ILLUMINATION Writers
Interview with P.G. Barnett
Featuring creative writers of ILLUMINATION
Purpose of the Story
In this story, I share an interview I conducted with P.G. Barnett, a published author and a creative writer on ILLUMINATION.
I came across fascinating stories of P.G on Medium and invited him to join ILLUMINATION.
P.G kindly accepted my invitation to join ILLUMINATION and contributed to our publication from the early days. I am grateful that P.G accepted my offer to participate in this interview.
Let’s discover the fantastic world of P.G; the man with a strong pen and colorful words!
Tell us a bit about your background P.G.
A scarcely known fact about me is I am officially a BOI. Born On the Island of Galveston Texas during the Jurassic period around 1953. As the son of a country minister, I quickly realized my role as a hell-raiser and practiced my craft frequently.
Much to the dismay of my entire family. Much later, I settled into becoming a family man with a beautifully wonderful wife and four daughters, began working in the I/T industry way back in 1990, and became a professionally trained and certified I/T project manager.
Why do you write on Medium?
Great question! There are days when I ask myself the same. As a prolific reader, I see almost every day the frustration a lot of writers on this platform suffer. We as creatives almost always have our hearts pinned to our sleeves. So, when we get frustrated with our traction or lack of it, it oftentimes shows in our writing. Most times, it’s not about the money, although having lots of it helps.
It’s the angst caused when we have low views and reads. Yes, a lot of us are sometimes writing for ourselves, but it’s the nature of a creative who believes he/she has created something wonderful to share that creation with the world. And when the entire world simply passes us by it can be soul-crushing and devastating.
For me It’s the wonderful feedback I receive from my sister and brother writers that keeps me going. Without their camaraderie, I don’t think I’d even be here.
What are your values as a writer?
Values as a writer? At first this question stumped me, until I looked inward and thought about it. I even asked myself what things I concentrate on the most, value the most when I write. I came away with three.
Entertaining, Enlightening, and Engaging.
First things first. I write to entertain. Entertainment is often viewed by the reader in many ways. Some days a reader wants to laugh, other days, they need their spirits lifted. If by chance a reader wishes to have their brain stimulated in a thought-provoking manner, they look for enlightening and informative messages. I attempt to provide all of this when I write.
In my mind, the key ingredient which binds all three together is being engaging. I want my readers to fall into my work or be pulled into the body of my works and stay because they like what they see. Unless you write in a truly engaging manner it won’t matter how entertaining or enlightening your work is, you’ll lose your readers.
What are the top three books that affected your life?
Easy one! Thanks, so much Dr. I was sweating bullets on the earlier questions. Gone with The Wind by Margaret Mitchell, The Winds of War by Herman Wouk, and one book that helped shape me into the writer I am today, By the Light of The Moon, by Dean Koontz.
I read Gone with The Wind when I was thirteen years old. Even as book worms go, a novel with over a thousand pages seemed a herculean undertaking. Though the movie came out in 1939, I’d never seen it, so my imagination was free to roam inside the covers of that book, and roam it did.
After reading it I became more mindful of my surroundings and the racial atrocities and bias I was seeing in so-called friends who I was perfectly willing to walk away from.
The second voluminous tome I undertook was The Winds of War. It was my senior year in high school and because I thought being an overachiever was cool, I convinced my literature teacher to let me read the book during class and present a written book report as my final grade.
She agreed, and well, let us just say I received an extremely healthy and passing grade on my finals.
Before reading The Winds of War I glorified war as most kids my age did back then, but my tune was radically changed by Mr. Wouk’s descriptions of death, desolation, cruelty and family separation that wars often cause.
But the one that inspired me the most was By the Light of The Moon. Although the story is classic Dean Koontz all the way to the finish line, the actual book, the physical book was sent to me by the very same Mr. Koontz himself. Why he (or one of his minions) sent it to me is an exceptionally long story. Maybe I will write about it one day, but here is what he wrote on the inside jacket of the book.
From one writer to another. I believe that about summed it up for me that day. Oh, by the way. Trixie has since passed away. As much as Dean showed us how much he loved that dog every single one of his readers (myself included) mourned that animal’s death.
What are your hobbies?
Uh, writing and reading? What else is there?
How do you connect with your readers?
In these days of COVID-19 a physical handshake or even a book signing is not bloody likely. However, I take pride in responding to comments here or emails sent to me at [email protected]. In fact, I welcome feedback (keep it constructive you guys) of all kinds.
Why did you join ILLUMINATION, and how do you find it so far?
Well Doc, come on you know the answer, but for those of you who either haven’t had a chance to read any of my stuff (shame on you) or don’t know me (hey, how you doin’?) I was just minding my bidness posting daily when the illustrious Dr Mehmet Yildiz dropped me a note inviting me to join the merry band of ILLUMINATION.
What an illuminating moment that was. Sorry Doc, I had to go there.
Since that moment it has been an absolute pleasure and an honor to post on ILLUMINATION. The writers on this pub are consistently pouring out some of the most fabulous, eclectic works a person could ever ask for. If you want tech advice, here it is. If you want fiction, poetry, business or well-being guidance here it is. It.Is.All.Here.
So many powerful writers under the roof of a house that is growing exponentially faster than any of us dreamed.
Who are the top ten writers you follow on ILLUMINATION?
Ten? Come on Doc, you are limiting me to ten? If I can only share ten, the rest of the 700 or so writers on ILLUMINATION better not come after with rocks and sticks. So, in no certain order because I love them all the same (a lot like my four daughters. Although the oldest has always been my fav. Do not tell her sisters) here are my top ten: Joe Luca, Paul Myers MBA, Christina M. Ward, Roz Warren, Suzanne V. Tanner, Robert Nelson, Keira Fulton-Lees, Jeff Hanlon, Timothy Key, Julia E Hubbel, Kristi Keller, Kevin Buddaeus.
What? Okay I know I gave you fourteen, but ten was so dog gone constraining Doc. I mean, look at the tons of phenomenal writers we have on ILLUMINATION. How in the world does one stop at ten?
What are your top five stories you want to share with your audience, and why?
Okay to make up for my earlier transgression (I really suck at doing math in my head) instead of five stories I am only going to give you three. But all three hold a special place of import to me:
1. Death by Rodeo [Henry James and Sunny Alexander Fiction Series)
Death by Rodeo was the very first collaborative piece done between me and my lovely wife Sharon. It took us almost a full week of daily collaboration sessions to come up with the storyline and when I finally wrote it, we both simply loved it.
2. The Brute (poetry)
This was the very first poem I wrote that broke a thousand claps back when getting the claps was all the rage.
3. My Father Wept
There were three firsts on this piece. Not only was this my first piece accepted into a publication — The Ascent — but it was also my first attempt at writing from a place of vulnerability. My Father Wept was the very first piece on which I received curation distribution.
What are the success factors for you as a writer on Medium?
Well, it is certainly not to make a ton of money, because I certainly do not do that. I would really, really, really, like to make more than I am bringing in today, but the old saying beggars cannot be choosy applies here. Instead of measuring the coin, I am measuring my reach.
The number of followers, views and reads. That is my success measurement, not the dough. Oh, and I reported a while back that my view to read ratio was only 50% remember?
Well I am proud to report since then I have gained a point and a half. Nowadays improvement is how I measure success.
What do you recommend to the new writers on ILLUMINATION?
Write like the mad writing fools we are! Work to constantly improve your craft. Say more with less and yes you’ve heard it a million times, show your story don’t just tell it.
Oh, and if Dr. Mehmet comes knocking on your door with an idea do not hesitate to give it a go. Just knuckle down and roll with it. It is almost guaranteed to help you improve either your writing capabilities or your reach in the reading community.
What are your future plans as a writer?
That is easy Doctor Yildiz. I am going to continue to write each day and post on ILLUMINATION. Oh, and I am probably going to publish the fourth and final book on the Gifter’s Ring Saga I started fourteen years ago. The Rise of the Coven.
Thank you for your valuable time P.G. I learn a lot from your valuable content and look forward to reading more stories from your creative pen. You are an inspiration to our writers and readers on ILLUMINATION.
You may also check P.G’s writer bio from the attached story.
If you are a writer on ILLUMINATION and would like to be interviewed, please send a request via this link with the title of “Interview Request”.
You may also check other interviews I conducted with inspiring writers of ILLUMINATION recently. These stories can provide a great opportunity to know more about our creative writers and connect with them.
Jill Ebstein
Bill Abbate
Terry Mansfield
Kevin Buddaeus
Invitation to writers to join ILLUMINATION
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You might check more interviews in the attached collection.
You can find inspiring profiles of ILLUMINATION writers from this story.
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