The great thing about writing is that it's a creative process. In that sense, I can contribute to the world in a unique way that nobody else in the world could have in that particular manner. That's why I love marketing. It's creativity at its best.

I am deeply concerned about America's ability to compete in the globalized economy. I fear that we are living in a world that has passed us by. We are too short-term orientated, whereas the rest of the world has put into place institutions and practices to better compete over the long haul. In addition, we were far, far too quick to abandon manufacturing and move to a service-based economy. The rest of the world has become very 'specialized', focusing on advanced manufacturing, and has chosen to dominate in certain industry sectors. Originally, that was their approach to get back into the economic game after WWII. However, it proved so successful that has been their main vehicle for them to compete in the globalized world.

Yes. It was a comparison and contrast exercise that was required for a college English class.

I'll never forget that the teacher had approached me outside class and asked, "Where did you get that idea?" It scared the living daylights out of me. I thought that I had done something wrong. He told me that he started to read it, but simply put his pen done. He didn't put any marks on the paper until he had finished. During the next class, he used it as the class example.

I still have a copy of that article. It's turned yellow, but it's one of those achievements that you never forget.

Thanks for asking! I need to get if officially published, while I still have time!

I grew up on the west side of Chicago in a typical tight-knit, ethnic neighborhood. We were middle of the road, practical, down-to-earth people. When I was growing up, Chicago was a manufacturing supercenter. In fact, one of the chapters in my current book surveys how Chicago contributed to the WWII manufacturing effort.

Whenever I have written something that I believe flows well, I always enjoy going back and reading it to myself. There's just a joy associated with reading something that flows well. There's always that sense of accomplishment.

I hire a graphical artist. The reality is that I'm a pretty decent writer. However, graphics is a totally different matter. It's important to know your own limitations and spend your time in that area, but hire individuals who are better than you are for the other areas.

I learned to hire graphical people years ago, when I had started my .COM company. We hired this guy that was able to do a great producing concepts that I NEVER would have been able to produce.

What I learned to do when with graphical people is to articulate the high-level thoughts that were driving me and then let them run with the ball. I don't try to micromanage a graphical artist. They simply march to the beat of a different drummer.

I must say that I loved the cover that John did for me on my book.

Like many indie authors, I have written previous books that I was not able to publish, despite putting in the effort to publish them. Now that being an 'indie' is accepted, it was truly a 'no brainer' decision to pursue this route. I doubt that I would have it any other way. It's just a more democratic way to publishing a book. We'll let the public decide what sells, not some industry executive in New York.

Until Netflix came around, I rarely watched TV. However, there are just so many terrific documentaries on Netflix that it's hard to turn them down. However, they have made it far, far, too easy to turn into a couch potato.

Of course, being a relatively typical guy, I like to watch sports. I'm a huge hockey fan. I played for many years, but the reality of age started to creep in....

I started writing during my second job out of college. We were a consulting company and we had to write reports for our projects. That's where I really stumbled through the process of improving my writing. I can remember vividly using the 'backspace' a lot during those days. In my opinion, writing is a skill that honed in two different ways. First, by reading a lot. Second, by just writing, and writing, and writing. Practice truly makes perfect.