

“Philosophy derived from cartoons watched in childhood?” George asked through a smug grin on his face.

“I loved that show!” Bill said. Something about the sentimental tone made the other three burst into laughter.


Kenneth Wayne That's a scene of George meeting with some of the other trolls.


Kenneth Wayne People can read the first two chapters at eTLC:http://www.etlc.info/index.php/general_blog/etlcwackos_-_sample/

eTLC - General Fictionwww.etlc.info
Use eTLC to discover the work of independent (indie) authors. The majority of wr...See More


Kenneth Wayne If anyone would like a copy of Wackos, it's free for one day at Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/215112

Wackos to Obliterate, an Ebook by Kenneth Waynewww.smashwords.com
Mavis Kincaid believed fifty-six was too early to retire, but her husband George...See More


Kenneth Wayne Coupon code for free copy is CE42R.



Shah Fazli Thanks, who published this book, and what is the people's opinion about it after reading the book?


Kenneth Wayne I'm an Indie, so I published it independently. Wackos and two of my other novels can be found on www.etlc.info. One is Clip http://www.etlc.info/index.php/etlc_book/place/clip/P0/and the other is An American Branch http://www.etlc.info/index.php/general_blog/etlcan_american_branch/


Kenneth Wayne So are there are two reviews of Wackos. They can be found on the Smashwords site and one of them is also posted on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Wackos-to-Obliterate-ebook/dp/B008YRECNC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1347350046&sr=1-1&keywords=Wackos+to+Obliterate

Wackos to Obliteratewww.amazon.com
Mavis Kincaid believed fifty-six was too early to retire, but her husband George...See More



Shah Fazli What tips do you have for those who are new into writing?


Kenneth Wayne
Read a lot of other writers. Try to read a large variety, both old and new. Mostly, though, keep your ears open to what in going on around you and try to tap into what is happening both on the surface and under. Finally, try to come to g
rips with a world that currently contains 7 billion people. Don't be tunnel-visioned and have empathy for those around you. Forget genre and try to write blood on the page. It may not sell a lot at first, but if you are honest with yourself and write what you want, more and more people will read you.


Kenneth Wayne It may not be in your lifetime, however. Don't worry about sales and constant self promotion. As someone said, "To yourself be true."


Kenneth Wayne Finally, check out etlc and submit what you write to it. We'll be happy to post it. Check out our submission's pagehttp://www.etlc.info/index.php/site/about/

The Electronic Text & Literature Cloudwww.etlc.info



Shah Fazli Thank you so much, it was a pleasure to have you on Spotlight, hope to see you again soon. Visit:http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008YRECNC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_til?

Wackos to Obliteratewww.amazon.co.uk
Mavis Kincaid believed fifty-six was too early to retire, but her husband George
was sure they had played the game and won, so they sold their home to become RV gypsies. Shortly after they hit the road, their stocks plummet. To help make ends meet, Mavis finds she has the knack to craft romances,...
 ·

Kenneth Wayne Once again, thanks for this opportunity to chat,Shah Fazli



Shah Fazli http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008YRECNC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_til?

Wackos to Obliteratewww.amazon.com
Mavis Kincaid believed fifty-six was too early to retire, but her husband George
was sure they had played the game and won, so they sold their home to become RV gypsies. Shortly after they hit the road, their stocks plummet. To help make ends meet, Mavis finds she has the knack to craft romances,...


Kenneth Wayne It was fun, but my hands are tired. Bye.




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