INTERVIEW WITH RANDY MIXTER-The author of Sarah of the Moon (see review below)

From time to time The Reading Cafe will introduce an upcoming or Indie author.  Today we would like to introduce-Randy Mixter

TRC: Hi Randy and welcome to The Reading Café. We would like to start with a little background information.
Would you please tell us something about yourself?

Randy: My name is Randy Mixter. I live in Glen Burnie, Maryland with my wife of 43 years and our five cats. I spend my days writing and working on projects for my video transfer company, Annapolis Digital. I am currently busy writing my next fictional novel, which I hope to have published this summer.

TRC: We have read that you have always been interested in writing poetry and short stories since you were a teenager. Where your parents and teachers supportive?

Randy: Very much so. My mother, in particular, loved the fact that I enjoyed writing and encouraged me to work at it as often as I could. In those days, I wrote mostly poetry and short stories. I still have those writings. Perhaps one day I’ll gather them together and put them in book form.

TRC: What was the first piece of writing you ever published?

Randy: In the 1980s I wrote movie reviews and short stories for a local newspaper. I also won a creative writing award when I worked for the Erols Video stores in 1989. They sponsored a contest to write the lyrics to a rap song based on the movie Colors. My entry won and was played on many radio stations in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

TRC: Would you please tell us about the MILITARY WRITERS SOCIETY OF AMERICA?

Randy: The MWSA is an organization of writers who are also active service members and veterans. They actively promote authors and their books as well as other causes of importance to veterans and their families. I am proud to be a member.

TRC: The Vietnam War, was and is, a contemptuous issue with many people. Thinking back or to today, what do you say to those people who question America’s involvement in Vietnam?

Randy: I would say that many of the young men who served in Vietnam had no choice in the matter due to the draft. I will also add that from the minute they stepped off the plane in that foreign land, they served honorably and, in some cases, gave their lives for their country. Unfortunately, little or no recognition was given to them upon their return home unlike the servicemen of today, who are treated (rightly so) with respect and honor. As I said in Sarah Of The Moon, question wars like Vietnam if you must, but have no doubts in the honor and courage of those who fight them.

TRC: Have you ever visited the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial? Any comments?

Randy: I visited the Vietnam War Memorial on Memorial Day 2010 and was humbled by the experience. Many brave souls are honored on that wall. Their courage and sacrifice inspires me.

TRC: Letters From Long Binh, is a story based on a collection of letters that you had written to your wife (then girlfriend) while you were stationed in Vietnam. Would you tell us about your decision to publish this novel based on something so personal?

Randy: I was pleasantly surprised when after my girlfriend Roni and I married I found she had kept every letter I had written her from Vietnam. They filled up two shoeboxes. Every few years I would return to those letters to bring back memories of my time in that war torn country. Not long after finishing my book of short stories concerning growing up in Baltimore in the 1960s, The Boys Of Northwood, I realized I could use a similar format for reliving some of my adventures in Vietnam. I went through the many letters and pulled out those that told of particular incidents. After I wrote Sarah Of The Moon, I started work on Letters From Long Binh. It was strange reliving those memories, both good and bad, but I’m glad I did. I have absolutely no regrets publishing memoirs of such a personal nature. I wanted to honor my fellow military policeman in a poignant and sometimes humorous manner. I feel I accomplished that.

TRC: Many authors and artists bounce ideas and information with their spouses. Is your wife a part of your writing process. Was it a mutual decision to publish a novel based on your private letters to your wife?

Randy: My wife is very much a part of my writing process. I constantly pick her brain for ideas and suggestions. I might also add that she is my harshest critic, and so I try that much harder to do work that pleases her. She had the final say in Letters From Long Binh. Thankfully, she enjoyed the finished book and found it respectful of our relationship and of the soldiers with whom I served.

TRC: Sarah of the Moon is a sweet romantic novel set in 1967 Haight-Ashbury era. Would you please tell us about the premise of this storyline?

Randy: I had written the prologue and epilogue to Sarah Of The Moon a few years ago. Using those pages as a reference I began to write the body of the story. I had always been fascinated by the music of that era, and by the hippie culture. I thought of sending a young man, the reporter Alex, into the strange and mysterious place that was the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco during the summer of love. Of course I had to have him fall madly in love with the beautiful flower child Sarah.

I have told many that the characters started writing themselves after a while. I had no outline for the novel save the beginning and end. Sarah’s parents, Matt the soldier, the housemates, and, of course, Oswald the chicken, were all born as I wrote. I started the book without even knowing why Sarah danced on a hill. Fortunately she told me her secrets.

TRC: Many authors will write from experience. Is there anything about the storyline that comes from your experience during this time? Where you ever part of the ‘hippie-movement’?

Randy: I was in Vietnam during the summer of love. I based my hippies on how I hoped they would be. I tried to not focus on the drugs but rather how most of the free spirits of the summer of love wanted to make the world a better place. Matt, the former soldier in my story comes to Haight – Ashbury because he finds it a kind place to visit. I’m grateful to have served my country in Vietnam, but a part of me holds a fascination for those carefree yet dedicated souls and for the culture of those times.

TRC: Do you believe the ‘movement’ affected any changes?

Randy: I would like to think the peace protests of the 1970’s, which in some ways helped to end the war in Vietnam, and the protests of today can be traced back to the hippies of the ’60s, and, of course, the summer of love. I also believe the movement was instrumental in passing anti-racism laws in the late 1960s and 1970s and undoubtedly was responsible for generating an interest in environmental concerns such as clean air and water, organic farming, and recycling.

TRC: Many of the characters in Sarah of the Moon are quite flamboyant. Are any of these characters based on real people or compilations? (I pictured Chick as a young Tommy Cheong)

Randy: The character of Chick was based on a friend I had in the 1980s of the same name. My friend was a hippie 20 years too late but proved an excellent source of material for my book. The soldier Matt was a composite of several friends I had during my time in the army.

TRC: The character of Sarah believes her deceased parents speak to her in dreams foreshadowing events. Her premonitions are very real. Do you believe in the power of premonitions or psychic communication with the dead?

Randy: I try to keep an open mind when it comes to premonitions or other psychic phenomena. In Sarah’s case, the power of love brought her parents back to her. For now, that is good enough for me.

TRC: There was no happily-ever-after in Sarah of the Moon. Many fictional romance novels end with the couple living happily-ever-after. Why not Sarah and Alex?

Randy: Without giving too much away, I tried different endings for Sarah and Alex. I finally realized that the greatest romances are the ones that last forever. I believe that the romance between Alex and Sarah did just that.

TRC: What was behind your decision to self-publish many of your stories and writings?

Randy: I wanted to get my books in my hands and in the hands of my readers without waiting years for an agent to pick it up. Although I still have open queries to agents on Sarah Of The Moon, I am now unsure as to whether I even want to go in that direction. There is no longer a stigma to self-publishing. Many established authors are now self-publishing with successful results. When you self-publish you have control of the book’s cover, its content, and its pricing. The advent of e-books also favors the self-published. I truly believe self-publishing is the wave of the future, and, for now, I’m perfectly content riding that wave.

TRC: What are you currently working on?

Randy: Again, I’ve gone back to working on a fictional novel. As in Sarah of the Moon, my next novel, tentatively titled Swan Loch, will involve two people very much in love. Unlike Sarah, it takes place in today’s world. Swan Loch is about love found, lost, then found again. There will be mystery, adventure, tragedy, romance, and a bit of science fiction. I hope to have it published by summer.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Randy: For those who like romance, my short story, Eternal, will be published this spring by Sleeping Cat Books in their anthology The Storm Is Coming. I appreciate The Reading Cafe for allowing me to take the time to talk about myself and my books. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

LIGHTNING ROUND

FAVORITE MOVIE: Ghost
FAVORITE TV SHOW: Parks And Recreation
LAST MOVIE YOU SAW: Hugo
FAVORITE FOOD: Steak
FAVORITE TYPE OF CAR: BMW Sports Coup
DARK OR MILK CHOCOLATE: Milk Chocolate, if I must.

TRC:  Thank you Randy for taking the time to talk with The Reading Café. We wish you the best of luck with all of your future novels and writing. Keep us informed.

Randy Mixter’s Blogsite
Sarah of the Moon-Amazon Kindle ebook
Sarah of the Moon-Amazon paperbook