The future... I think the future looks great. And our kids are the reason. All any parent can hope for is to try and create a better world for their kids and that their kids have it better than they did. And because my wife and I have been blessed with three really great, really successful kids I get up every day happy... TIRED, but happy.

I listen to NPR (National Public Radio) a lot so there are always great interviews with published authors, experts in every field imaginable and great personalities. And I read USA TODAY religiously. Great stories and I track down those types of people.

Well I've recently embarked on a new career as a Professional Black Jack Dealer at a casino so nights are tied up with that. As the summer months come up I build bean bag boards (or cornhole boards ) for friends and family.

I also am a screenwriter with six completed screenplays, (some have won numerous screenwriting competitions) two long-form drama pilots and three sitcom pilots. (visit www.jackscripts.com) As an actor, I have the occasional auditions and acting classes. And I have recently begun taking guitar lessons again. Our family are also avid campers.

Yep. it was a sci-fi piece in 10th grade about a married man who has bad hallucinations of some grisly murders. It was only three pages and the grammar was terrible but the teacher loved it and it was the first B+ I ever got for writing.

There really isn't much to it. TV Sitcoms on in the background, a lot of coffee and I just GO!

Not the first but the two most important were "Blue Highways by Least Heat Moon" which was recommended to me when I was working on a video shoot with Burt Reynolds... yes THAT Burt Reynolds.

Before that is was "Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill." It is the MOTHER of all self help books and I recommend it to anyone. Every self help book published today is nothing more than a derivative of that book. And not to slight any other motivational speakers and self help book writers but it's the truth. I have even quoted many of the thoughts written there into my books.

With a lot of help. My son has a degree in graphic arts so that helps. And I am NEVER afraid to ask anyone and everyone for help. Interestingly enough the cover for my latest publication, "The Complete Guide To Successfully Managing Your Child’s Sports Career" was actually an iStock photo purchase. It was easy and the layout really catches what I am trying to convey in the book.

Not easy but the newest book I am reading is,
"I Am Not A Tractor".

Of course the two books I sited as my inspiration:
"Think and Grow Rich" and "Blue Highways".

"Environmental Overkill" by Dixie Lee Ray should be MANDATORY reading for anyone who cares about the environment. It was written a long time ago but the concept is more applicable today than ever.

I like a little bit of fun reading. I am a pool player and recommend, "A Billiard Hustlers Life" by Danny McGoorty.

TV and Movie scripts believe it or not.

I like paper that I can hold. A little old school I guess. But my wife recently bought a FIRE 7 so that's handy. And when sitting at my desk I read scripts on my computer.

I am still trying to figure that out. There is SO MUCH information out there and so many options I am learning and changing and trying new things every day. And at 61 years old, technology has the upper hand on me.

I was spending a lot of time at the dining room table...but the wife wanted that back so I took over her simple roll-top desk with a lamp. An old school paper holder, remote for the TV and the usual parifenalia.

I grew up in the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, learned to play baseball in the streets and hung out with what most might consider the wrong crowd. Because of that I kind of wasted a lot of time, especially in school. I sort of wish I could go back and have a redo but I think that is why I am driven to write and talk now. When in school, I didn't take advantage of everything. Believe it or not I barely passed English class! Yep, but I got straight "A's" in art and shop classes. When I look back I simply wasn't interested in any academia, which is why I lost interest quickly.

The first real writing I did was my sales book, "You Can and Should Sell Cars." I did pretty well in sales myself and was a great manager of salespeople. I couldn't see why others were struggling so I started to write down stuff. I actually wrote it in my car, long hand while driving back and forth 120 miles each way to Second City Theater in Chicago where I was taking improv and acting classes on Sunday afternoons. Before I knew it I had a big stack of papers that I vanity published in 1989.

Then in the mid 90's I wanted to be a famous actor, but since I lived in Milwaukee and not LA, I decided to write , produce and star in my own show. I figured, hey, Stallone did it with Rocky, why can't I? Lo and behold, I wrote my first script. Which was awful, by the way, but it gave me the bug! I even filmed the 35-minute pilot episode on a micro budget and then an 8-minute demo reel. That's on YouTube: search "Trust Me Sitcom."

For the answer to that you need to visit my son's website and company... TEAM MOM-N-DAD.COM. It will tell you everything you need to know about why I wrote: "The Complete Guide To Successfully Managing Your Child’s Sports Career."

Because the Simon & Schuster's of the world were never going to publish a guy like me... especially one that got a "D" in High School English!

Because I am not tech savvy and have very little knowledge of how to get my materials out there, Smashwords was the only way to go. I am still working on all the great marketing tools they have to offer so although selling a million copies has eluded me so far, I know it's just around the corner. I simply need to take their advice, learn something new about Smashwords and eBook publishing every day and I will get there.

Truth be told writing dialogue in a script is one of the hardest things to write. But when you nail it, when you write a couple lines or a short speech between two people that really moves you, that is the ultimate rush.

Well, again, I am small potatoes but every student I taught using my book, "You Can & Should Sell Cars," who became successful or every parent who picked up a tip by reading, "The Complete Guide To Successfully Managing Your Child’s Sports Career," makes me feel that I've made a little difference.

Writing is rewriting so I am working hard on several of my scripts. If you're writing a book, a poem, a short story or whatever and your put it down for a month, when go back to it, you will really improve the next draft. So that's what I am up to now. Rewriting scripts.